27 Jun 2012

No ministerial lobbying for Snapper: Brownlee

8:26 pm on 27 June 2012

The Minister of Transport has denied the Government had a role in letting the technology company Snapper into Auckland's troubled public transport ticket project.

Auckland Transport is in dispute with Snapper, which has so far failed to adapt technology on hundreds of buses to comply with the Hop electronic ticket system.

The Labour Party says the former transport minister, Steven Joyce, lobbied to find a role for Snapper, after it failed to win the main contract to build the Hop system.

His successor Gerry Brownlee has told Parliament that Mr Joyce did meet companies linked to Snapper on several occasions, and may have discussed the ticketing project, but that ministers had no involvement in any decisions.

After an exchange of letters over alleged breaches of contract by Snapper, Auckland Transport is now considering how to proceed with Hop.