America’s Cup Road Stopping Bill

I move, That the America’s Cup Road Stopping Bill be now read a second time.

The purpose of the bill is to support the construction of the facilities for the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland by permanently stopping a portion of Brigham Street on Wynyard Point. Hosting the America’s Cup has the potential to bring economic, social, and other benefits to New Zealand. The economic benefits obviously include the people coming to visit and the other participating teams coming and spending money in the country. They also include technology development as New Zealand stays at the forefront of these yachting technologies. Benefits to Auckland include the revitalising of Auckland waterfront, and benefits to wider New Zealand include not just the wider economic benefits of, perhaps, some increased tourism but also celebration of the world-leading success of the America’s Cup team, led by Grant Dalton.

Stopping a portion of Brigham Street enables the construction and operation of syndicate bases on Wynyard Point so that the yachts can be launched from that point into the adjacent harbour during the America’s Cup. This has reduced by 16,000 square metres the reclamation into the harbour that would otherwise have occurred, which is the equivalent of forty 400 square metre sections. It was also cheaper than other options.

From the point of view of the Prime Minister, Mayor Goff, and myself as Minister for the Environment, we were keen to minimise further reclamations into the harbour. It’s interesting, when one reflects on the history of that area, that the harbour used to extend, at that point, all of the way back across Victoria Park to Victoria Street. That’s a lot of land that’s been reclaimed through the years, and early proposals here—given that the land that had previously been reclaimed has been built upon—were to reclaim more land. The Government was of the view that that was not a desirable outcome and that we have to stop reclamation sometime, and so we explored other options, including clearing off some of the tank farms on Wynyard Point. That’s what’s going to happen, but in order for that former land of the tank farms and some adjacent car parking areas to be used for America’s Cup spaces, in practice, a portion of Brigham Street adjacent to it has to be stopped. This doesn’t restrict public access to the rest of Wynyard Point, because there is another road line that services that and links up, also, with the portion of Brigham Street that is not being closed.

The legislation is being pursued because the normal road-stopping processes under the Local Government Act 1974 and the Public Works Act 1981 wouldn’t have been able to have been implemented in the required time frame needed to enable the construction of the bases. The bill has been considered by the Environment Committee, which received three submissions on the bill. All three were supportive of the bill, as well as making some suggestions for amendments to the bill. The three changes made to the bill at select committee are, first, to disapply section 40 of the Public Works Act to the road that is stopped, or to that portion of the road that is stopped, for so long as Auckland Council owns the land. Under usual road-stopping processes outside of this bill, under the Public Works Act, section 40 would be disapplied in this way for the territorial authority. Therefore, disapplying section 40, on this occasion, aligns the bill more closely with usual road-stopping processes and outcomes.

The second change is to clarify that the 36th America’s Cup is a public work for the purposes of the bill. This is to ensure that section 40 of the Public Works Act, which relates to offer-back of land, is not triggered by the use of the stopped road for the America’s Cup. The third change is to insert a traditional clause to clarify that relevant clauses will continue to apply after the bill itself self-repeals after 12 months. That means that the bill doesn’t clutter up the statute book in the future but the effect of the bill continues. These changes will ensure the bill is effective in its purpose of stopping the road, to allow construction for the America’s Cup to begin. It also enables the greater Wynyard - Hobson location to be achieved, and, of course, that was a negotiated outcome of negotiations between central and local government, as well as Emirates Team New Zealand.

I believe that the location is one that all New Zealanders will be able to be proud of. It is a lower cost than others and, as I’ve said, it has a smaller intrusion into the harbour and sees clearing off of the tank farm that occupies part of the site at the moment. There are also provisions that are being sought by the Crown that enable the continued open nature of this site, so that a future America’s Cup or some other equivalent event in the future can be held on that open site and that we don’t have to go through this palaver again to create open space on the Auckland waterfront for these sorts of events.

It is a narrow bill with limited impacts. It will ensure that this portion of Brigham Street can be stopped in a timely manner. Can I thank everyone who submitted on the bill, the select committee, and other parties in this Parliament for their consideration of the bill, and express my thanks to them for their cooperation and confidence that the construction will, thereafter, be able to get under way. They’re in the middle of consent processes at the moment, in the Environment Court, and I’m not prejudging them, but as soon as they are completed—assuming they get their consent—this will mean that they’re not delayed further by Public Works Act complications.

