Speaker 1: Hilda.
Speaker 2: I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
Speaker 2: daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald.
Speaker 1: It's been revealed that the.
Speaker 2: Government considered using private company Blue Bridge to replace the
Speaker 2: current inter islander fleet. It's just the latest in the
Speaker 2: saga that is the Cook Straight Ferries after years of negotiations, debate.
Speaker 1: And an axed contract.
Speaker 2: But it's hardly the first time we've had a major
Speaker 2: transport project faced delays and changes. All forms of transporter
Speaker 2: eyeing big investments. But how long before we actually get
Speaker 2: some movement? Today on the Front Page, News Talk z
Speaker 2: B political reporter Azaria Howell is with us to dig
Speaker 2: into the politics behind the country's transport networks. So Azaria
Speaker 2: reminds of the fairies saga.
Speaker 1: Where are we at with it?
Speaker 3: Yeah, So this is a long standing issue. This has
Speaker 3: been going on for quite some time and it's likely
Speaker 3: to go on for quite some time, meaning essentially through
Speaker 3: till about the end of twenty twenty nine. That's when
Speaker 3: we're going to see two new fairies be delivered. That's
Speaker 3: what the new government is promising now. Documents from Treasury
Speaker 3: show that the first fairy is proposed to come in
Speaker 3: around February twenty twenty nine. The second around October twenty
Speaker 3: twenty nine. Minister for Rail Winston Peters. He's recently been
Speaker 3: crowned that new title. He has previously said we will
Speaker 3: get new fairies before Christmas twenty twenty nine, so he
Speaker 3: essentially took over responsibility of those fairies relatively recently. It
Speaker 3: was a sort of a new portfolio for him that
Speaker 3: was coming back, and it was essentially the previous government
Speaker 3: had contracted to buy new megafairies. That project had to
Speaker 3: be canceled due to numerous cost blowouts and essentially a
Speaker 3: lot of concerns about the feasibility of a project like that.
Speaker 3: There was also a few concerns about the port side
Speaker 3: infrastructure cost as well. Specifically, so if we're getting bigger ships,
Speaker 3: we need to sort of upgrade the places that they're
Speaker 3: going to. So there was a big price tag with
Speaker 3: that and the new government came in they were not happy.
Speaker 3: I mean, they've been known as a government that has
Speaker 3: been sort of trimming spending in certain areas to kind
Speaker 3: of cut back and invest in what they call the
Speaker 3: frontline and frontline services, and perhaps that's what we've seen
Speaker 3: in terms of this as well.
Speaker 2: Now, I believe that you've seen some documents around the
Speaker 2: ideas floated about how to handle the cook Straight situation.
Speaker 3: What kind of ideas were thrown into the mix. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so there's a lot of different options. It's worth saying
Speaker 3: the government went to a market process for I think
Speaker 3: about three and a half weeks. It kind of sounded
Speaker 3: out the ideas of the market so shipbrokers and people
Speaker 3: in that maritime sector as to what's next. And one
Speaker 3: of the really interesting ones something that stood out to
Speaker 3: me was the government considered contracting with Blue Bridge, which,
Speaker 3: as you'll know, it's a private cook Straight ferry company
Speaker 3: that essentially competes sort of with the inter Islander, which
Speaker 3: is run by state owned enterprise Kiwi rou So the
Speaker 3: government considered doing that essentially because the inter Islander fleet
Speaker 3: is getting older. There there have been some very public
Speaker 3: issues with those that you'll be aware of. Specifically, one
Speaker 3: of the ships has lost power, another one running aground.
Speaker 3: Major issues there, so that they're wanting to upgrade that infrastructure.
Speaker 3: That how they'll actually go about doing that, it's not
Speaker 3: one hundred percent certain, but they've kind of ticked it
Speaker 3: down now to a shortlist of six shipbrokers and they'll
Speaker 3: be looking at whether or not they can deliver value
Speaker 3: for money, whether or not it will come in on time,
Speaker 3: that Christmas twenty twenty nine date being essentially the final deadline,
Speaker 3: or the preferred final deadline of the government there. It's
Speaker 3: worth noting that they did not go with the blue
Speaker 3: Bridge options, so it was more just an idea that
Speaker 3: was being floated around. But it is interesting in the
Speaker 3: Labor Party has thrown in quite a bit of criticism
Speaker 3: on that as well, suggesting it it kind of makes
Speaker 3: up for what could be privatization of that public cook
Speaker 3: straight faery situation there, so there's been a little bit
Speaker 3: of criticism about looking at that. There was also ideas
Speaker 3: of a different commercial company to come in to compete
Speaker 3: with blue Bridge. Treasury documents that I've seen say it
Speaker 3: quote could be worth further consideration, but essentially they couldn't
Speaker 3: do it because they had to get this business case
Speaker 3: in by March twenty twenty five. And at the end
Speaker 3: of March Winston Peters, who as I have said, as
Speaker 3: the Minister for Rail, made this big announcement saying Christmas
Speaker 3: twenty twenty nine, we will have these fairies in place.
