Nicky-no-boat’s Toyota Corolla ends up costing us $671m – don’t ever lecture the Left on wasting money again
The Government finally released the true cost of Nicola’s virtue signal to cancel the iRex ferries late on a Friday afternoon hoping none of you see it…
Govt Gets It Wrong With Cancelled Ferries – Greens
The cost of cancelling the iRex ferries shows the wastefulness and short-term thinking of the Coalition Government.
“We could have had new ferries by next year and millions of dollars left over to spend on critical infrastructure if it weren’t for this irresponsible Government,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Transport, Julie Anne Genter.
“This decision to cancel the contract for new ferries has cost us $671 million. This is a missed opportunity and a massive mark against this Government’s credibility.
“For context, that amount of money could have funded the electrification of the main rail line from Waikanae to Palmerston North, or built thousands of much-needed homes.
“New Zealanders should have been taking those new ferries this and next year – instead we’ve had the Aratere taken out of commission, and more trucks on the road as a result of retiring our only rail-enabled ferry.
“The Hyundai order for two new rail-enabled ferries for $550m was one of the best deals the country ever signed up to. This Coalition Government tore it up and will likely be forced into signing a deal that leaves us worse off in the short and long term.
“The Government must stop cutting corners and commit to funding a transport network that works for people and planet,” says Julie Anne Genter.
Eye-Watering Break Fee For Botched Ferries – Labour
It has been revealed that the Government is paying a staggering $144 million to cancel the previous contract for the new Interislander ferries.
“Nicola Willis’ terrible decision-making has now cost taxpayers more than half a billion dollars in total – $671 million – with no new ferries to show for it,” Labour transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said.
“The $144 million break fee is on top of money already paid to Hyundai, which takes the amount of taxpayer money National has poured down the drain to $222 million. The rest is project management, landside infrastructure and paying to wind down the project – totalling more than half a billion.
“This proves Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis have absolutely no clue what they’re doing and are just making things worse.
“The amount of taxpayer money they’ve wasted with absolutely nothing to show for it makes a mockery of every time they’ve said they can’t afford something.
“They can find more than half a billion dollars to botch a ferry project, but can’t find any money to build homes, create jobs or fund the health system properly.
“People are struggling with the cost of living while Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon’s economic decisions run aground and sink,” Tangi Utikere said.
Notes: Original estimates of $1.16 billion referenced in the Beehive PR includes the originally budgeted $300 million for the break fee plus the cost of ongoing maintenance of the current ferries. The contract was originally going to deliver the ferries next year, in 2026. The current projection for new ferries is at least three years later.
Unfucking believable – so Nicky-no-boat’s Toyota Corolla has ended up up costing us $671m???
This was a virtue signal by Nicola when she first got in, it’s cost us over half a billion, we still don’t have any fucking Ferries and the ones they are looking at will be smaller without rail connectivity, remember the rail connectivity was the Government’s main means of cutting emissions, and by dumping that we are likely to breach our Paris agreements which is exactly what the Government wants.
Don’t ever dare lecture the Left on wasting money again!
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Absolutely disgusting vile waste. Waste right up there with the money Nicky’s parents spent sending her to private school, or the waste made by her father not pulling out.
Don’t worry…her old man, a lawyer, could afford the exorbitant private school fees …more than likely over charging for what is a strictly average overated profession…
Wasted money on her….
All those private schools do is make people think that, a) they know everything and b) that they are better than anybody else…hubris is what they do best.
Willis is a classis case in point and it
has cost the hardworking taxpayer’s
of this country a fucking fortune.
What on earth made her think that she was capable of being the Finance Minister of a country…
Her naive reckons, voiced at the pre-election finance debate in Queenstown, topped off a woeful performance and should have set the alarms bells ringing for Luxon….but no!!!…Sadly for N.Z. it’s was , and still is, a case of the blind
leading the blind….on they blundered…one clusterfuck after the next… driving the economy straight off a cliff in double quick time.
Nikki no boats’ financial ferry fiasco was just the canary in the coalmine…
With chronic absenteeism by Luxon and Willis flailing around, hopelessly at sea, all they can now offer is a lame lie…’blame Labour’
Yes she and Luxon are both fucken unless so no surprises that the country is fucked
To date we have seen the blasé attitude this government has towards NZ Taxpayers Money. Their leader calls us Bottom Feeders and he too, like Willis, has an Easy Come/Easy Go attitude to what our taxes are being spent on!!!!
