Rail heats up as election issue

An Auckland commuter rail service is on track to become one of the more feisty political platforms for Hamilton City Council elections.

Rates Control candidate Tania Hennebry has accused Hamilton council transport committee chairman Dave Macpherson of breaching council confidentiality by releasing commuter rail documentation which suggest grants of about $1 million per year, over three years, will be required to get a Hamilton-Auckland passenger rail service operating.

Further, she called him "a bully" who had deliberately misrepresented her ticket's policy on a Hamilton-Auckland commuter rail service in his website blog.

In response, Mr Macpherson denied breaching confidentiality by releasing memos which reveal the rail cost is much higher than council had hoped.

When Mr Mac-pherson discovered documents relating to the proposed passenger rail service had been supplied to Rates Control leader Roger Hennebry – who he saw as an opponent of the proposal – he asked council management to supply the same information to all candidates, "so everyone could have equal access."

After chief executive Michael Redman failed to do so, Mr Macpherson did it himself.

This, he said, was "in the interests of fairness and democracy" and would lead to much more in-formed debate on the hustings.

But Ms Hennebry said it undermined the confidentiality of KiwiRail's proposal.

"That could have been maintained while still releasing the definite conclusion that the risk of this project is too high," she said. "That is peppered through all of the reports but is only now released because a councillor entitled to it has requested it."

Mr Macpherson pointed out he did not release the confidential KiwiRail report itself, just a council memo summarising it.

"I have no interest in whether figures are right or wrong," he said. "My only interest is in having a fully informed debate with all candidates having the same information."

His view was if normal subsidies for public transport were available, the service would be affordable.

"I am happy to have that argument on council with those elected. It will be a far more reasonable debate because everyone has got that information.

"It had already been released to Roger (Hennebry). If she is against that, she is not in favour of openness and accountability."

Mr Redman has backed Mr Macpherson's position, saying he saw no breach of confidentiality but said council staff should not be sending unsolicited information to candidates at the request of another candidate.

"It was not because we believed the information to be confidential."

- © Fairfax NZ News