Labour has accused the Government of wasting more than half a billion dollars on replacing the Cook Strait ferries without securing new vessels, as the Aratere makes its final sailing.
Labour transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere says the country was now left with only two ageing ferries and no replacements in sight.
He says the retirement of the Aratere reduced the fleet to just two ships that were expensive to maintain.
“New Zealand was supposed to have replacement ferries coming next year, but as with most things under Christopher Luxon he’s made the situation much worse. This is a further burden on the taxpayer on top of the half a billion he has already wasted,” Utikere says.
“This isn’t a delay, it’s a total failure of leadership,” he says.
Utikere says New Zealanders were still waiting for a government update on whether replacement vessels would be secured by 2029, as promised.
