The coalition Government has declined a KiwiRail request to contribute significant additional funding to address cost escalations in the project to replace the InterIslander ferry fleet, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.
KiwiRail had requested an additional $1.47 billion, a component of which had been agreed to in-principle by the previous government, to address cost escalations related to associated harbourside infrastructure.
“The Government remains committed to a resilient safe and reliable Cook Strait connection, but the cost of this project has almost quadrupled since 2018 to approximately $3 billion,” Ms Willis says.
“It is also now the case that only 21 per cent of these costs are associated with the core project of replacing ageing ferries.
“Ministers do not have confidence that there will not be further increases and are concerned about the continued significant cost blow-outs and the changing nature of the investment they are being asked to make.
“Furthermore, agreeing to KiwiRail’s request would reduce the Government’s ability to address the cost pressures that are impacting on New Zealanders, fund other essential projects and get the Crown’s books back in order.”
Nicola Willis says the decision is not a reflection on shipbuilder Hyundai Mipo Dockyard which was awarded the contracts to build two rail-enabled ferries. The bulk of the cost-escalation is related to upgrading harbourside infrastructure in Wellington and Picton, including to accommodate new larger ferries.
“I have been advised by the KiwiRail Board that, in light of the Government’s decision, it will now oversee the wind down of the project and review its plans for the Cook Strait connection.
“Ministers have made clear to KiwiRail that we expect KiwiRail to prioritise providing reliable, safe and enduring ferry services. Ministers, including State Owned Enterprises Minister Paul Goldsmith, will engage with the Board and with officials about alternative options to ensure an enduring connection. The Government will also be taking advice on how best to understand how this situation unfolded in order to inform future decisions.
“In the meantime, we expect KiwiRail to continue focusing on providing a reliable ferry service and to prioritise existing services appropriately.”
The 64 billion at last count wasted on a virus that does not exist resulting in completely unnecessary lockdowns that have devastated the economy the true extent of which yet to be realized would be a tidy little sum for some jerk water hick town at the bottom of the Pacific
Maybe the ‘government’ can hire and employ the bridge engineers and construction companies that constructed the Kerch Strait Bridge linking Russia and the Crimean Peninsula…to build a bridge at the shortest and narrowest body of water between South Island (New Zealand) and North Island (Aotearoa).
Hazards? Try fast-moving currents, wind, and horrendous sea conditions at times…but-
such a bridge could be built in 5 years, since David ‘Suddenly Seymour’ has now insisted that his Zionist Bankster mates over at the (No)-Reserve Bank can start printing more money with no tangible asset backing the same..! (yet, the Kiwi Dollar is still above .60 cents U.S…bad news for exporters still trying to get back on their feet…)
Here again, the old boats will soon descend into Third World status…that is, IF they don’t end up descending into the bottom of the Cook Strait, killing many…!
Only then will the Politicians act…and still take 5 years to procure new boats…!
Last time we traveled on the ferries of both companies, one had electrical probs and the other had raw sewage stenching-up the vehicle decks!
And, Picton is layered with diesel particulate from these old boats…and when the wind is right, you can taste the tanginess of the diesel exhaust with your omelette over at the Seaview Restaurant (a GREAT 5-Star restaurant that serves a wonderful All-Day Brekkie, but is compromised when the wind blows from the wharf where the ferries berth and dock into..!)
Hence, LPG or hydrogen fuel is the next propulsion system for the new boats in order to clean-up the diesel exhaust that has led to high cancer rates in Picky…!
Picton drinking water quality is shocking too
Anybody interested in Picton
A High as the Hills: The Centennial History of Picton – Henry D Kelly
A Labyrinth of Waterways – W Frank Ponder
Finding A Way To Live: A Race for the Whale – Hoki Perano
The Perano Whalers of Cook Strait – Don Grady
One retiring Cook Strait Ferry Captain of the Arahura commented in his reflections that one thing he would not miss was looking for the entrance way to Tory Channel on a ‘shitty’ night
Tory Channel was discovered inadvertently by a European Jacky Guard although Maori already obviously knew of its existence
Ernst Dieffenbach (Dieffenbach Point) came to NZ on a ship called the ‘Tory’
Finance Minister Nicola Willis feared she would be left with a “completely open chequebook” if she had agreed to pour more funding into the Cook Strait mega-ferry project.
Which is exactly correct
The world is coming to the end of an economic cycle and entering a severe recession or worse
The G7 can be likened to the centre of a sun in that when it cannot support the outer it collapses
Labour embarked on a completely reckless frenzied fiscal spending spree oblivious to its outcome and consequences
And is so smug about it
Who in their right mind would vote for these clowns in light of the covid debacle and impartial independent analysis ?
Again Willis is right and justified in her decision that no doubt in resigning NZ to walking the gang plank would lead to massive blowouts and over spends
To reiterate the 64 billion dollars and counting on a virus that does not exist would have paid for all this and more
How KiwiRail’s Cook Strait mega-ferry project unravelled
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/how-kiwirails-cook-strait-mega-ferry-vision-unravelled/WP2DT7JHONBSTBEEIKOHASAEIY/
New Zealand DX class locomotive Replacement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_DX_class_locomotive