Key Facts The last Labour Government oversaw KiwiRail’s iRex ferry procurement project, in which costs ballooned. National Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced in December that she was cancelling the iRex ferry procurement project. A report has just been delivered to the government on options for the ferry procurement project.
The childish behaviour of our politicians, both sides and minor parties too, is a disgrace. They do not believe the country needs integrated transport. Yesterday, we travelled by car from Dunedin to Christchurch. Much of the road system is third world with potholes, channels gouged by over heavy trucks (thank you Keys National government) dangerous bridges hardly wide enough, open gulleys at the sides for vehicles to run down and crash if a driver makes a mistake and a railway line running alongside for much of the way. We saw one train in 4 hours travel!
We have good ports in Littleton, Timaru and Port Chalmers. We have a grossly underutilised rail system.
Are we really to consign the South Island to an even worse, third world situation just because those idiots in Wellington can only listen to donors and their lobbyists?
Very much admire Bryan Edwards’ column this morning. It is the best work I have yet encountered, in laying out the range of dilemmas relating to the Cook Strait situation and its urgency! Plainly, we need the Government to act with unity on behalf of our total country in a preplanned manner that will enable steady future growth! Childish bickering and blaming does nothing to enhance progress so vitally needed. Ever thought of becoming a Consultant, Bryce?
Very much admire Bryan Edwards’ column this morning. That's a nice typo - that lilting Irish voice casts a long audio-shadow over NZ broadcasting history.
It's pretty clear we need a cross-party infrastructure plan, with the sort of people the MOW produced. Why not task Infrastructure NZ to follow up on the way Denmark is handling their infrastructure needs?
With increasing bad weather there's an obvious need to develop transport facilities. We have a rail network, why not explore how to make it more useful?
On the face of it, a new look at portside ferry infrastructure might find a better alternative to the 3 billion cancelled plan for the ferries already under construction.
I am so frustrated by this ferry debacle. Both Labour and National are to blame for the situation we will be in 2026. Labour for allowing the port costs to blow out by $2.5 billion, and National for demanding KiwiRail cancel the ferry contract. These ferries were negotiated at a very good price (which hasn't changed) amd would have future proofed cook strait travel for the next 25-30 years. They would have been energy efficient, and cost effective to run. They were very good.
It seems the problem was the portside infastructure that had ballooned out due to earthquake strengthening costs. This was mostly stability of the surrounding land. The original plan was to have the ferries load and unload on waves closer into the city.
National's plan to cancel the ferries is going to cost an awful lot. At least $200 million to break a contract, hundreds of million more building three new ferries, and a whole lot more spend maintaining the existing ferries. That is not sensible business thinking in my mind.
And the existing ports infastructure does not meet current earthquake standards. Especially if they are going to build new ferries that might have to be upgraded anyway.
So surely it would be a good idea to rethink the portside infastructure rather than the proposed ferries. They could look at ferries that could sail between Wellington and Lyttleton, and between Wellington and Picton.
Where is Winston Peters in all this?? He has been a major proponent of strategic infastructure. He was part of rhe Government that ordered the ferries. With the Prime Minister talking about selling KiwiRail why is he silent?
Are we paying the price of not having the Ministry of Works? Treasury is rightly finance focused. Which agency focus on the long view for infrastructure now? I guess it's scattered over a number of agencies and will be a sub-set to their principal reason for existence. Let us not forget that Labour removed the MOW in the Rogernomics era and as you sew so shall you reap, as it was written somewhere. The function of the MOW to have the long view was laid onto the altar of neo-liberalism where everything became financial efficiency. The result.........no long-term planning for a fundamental link for us in the South Island, and instead an emphasis on potholes and raising speed limits.
And in whataboutery... What about the $4billion subsidy to trucking to repair all the potholes dug by the heavy trucking industry in the nation's roads, and to be paid by the country's car drivers and general taxpayers. That's all right, the God Boy might say: I like to play with trucks..
While I'm no supporter of either man, Winston Peters and Richard Prebble have both come out firmly on the side of ensuring any replacement ferries are rail-fitted. Anything else will be an economic and environmental disaster.
While KiwiRail's behaviour in procuring traffic is lamentable in many instances, much of NZ business consigns export produce by truck where there is a parallel railway available.
