'Head down, bum up': Budget veteran Chris Mackenzie caps decades of public service with Cook Strait ferry finding mission

Rail Minister Winston Peters with members of the Ferry Holdings board, including chair Chris Mackenzie (second from left). (Image: Supplied)

Oliver Lewis

Tue, 15 Apr 2025

Chris Mackenzie was mowing the lawn when the email from Treasury came through asking if he’d be interested in chairing Ferry Holdings.He’d been doing odd bits and pieces (a study on the Napier-Gisborne rail line for the last Government, for instance) but was otherwise happily retired after a lengthy public service career.Still, Mackenzie liked the calibre of the other proposed board members – operators like Heather Simpson and Greg Lowe – and, he told BusinessDesk, he has an abiding interest in the New Zealand transport...

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