National MPs Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis have been pushing for Green MP Julie Ann Genter to release the letter she wrote to Phil Twyford regarding funding for the Wellington Transport planning, because they believe the letter is proof that JAG put pressure on the Wellington City Council to adopt a green mass transport plan.
The letter is less crucial now that Wellington City Councillors say they were briefed by the mayor about the risk of losing government funding if they did not comply with the Greens.
“It is understood Wellington Mayor Justin Lester told a number of city councillors Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter and another Green MP threatened to resign if councillors did not vote for the new mass transport plan and the Government would use the money elsewhere.”
Stuff
Until now there has been no hard evidence that the Green Party had put pressure on the council to adopt plans with an intolerance of cars.
The letter was sent to Transport Minister Phil Twyford in the lead-up to the $6.4 billion “Let’s Get Wellington Moving” announcement revealed in May.
The final package revealed an extra Mt Victoria tunnel would not be built for at least 10 years, while a proposed second Terrace tunnel and reconfigured state highway under Te Aro were excluded altogether.
National says the hard evidence of Genter’s involvement in the LGWM planning is to be found in a letter she wrote to Phil Twyford when he was Acting Associate Transport Minister.
“[National MP Nicola] Willis said the letter had clearly played a part in the final make-up of the $6.4b package.
“From what we can see, it played a big role in the final package. That letter changed things for Wellingtonians.”
The letter may have also led to the proposed tunnel under Te Aro and second Terrace tunnel being excluded from the final plan, Willis said.
“Because the minister won’t release the letter, I can only speculate as to what was in it.”
Stuff
There is a definite green aura in this PR disclosure from Wellington City Council, who want to get people out of cars and into public transport, walking and cycling.
“For the last four decades Wellington has failed to grasp a series of transport opportunities intended to future-proof and safeguard our city from congestion.
Today’s unanimous decision, along with unanimous support from the Regional Council and the Government, shows strong political support for LGWM.”
“We know transport is changing and we want to make the most of the attributes that make Wellington a great place to live, with strong active and public transport options, including mass transit across the city.”
Scoop
This could have come straight out of the Green Party playbook, and now we know that it probably did.
Chris Bishop asked Genter if she wrote the letter in her capacity as Green Party spokesperson on Transport, albeit on Ministerial letterhead, or as the Associate Minister of Transport?
Genter refused to answer the question “in what capacity did you send the letter?”, instead brushing aside the distinction and saying that the content of the letter was political party consultation that should be kept out of the public arena.
“The outcome of those discussions is made public and its been endorsed by Greater Wellington Regional Council, every regional mayor and all three parties in government.”
Transcription Video JAG
Genter may have friends at the Wellington City Council – in fact, her husband is a Principal Advisor to the Wellington City Council – but any evidence that she put pressure on them to put Wellington roading projects on the back burner as Chris Bishop alleges – should be investigated.
The Chief Ombudsman is doing just that. No doubt he will be assisted by Wellington City Councillors who allege that Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter is continuing to refuse to release a letter relating to Wellington’s transport plans.