Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones made no secret of his outrage when Air NZ ceased flying to Kaitaia, and yesterday he reacted in similar vein to InterCity's post-Covid timetable, which excludes Kaitaia.
The timetable shows Kerikeri as the company's northernmost destination, and the service to Kaitaia and beyond as 'temporarily suspended.'
That, Mr Jones said yesterday, was an awful situation.
"We've had shabby treatment at the hands of Air NZ, and I'm not going to take more of the same from InterCity," he said.
Mr Jones had no doubt that the company had suffered significant financial losses as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, but last month's government budget had acknowledged the difficulties the transport sector as a whole was facing. He also expected it to recognise that "connectivity" for the Far North with the rest of the country was crucially important, however. And as far as he was concerned, any financial assistance from the government for InterCity would be tagged to the company agreeing to link Kaitaia with the rest of New Zealand.