Minister Twyford at Offices of Indian Newslink on January 22, 2019 (Picture by Sonu Kumar of ShobSonu Limited)
Venkat Raman
Auckland, January 24, 2019
Housing, Urban Development and Transport Minister Phil Twyford was at the Indian Newslink offices on Tuesday, January 22, 2019 to participate in the ‘Hard Talk’ series of the publication.
Kiwibuild initial hiccups
Mr Twyford, who is the elected Member of Parliament (Labour Party) from the Te Atatu Peninsula Constituency in West Auckland accepted that the ‘Kiwibuild’ Programme has not registered the progress that it was expected to register during the first year of the Coalition government but was confident of success after having treated its ‘teething problems.’
He is also confident that a number of co-related programmes such as the ‘Unitary Plan’ of the Auckland Council, Housing New Zealand and other organisations will help his government achieve its objectives.
Improving transport network
Mr Twyford also outlined the collaboration between the Central Government and the local governments for modernising the transport sector and improving public transport services and facilities throughout New Zealand.
“We have rolled out a massive $28 billion plan for modernising the Transport network in Auckland City because all of us experience severe traffic congestion during the peak hours on our roads and motorways. We have worked out a detailed strategy which takes into account the need to have more buses, trains and cycles, rather than cars. Our Rail Link project for Auckland will modernise the Auckland transport system. Similar plans are being drawn for Wellington, which is also fast getting congested,” he said.
RMA changes
Mr Twyford also spoke about amendments to the Resource Management Act and streamline systems and procedures to facilitate a more efficient handling of government policies and programmes.
Hard Talk on YouTube
The accompanying YouTube carries the ‘Hard Talk’ in its entirety length of about 30 minutes.
An edited version on YouTube will appear shortly.
Indian Newslink will do an opinion piece on Mr Twyford’s interview tomorrow.
The Video was shot and produced by Sonu, Shoba and Bharathi of ShobSonu Limited, a media production company based in Auckland.
