Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says Wellington mega-tunnel a ‘really attractive’ option

The Prime Minister has described the long-tunnel option to replace Wellington’s Mt Victoria tunnel as “a really attractive option” but a firm solution to roading issue is yet to be made.

In a interview with Newstalk ZB’s Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills, Christopher Luxon also took aim at Wellington City Council - saying it was not performing as it should - and the news media - saying he used TikTok among other channels to communicate his messages because people “aren’t watching the 6pm news anymore.”

The exisiting two-lane tunnel between Wellington’s Basin Reserve and its eastern suburbs is a bottleneck and National promised during its election campaign it would begin work on a second option during its parliamentary term.

The Government has two options on the table to replace Wellington’s Mt Vic tunnel – a duplicate, parallel option and an underground mega-tunnel running from the Terrace to Kilbirnie.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown has previously told the Herald the tunnel would be “one of the largest infrastructure projects Wellington has seen in a long time” and it was important to “choose the right option for the city’s future”.

Speaking to Mills on Thursday, Luxon said Brown was currently looking a long-tunnel proposal - which was a “really attractive” option.

“We need to get a tunnel replacement, it’s 100 years old, you’ve got 40,000 vehicles going through there a day, it’s well past its useful life.

“We know that option of replacement, as everyone has talked about in the past, but what we have is this long-tunnel option. He (Simeon Brown) will shortly have a view whether it is the long-tunnel option or the other option.

“It’s just that it (the long tunnel) is a really attractive option but (...) you’ve got to understand what that all means, so that’s where he is at, he’s got to do that work before he can talk further about it.”

Staying with Wellington issues, Luxon also took aim at Wellington City Council by saying they were not performing as they should be.

Luxon had honed in on council spending during his speech at the conference, urging local government leaders to focus on the basics, like rubbish collection, pipe repairs and filling potholes.

He specifically mentioned Wellington’s new $180 million Tākina convention centre, as an example of this spending.

“They can do better,” he said of the council.

“I think you can read between the lines that I want better performance out of Wellington City Council, that’s pretty clear.”

The pair also discussed the Prime Minister’s TikTok use with Luxon saying he opted to use several mediums to communicate with the public because “the media environment is really fragmented in New Zealand” and “people aren’t watching the 6pm news anymore.”

“In fact, all demographics, people are watching online video, that’s where they are getting their news and their information from.

“Yes, we’ve got a Press Gallery in Wellington in the Parliament, they sort get very obsessed with the political stuff; you’ve got other journalists, you’ve got commercial radio; I’ve really good conversations about mental health for example on commercial radio.”

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.