This matters. NZ has signed up to a number of trade agreements, such as those with the United Kingdom and European Union, and the large print says they are conditional upon us meeting Paris Agreement emissions targets.
Despite what the right of some of the coalition's colleagues seem to believe, these conditions are non-negotiable. In fact, farmer protests, agitation riots etc in Europe and the UK are specifically aimed at those agreements in case we don't meet our end of the bargain.
And in case we think we can try elsewhere to sell the products we make to be able to buy all those HI Luxes and Kenworth trucks, the EU and UK agreements in the current world trade environment are a minimum template.
As for the clowns of the coalition, it would be helpful if ministers were actually across their portfolios. State-Owned Enterprises minister Paul Goldsmith has been quote with a gem lamenting the lack of rail ferries in other parts of the world. There's a reason. In most places where they had rail ferries covering similar stretches of water (albeit much gentler and much shallower), undersea tunnels (Channel Tunnel, Seikan Tunnel etc) have been built at great expense. And no, we can't afford one. So were stuck with ferries. And if they're not rail-fitted we might as well all bugger off to Australia, or wherever.
I am wondering who was at the helm of the Aratere when it left Picton and ran aground, cos someone on watch should have noticed it go off course, and had lots of time to put it in reverse to avoid going aground on the shore. It is not a Train, and someone should have been watching ahead. We are lucky not to be getting the huge ferries that were ordered, cos they would have been a pain to manoeuvre. I am detecting human folly is involved in the malfunctioning Aratere steering that had just been repaired, just like Transpower hiring rainbow repair people with D.E.I. skills, to take all the nuts off a pylon base so it fell over causing huge power blackout.
It's pertinent that none of the brains trust advising the government on ferries has any experience, knowledge or whatever on rail freight operations. And bugger the environment...
"BusinessDesk’s Oliver Lewis reports today that Treasury has seconded a consultant, Karen Mitchell from KPMG, to lead the work on the ferry procurement." Well she won't have far to go - last time I was in Wellington I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw KPMG's HQ was a stone's throw from Treasury, right in the middle of the Government precinct.
The childish behaviour of our politicians, both sides and minor parties too, is a disgrace. They do not believe the country needs integrated transport. Yesterday, we travelled by car from Dunedin to Christchurch. Much of the road system is third world with potholes, channels gouged by over heavy trucks (thank you Keys National government) dangerous bridges hardly wide enough, open gulleys at the sides for vehicles to run down and crash if a driver makes a mistake and a railway line running alongside for much of the way. We saw one train in 4 hours travel!
We have good ports in Littleton, Timaru and Port Chalmers. We have a grossly underutilised rail system.
Are we really to consign the South Island to an even worse, third world situation just because those idiots in Wellington can only listen to donors and their lobbyists?
Very much admire Bryan Edwards’ column this morning. It is the best work I have yet encountered, in laying out the range of dilemmas relating to the Cook Strait situation and its urgency! Plainly, we need the Government to act with unity on behalf of our total country in a preplanned manner that will enable steady future growth! Childish bickering and blaming does nothing to enhance progress so vitally needed. Ever thought of becoming a Consultant, Bryce?
Very much admire Bryan Edwards’ column this morning. That's a nice typo - that lilting Irish voice casts a long audio-shadow over NZ broadcasting history.
Beg your pardon! A slip of the fingers…
So easy to make. Just had it pointed out to me at work today that I'd misspelt someone's name.
It's pretty clear we need a cross-party infrastructure plan, with the sort of people the MOW produced. Why not task Infrastructure NZ to follow up on the way Denmark is handling their infrastructure needs?
With increasing bad weather there's an obvious need to develop transport facilities. We have a rail network, why not explore how to make it more useful?
On the face of it, a new look at portside ferry infrastructure might find a better alternative to the 3 billion cancelled plan for the ferries already under construction.
What have we to lose?
Good idea!!
I am so frustrated by this ferry debacle. Both Labour and National are to blame for the situation we will be in 2026. Labour for allowing the port costs to blow out by $2.5 billion, and National for demanding KiwiRail cancel the ferry contract. These ferries were negotiated at a very good price (which hasn't changed) amd would have future proofed cook strait travel for the next 25-30 years. They would have been energy efficient, and cost effective to run. They were very good.
