Kiwirail Interislander ferry upgrade budget blowout update

Summarised by Centrist

Professor Bryce Edwards cites former National Infrastructure and Finance Minister Steven Joyce who blames the former Labour government for the “mega-ferry” budget blowout. Joyce notes that the Kiwirail Interislander ferry upgrade project is a “slow moving trainwreck” and that the project’s major mistake was moving away from straightforward roll-on, roll-off ferries.  The debacle was made worse by Labour’s wasteful laissez-faire approach to infrastructure spending. 

Another perspective is left-wing commentator Gordon Campbell. He pins the project’s cancellation on National’s search for funding to budget what he says is their unaffordable tax cuts.

Edwards notes the threat of severe consequences for the nation if NZ doesn’t get a handle on how budgets need to be managed to effectively deliver on badly needed infrastructure projects. 

Read more over at Democracy Project

^{Image: Bernard Spragg}