The future of the KiwiRail-operated ferries has been drifting in and out on the tide since Finance Minister Nicola Willis cancelled the iRex replacement plan in December 2023, with projections that buying the ships from South Korea and upgrading terminals in Picton and Wellington could reach nearly $4 billion and cause a major budget blowout.
RNZ recently reported the government had allocated $300 million just to cover the broken contracts associated with that decision.
Last December, a year after scuppering iRex, Ms Willis astonished the nation by claiming "I’ve delivered. I’ve discharged my duty". That was highly debatable, but what she did do was announce a company to procure two new vessels and introduce Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters as Minister for Rail.
On Monday, Mr Peters made good on the promise in December to have an update by the end of March. And what he had to say appears to have been worth the anticipation, although the Labour Party points out that all Mr Peters announced was that Kiwis would still be waiting another three years for new ferries and that their cost remained uncertain.
However, we see merit in what he has come up with, even if it is a case of half-speed ahead rather than full-speed ahead.
Obviously, some urgency is being brought to sorting out the ferries, whether it is from Mr Peters himself or others, and that resolve to get something under way now provides great strides towards national unity, because it is not only a physical barrier which Cook Strait provides between the South and North Islands.
On a number of occasions it has seemed to southerners that this overwhelmingly northern coalition is mainly interested in matters from Wellington up. It is important they remember the strait is just as much a part of State Highway 1 as the Desert Rd.
The plan just announced is for two ferries about 200m long and 28m wide, capable of carrying up to 1500 passengers each. Importantly, they will both be rail-enabled, an asset which freight companies have been calling for as essential.
Mr Peters said the ships would arrive before Christmas 2029, have a full service life of 30 years each, and "will get you, your family, the caravan, the dog and all the rest, across the strait".
The programme was a "yes to affordability and no to extravagance", which would include some marine infrastructure replacement in Picton and lesser modifications to the Wellington terminus.
Work on the project had vindicated Ms Willis’ decision to can the iRex venture, he said. Both are tight-lipped about a possible cost, other than to say it will be less than for Labour’s mega-ferries proposal, Mr Peters telling RNZ the new plan will actually be billions of dollars cheaper.
The Rail Minister, who is under pressure on other issues, including comments he has made about Green MP Benjamin Doyle, clearly enjoyed delivering the good news at Monday’s press conference.
In his inimitable fashion, Cap’n Peters sized up the assembled journalists, twiddled with his gold-braided cuffs, adjusted his invisible officer’s cap and, with a steely look, sent a warning shot across their bows: "It’s a press conference on this issue, and this issue alone."
Pressed about the costs of the new ferries, he reiterated the government would not reveal a budget while it was still negotiating.
"That turns a buyers’ market into a sellers’ market, and it’s commercial stupidity," he said. The total cost and the proportions of how much would be borne by the government and the two ports would be revealed later in the year when the agreements were signed.
We are pleased that progress is being made on this crucial link across our country and look forward to hearing more.
In the meantime, however, we will all have to drop anchor.
