14 Dec 2023

Nicola Willis on refusing to fund ferry cost blowout

From Morning Report, 8:11 am on 14 December 2023

We want a Toyota, not a Ferrari. That's the way Finance Minister Nicola Willis is describing the government's decision not to pay significant budget blowouts to build new infrastructure for planned Interislander mega ferries. KiwiRail says the project will now be wound down. The new ferries were due to be delivered by 2026, and Nicola Willis says she expects smaller ferries that fit existing infrastructure to be delivered in their place. Willis spoke to Corin Dann.