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Ferry Mishaps of Own Making

Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

Member of Parliament for Northland
13 SEPTEMBER 2016

Ferry Mishaps of Own Making

KiwiRail can offer as many excuses as it likes for the ferry Aratere’s constant breakdowns, but it is of management’s own making, says New Zealand First Leader and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“The ship’s extension was a lemon, yet KiwiRail management has continued to spend taxpayers’ money on it after the disastrous jumbo-sizing.

“The Aratere is off the Cook Strait run yet again, this time with steering troubles, but the Minister defends the breakdown rates as ‘acceptable’.

“When is there going to be some common sense about the viability of this ship? Throwing more and more money at it is a waste of taxpayers’ money.

“KiwiRail, as usual, is economical with the truth. According to a stuff.co.nz report, Aratere’s problems were discovered on Sunday. KiwiRail claimed it had two ferries running, inferring that the backlog had been cleared by KiwiRail. That’s false.

“In fact, KiwiRail had to rely on private operator Strait Shipping which carried some of the cancelled passengers and vehicles on Sunday.

“KiwiRail management’s decision and its plan for the state rail company is most definitely suspect. Only last week it shut another Northland rail line – from Kauri to Otiria – and has halved the number of trips on the line from Auckland to Whangarei.

“New Zealand’s national rail system is being run down under the National Government and will have serious consequences for our economy.”

ENDS


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