Wayne Brown, like his predecessor Phil Goff, is keen to sell the operating business of Ports of Auckland. Photo / Michael Craig
Wayne Brown, like his predecessor Phil Goff, is keen to sell the operating business of Ports of Auckland. Photo / Michael Craig
The Chief Ombudsman has launched an investigation into secret plans by Auckland Council to privatise the operating business of Ports of Auckland.
The council is believed to hold hundreds of pages of documents outlining the plan after global port operator DP World made an unsolicited $1 billion bid for theport in 2021.
When the Herald sought a copy of the documents provided to the mayoral office after Wayne Brown came to office, the council took the unusual step of refusing to release a single page on commercial and legal privilege grounds.
What’s more, the council refused to provide a list of the documents and the dates of the documents.
A senior investigator from the Office of the Ombudsman advised the Herald yesterday that the Chief Ombudsman, Peter Boshier, had begun an investigation, and that acting council chief executive Phil Wilson had been informed and asked for the relevant information and the reasons for the decision.
It’s an open secret that DP World, based in Dubai and which operates terminals in 40 countries, made an unsolicited bid to the council in early 2021 to buy the port outright under the “opco/propco” model for a long-term lease to operate the business with the land remaining in public ownership.
Former Mayor Phil Goff got the ball rolling to sell the operating business of Ports of Auckland. Photo / Alex Burton
Former Mayor Phil Goff and senior council officers were understood to be keen, problems with getting it past the Overseas Investment Office were raised with senior ministers in the Beehive, and the opco/propco” model was pursued with a sweetener in the form of the NZ Super Fund becoming a local investment partner along with a Canadian pension fund, CDPQ.
Wayne Brown has picked up on the work done by his predecessor and is clearing the way to sell Ports of Auckland’s operating business while keeping the prime waterfront land in public hands.
In June, the Herald revealed that plans are well advanced to offload the city’s port business by selling an operating lease. The plan is widely expected to be part of the new 10-year budget due to come into effect in July next year.
Melbourne-based consultants Flagstaff Partners, hired to provide advice last term, have been kept on for the latest push to offload the port business.
This month, the Herald reported that Flagstaff pocketed a secret fee of NZ$1.425 million from the decision by Auckland Council to sell an $800m-plus shareholding in Auckland Airport.
The fee was triggered the moment councillors voted in June to sell a 7 per cent stake in the airport. Until then, Flagstaff was being paid $75,000 to provide advice on options to sell the council’s full 18 per cent shareholding in the airport or a partial sale.
Council Treasurer John Bishop said that was a step before the sales process where Flagstaff are on a fixed-price contract and not incentivised about whether a sale of the shares goes ahead or not.
A seawater pool and wetland areas feature in new proposals for the Auckland waterfront being promoted by Mayor Wayne Brown. Image / Nick McKay, Eke Panuku
Brown is keen to sell the port business under a deal that would free up port land for development “within the next two to five years”.
Early this month Brown released images showing how the finger wharves at the city end of the port could be developed, including an open-air seawater swimming pool and an exhibition centre and “Te Ao Māori showcase centre”.
The Maritime Union is strongly opposed to the privatisation of the port business, saying the risks of going down this path are “massive”.
