KiwiRail has agreed to a $144 million final settlement with South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard over the cancellation of the Project iReX ferries, the company confirmed Friday.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said the payment covers costs incurred by Hyundai and its global suppliers, stressing the decision to cancel the project was not a reflection on the shipbuilder. “As $300 million was originally provisioned to cover the potential cost of exiting iReX commitments, more funding is now available for other Government projects,” he said.
Peters criticised earlier claims that taxpayers would face much higher costs, noting some estimates ranged from $300 million to more than $1 billion. He said the project’s budget had ballooned from $1.45 billion in 2021 to Treasury warnings of $4 billion in 2023, blaming “absentee management” and overambition.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the settlement closed “another sorry chapter” in what she described as the previous government’s mismanagement. She said the original plan — purchasing two larger ferries without adequate consideration for necessary port upgrades — had led to costs almost quadrupling by the time Cabinet cancelled the project in December 2023.
Willis said the Government is now pursuing a more pragmatic approach to ensure a safe and reliable Cook Strait service “at an affordable price”, with Ferry Holdings continuing talks with shipbuilders and port infrastructure work progressing in Picton and Wellington.
Political mismanagement of public weatlh of this scale ought to incur drastic fines and penalties.
At the very least these parasites should be publically outed and should never again have the chance of entering public service.
The Beehive would be very empty…time for new citizens to step up to represent our people.
Vote for the NEW ZEALAND LOYAL PARTY in the next (s)election!
Ditch the comfort of voting for the Uni-Party and it’s minor party underlings!