Todd Valster: Rail and Maritime Transport Union General Secretary on the costs of the previous rail deal, new deal

There are fresh developments in the Government's Cook Strait ferry headache. 

Hyundai is back in the running to land a deal after the coalition canned its original contract in 2023, blaming ballooning costs. 

Documents show the Government's set aside $300 million to cover that broken deal, which must be paid regardless of whether a new deal is struck. 

Rail and Maritime Transport Union General Secretary Todd Valster told Andrew Dickens the Government rushed to cancel the original deal. 

He reckons the amount of money lost is far higher, saying the $300 million doesn’t recognise costs of procurement – with estimations up to a billion dollars could have been spent. 

Although, he says, it's good to see Rail Minister Winston Peters has made a trip to Korea to speak with the ship builders. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Meanwhile, to the Fairies, and new documents revealed three hundred
million dollars was set aside by the government to cover
its broken ferry bill contract with Yundai. Even if Hyundai
land the new deal to build two smaller ferries, the
bill will still have to be paid out. Todd Volster
is rail the Maritime Transport Union General Secretary and has
working up early for us. Good morning to your Todd's

(00:21):
good mind. Three hundred million is that all?

Speaker 2 (00:25):
I think it's undercut. There's a lot more than three
hundred million. I think they're playing the under sums there.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
What are they missing out?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, there's three hundred million under the ether's nothing not
recognizing the costs that have already been put onto to
procure these these theories, the two large fairies. So there's
there's there's many more millions that have been spent. Okay,

(00:56):
billion dollars or even more.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Okay, easy to are around those words. But yes, I
understand these ships where to cost five hundred and fifty
one million dollars and now we've got three hundred million
to break that. But the pole project would cost three
point five billion, possibly even four by Now that's because
of the wharfside costs. Can you tell me why no
one talks about the wharfside cost which is the biggest
part of this whole thing, and we'll still have to happen.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
I think we still do, just talk about it. Yeah, yeah, no,
maybe it's been played down, but the ambition by the
crow Space was a bit high and it was a
one hundred year ascid except you know, the existing infrastructure
is probably fifty years old or less and needing to
be replaced, so they probably went a bit too far

(01:41):
on that side of things, and there was a lots
of debate about where there was going to be in Wellington,
whether it's going to be close to the railway station
or income the existing far fire. So yeah, still talking
about it, but yeah it still needs There's tenths on
both sides, so they.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Don't need to be Those wolves are on earthquake a
fault and they're sixty years old and they're going to
need something, So we'll talk about that later. In your opinion,
did the government rush to cancel the fairies?

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Absolutely, I don't think there was much thought put in
it at all, even the way that they canceled the ferries,
and I think it was by text message to high
and Die before it was announced a couple of hours later.
So the public was totally disrespectful. I think what is
good is that at least part of the coalition has
gone to career and spoken to with the shipbuilders. The

(02:34):
Prime Minister didn't and certainly the Minister of Finance didn't,
but at once to have all right.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Three months after the deal was canceled, the Ministerial Advisory
Group appointed by Nikola Willis told her that she should
urgently renegotiate the contract. She didn't. Was that a mistake?

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Absolutely? Even the Nisterary Advisory Group was sort of geared
to be to what Nikla calls rail compatible, which is
like weird everything as well compatible. You can take a
piece of fright and put it on a pushbite if
you like. But as far as rail enabled, which is
what New Zealand needs, that's that's that's the main thing

(03:12):
I was going.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
To ask you. Are you a roll on roll off guy,
a rail enabled guy, or a rail competible guy.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Rail compatible is ridiculous. Rail enabled is what New Zealand needs.
It's completely inefficient to taking freight off wagons and putting
it onto the little trucks and and doing the same
at the other end. It's it's it's uh yeah, all right,
it's not even safe really, Todd.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
I thank you for your time today, Todd Volster from
the Maritime Transport Union.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
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