Kerre Woodham: We just have to bite the bullet

It was 10 years and about a month ago that John Key, then Prime Minister of New Zealand, got up on his hind legs at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and laid out the National Party's plan for a new harbour crossing.

There was going to be a freight corridor in Onehunga mooted, as was an inner-city rail link, a cost of $2.86 billion. Two options were floated: tunnels near the existing harbour bridge or another bridge. A road bridge would cost $3.9 billion to build.

In this day and age, $3.9 billion is like pocket change, the sort of money that Grant Robertson seems to regularly find or lose down the back of the couch. Tunnels would cost up to $5.3 billion.

Cam Slater: A New Harbour Tunnel You Say?

The new Transport Minister has delivered a fantasy promise of a new harbour crossing using tunnels. The price tag is eye watering, but they’ve announced it like we are expected to take them seriously.