The Taxpayers’ Union says it supports Napier MP Stuart Nash’s backing of a public, private partnership taking operational control of the Napier-Gisborne rail link.
The Taxpayers’ Union executive director, Jordan Williams, says Nash is backing a model where private investors, and not taxpayers, would take the risk to reopen the Napier-Gisborne line.
“Last week we got the wrong end of the stick and misunderstood the proposal Nash is championing,” says Williams.
“We had wrongly assumed Nash was taking the approach other regional MP’s often do, where they call for more taxpayer money for KiwiRail to subsidise uneconomic lines,” he says.
“Nash has identified the benefits of why these risks are best left to the private sector to manage and we applaud him for working with the private sector to promote a win-win for the East Coast,” says Williams.
“The cost of rail to taxpayers since it was re-nationalised in 2008 equals more than $12.2 billion dollars. That is equivalent to more than $2,700 per taxpayer or $6,900 per household – enough to buy a good, reliable secondhand car,” he says.
