Chippy once again opening his mouth and spilling garbage

[Jan]

Chippies rant on radio this morning about the ferries was hilarious 
It’s obvious now National are doing the right thing completing adequate planning before making the same mistake Tasmania made . Labours ferries would have been parked up with Tasmania’s in very expensive storage .

https://pulsetasmania.com.au/news/taxpay...-scotland/

[harm_less]

So the big ferry announcement has no firm pricing divulged, passes the terminal infrastructure costs onto the ports authorities (a la 3 Waters), they won't be in service until 2029 (iRex would have been running within the next year or so) and Winston is now quoting the iRex cost as "worst case scenario" $4 billion (to give No Boats Nicola maximum wiggle room to be 'cheaper than iRex'). We can fully expect no rail RORO capability so the redundancy of rail transport will result in increased heavy road transportation of freight so also add the increased roading infrastructure costs onto Nicola's scheme.

This coalition government have burnt far too much political capital for the electorate to believe this smoke and mirrors, hit and hope, attempt at solving the fiasco they've landed us in following the abrupt cancellation of iRex. Once again they're nudging the scheduling of their policies towards the end of this decade when it's looking ever more likely that they will be on the opposition benches.

[Olive]

To quote Craig Renney on Bluesky:

"Today’s announcement by the Minister of Finance means we don't know:
- where replacement ferries are coming from
- how much they will cost
- who will pay for them
- how the port infrastructure will be delivered,
- the fiscal or economic impact...

...We don’t have a yard to build the ships, nor do we have a ship design. We don’t know what infrastructure will be needed. We don’t know what it will cost to cancel the existing order. We know little more than when the government cancelled IREX

...Crucially, the decision to kick the can down the road means that no ferry costs will be in the government books when they are made public next week - making them look better. Future governments will have to carry the costs for the lack of a decision today.

...Workers on the Cook Strait ferries, service users, and New Zealanders all deserve better than this. This is a plan to have a plan. The ferries are reaching the end of their service life, yet we have been given another working group and another delay instead of clarity"

[Lilith7]

Previous & present govts seem to have been reluctant to tackle the problem, preferring to leave it to the next govt. High time they took a far longer term view, & bite the bullet.

Take a look around the world & see what works well in other countries, & what doesn't. And the longer they put it off, the more its going to cost.

[Zurdo]

They need to get the consultants in on this one...and after them there will be no money left to do anything with.

[harm_less]

Bernard Hickey's morning report on his podcast 'The Dawn Chorus' today covers off the ferry situation very succinctly, and The Kaka platform is free to access for all until the end of next week so worth checking out if you don't already subscribe.

[C_T_Russell]

Chippies rant on radio this morning about the ferries was hilarious 
It’s obvious now National are doing the right thing completing adequate planning before making the same mistake Tasmania made . Labours ferries would have been parked up with Tasmania’s in very expensive storage .

https://pulsetasmania.com.au/news/taxpay...-scotland/

Damn right, the previous ferry plan was a sinking ship, excuse the pun.

This new plan will also expect the private sector to cough up and fund their port upgrade in the future that they make all the profit from as well.
Its their fault if they have under-invested and put off upgrading it, the govt should not have to bear the costs of that.

[harm_less]

Chippies rant on radio this morning about the ferries was hilarious 
It’s obvious now National are doing the right thing completing adequate planning before making the same mistake Tasmania made . Labours ferries would have been parked up with Tasmania’s in very expensive storage .

https://pulsetasmania.com.au/news/taxpay...-scotland/

Damn right, the previous ferry plan was a sinking ship, excuse the pun.

This new plan will also expect the private sector to cough up and fund their port upgrade in the future that they make all the profit from as well.
Its their fault if they have under-invested and put off upgrading it, the govt should not have to bear the costs of that.

So Nicky No Boats cans the previous plan with replacement ferries already half built and now comes up with a half arsed strategy to go looking for ferries that look to be not only more expensive than iRex but also far less functional?

On top of that the major proportion of the previous ferry plan was in upgrading the sadly outdated port facilities on both ends so Nicola outsources those expenses to the Wellington and Picton Ports authorities which makes her numbers look better, and delays the who caboodle into the next financial year in an attempt to improve the balance sheets of this economically inept government? Sounds like a great plan

[C_T_Russell]

Damn right, the previous ferry plan was a sinking ship, excuse the pun.

