Senior minister Chris Bishop is rejecting criticism over a funding decision shifting Kāinga Ora money to a walking and cycling bridge in his electorate that he campaigned on.
Bishop — who is Housing and Transport Minister and Hutt South MP — agreed in March this year to Lower Hutt City Council’s request to reallocate funds earmarked for stormwater upgrades for the CityLink Bridge, a project he campaigned on.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has criticised the move, saying it doesn’t pass the sniff test, and is a “questionable and unaccountable” shifting of money.
The bridge between Melling Railway Station and Lower Hutt city centre is part of the wider RiverLink project and is a project Bishop campaigned on.
The money was part of a Kāinga Ora Infrastructure Acceleration Funding agreement with Lower Hutt City Council, designed to support housing developments by upgrading water infrastructure in the city.
Bishop said shifting the funds was a “pragmatic decision”, driven by Lower Hutt City Council.
He said the council had come to him, having identified an “underspend” with the infrastructure money and asked to transfer that to the CityLink Bridge.
“It’s actually pretty straightforward, the council asked for it, we agreed.”
He said the Government had agreed to a similar request Hamilton City Council made last year, asking if money allocated for a cycleway could be put into water infrastructure instead.
When asked whether he should have recused himself from the Lower Hutt decision, Bishop said it wasn’t unusual to make decisions impacting multiple portfolios and electorates.
“I don’t think there’s a conflict there.”
The Cabinet Manual states ministers should exercise careful judgment about possible conflicts between their constituency interests and their ministerial roles.
Bishop said the Finance Minister Nicola Willis approved the variation to the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, and he considered this to be an adequate safeguard.
Labour’s leader Chris Hipkins slammed the move as “very questionable process”.
“It certainly doesn’t pass the sniff test in terms of having one minister, moving money from one portfolio that he’s responsible for, to another portfolio that he’s responsible for, for a project which he campaigned on in his own electorate, which his government cancelled.”
The decision was signed off by both Bishop and Willis.
He said the Government shouldn’t be reallocating money away from stormwater upgrades to “prop up” a project it cancelled.
“They basically said as a government we don’t want walking or cycling bridges, so they are cancelling all of those, and now Chris Bishop is saying ‘except for the one in my electorate, which I’m going to take money from housing to pay for.'”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he backed Bishop’s decision as “pragmatic”.
By Ellen O’Dwyer of rnz.co.nz
