After a $1.4b budget blowout, what happens now for Cook Strait's ferry crisis?

It’s a year on from the Interislander’s terrifying Kaitaki incident.

The ferry lost power in Cook Strait with 864 people on board and issued a mayday call as it drifted towards Wellington’s rocky south coast.

Luckily, disaster was narrowly avoided, and there was some comfort that KiwiRail had new mega ferries ordered and on the way to replace the ageing Interislander fleet.

But fast-forward to today and KiwiRail’s mega ferry project has been canned after Finance Minister Nicola Willis refused to fund the latest budget blowout of $1.47 billion.

So what’s the new plan to replace the ageing ferries and what does this mean for this critical supply chain link in the meantime?

Today on The Front Page, Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison and BusinessDesk infrastructure editor Oliver Lewis discuss the decisions behind the cancellation and what needs to happen next. 

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