Carl Findlay: Maritime Union Secretary on the potential delays and cost blowouts to the Cook Strait ferry replacement programme

Carl Findlay: Maritime Union Secretary on the potential delays and cost blowouts to the Cook Strait ferry replacement programme

From Early Edition with Ryan Bridge by Newstalk ZB

May 4, 2026 · 3 min

About this episode

Carl Findlay discusses the potential delays and cost issues related to the Cook Strait ferry replacement programme.

A union says the taxpayer pays the price for any cost blowout to the Cook Strait ferry replacement programme.   A Treasury review last year found “back-to-front” planning and decaying port infrastructure's left the project exposed to delays and higher costs.   Maritime Union Secretary Carl Findlay told Ryan Bridge Ferry Holdings was set up to sort all of this out.   He says they should've pulled together the Port of Wellington and Picton, both councils, and KiwiRail so they're all on the same page.  Findlay says they’ve known about these issues for several years, and from his understanding, nothing’s been done at either port to accommodate the ferries.  Ferry Holdings says the groups planning shows costs are within the allocated budget.   LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Ryan Bridge

Guest: Carl Findlay

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Maritime Union, Ferry Holdings, KiwiRail, Treasury

Places: Wellington, Picton

More episodes of Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge podcast page.