The National Party is supporting this bill, and, indeed, has agreed to its facilitation through to the third reading this afternoon. Let’s just, for a moment, set aside all of the proposals that might have been around the provision of the infrastructure around Wynyard Point that might have facilitated some better outcomes for those who are participating in the event itself but also left a great legacy for the city of Auckland, which clearly does take a lot of its identity from these sorts of events. Indeed it’s named the City of Sails.

This is a pragmatic way of going about getting some degree of certainty about the ability to construct on time. That will be very, very comforting to the organisers of this event who put a lot at stake. It shouldn’t be, at a time like this, inappropriate to recognise the value that that engagement has had for New Zealand over a large number of years and will continue to have beyond the event itself in 2020. It is one that has certainly put New Zealand’s technology right to the fore in a range of different parts of industrial activity. It’s simply not confined to what might make a race boat go faster, but, in fact, allows the sort of innovation that is contributing to that speed to be applied in other parts of the economy. For New Zealand, the benefits of that are quite large and, in fact, very tangible.

The other point, of course, is that New Zealand is a country now that is very, very dependent upon its tourism industry, and it’s events like this that allow so many other parts of the world to see what’s on offer here and for people to consider just what they might be able to experience should they choose to come this far south to the bottom of the Pacific.

So it is a proper way to go about getting some haste in the build process. As the Minister has said, there was a select committee process that allowed public input into this bill. That input was all favourable, and the committee itself made some other changes that were outlined by the Minister that will make the bill more effective. The idea that the power used under the bill will endure beyond the life of the legislation itself is also, I think, a smart way to go about providing an opportunity for the construction to proceed. We support that—I hope the whole House will—and would express a view that there would seem to be not a huge need for any extensive debate on this this afternoon.

E Te Māngai o Te Whare, tēnā koe. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Green Party is very pleased to support the America’s Cup Road Stopping Bill. Like the previous speaker, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, I don’t think there is need for a lot of debate on this. There were only three submissions on it. It stops about 230 metres of Brigham Street and the bill was needed because the processes under the Local Government Act would have taken too long, wouldn’t have allowed construction to start in November, and if the processes under the Public Works Act to stop the road had been followed, that would have required an esplanade reserve to have been set off around the water margin. Of course that would have been really difficult in terms of providing for public access, given the construction machinery and the cranes which would be working in the area.

So we know Wynyard Point and the tank farms there. This bill and the work that it will enable on the construction of the bases for the America’s Cup in 2021 will then enable a much more attractive public amenity area and recreational space to be developed. We’ve seen with the Viaduct Basin and the work that has been done there for the previous America’s Cup challenge how the public really value and enjoy that area. So this was a bill that was needed because the processes under existing legislation didn’t deliver. I understand that construction will start in November, which is why it is really useful that the House debates both stages today.

I commend the Minister for Economic Development, the Hon David Parker, and the negotiations that he had with Auckland Council and Emirates Team New Zealand, and the way in which that resulted in a much smaller footprint of some 6,600 square metres instead of what originally I think was over 20,000 square metres intruding into the harbour. That means there is less visual interruption. It means that more of the public sea space is still available for recreational and other use, and this stopping of the road can proceed expeditiously so that construction can start so that Auckland is in a position in 2020 to start hosting the preliminaries to the America’s Cup in 2021.

Like other members of the House, I was intrigued by the foiling in the previous America’s Cup and look forward to seeing the monohulls and the way in which yachts can suddenly fly. Tēnā koe, Madam Deputy Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I rise on behalf of New Zealand First—

💬 Hon Gerry Brownlee: Briefly.

—ha, ha, as long as I feel necessary, to speak on this very important but well-supported bill around the House. We’d also like to take the time to acknowledge the work that’s expedited this bill through the House and the support that continues to go on. The America’s Cup has become quite a feature in New Zealand internationally and it’s put New Zealand on the map in many respects, certainly for those yachting enthusiasts and it has actually helped shape the current design and layout of Auckland as we see it now.

