From Mint Innovation’s work turning e-waste into gold to Toku Eyes’ developing AI that detects eye disease, to the world’s first tourism hydrofoiling electric ferry designed and built by Vessev – Auckland is a city of pioneers.
Even in my own backyard of West Auckland, I’ve met some amazing people working across manufacturing, film, and engineering, reassuring me there’s no shortage of Kiwi ingenuity in our city.
It’s this innovation that Labour will back with the New Zealand Future Fund – creating secure, well-paid jobs and keeping our ideas, wealth, and people here at home.
When I think about Auckland’s future, I think about a city that I want my kids and my moko growing up in, studying in, working in, and contributing to.
I want an Auckland rich with opportunity. A city that inspires generations to build their futures here at home rather than feeling they have to go abroad, as so many have in recent years.
It’s unacceptable that Auckland, the economic engine of the nation, currently has the highest unemployment rate in New Zealand. It’s also disheartening that countless businesses have been forced to close up shop, hollowing out the city, because there’s been no fix.
We need a sustainable long-term plan for Auckland. It’s no use chopping and changing every three years because of political ideology. It’s exactly why we’ve said we’ll be sensible when entering government regarding long-term projects already underway.
We need infrastructure that reflects a growing population and addresses the challenges many Aucklanders face daily.
This means ensuring Auckland stands the test of time and inevitable severe weather events. It means making life easier for Aucklanders and giving them certainty on major infrastructure across transport, housing, and big events.
It’s a huge shame that National stalled construction works nationwide – putting projects in limbo and costing up to 20,000 construction workers their jobs. This doesn’t give certainty, nor does it instil any confidence in a government that can sensibly back Auckland.
We know what can happen when there’s genuine bipartisanship on long-term projects. The City Rail Link is a clear example of this. A project developed through successive governments resulting in Aucklanders getting a new, more efficient way to get around town later this year.
It’s crucial that we listen closely to what local communities are most concerned about and what their aspirations are for a better life.
Aucklanders want a city with well-paid jobs, accessible hospitals, and affordable housing. It’s why we’ve said making an affordable New Zealand is our number one priority. It’s why we’ve announced policy like three free doctors’ visits a year for every Kiwi.
Sadly, what we’re getting instead is a failing economy, with high cost-of-living causing pain for many who were promised a fix.
With talks still ongoing for the Auckland Regional Deal, what has been previewed so far doesn’t look like much. In saying that, we shouldn’t understate the importance of having a better framework for ongoing engagement between Auckland Council and the Government – but it’s clear Aucklanders are wanting more.
They want to get to work without sitting in traffic for hours, to be able to pay their bills, see a doctor, access affordable housing, and have money left over at the end of the week to do something nice with their whānau.
A globally ambitious Auckland is one that is ambitious for its people.
Tāmaki Makaurau has everything it needs to thrive – it just needs a Government that backs it.
Carmel Sepuloni is Labour’s deputy leader and the party’s spokesperson on Auckland.