A frisson of excitement had been rippling across the land this week once word got out the government was about to declare its solution to the Cook Strait ferries problem.
Rewind a year almost to the day, and you might recall that Finance Minister Nicola Willis told New Zealanders the new government was cancelling the iREX project, because the cost of two new South Korean-built megaferries and the required port infrastructure in Wellington and Picton was likely to exceed $2.6 billion (or $3.2b, depending on who you listen to).
A little like the government’s claimed blowout of the cost of the new Dunedin hospital, the potential cost of that canned ferry project now seems to have risen to $4b in the government’s messaging, though, as Newsroom points out, that figure is mentioned briefly in a July 2023 Treasury report to the Labour government.
A year is a very long time in politics. Hence the public had fair expectations that there would be something solid to say about what would replace iREX.
Instead, Ms Willis’s pronouncement was that this government — which doesn’t like bureaucracy and is not a fan of a large public service — would set up a new Crown agency to oversee the purchase of two new ferries to hopefully start in 2029.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was now Minister for Rail, she said, and she announced another announcement would be made in March. Oh, and the cost of its plan was commercially confidential, despite, presumably, taxpayers having to stump up for it.
"I’ve delivered. I’ve discharged my duty to the New Zealand people. You were landed with an absolute dog of a project and a new government is going to clean it up."
No, Ms Willis, you have not "discharged" your duty over the ferries, but rather rapidly and publicly washed your hands of the problem and made a quick, almost too fast for the human eye to see, pass to Mr Peters. Your comments that you have delivered came across as smug and dismissive.
At the press conference, Mr Peters looked as if he were slightly astonished to be there, unsurprising given it has been revealed he only found out about the new job less than a few hours earlier.
This has been a voyage aboard Coalition Cruises’ Blarney Princess which set sail a year ago this week into the wide blue yonder.
What happened on Wednesday was the equivalent of Captain Willis getting on the vessel’s PA system and broadcasting to passengers and crew, eagerly awaiting news of their fate, that they would have to keep drifting a few more months yet before she would be making another announcement.
Mr Peters’ appointment is perhaps one good thing to come out of this "omnishambles", as Green Party transport spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter elegantly put it.
We know he likes trains and rail.
He has been a minister for railways in the past and says he has closely watched the sector for decades. He has been positive about Dunedin’s Hillside workshops.
He is already stamping his authority on things, taking no prisoners with other members of the coalition, including Ms Willis and Act NZ leader David Seymour over the ferry plans.
Mr Peters says rail-enabled ferries are a "no brainer", despite Ms Willis and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon quickly pointing out the current ferries are only rail-compatible, with no rails on the vessels.
His response to that? That others were making comments and "I’m just scratching my head and wondering on what on earth they’re basing those statements".
Mr Peters has already slapped down Mr Seymour for talking about the possible cost and referred to him as the minister "that’s not in charge".
The fiasco over the ferries and the power plays between coalition partners which it has exposed really have been the best show in town this week.
The cracks really are showing, particularly between Mr Peters and Mr Seymour.
They always say worse things happen at sea.
