The spiralling cost of travelling to Great Barrier Island and Waiheke has become an election issue, with Waitematā and Gulf ward candidate Genevieve Sage pledging to lower the cost of ferry access if she is elected to Auckland Council.
Sage, who is currently Chair of the Waitematā Local Board, said island communities are being let down by the current approach to transport and governance. “For Great Barrier and Waiheke Islands specifically, I want to see subsidised ferry access,” she said in her pledge to residents.
She is standing to replace Mike Lee as councillor for the ward and said voters need to back candidates who bring commercial and financial acumen to the table. “We need a new breed of councillors – with drive and energy, the commercial and financial acumen to make wise decisions about complex multi-billion dollar issues – and who have an aspirational vision for Auckland as one of the world’s great cities.”
The pledge comes as SeaLink fares rise again from 1 October, with a return sailing for two adults and a car now just under $1,200 before the residents’ discount. In 2020 the same trip was $614 — a 92 per cent increase in five years. The operator says wharfage, compliance and maintenance costs have forced the increases.
Sage said Council must not treat island access as a lifestyle subsidy and instead view it as an investment in Auckland’s future. She proposes Council set out a clear “wish list” of service levels and affordable tariffs, then seek bids from private operators, with weight given to innovative solutions that reduce the cost to ratepayers.
“This is a classic example of how Council needs to shift its thinking into the 21st century and start looking at more innovative ways of solving problems,” she said. “There’s no point promoting the Barrier and its lifestyle if it can’t be readily and affordably accessed, so that its residents can live there and invest in building their businesses.”
The pledge comes as airfares to the island have also risen sharply and with questions hanging over the future of Fullers.
“Finding ways to enable affordable, reliable, user-friendly transport links between Great Barrier and the mainland can be seen as a form of investment in the region as a whole — not as a simple subsidy, where one group of residents might feel that they are paying for the lifestyle choices of Great Barrier residents.” she added.
