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A group of around 40 people, most of them “diehard Labour Party supporters”, shared breakfast with Labour leader Andrew Little at Jamaica Blue café in Silverdale recently.
The breakfast meeting, which was held on Saturday, July 8 as an opportunity to introduce Rodney candidate Marja Lubeck, was also attended by Hibiscus & Bays Local Board members Julia Parfitt, Janet Fitzgerald and Chris Bettany.
Mr Little said he hasn’t visited the area for a very long time, and was stunned to see the speed of development. He last lived in Auckland around 20 years ago.
The amount of development was a key concern raised by those at the meeting, with the local board members putting their case for Penlink.
Mr Little would not be drawn on any potential commitment to a petrol tax ahead of a policy announcement at the end of this month. The announcement will set out Labour’s vision for Auckland and its policy on infrastructure funding, “looking at alternative means other than rates or taxes”.
He said it’s vital that infrastructure keeps pace with development, and that there will be a big emphasis on public transport.
“We have to do long term planning – not for 10 or 20 years, but for 50 to 100 years, so we are not always playing catch-up,” he said.
The Labour campaign will be hitting the road itself soon – traveling around the region in a campervan.
