The Front Page podcast: Ports of Auckland decision worth billions and impacts us all

A change at the port will ripple out to other changes across the transport system. Photo / Michael Craig

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the possible move for Ports of Auckland, and how it could impact the whole country. Hosted by Frances Cook.

New Zealand is a country that relies on its trade relationships in order to keep a good standard of living, and a lot of those imports and exports come through the ports.

That's why a debate over Auckland's port has grown so heated, as some say it should be moved to Northland.

The situation came to a head with a leak of documents to the Herald's own Simon Wilson this week.

The report showed the cost of leaving the port where it is to be about $8 billion.

But moving it will cost about $10 billion.

Add to that the complex social impacts, with transport infrastructure needing to change to support either decision, and jobs on the line in Auckland, Northland and the wider country.

For the latest Front Page podcast I talked to Simon Wilson about what the leak means, how this debate became so tense and fractured, and if there are any hints on what the Government will decide.

For the interview, listen to the podcast here.

If you have questions about Herald investigations, or want to stay up to date on social media, you can find host Frances Cook on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.

You can subscribe to this podcast on the podcast apps, including iHeartRadio here, Apple podcasts here, Spotify here, and Google podcasts here.