The Rugby World Cup Minister announced the plans at a media conference in downtown Auckland this morning. Mr McCully said the structure was “most assuredly not a tent” . Instead it will be a glass house, made from steel and glass. The Government would pay $9 million for the “cost-effective, eco friendly building” and Auckland regional ratepayers would pay $10 million for the upgrade of the wharf, Mr McCully said.

The $19million dollar glasshouse will be the largest in the world, according to Yates Gardens, and will be a real benefit to New Zealand. Once the Rugby World Cup is over it is expected the glasshouse will be put on Trade Me with early suggestions the Coromandel District Council and the Manukau District Council both want the item to help with their local cannabis crops.

Gardener McCully said the Queens Wharf development would feature a fanzone with an international media lounge providing backdrops of the harbour and downtown Auckland. The structure would take up between 5.5 and 6 acres on the site – about 20 per cent of the wharf. “The Queens Wharf will become the people’s glasshouse,” Mr McCully said.