Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

It’s fair to say I’ve been seething for the past few days since the news that Ports of Auckland’s automation experiment has crashed and burned.This was a story that we knew was happening and yet the people at the centre of it refused to admit it.Time and time again the media and the council put questions to the management of the Port.Time and time again we were told there was no problem and the tone was that we didn’t know what we were talking about so leave us alone.Well it turns out the Ports didn’t know their own business or what they were talking about and the whole country has paid a price.The automation project was cutting edge. It was not best practice. It was a mightily huge experiment that has cost us dearly.The reports we’ve heard is that the scrapping of it will cost $65 million. That’s just the cost of the useless software that we can’t even re-sell.The cost of this screw up is in the billions. The snarling of our major port.  The self-inflicted supply chain difficulties in the time of pandemic ca