Speaker 2: Right, So you said that they're negotiating or checking out
Speaker 2: at least six builders or p of these fairies.
Speaker 1: I mean, where do they hail from?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so there's been there's been previous confirmation from the
Speaker 3: Minister's Office of expressions of interest from South Korea and Finland,
Speaker 3: the former being really the fascinating one there. South Korea
Speaker 3: was going to be where the shipyard was that was
Speaker 3: going to build the original Mega ferries.
Speaker 1: The Irex contract.
Speaker 3: Yes, that's the one. So the Mega Fairies, the one
Speaker 3: that's been seen as really expensive by this government was
Speaker 3: going to be contracted to South Korea. So it is
Speaker 3: interesting that they're looking at that now. It's not one
Speaker 3: hundred percent clear if that means that it's the same company.
Speaker 3: I believe it was Hyundai. It's not one hundred percent
Speaker 3: clear if that is who the South Korean shipyard is.
Speaker 3: So I suppose there's a bit a bit that we'll
Speaker 3: have to wait and see for that one. Yeah, Treasury
Speaker 3: underwent a market process for three and a half weeks
Speaker 3: to kind of get alternative ideas for what that ferry
Speaker 3: service could look like. Now this Treasury report as well,
Speaker 3: it's confirmed that Treasury mat with fifteen parties in terms
Speaker 3: of the maritime sector and got twenty five written submissions
Speaker 3: from people all around the sector in terms of infrastructure,
Speaker 3: maritime and things like that.
Speaker 4: And the latest One News variant pole we asked do
Speaker 4: you think the government made the right or wrong decision
Speaker 4: to cancel the replacement cook straight fairies? Twenty six percent
Speaker 4: say it was the right decision. Well, fifty one percent
Speaker 4: say it was the wrong decision. The rest didn't know.
Speaker 5: Well, I think that the poll asks the wrong question
Speaker 5: because the government is replacing the fairies. If you had
Speaker 5: asked New Zealanders should we replace the feries in the
Speaker 5: way that is the best value for money, I think
Speaker 5: you'll find most would say yes.
Speaker 2: Moving on to Budget twenty twenty five, it's saw some
Speaker 2: big commitments when it comes to transport.
Speaker 1: Hey, what were some of the highlights for you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, So Budget twenty twenty five has been labeled as
Speaker 3: the growth budget. Now this is a really big one.
Speaker 3: That's as the government as putting on a greater focus
Speaker 3: on economic growth and boosting the economy, lifting productivity and
Speaker 3: things like that. So there is quite a bit of
Speaker 3: investment there in terms of repairing local roads that have
Speaker 3: been damaged by the likes of storms as well. There's
Speaker 3: been investment in railways in the Wellington areas in Auckland
Speaker 3: as well. Obviously that comes as there's a lot of
Speaker 3: chatter as there always has been about City rail Link,
Speaker 3: which is a very interesting one and I suppose transport
Speaker 3: is a really big key priority area in terms of
Speaker 3: in terms of that government budget. I mean we're seeing
Speaker 3: millions of dollars there, we're seeing big commitment. Obviously it
Speaker 3: comes after like the Roads of National Significance project and
Speaker 3: things like that, so there is quite a bit going
Speaker 3: on it. It also comes with a couple of government
Speaker 3: policies in that transport space that have created quite a
Speaker 3: bit of interest. So there's been this idea of raising
Speaker 3: speed limits to get people to and from work quicker
Speaker 3: and what the government says will speed up productivity. So
Speaker 3: it's important to note that that has been another big
Speaker 3: key part of the transport policy.
Speaker 2: Now it's been a few months since Chris Bishop took
Speaker 2: over the role of Transport Minister. Has there been a
Speaker 2: change in tone with him in charge compared to Simeon Brown. Yes.
