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A majority of New Zealanders of all political stripes want any new Interislander ferries to be built to handle having trains loaded directly onto them and do not want the Government to privatise operations, a new poll reveals.
Pollster Horizon Research provided results exclusively to the Herald, showing 48% of respondents wanted new rail-enabled ferries while 28% preferred ships for road freight and passengers only.
The poll also showed more people wanted the Interislander ferries to be run by state-owned KiwiRail rather than a private operator. Business leaders also preferred leaving KiwiRail to operate the ferries, the poll revealed.
It comes after the Government announced at the end of last year it would establish a new company to procure replacement ferries.
The previous chairman of KiwiRail David McLean said without rail-enabled ferries, the country’s railways would be disconnected between islands and would have "major adverse impacts" on ship turnaround times. Photo / Mark Mitchell
However, the Government did not specify whether new vessels would be able to handle roll-on, roll-off trains, which it called “rail-enabled”, instead saying they would be “rail-capable” ferries.
The previous chairman of KiwiRail David McLean said without rail-enabled ferries, the country’s railways would be disconnected between islands and would have “major adverse impacts” on ship turnaround times. Mainfreight boss Don Braid also warned it would mean longer, more expensive freighting of goods.
The Government also invited the private sector to put up alternative proposals for a ferry service during the first stage of the procurement process. Minister for Rail Winston Peters said any proposals would be considered in March, after which final decisions would be made.
The coalition Government’s plans for replacement ferries come after it scrapped the previous Labour Government’s iRex project for two new mega ferries due to burgeoning costs of more than $3 billion.
Responding to the poll results, a spokesman for Peters said the Government “is working on a ferry solution that will be in the best interests of various stakeholders, including shippers/freight customers and passengers”.
Peters' spokesman said the outcome of the ongoing “information gathering phase” and the consideration of potential options “will be within a fiscal envelope, substantially less than the blown-out costs associated with the cancelled iRex project”.
His spokesman said: “The solution will aim to deliver efficient, resilient ferry assets which will include elements relating to mode, landside infrastructure and interconnectivity to the national logistics supply chain network”.
The Maritime Union has also been approached for comment.
Pollster Horizon Research provided results exclusively to the Herald, showing 48% of respondents wanted new rail-enabled ferries while 28% preferred ships for road freight and passengers only. Photo / Marty Melville
The poll showed there was multi-partisan support for rail-enabled ferries. Of National voters, 51% wanted them compared to 31% who wanted road-freight only. Of Labour voters, 58% preferred them to 24%.
Of the smaller parties; 54% of New Zealand First voters wanted rail-enabled ferries compared to 16% wanting road-only, 39% of Act voters preferred rail-enabled to 31%, 63% of Te Pāti Māori voters for rail-enabled to 36%, and 77% of Green voters to 20% wanting road-only.
On privatising operations, National and Act voters were the only two groups of respondents to favour it over keeping KiwiRail as the operator.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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