Ministerial advisory group pushed for urgency on Cook Strait ferry decisions

The Government is running a process to have new ferries in place by 2029, when the existing fleet reaches the end of its economic life. (Image: NZME)

Oliver Lewis

Tue, 04 Mar 2025

A group set up to advise the Government on Cook Strait ferry options recommended entering into a shipbuilding contract by October 2024 at the latest.The recommendation was included in papers Treasury released on Tuesday from the three-strong ministerial advisory group (Mag) of Mark Thompson, Mark Cairns and Roger Sowry.The Government set up the group after declining to give more money to KiwiRail for its Interislander replacement project (iReX), which by December 2023 had increased in cost from $1.45 billion to around $3b.The increase was large...

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