Speaker 3: I think the interesting thing with that is when Simon
Speaker 3: Brown took over as Minister of Health from Shane Aderti,
Speaker 3: and he put quite a bit of changes in that
Speaker 3: sort of health space, putting in a commissioner in health
Speaker 3: as well. Now, transport I feel like has been a
Speaker 3: bit less of a maybe a hot topic or an
Speaker 3: urgent topic as much as health. So I feel like
Speaker 3: the transition from Simeon Brown to Chris Bishop has kind
Speaker 3: of seen more focus towards Brown as Health Minister rather
Speaker 3: than Bishop as Transport minister. But Bishop has always been
Speaker 3: known as a big transport guy. He's been the MP
Speaker 3: for the electorate in Lower Hut for quite some time
Speaker 3: on and off. I believe he lost that seat with
Speaker 3: the Labor wave and then won it back. He's been
Speaker 3: speaking about the likes of the Meling Interchange in rail
Speaker 3: infrastructure in his electorate in the Hut Valley for quite
Speaker 3: some time. So yeah, it's been interesting to see him
Speaker 3: take over that role. But I feel like there has
Speaker 3: been quite a bit more focus on how is Simeon
Speaker 3: Brown doing as Health minister versus how is Chris Bishop
Speaker 3: doing in that transport space. There's been quite a bit
Speaker 3: of interesting commentary in Chris Bishop's role with raising the
Speaker 3: speed limits that is kind of taking place now. They're
Speaker 3: changing the street signs, they're sort of digging them up
Speaker 3: and making it go from one hundred two one hundred
Speaker 3: and ten. Announcing these things as well. So that's been
Speaker 3: kind of the big thing recently for Minister Bishop and
Speaker 3: I'm sure there's more to come in terms of the
Speaker 3: transport space.
Speaker 2: Is the tone from this government pretty much still roads, roads,
Speaker 2: roads and more roads because Winston Peters did get some
Speaker 2: major wins for rail in the budget, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So as mentioned before, Winston Peters the Minister for Rail,
Speaker 3: that's that's really been something he's been trying to push for.
Speaker 3: It's it's been the case in that ferry space and
Speaker 3: it's been the case outside of the ferries as well.
Speaker 3: So Winston Peter's before the budget and you may have
Speaker 3: actually you may be familiar with this because this was
Speaker 3: an announcement in Wellington in which he made an announcement
Speaker 3: at the Wellington train station and got a bit of
Speaker 3: a heckle back and forth from hime Omber of the public.
Speaker 1: I think I may have seen something about that.
Speaker 4: So ship bollocks load of pollismo, like well, it's gone
Speaker 4: up in a mini Suntie you.
Speaker 2: Look like like Bollock's mate Sunjoint even.
Speaker 1: Donald that you're a topd you in that both.
Speaker 3: Yes, so so, so that was the announcement. But in
Speaker 3: terms of the numbers was four hundred and sixty four
Speaker 3: million dollar capital, one hundred and forty one million dollar
Speaker 3: operating allowance for rail maintenance that was in Auckland and Wellington,
Speaker 3: so those metro areas, those ceties for commuters and for
Speaker 3: freight as well. So it was a major announcement. But
Speaker 3: I think that day may have been overshadowed by Winston
Speaker 3: Peter's telling someone to nap off and him saying things
Speaker 3: that he said that probably can't be repeated.
Speaker 1: So that was probably for the best day, definitely.
Speaker 2: So Chris Bishop actually spoke to the Front Page late
Speaker 2: last year about using tolls as an additional mechanism.
Speaker 1: To help pay for roads.
Speaker 6: We're looking at using tolls as an additional mechanism to
Speaker 6: help pay for the roads because they provide the revenue
Speaker 6: stream to help the financing of some of these roads,
Speaker 6: and so we made a commitment to do that as
Speaker 6: a coalition government. And many of the Islanders will be
Speaker 6: familiar with toll roads overseas. We've got toile roads in
Speaker 6: Zealand right now. I've got the Northern Gateway north of Auckland,
Speaker 6: got top of toll roads around Toronto. They had plenty,
Speaker 6: so they are they do it the New Zealand right now,
Speaker 6: we're just saying we want to make more use of them.
Speaker 2: Has any further work been done around introducing more toll roads.
Speaker 3: Chris Bishop has said tolling concessions could deliver roads sooner,
Speaker 3: So that is a big sort of key piece and
Speaker 3: it kind of highlights where things are at the government
Speaker 3: does want to get infrastructure delivered relatively quickly and it
Speaker 3: has been looking at the idea. It's also Chris Bishop's
Speaker 3: also been looking overseas in terms of places that have
Speaker 3: toll roads and further concessions to see how it's working.
