Fixing New Zealand’s rail and ferry infrastructure is becoming the most significant political issue of this year. Having cancelled KiwiRail’s Cook Strait ferry and portside upgrade programme in December without first establishing a Plan B, Finance Minister Nicola Willis has since been grappling, alongside her colleagues and officials, to find a cheaper way forward.
The signs are now that the cost savings might prove elusive, resulting in much inferior ferry and rail infrastructure. If so, Willis’ ferry cancelling call might have been a monumental mistake, leaving New Zealand again tinkering and underinvesting in critical infrastructure. This could be an outcome that satisfies KiwiRail’s rival trucking industry but is terrible for almost everyone else.
