54 contractors, one employee working on Light Rail

After five years of Labour failing to deliver a single metre of light rail in Auckland, figures show that 54 highly-paid contractors are working on the project and just a single full-time employee, National’s Transport spokesperson Simeon Brown says.

“It is astounding that the Government’s new Auckland Light Rail entity only has one full-time employee, especially when Labour is proposing to spend up to $29.2 billion on the project.

“More than $44 million has already been spent on consultants for Auckland Light Rail. This figure is sure to rise even further under this new entity, which appears to have an aversion to full-time staff in favour of more expensive contractors.

“Labour promised to build light rail from Auckland Airport to the city centre by 2021 but has failed to deliver a single metre of the project. This utter failure is a testament to a Government that is addicted to spending but completely unable to get things done.

“Labour needs to stop wasting money on this project which has gone nowhere in the past five years and doesn’t have a business case. New Zealanders deserve much better from Government when it comes to delivering major infrastructure projects.”