19 July 2026
I attended Friday evenings Community Forum to keep our port public which was hosted at the Loons, Lyttelton by The Maritime Union of NZ, Rail & Maritime Transport Union and NZDE.
It was a great turn out by the community with a fullhouse, and it was very informative. Meeting recording is available on Youtube
Lyttelton Port is owned by the people of Christchurch through CCHL. Over $7.5 billion of exports went out through it in the last financial year, and the returns come back to this city.
CCHL has an unsolicited proposal in its inbox for a long term operating arrangement, up to 30 years by Port operator conglomerate DP World, a state-owned company in the United Arab Emirates.
DP World’s bid to take over running the port was endorsed by Tōnui, a collective of Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke, Te Ngai Tūāhuriri Rūnanga and Te Taumutu Rūnanga, which declined to comment further at this stage.
It’s being framed as a partnership that keeps the land in public hands.
The maritime unions have been clear about what they think it is, it is privatisation by stealth and profit stripping.
It was good to hear from port workers, from the unions, and from people in the community tonight. We have to stop this once and for all.
I was very proud of the turnout by Alliance Party candidates and surprised by the absence of Labour and Green MPs and their local candidates. The port is key infrastructure for our island nation and a critical part of the Alliance hub & spoke distribution plans for our ports and integrated rail network and domestic flagged shipping.
Greg Byrnes 