It’s as if They Simply Don’t Care what they waste OUR money on and there is no holding Willis to account for her in a fit of pique after the election 2023 to cancel the IRex ferry contracts because she was wanting to Eliminate any Reminder of the previous Labour government from the History Books.
Now if Willis was a business owner or a director of a company and She Did the Same Thing she has as a questionable finance minister she would have been either bought before the courts or Held Accountable by some organisation. She would have Also Lost Her Job due to her financial incompetence.
But no!!!! All she will get is a Mere Slap on the the Hand with a Wet Bus ticket. She has gotten away with her Gross Incompetence.
After becoming government Luxon, Willis etc carried on about Saving the country millions and yet we have seen, especially Luxon gallivanting around the world at the expense of the NZ Taxpayers, practically nothing for show for All his Jaunts and Junkets overseas.
Instead and to date on Luxon’s I believe he has cost the NZ taxpayers over $600k in the Junkets. One time he claimed that he was “entitled” to claim an accommodation allowance of $52k on his mortgage free Wellington apartment that he stayed in about 3 nights a week. He considered Premier House as Uninhabitable and goodness knows how much getting it to ‘his standards’ has cost the NZ taxpayers??!!
So overall this government is on a massive Spending Spree Willy/Nilly and Mostly to Massage The Ego of its Leader and the Incompetent Behaviour of its finance minister.
Wealthy and sorted Luxon could have afforded to fly Albo up a mountain for a pavlovas but NO he passed that bill onto the ATMs that are the NZ taxpayers.
Lets remember the actions of this government whenever – and I hope it’s sooner than later – there is a general election.
Does it get any worse? Frankly no. This CoC-up didn’t just get the ferries’ deal wrong, they continually mess up most of what they meddle in. Why, because of their arrogance and the low intelligence of their MP’s. Willis is so far out of her depth as to make us want to scream! This inept CoC has changed the rules on so many important issues to fit their tiny brain capacities. Even Brownlee’s Speaker gaffs are acceptable to them and their dim-witted cohorts. Wasting $671m, while so many of our people live on the streets, is an absolute disgrace. How anyone, with even half a brain, can continue to support them, beggars belief. FGS SAVE NZ – kick this deranged mob into touch, now.
Willis is just plain thick nuf said
And what about the waste of the millions spent creating a new NZ Health board.
Don’t criticize Labour on their covid spend to keep people alive, criticize National as having wasteful spending as one of their major policies.
Toyota have a reputation for function and reliability better than most.
Just saying so to be fair.
I think that Toyota management would have kept the ferry deal (even though the companies compete in the vehicle market) and found better ways to achieve the port upgrades. It would have saved money compared to the dim witted finance minister who didn’t know the difference between a Ferrari and a ferry.
It’s a total shit show and they won’t save a penny and it will end up costing MUCH more.
Even Winston knows this but hopes no one will read the details.
“Peters admits many of those costs cut from his new plan will eventually need to be funded by future budgets.”
https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/03/31/new-ferries-will-have-freight-cars-but-no-frills-says-peters/
Labour had a plan to future proof our most important transport connection and improve productivity by having rail enabled ferries.
This pack of cretinous fuck monkeys would rather that boxes are unloaded then reloaded from rail cars. Genius!
All the while the tourists they’re begging for will get to experience the end result of their dumbfuckery. They’ll be taking home stories about rusting ferries that don’t sail or get stranded in the strait. “Thank you, come again”.
And the infrastructure will NEVER get cheaper.
Winston has failed. Looks like he’s prepared to fuck over the country for a few racist policies and childish legislation.
Time he fucked off…
Errrr you do know the replacement ferries aren’t Toyotas don’t you.
Just fucken dumb
This “trap for young players” that Nicky Nobrains fell into so enthusiastically pretty much sums up the whole government for what it is… A crowd of young players, with the attendant fossilized cling ons..
About as useful as Mustard gas is to peaceful meditation..
The first ferry was due this year and may well have been in service before Xmas. Now we are going to scrap one of the existing ones so will be down to two part time rust buckets for the next 5 years .A decent quake and the ports will fall over because the major cost was in quake proofing with foundations 70 meters into the sea floor .Winston blow hard will no doubt supply one of those polystyrene floating docks .