It's a win for truckies, like it or not, we're about to get 500 extra trucks filled with 15,000 tonnes of bulk cement on the road each month.
But it's bad for coastal shipping, even though the Minister says it's actually good for coastal shipping.
Let me explain.
There's a cement company that wants to ship its product round the country, but its current ship is old and buggered.
So a new one is coming to the rescue, but in the meantime, they've sorted a temporary ship for three years to fill the gap.
Well, they did. Until the Minister, James Meager (Assoc. Transport) stepped in and said Nah. You can't operate that vessel here because its foreign-flagged ship.
Meager says he's simply following the law.
The vast majority of goods being moved around the country from local ports are on kiwi boats with kiwi crew, making sure we have kiwi jobs etc.
All very well and good.
Except there's apparently no alterative for the cement guys, Holcim, so they're forced to send everything by road for three years.
And here's the bit that's worrying (aside form the fact we're loading the roads up with more heavy trucks that in many places they clearly can't handle).
Holcim reckons this decision will cost it of millions of dollars.
And once you sink that investment into freight by road, there will come a time when returning to shipping becomes unviable.
So the cement stays on the road.
So in this case, three years with kiwi workers missing out may turn into forever.
And that doesn't seem like a very smart decision, especially at a time when we're trying to boost coastal shipping (newsflash: we're long islands surrounded by water) and when we're limping across the cook straight from the next three years without proper ferries.
I would have thought this makes the whole system a bit weak and vulnerable. Would an extra ship at a time like this not be a good idea, no matter where it's come from and who's manning the deck?
Ryan Bridge is a New Zealand broadcaster who has worked on many current affairs television and radio shows. He currently hosts Newstalk ZB's Early Edition - where this article was sourced.
5 comments:
It’s not that hard to change the flag of a ship
It's not that hard to change the law.
I can't comment on this because I don't know. I've not, until this column, heard of the dispute.
I don't know because Bridge, instead of telling me the facts so I may decide for myself if the refusal is legitimate, does the opposite, expects me to back his opinion without thought, without reason (except for the anti-gummint bullshit) and condemn the Minister and the Coalition.
That seems to be the latest fashion.
Such is the state of political comment in New Zealand in 2025.
God Defend New Zealand!
Foreign flagged ships will have no NZ crew.Where will the experienced crew come from in 3 Years time if Holcim get another ship.This is just cutting costs by using underpaid,by NZ standards,crew.
Australia requires foreign flagged ships working in Australia to carry equivalent Australian or NZ ticketed officers either as replacements or alongside.Holcim knew all this before this debacle.
This isn’t some noble stand for Kiwi jobs. It’s bureaucratic stubbornness dressed up as patriotism. Sure, Meager can puff out his chest and say he’s protecting local workers, but what jobs exactly? There’s no spare Kiwi ship and no Kiwi crew ready to take up the task. So instead, we get thousands more truck movements chewing up our roads and belching out emissions, all while Holcim’s costs skyrocket. That's not national pride; that’s self-inflicted pain with a silver fern sticker on it.
And let’s not pretend this is some grand win for truckies either. Truckers are already stretched, routes are crumbling, and the country’s moaning about potholes. If we can’t get a temporary ship for three years while waiting on a new one, what does that say about our flexibility and basic economic sense? Coastal shipping was supposed to be part of the climate and freight future. Instead, we’ve shoved it into reverse because someone wanted to be the teacher’s pet of compliance.
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