Is the bun fight over the Sky City convention centre really worth it? On the one hand, John Key seems as committed as he could possibly be to the deal going through. But on the other, political pragmatist Steven Joyce took the chance this weekend to jimmy the door open a little wider and slightly more emphatically for the deal still to be abandoned. It really ought to be.
Enough holes have now been picked in this deal for it to finally be dropped.
Nothing much new has come to light in the past few days about pokie machines, gaming tables and all the associated harm that will follow if the deal goes through. All of that was known when the idea was launched back in June and it is no less objectionable now than it was back then.
But what has become clearer now is the extent to which Sky City had the inside running for the deal.
Key has always insisted that Sky City was the only bidder that could do the deal without any cash needed from the Government. The implication was always that the other bidders actually put numbers up that paled in comparison with Sky City's. Key now admits that was not the case and numbers only emerged from Sky City and no one else. It's almost certainly true that Sky City could offer the best financial terms to the Government, but without any actual figures from rival bidders, how could Key be absolutely sure?
We now know, for example, that the late Lloyd Morrison personally contacted Key in August 2010 seeking to discuss a potential Public Private Partnership for the convention centre. He seems to have had no audience with Key on the issue and instead had his personal emailed plea passed along to Gerry Brownlee, who replied with a fob-off one month later.
Morrison's outfit sank cash into the Melbourne Convention Centre but scarcely got a look in for Auckland. They were planning a site for the convention centre at the Wynyard Quarter - a spot officials described as ''optimal'' in their advice to ministers on a potential centre. Surely then, Morrison was at least worth getting in for a chat. If a PPP with Morrison had been picked, plans would be much further advanced for a centre actually getting built than they now are; the Crown would have a stake in the new build; and most of all, the discomforting allegations of laws seemingly being for sale and the inevitability of the Government mandating more harm from problem gambling would be off the table.
Surely that's reason enough to stop the talks, isn't it?
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Another left leaning rant. At least you are consistent He gives no real reason for the Govt to say NO to a deal that would give NZ a covention centre without contribution from the taxpayer. You must have been spewing to see the results of the latest polls!
I suppose if you call making the best offer having "inside running" then yes it would appear that Sky City have had the "inside running". If you want to call making the best offer "making the best offer" then yes,Sky City have made the best offer. Trying to dress it up as a controversy is more revealing of the author than of the participants.
Agree. Dirty deal. Not in the best interest of Auckland. If we want a convention centre (and there is some doubt about that), then let's fund it fairly. Not some dirty deal.
Agree. If the government are so happy to change the law, how come their hands were tied when it came to the Crafer Farms?
National's poll rating up 5%.
Note to Lefties: please keep picking holes.
People like Key and Joyce will do this sort of stuff like Sky City, favours for Media Works, Hollywood, ACC and so on as their core constituency have like them no morals or social conscience, and another lot of rednecks some of those commenting here, are so jolly silly they don't understand they are being used (Ray G #2 would be a great example if his intellectual capacity amounts to little more than looking at polls. Of course this whole thing is a dirty deal but a largely ignorant public voted for it so it's what you Kiwis have for 2 or 3 years or more going forward.
@Ray G" He gives no real reason for the Govt to say NO to a deal that would give NZ a covention centre without contribution from the taxpayer" The Ministry of Economic Development already has the taxpayer on the hook for $10m of subsidies while the centre gets up and running. Im prepared to bet ALOT of money that this figure is just the tip of the iceberg.
Ray G#2,David #3
I've no axe to grind with Sky City as such, but the reason to be a bit skeptical here is that the process appears to have been like an invitation only bid where only one bidder was formally invited! It may be Sky City are indeed the best candidate for the job but how do we (or the government) know that if all other reasonable contenders are excluded? I don't feel there's been much honesty or transparency in this whole business.
John Hartevelt #
"...pokie machines, gaming tables and all the associated harm that will follow if the deal goes through..."
It’s not a parents job to raise children, it’s a parents job to raise adults !
I can't believe a man like yourself went there John !
Not with a bang or even a whimper
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Moved very quickly from your last blog, obviously not getting the response you wanted.
Really with this convention centre the arguments have gone totally from the need for such a beast to problem gambling. Well simple get rid of all pokies that are not in casinos. Secondary charge all NZ citizens who enter one of these establishments $100 towards problem gambling.
In regards to the convention centre, just don't build it. There is no way that 1000 construction jobs for two years and 800 permanent jobs once its opened are important enough to NZ and our economy. Far better to pay the dole to these people.