It seems the problem was the portside infastructure that had ballooned out due to earthquake strengthening costs. This was mostly stability of the surrounding land. The original plan was to have the ferries load and unload on waves closer into the city.
National's plan to cancel the ferries is going to cost an awful lot. At least $200 million to break a contract, hundreds of million more building three new ferries, and a whole lot more spend maintaining the existing ferries. That is not sensible business thinking in my mind.
And the existing ports infastructure does not meet current earthquake standards. Especially if they are going to build new ferries that might have to be upgraded anyway.
So surely it would be a good idea to rethink the portside infastructure rather than the proposed ferries. They could look at ferries that could sail between Wellington and Lyttleton, and between Wellington and Picton.
Where is Winston Peters in all this?? He has been a major proponent of strategic infastructure. He was part of rhe Government that ordered the ferries. With the Prime Minister talking about selling KiwiRail why is he silent?
Are we paying the price of not having the Ministry of Works? Treasury is rightly finance focused. Which agency focus on the long view for infrastructure now? I guess it's scattered over a number of agencies and will be a sub-set to their principal reason for existence. Let us not forget that Labour removed the MOW in the Rogernomics era and as you sew so shall you reap, as it was written somewhere. The function of the MOW to have the long view was laid onto the altar of neo-liberalism where everything became financial efficiency. The result.........no long-term planning for a fundamental link for us in the South Island, and instead an emphasis on potholes and raising speed limits.
And in whataboutery... What about the $4billion subsidy to trucking to repair all the potholes dug by the heavy trucking industry in the nation's roads, and to be paid by the country's car drivers and general taxpayers. That's all right, the God Boy might say: I like to play with trucks..
While I'm no supporter of either man, Winston Peters and Richard Prebble have both come out firmly on the side of ensuring any replacement ferries are rail-fitted. Anything else will be an economic and environmental disaster.
While KiwiRail's behaviour in procuring traffic is lamentable in many instances, much of NZ business consigns export produce by truck where there is a parallel railway available.
This matters. NZ has signed up to a number of trade agreements, such as those with the United Kingdom and European Union, and the large print says they are conditional upon us meeting Paris Agreement emissions targets.
Despite what the right of some of the coalition's colleagues seem to believe, these conditions are non-negotiable. In fact, farmer protests, agitation riots etc in Europe and the UK are specifically aimed at those agreements in case we don't meet our end of the bargain.
And in case we think we can try elsewhere to sell the products we make to be able to buy all those HI Luxes and Kenworth trucks, the EU and UK agreements in the current world trade environment are a minimum template.
As for the clowns of the coalition, it would be helpful if ministers were actually across their portfolios. State-Owned Enterprises minister Paul Goldsmith has been quote with a gem lamenting the lack of rail ferries in other parts of the world. There's a reason. In most places where they had rail ferries covering similar stretches of water (albeit much gentler and much shallower), undersea tunnels (Channel Tunnel, Seikan Tunnel etc) have been built at great expense. And no, we can't afford one. So were stuck with ferries. And if they're not rail-fitted we might as well all bugger off to Australia, or wherever.
I am wondering who was at the helm of the Aratere when it left Picton and ran aground, cos someone on watch should have noticed it go off course, and had lots of time to put it in reverse to avoid going aground on the shore. It is not a Train, and someone should have been watching ahead. We are lucky not to be getting the huge ferries that were ordered, cos they would have been a pain to manoeuvre. I am detecting human folly is involved in the malfunctioning Aratere steering that had just been repaired, just like Transpower hiring rainbow repair people with D.E.I. skills, to take all the nuts off a pylon base so it fell over causing huge power blackout.
It's pertinent that none of the brains trust advising the government on ferries has any experience, knowledge or whatever on rail freight operations. And bugger the environment...
"BusinessDesk’s Oliver Lewis reports today that Treasury has seconded a consultant, Karen Mitchell from KPMG, to lead the work on the ferry procurement." Well she won't have far to go - last time I was in Wellington I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw KPMG's HQ was a stone's throw from Treasury, right in the middle of the Government precinct.