John MacDonald: You thought it was expensive now to travel. Just wait...

If you think it’s expensive to travel around the country now, it’s about to get more expensive with KiwiRail ditching one of its ferries.

But even though flying isn’t cheap, KiwiRail can forget about me making any interisland ferry bookings. Because why would ya?

Two dungers —either of which can be out of service on any given day— no thanks.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive 4/2/25

Climate change minister froze out farm leaders – but (is he a closet greenie?) warmed to Greenpeace and WWF lobbyists

Your monitors of the Beehive website can tell you what ministers are up to so long as they post a press statement. They can’t tell you what ministers have been doing which they shouldn’t have been doing, if they keep quiet about it. And they can’t tell you what minister haven’t been doing that they should have been doing.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: The ferry "announcement" is embarrassing

I think we can all have a guess at why the Government announced the ferry decision two weeks before Christmas. 

Because this is embarrassing, isn’t it? 

What have they been doing for the last year? 

How do you go a year after cancelling the mega ferries and still have nothing to show for it? 

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 12/12/24

Ahoy there – the ferry tale becomes more fascinating as Peters takes command of new portfolio

One new portfolio has been added to the list of ministers and their responsibilities on the government’s official website: Rail.

Kerre Woodham: What's gone so horribly, horribly wrong with our ferries?

If it wasn't so vitally important, so serious, and so expensive, you would have to laugh, wouldn't you? Interislander’s Aratere ferry will be out of action today after it hit a linkspan coming into a berth in Wellington, damaging its hull.

This is not their first rodeo when it comes to making mistakes. A string of incidents, if you will. Aratere suffered a reported staring failure on June 21st and ran aground in Picton shortly afterwards. It had only returned to full service late last month. What do you know? 9th of August, out of action for a couple of days. The Harbour Master Grant Nalder told the New Zealand Herald the ferry had made contact with a linkspan, which is the dock ramp that allows vehicles to access the ferry. The hull was damaged, but well above the water line, there were no injuries and no oil leaks. So, let's be grateful for small blessings.

Mike's Minute: The ferries could cost this govt politically

We currently have a small scuffle between Labour's Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and the Government's Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis.

Barbara thinks Nicola should resign. The precursor is the ferry problem, as in the Cook Strait ferries.

Peter Dunne: Vested interests and good public policy

Too often, an apparent concern for good public policy is really a cover for the protection of vested interests. In a small and intimate society like New Zealand this can make it difficult for governments to reach the best decisions on critical issues.

There is no intrinsic wrong in groups promoting their vested interests when issues of public policy are being considered, provided those interests are clearly identified. However, we are often too polite a society to do so. And so, the vested interests become – by default – a more significant part of the story than they deserve to be.

Andrew Dickens: The ferry saga is a pox on both National and Labour

I wasn't here last week because I was attending a funeral.

A dear friend. 58 years old. Gut cancer.

A reminder to us all- live life. Don't put things off.

So, last week I thought I'd talk about the ferry debate and I thought that the issue would be over by now. But it's not. It rumbles on like the stubbed toe it is.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 22/12/23

We anxiously await news that the bloke in this sleigh and his team of reindeer have passed muster with our biosecurity authorities

Time is running out, but on behalf of the nation’s children we hope to hear soon that biosecurity officials have granted the appropriate permits for a team of reindeer to cross our borders.

We were alerted to the need for such approvals – and in turn we drew the matter to the attention of some of the big-wigs in the Beehive – when we received a press statement from American biosecurity officials: