Because she cancelled the ferries, this is going to be on her.
Now I'm not arguing about cancelling those big ferries, I actually think she made the right call. The thinking behind buying them seems to me like a stupid idea.
Which was - you need those big ferries to to drive a train onto a boat, and then ship the entire thing to another island, and then drive it off again from the other side.
Now, think about how much redundant metal there is on a train, or how heavy it is before you even start loading it up. Now, you're paying the fuel bill to get it all across the Cook Strait. That's stupid.
Surely you’re better off unloading the thing and reloading another one on the other end.
Regardless of whether the call was the right one, Nicola made the call. But then she made a mistake - she didn’t provide an alternative.
You can’t cancel ferries we desperately need without replacing them with other ferries. Because we still desperately need them.
It seems to me there's only one way to fix this.
Nicola can’t go back to the big ferries she’s cancelled, that would be admitting she made a mistake and it's a bit early in the term for that.
She can’t buy replacements on the second-hand market, apparently they don’t exist at the moment.
She can’t leave us waiting, because those ships are already trouble on the water. Every single one of them have had a problem in the last 18 months, they will all be past their use-by dates by next year.
She’s going to have to buy us new ferries. I don't know how she does that, maybe renegotiate the contract with the Koreans for smaller ones if it's not too late, or maybe just start from scratch and get new ones.
But they'd better be here quick, because those big ferries were due to arrive in two years time.
Every day after 2026 that we're without new ferries is a day that we legitimately can blame every ferry problem on Nicola Willis.
She is smart enough, and National is smart enough, to know that by now.
So watch them come up with a solution real quick. Which, frankly, they should've come up with the day they cancelled those ferries.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
6 comments:
It might be a good idea to consult with Bluebridge management, who must have the expertise and business skills to sustain it’s operations over many years.
Don't agree with any of that. The problems with the existing ferries have nothing to do with the cancellation of the new ferries. Even if Nicola Willis had continued with the new ferries they won't be delivered for years yet. Willis was quite entitled anyway to cancel the new ferries as the country can't afford them.
To blame the new govt for the maintenance of the existing ferries doesn't make any sense.
Ask ACT and David Seymour and he will communicate to his party members and the public will provide the solution.
Reinstate the Wellington to Lytellton bigger ship and leave Picton to passengers and small freight .
You do not need bureauocracy and twiddle fingers ,furrowed brows , limp handshakes etc etc .
Just try ACT members and I am confident a refurbished ferry will be available within months .
Come on Heather Robertson hadn't cancelled the ferries but he also had not agreed to the what extra $1.5 billion needed to build the docks to be able to use them. This was just another stupid idea of the last government.
The drawings hadnt even been started these ferries were years away,get a reality check who ever was in government these ferries were never going to work and the old ones havent been maintained properly.
Basil, what is the point of reinstating the Wellington Lyttleton shipping link. The freight all comes from Auckland or Tauranga, so surely bigger vessels that can service the provincial routes would make more sense.
Just press a couple of wakas into service.
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