New Auckland Mayor Len Brown has reaffirmed his commitment to an improved train system for the country's biggest city, saying new lines are vital for New Zealand income levels to catch up to Australia.
In his first address at the first Auckland Council meeting, Mr Brown said it was time to stop imagining how to improve Auckland's transport system and other infrastructure and time to start acting.
Mr Brown's three key rail visions - an inner city loop, a line to Auckland International Airport and rail to the North Shore - will all come with high price tags, which the Government has said indicated it may not be able to be fund for some years.
But Mr Brown said such lines were vital if the Government wanted to meet its commitment to having New Zealand incomes catch up to Australia in 25 years.
"For New Zealand to catch and pass Australia economically, Auckland's infrastructure needs to match and surpass the likes of Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney," Mr Brown said.
"It will not be easy. These are expensive projects. But we have had reports, discussions, and debates for long enough.
"There will be a cost. But we will do it."
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Anna Burns-Francis about the official swearing in of the new Auckland super city.
He said the projects were vital if people from the North Shore wanted to work in south Auckland, and vice versa, without requiring three hours a day getting to and from work.
"It's about ensuring businesses can move their freight around and through our city quickly and efficiently, rather than having to factor time spent stuck on motorways and congested local roads into their costings.
"And it's also about ensuring that investors - local and foreign - see Auckland as a great place to establish a business, creating jobs and prosperity not just for Auckland, but for all of New Zealand."
Mr Brown noted that Auckland in the 1970s nearly had a light rail project, conceived by former Auckland City Mayor Sir Dove-Meyer Robinson, only for it to be derailed.
"Imagine the economic and social potential that that rapid rail project would have unlocked over the past 30 years. Imagine the prosperity that Auckland would have created for all of New Zealand."
Mr Brown also said technological and other infrastructure, along with an improved environment for entrepreneurship, was vital.
"Auckland could be like San Francisco - a hub of innovation and entrepreneurial activity," he said.
"The connections and collaborations between our universities and businesses are already producing first-class results and promise more to come.
"We must nurture them and give them, literally, room to move, so they can develop new products and services we can export to the world."
Mr Brown said it was also important for Auckland to be an eco-city which looked for ways to protect and nourish the environment.
But he also said he wanted to keep rates down as much as possible.
"At a time when many are experiencing economic hardship, the last thing they need are higher rates bill," he said.
"But my history has been to keep rates rises as close as possible to the rate of inflation and I have every intention of continuing to do that."
NZPA