New ferries will come, the Government insists, but it has not confirmed what the ships will be or how much they will cost.
Although, Associate Finance Minister David Seymour appeared to reveal the ferries’ budget, saying it was going to be “approximately half” of $3 billion. Winston Peters quickly moved to rubbish Seymour’s estimate, saying it was “not helpful because it’s not accurate”.
[As *Stuff* revealed on Tuesday](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/536285/fast-track-projects-speaker-rules-no-private-benefit-in-list), Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has called in Peters to take charge of the ferry fiasco. Luxon confirmed the appointment on Wednesday, almost a year to the day after he and Finance Minister Nicola Willis scuppered the plan to buy two new “mega ferries”.
Willis and the new Minister for Rail, Peters, confirmed during a joint press conference that the Government would go to market with a tender to ship builders for two new ferries. They would not confirm that the new ferries would be built as “roll on, roll off” rail enabled ships.