This new plan will also expect the private sector to cough up and fund their port upgrade in the future that they make all the profit from as well.
Its their fault if they have under-invested and put off upgrading it, the govt should not have to bear the costs of that.

So Nicky No Boats cans the previous plan with replacement ferries already half built and now comes up with a half arsed strategy to go looking for ferries that look to be not only more expensive than iRex but also far less functional?

On top of that the major proportion of the previous ferry plan was in upgrading the sadly outdated port facilities on both ends so Nicola outsources those expenses to the Wellington and Picton Ports authorities which makes her numbers look better, and delays the who caboodle into the next financial year in an attempt to improve the balance sheets of this economically inept government? Sounds like a great plan

I know Winston is not stupid and I trust he made the right decision.
Lots of these details are commercially sensitive so its best to wait and see how it plays out, its not a decision he would have taken lightly.

[harm_less]

So Nicky No Boats cans the previous plan with replacement ferries already half built and now comes up with a half arsed strategy to go looking for ferries that look to be not only more expensive than iRex but also far less functional?

On top of that the major proportion of the previous ferry plan was in upgrading the sadly outdated port facilities on both ends so Nicola outsources those expenses to the Wellington and Picton Ports authorities which makes her numbers look better, and delays the who caboodle into the next financial year in an attempt to improve the balance sheets of this economically inept government? Sounds like a great plan

I know Winston is not stupid and I trust he made the right decision.
Lots of these details are commercially sensitive so its best to wait and see how it plays out, its not a decision he would have taken lightly.

Winston is politically savvy enough to know he's being played and has been given a hospital pass with the railways ministership. It's going to be interesting to see how long it is before Seymour's undermining of Winston's attempts to tailor a deal for the ferries results in a hissy fit on Winston's part.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Bring it on...

Three tailed dog = one term government, with any luck. I hope Labour is learning from this very clear example of how not to run a coalition.

2029. Gods, I'll be even closer to 80. And probably even grumpier, lol. Should be fun.

[zqwerty]

They need to be out as soon as possible, the country is in recession caused by their austerity policies.

Luxon is absolutely the wrong man in every way, the last thing we need is a corporate womble to run the country.

[Lilith7]

Bring it on...

Three tailed dog = one term government, with any luck. I hope Labour is learning from this very clear example of how not to run a coalition.

2029. Gods, I'll be even closer to 80. And probably even grumpier, lol. Should be fun.

May it be so....

Wily Winston won't be capable of putting up with too much from either of them & he's got the advantage of long experience.

[king1]

Minister for Rail lol, sounds a bit like they're trying to shut him up with a title... Winny must be losing his touch if he's falling for that corporate BS.

[Lilith7]

Minister for Rail lol, sounds a bit like they're trying to shut him up with a title... Winny must be losing his touch if he's falling for that corporate BS.

He might, he might not. Depends on whether or not any of them pith him orff...

[Oh_hunnihunni]

He does love a bauble or two...

[Olive]

It seems to me that following today's ferry developments the coalition government is several steps further towards a meltdown.   This is a fabulous prospect.

[Lilith7]

It seems to me that following today's ferry developments the coalition government is several steps further towards a meltdown.   This is a fabulous prospect.

It seems very interesting that they're being ever so cagey about the cost...surely they can manage a broad sum which is likely.

[harm_less]

It seems to me that following today's ferry developments the coalition government is several steps further towards a meltdown.   This is a fabulous prospect.

It seems very interesting that they're being ever so cagey about the cost...surely they can manage a broad sum which is likely.

Their ferry plans have gone back to scratch so plenty of duck shoving to be expected. Nicky No Boats has raised the previous iRex cost to $4Bn to give them more wriggle room to get a 'cheaper' deal. Winston is ignoring the cancellation fee payable to Hyundai for the iRex ferries. Delaying means that this moves out of their current fiscal year to make their books look better.

Completely inept infrastructure strategy overseen by someone whose place is more suited to balancing the household supermarket bill and certainly not holding NZ's purse strings. The government is an absolute clusterf*ck in just about everything they touch. No forward vision and looking more and more like a single term government as the weeks go by.