In fact, in 1995 when we won the America’s Cup then right through to 2000 when we started the second round racing in the Hauraki Gulf, we had the viaduct set up and bars and restaurants were created for it. That has obviously expanded. A huge amount of construction’s gone in, and hotels, accommodation to look after these visitors and guests bringing hundreds of millions of dollars into our economy. And here we are again talking about the growth and expansion and opportunity that is before us but trying to think about practical outcomes to least affect people of Auckland and the city of Auckland and enable it to get on with its life as well as providing a haven and location for a world-class event such as the 36th America’s Cup.

Look, I’ve got a diagram here of the very small stretch of area on the waterfront, and the cameras can see that for the people back home that aren’t 100 percent sure where Brigham Street is—through there. But it is a third of a rugby field in size. When people talk in hundreds or thousands of square metres, you can get a better perspective in a long, narrow—one-third the length of the size of a rugby field puts that into perspective. New Zealand First sees this as important and to be expedited speedily through the House. They want to start construction on this in November this year, which is fast coming up, and of course the America’s Cup will be happening in 2021, where we hope to retain that America’s Cup and hear those famous words again. It is still the America’s Cup as we remember all those years ago.

I’m not going to go into any great detail. I had some other notes of the history of the America’s Cup, but I think, with tongue in cheek, people back home are just pleased that we’re getting on with our job. I’m sure the gallery is filled with media that will be writing front page reports on this collegial approach to politics. Of course they won’t, because we all agree and it’s great to see some collegiality from time to time in this House where we can hold hands in “Kumbaya”, and get on with the show. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. We commend this bill to the House.

As a member of the Environment Committee who took some time to scrutinise this bill, can I say it has been a pleasure to be part of the process. Can I acknowledge David Parker, who has shepherded this piece of legislation through the House. Can I thank members opposite for their cooperation. As Minister Sage mentioned, there is a time line and some time frames in which this piece of legislation has to happen in order for the work to stop the road and for the construction of the America’s Cup team bases to begin, in order for the cup to take place on time. So can I thank the Opposition and Mr Brownlee for his assistance in that today by allowing the second reading, the committee of the whole House, and the third reading stages to happen with some speed.

If people are wondering why we’re even doing this—when Peter Burling crossed the line to make sure we won the America’s Cup, some questions started about how we were going to host it. Critically, when we defended the America’s Cup previously, a lot of that infrastructure that was in place has now been taken over by other commercial interests. So there was a need to find a new home for the America’s Cup bases, and this piece of legislation will allow for those team bases to happen on Brigham Street, on a part of the Auckland waterfront.

So, on that note, can I thank Mr Brownlee for his assistance again to make sure that this happens in a speedy way, because this will make sure that the defence at the 36th America’s Cup regatta can get under way and we can do a good job of it. Thank you, Mr Brownlee.

Can I say tēnā koe initially and, also in honour of Hindi Language Week this week, namaskar. I just want to take a brief call on this bill. I’m primarily a land-based member. The contents of my stomach don’t tend to stay in their appointed place if I get too near to the open seas, and my primary sporting objective over the summer season is to watch as much test cricket as possible. But none the less I’m keen to see that this bill proceeds and that it enables us to get on with the construction of the America’s Cup bases for two quite important reasons.

The first is that we know that this event is a significant economic stimulus, both to the Auckland region and the New Zealand economy more broadly, injecting around about one billion dollars over three years—that’s the estimate. The second and—to my mind, more important thing as a proud and patriotic citizen of Tāmaki-makau-rau—is that this is a spur for a significant legacy investment in Auckland’s downtown area. We already see that from previous America’s Cup campaigns, where the Wynyard Quarter and Viaduct Basin areas were significantly enlivened by that investment. By getting an appropriate investment into Wynyard Point, which will initially be set up to host the America’s Cup bases but afterwards will revert to a range of uses, including significant public open space, we can have an outstanding urban regeneration outcome stemming out of this America’s Cup hosting.

But it’s very important, before we get to that point, that we do have this road-stopping bill, which enables the whole development to proceed. In a previous life in local government, I’ve dealt with a matter of road stopping with a very inconsequential small road that went through a local cemetery in my part of the world. I can tell all members of the House, if you go through the normal local government processes, it is an extraordinarily complex and time-consuming process. So bringing it with some urgency to the House to get a resolution is absolutely the appropriate thing to do to enable construction to start next month and get on with this very important project. I once again commend the bill to the House. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading