Joyce Steven: Urgent Debates — Rugby World Cup—Extension to Queens Wharf Fanzone 
Joyce Steven: Urgent Debates — Rugby World Cup—Extension to Queens Wharf Fanzone 
[Volume:675;Page:21359] 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister of Transport) 
: 
 I always understood that in these sorts of debates one would allocate a bit of time at the beginning for rebuttal but I listened to that speech from Trevor Mallard and I did not hear anything at all from him that I could respond to because he made up a whole bunch of stuff and apart from that he did not say much. But I did enjoy at the end of that speech his willingness to offer assistance. That rang a bell for me because I recall how good he was in Auckland back in 2006. Perhaps Mr Mallard was offering a bit of assistance with diplomacy. I have here a few press clippings from 2006 when Mr Mallard ducked and weaved his way across Auckland trying to organise himself a Rugby World Cup. He started off diplomatically by suggesting that Auckland had no vision. That was Trevor’s opening shot in the  
New Zealand Herald 
—that Auckland had no vision. He said with regard to a revamped Eden Park that it was a poor second option that showed a lack of imagination by the city. He said it showed a city that did not have a vision. Of course that went down with Auckland according to the newspaper about as easily as Mr Mallard’s Heineken moment. 
Moving along what was his next step in diplomacy and working with Auckland? He said once again that the choice of stadium showed a city that did not have a vision but that it might be what Auckland wants. Clearly he had been told off and he admitted it. Then John Armstrong wrote: “Mallard plays hardball in his Field of Dreams”. As we know Trevor is a sensitive and an inclusive guy and he said that he was quite happy for Aucklanders to choose whichever stadium they wanted as long as it was the one that he planned to build because he was always right. Then on 23 November the newspaper pointed out that “Residents and businesses in Auckland City can expect big extra rates bills for years to come if city councillors today opt … for a stadium on the waterfront.”—that is Trevor Mallard’s stadium. Brian Rudman who is normally a friend of the Labour Party—certainly he is recently—said “Let’s hope ARC has courage to vote no” on Trevor Mallard’s stadium and pointed out that Aucklanders did not want it. But Trevor Mallard continued. He then went on and got together with the mayor. I think we might recall the mayor actually: a chap called Dick Hubbard. The paper stated: “Trevor Mallard and Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard can stumble about in grief and frustration muttering that their waterfront stadium is not dead but it is.” And of course it was as dead as a duck. Finally the  
New Zealand Herald  
finished on 22 December by stating that “Mallard’s loss may be people’s gain” and so it proved to be. If that is the sort of assistance Mr Mallard would like to offer in Auckland then I think Auckland would tell him politely to disappear off somewhere else. 
The reality is that New Zealand is having a tremendous time with this tournament. It is a wonderful tournament which has started extremely well. I for one have enjoyed—and I do not often get to watch rugby these days; I am not quite sure why that is—a few games that I never thought I would watch. I was watching on TV the other night that South Africa - Wales game in Wellington which was a fantastic game. I also saw a bit of the poignant commemorations in New Plymouth of the US rugby team which had to play on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I also saw that energetic game at Eden Park last week. I saw a bit of the Scotland-Georgia game last night—only about 15 minutes. That was a dour struggle in the deep south. Wherever the rugby goes the crowds have been large. When Canada upset Tonga the other night in Whangarei the crowds were large. 
We also had a wonderful opening ceremony—a wonderful opening ceremony—at Eden Park. I do not know about other New Zealanders but I always get a little bit nervous at those sorts of events. I wonder how good the opening ceremony will be. Well I was proud from beginning to end. It was a wonderful opening ceremony. I congratulate those who put it together. There was a wonderful atmosphere down at the waterfront for the most part with 200000 people and a fireworks celebration that was truly wonderful. New Zealanders are in a mood to celebrate. Apart from that crowd over on the other side of the House New Zealanders are in a mood to celebrate. They have had just about enough of Labour’s forensic analysis as it desperately tries to lift itself off the canvas by ripping down the rest of the country. New Zealanders have had enough of that. They have had enough of Labour desperately trying to lift itself up on to the shoulders of the people in New Zealand who are determined to enjoy the Rugby World Cup. 
A number of things happened last Friday that we all believe should not have happened. They were in relation to two matters: the handling of the crowds down at the waterfront and the transport issues that arose during the evening in Auckland. Nobody was happy with those outcomes. On Tuesday morning I met with the mayor and also with Auckland Transport in Auckland and we had a very good discussion. Yesterday afternoon the Auckland Council published the reviews of those events and it made a number of comments. Under the letterhead of the organisation Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development—ATEED—it noted in terms of its own organisation a number of things it was unhappy with that need to be sorted which were the crowd management on Quay Street insufficient provision of services the main screen gantry being too close to the ferry building and some technical failure of the big screens. The council has put its hand up and said it will work with the Minister for the Rugby World Cup and fix those issues. 
In relation to transport there is no doubt that the numbers of people who tackled the public transport in Auckland last Friday night were much larger than anybody expected and there were a number of issues. As a result Auckland Transport has stood up and said it will make some changes for this weekend and I support those changes. It will arrange much larger capacity between Britomart and Eden Park with 100 additional buses. It will offer additional security: there will now be 100 staff at Britomart whereas previously there were 60. It is increasing its security presence across the network placing security staff in all carriages limiting loadings to 10 percent below the maximum and improving the number of announcements on the trains. I think those are good moves. I am confident that Auckland Transport has taken on the responsibility and the lessons from last weekend that it will act on those this weekend and that it will act on— 
Phil Twyford 
: Why didn’t you do those things before? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: That is a very interesting discussion point. Let us look at some of Labour’s attacks on the Government on this issue. Some of them are very shameless political attacks. I think it is really important that we always look not at what those members say but at what they do. A few members on that side of the House—Greens and Labour members—are suggesting that the network should have been electrified by now and that perhaps that was the Government’s fault. Well in Budget 2007 the then Government—I cannot remember which side of the House it was—said that it would set up electrification by charging Aucklanders a 10c per litre regional fuel tax. The question was when it would be done. The actual quote from Michael Cullen was “The aim is to have electrification completed by 2013.” But the Rugby World Cup was due in 2011 was it not? Oh! Michael Cullen continued: “The government has investigated the possibility of having electric trains up and running for the Rugby World Cup in 2011 but this would be too risky and costly”—oh—“in terms of sourcing material …”. This statement was made on 17 May 2007. We already knew then that we had the Rugby World Cup. And now the members of that Government have the shamelessness to get up in this House and suggest that the National Government should have sorted out the electrification in time for the Rugby World Cup. 
Ms Ardern who lives somewhere in Auckland—or does she live in the Waikato—has suggested that somehow the central business district rail link should have been built for the Rugby World Cup. Well excuse me but the 9 years of the previous Labour Government would have been needed—and some—to do that. Then of course we have Mr Twyford and his issues. He is blaming the issues of Auckland on the council organisations and saying that somehow it is the Government’s fault. Well council-controlled organisations have been around for a wee while now and the reality is that Labour in its 9 years in Government was quite happy to have council-controlled organisations. Labour was quite comfortable with those. Labour now believes they should be cancelled. This is another shameless political attack and for “Mr Twifford’s” benefit I say that Auckland Transport is the Auckland Regional Transport Authority—ARTA—enlarged. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It is common courtesy in this House to pronounce members’ names correctly. Mr Twyford’s name is pronounced “Twy-ford” and the Minister knows that. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: It is correct that members should try to pronounce other members’ names correctly. Sometimes we are less good at doing it than we would like to be. All of us make mistakes now and then. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I do not accept that that was a mistake. The Minister has— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: We all make mistakes. I have repeatedly made mistakes with members’ names which I regret. I can think of a couple of members whose names I have mispronounced repeatedly and I regret that. I trust that the Minister will now use the correct pronunciation. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I agree with you. We now trust that the Minister will use the proper pronunciation but I do not think that anyone in the House other than you accepts that it was a mistake. He did it deliberately. He laughed as he did it as he has done on a number of occasions. If Mr Twyford were a Maori member the Minister would have been admonished a long time ago. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Believe me I have heard members in this House mispronounce Maori members’ names appallingly badly too. I ask the Minister to please show members respect by trying to pronounce their names correctly. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I am sorry Mr Speaker. It is just that I have heard the name said so often in a certain way in this House that I assumed it was said that way. But I will not pronounce it that way any more. 
Hon Rick Barker 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It is not acceptable for a member to comment on a decision of the Chair which is what the member was doing. He was relitigating the matter and trying to justify his mistake. The member has withdrawn and corrected it and he should just leave it and move on. By saying that it has been a common mistake made in this House he is belittling your decision and belittling Phil Twyford whose name he mispronounced badly—and deliberately in my opinion. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I assure the honourable member that if I had thought the Minister was belittling my decision I would have pulled him up immediately but I do not think he was. We can get too sensitive about these things. I have allowed language to be used in the House in the last 20 minutes that perhaps has not previously been used in the House. I do not believe we should get too sensitive. This is a robust place. But I ask the Minister to please try to pronounce members’ names correctly. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Mr Twyford wants to blame the council-controlled organisations. He reckons that the reason it all went wrong is that those council-controlled organisations rather than the council were running the show. With the greatest respect to Mr Twyford the reality is that the councillor with the most skin in the game in terms of Auckland Transport over the last several years was Mike Lee. I do not know that I would want Mike any closer to it. As it is he is on the board of Auckland Transport. If he got any closer he would have his nose right up to the engines and we do not need that to occur in order to get a better result. The reality is that it does not take elected people—as much as we are all elected people and like to think we are pretty good at things—to run airlines railways bus companies or freight companies; it takes operators to do that and Auckland Transport is capable of doing it. To be fair to Auckland Transport the numbers last Friday were much larger than expected. Mr Twyford and his dear friend Trevor—the sensitive one—say that somehow the Government was warned some time ago about Auckland transport issues. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I think I can anticipate the member’s point of order. Members in this House when referring to other members should use their correct names not just their first names—their correct names. I ask the Minister to please do that. This is twice now that he has been pulled up for mispronouncing a member’s name or not using a member’s name correctly. I do not want to do it a third time. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I have another one. I would not have interrupted the member’s speech except that the description of me as being sensitive I think we all know— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: That is not a point of order. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I stand corrected on that matter of course. The point is that the Auckland Regional Transport Authority report referred to by Mr Twyford and Mr Mallard was addressed by Auckland Transport and by continuing to harp on about it they are criticising Auckland Transport for not addressing that report. Auckland Transport addressed and put in place all the matters that were raised in that report. It dealt with that report and it had its preparations peer reviewed. The challenge for that organisation was that the numbers greatly exceeded what it expected. There were some operational issues between Auckland Transport and its operator which it is working on and as we know there is an inquiry under way on that. Auckland Transport is determined to take action to fix those issues. I think that is what we can ask of it and as Minister of Transport that is what I will require of it. That is its responsibility. 
As I say the Opposition’s history in these matters is frankly laughable when its members seek to criticise the Government. Their arguments and their negativity are not I think appreciated by New Zealanders. The reality is that yes of course Opposition parties have the responsibility to raise issues but the relentless negativity about the Rugby World Cup by the Opposition which is trying to lift itself off its own desperate position on the floor of politics is not going down well with New Zealanders and it is not doing New Zealand well with the Rugby World Cup. 
I will finish by saying to the organisers of the Rugby World Cup to the players to the supporters of the teams to the police and to all those who are involved in working on the Rugby World Cup event—including the transport workers the wonderful performers all the volunteers and all the other staff all around the country—that I personally think they are doing a wonderful job. I think the tournament is going very well and I think the world is celebrating with New Zealand. We will have a wonderful tournament with or without the Labour Opposition.