Winston Peters will now have ministerial oversight of the future of the ferries.
The previous mega ferry project was cancelled due to costs ballooning to $3 billion.
Winston Peters has been tasked with answering one of the biggest questions hanging over the future of the Cook Strait ferries – will they be rail-enabled?
The Government has announced a new company is being set up to procure two new ferries – larger than Interislander’s current ones but smaller than the mega-ferries - that will begin operating in 2029.
Peters, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister and NZ First leader, has been appointed the Minister for Rail.
The Government is also inviting the private sector to submit alternative proposals for a ferry service that will be assessed alongside the procurement process in March.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said yesterday: “I’ve delivered. I’ve discharged my duty to New Zealand”.
Enter Peters, who now has responsibility for KiwiRail, NZ Railways Corporation and the new Schedule 4A company being set up to deliver the ferries.
As for whose idea the Minister for Rail position was, Peters said: “Put it this way, we planted the seed and it became his [Christopher Luxon’s] idea.”
Peters said he wanted to ensure rail was regarded and supported as a critical part of the country’s infrastructure.
“And that’s both islands of this country,” he said.
It is still unclear whether the new Interislander ferries will be rail-enabled, meaning trains can seamlessly roll on and off the ferries from either island.
Asked why rail-enabled ferries needed to be considered, Peters said: “Well, as Don Braid from Mainfreight said this morning, it’s really a no-brainer.”
Newly appointed Minister for Rail Winston Peters. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Peters said everything should be in the mix before they make “the wisest decision we can possibly make”.
But Peters stressed this needed to be at a cost the Government could afford.
The mega ferries, which were going to replace KiwiRail’s ageing fleet, were rail-enabled.
They were cancelled last year after overall costs for the project ballooned to $3 billion under the previous Government. The cost increase was driven by the portside infrastructure required to accommodate the ferries.
Peters said he did not regret signing up for the mega ferries in May 2020 because, at the time, the task was finding two new ships for $400m.
“I’ve got no regrets about what I did. I’ve certainly got regrets that what started off at $400.1m blew out to [potentially] $4b according to Treasury.”
Peters said “certain interests” took the chance to rip off taxpayers for their own advantage without any concern for the final rail utilities or taxpayers' interests.
Back to the new plan for Interislander, the Herald asked Peters whether he was confident that a private partner could help deliver rail-enabled ferries or if the two ferries already on the table could be rail-enabled regardless.
“The reality is that everything is in the mix and we will make the most common-sense decision but a common-sense decision that is heavily influenced by precedent.
“Past politicians and past governments didn’t always get it wrong but I saw in four decades, bad decisions have been made time after time after time.
“Privatisation was a marvellous benefit to the private interest and the railway system was run into the ground on the way through as they recapitalised for their own advantage.
“You see what went wrong? And we did it not once but twice in my recent time in politics.”
It’s this sort of experience that Peters said would affect his judgment going forward.
A final decision will be made after any alternative proposals are assessed against the procurement process in March.
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