Speaker 3: I believe he traveled to Australia looking at toll roads
Speaker 3: there and just seeing how that actual financing and the
Speaker 3: funding is working. And Chris Bishop says the benefits of
Speaker 3: that for Sydney motorists have been huge. So it's been
Speaker 3: slashing travel times, which, as we've mentioned with the speed limits,
Speaker 3: has been a big focus of this government. So it's
Speaker 3: not one hundred percent certain we will put toll roads
Speaker 3: in this, I suppose, but they've they've been looking at
Speaker 3: what might be a next option going forward. So they've
Speaker 3: been looking at roads that are currently have have tolls
Speaker 3: on them and might go up, and then roads that
Speaker 3: are due to open the much awaited outucky to north
Speaker 3: of Levin as locals call it O two NL, things
Speaker 3: like that, they are looking at it and as they say,
Speaker 3: they say tolling concessions could deliver infrastructure sooner. So I
Speaker 3: feel like they could be trying to sell the idea
Speaker 3: to members of the public that they're going to say,
Speaker 3: you know, you might have to pay a little bit extra,
Speaker 3: you'll get this flash new road rolled out, maybe even
Speaker 3: years before it was meant to. So yeah, it could
Speaker 3: be a could be want to keep an eye on.
Speaker 2: I mean, when he announced that he was going over
Speaker 2: to Sydney and having a chat with those guys. I mean,
Speaker 2: my best friend used to live in Sydney and the
Speaker 2: tolling situations in Sydney is actually insane. So it's all
Speaker 2: run privately by private companies. Each car has a little
Speaker 2: thing in their car, so it doesn't get your red
Speaker 2: jo it sees this little thing in your car. I
Speaker 2: was there in his car taking photos of it. I
Speaker 2: was that fascinated. But they have to navigate different routes
Speaker 2: to work every day if you live in a specific area,
Speaker 2: because you could people try and avoid them. People try
Speaker 2: and avoid them because you could from home to work
Speaker 2: depending on where you live. In Sydney, for example, you
Speaker 2: could be running through three toll roads on the way
Speaker 2: to work three backs. So some people are actually spending
Speaker 2: so much money, especially in Sydney at least, I think
Speaker 2: they've put in a cap because it was getting so bad.
Speaker 2: People were spending like hundreds of dollars a week. It
Speaker 2: was insane.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well that's that's like definitely interesting. And I wonder
Speaker 3: when the minister was in Australia if that kind of
Speaker 3: issue was brought up. Hey, don't go too far with it,
Speaker 3: you know, you might need to put on some restrictions
Speaker 3: and some limits. Yeah, that's that's really interesting.
Speaker 6: Well.
Speaker 2: He also wrote a piece in The Herald that we
Speaker 2: need more transit oriented development, with cities such as Auckland
Speaker 2: seeing development clustered around mass transit. Given he is Infrastructure
Speaker 2: and Housing Minister, is he basically in charge of sorting
Speaker 2: out all areas of our lives now well I wouldn't
Speaker 2: say all areas.
Speaker 3: We did have that health chat before, but definitely quite
Speaker 3: a lot going on there in terms of the housing
Speaker 3: space and how it works with infrastructure. Chris Bishop has
Speaker 3: been a big fan of zoning, of sort of upscaling
Speaker 3: developments and things like that that's been going on in
Speaker 3: Wellington and he has been a big fan of it,
Speaker 3: notably on x which used to be called Twitter. Chris
Speaker 3: Bishop often comes to fight for housing developments and things
Speaker 3: like that that are taking place that some residents might oppose,
Speaker 3: essentially saying we need housing growth, we need to support
Speaker 3: more infrastructure, more housing, sustainability, sustainable developments and things like that.
Speaker 3: So it has been it has been quite a big
Speaker 3: thing that he's been supporting. I also know city councils
Speaker 3: are coming up with their own zoning plans and they're
Speaker 3: sort of working with and having conversations about how that works.
Speaker 3: I know Wellington had to sort that I want to
Speaker 3: say last year, maybe late the year before. So there
Speaker 3: are lots of questions in terms of how much can
Speaker 3: you upzone by a train station and things like that.
Speaker 3: There are questions that need to be answered, but it
Speaker 3: does seem like we could be in for more zoning,
Speaker 3: bigger housing developments and things like that.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, Azariah.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much, it's been great.
Speaker 2: That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
Speaker 2: can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
Speaker 2: at enzdherld dot co dot nz. The Front Page is
Speaker 2: produced by Ethan Sills and Richard Martin, who is also
Speaker 2: our sound engineer. I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to the Front
Speaker 2: Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and
Speaker 2: tune in on Monday for another look behind the headlines.