John MacDonald: Hey KiwiRail, come clean or be cleaned-up

I think we’ve reached the point where people are going to be asking themselves not only “if I book a ticket on the Interislander, how confident can I be that they won’t cancel on me?” I think we’re at the point now we’re people will also be asking themselves how safe they feel using the service. 

I was talking to someone who said after this news about the autopilot on the Aratere the other week, that’s them done with the Interislander and, if they want or need to take a ferry across Cook Strait, it will be Bluebridge all the way. 

And that’s not because of delays. This person has lost confidence in the safety of KiwiRail’s Interislander service. 

I’m not at that point - yet. For me, I think I can say that if I jumped on an Interislander ferry right now, I’d be pretty confident about getting there safely.  

The reliability of the service going ahead and not being cancelled at the last minute is another thing. But I’d feel pretty confident about the safety side of things. But there’s a key word there: “pretty”. 

I reckon 10 years ago there’d be no “pretty” about it and I’d have no qualms at all about safety. Today, I’m still confident - but not as confident as I used to be. 

And KiwiRail should be listening to this. Because the reason my confidence in the safety of its service isn't what it used to be, isn’t because of what happened just under three weeks ago when the Aratere ran aground. 

It's because of KiwiRail’s “nothing to see here” attitude. 

Which New Zealand First leader and Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters says is nothing new. He says the people running the Interislander are just continuing what’s been happening for years. Not being upfront about things.   

Now, I know as much as the next Health & Safety and legal person, that KiwiRail has needed to be careful about this from day one. Because the last thing it wants is the crew who were on-board that ferry the night it ran aground feeling as if they’ve been thrown under the bus by their employer - and KiwiRail finding itself being hit with personal grievance cases left, right and centre. 

Generally, what happens in these situations, is employers just clam-up and say nothing. They bang-on about following a process and investigations and not jumping to conclusions and not pointing fingers. 

But that all means nothing when you have political parties speculating on social media —as New Zealand First has been— and when you get internal reports being leaked. As has happened in the past 24 hours. 

KiwiRail would have been far better to say, as soon as it knew about this issue with the wrong button being pressed, that the ship had been serviced recently, that what happened when it ran aground seemed to be related to the steering, but it looks like there was some element of human error involved. So emphasise that the ship itself wasn’t packing a sad. 

If they had done that, it would’ve done wonders for public confidence in the Interislander. But instead, we’ve now got people starting to question the safety of the service altogether. Not just its reliability - but its safety. 

I hope KiwiRail is listening. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
I think we've reached the point.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
Now.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
You might disagree with me on this one, but I
think we've reached the point where people are going to
be asking themselves, not only if I book a ticket
on the inter Islander, how confident can it be that
they won't cancel on me? They won't be just asking that.
I think we're at the point now where people will
also be asking themselves how safe they feel using the service.

(00:38):
You know, I was talking to someone today would have
been what a couple of hours ago, an hour and
a half ago, who said, after this news about the
auto pilot going haywire on they the other week, that's
them done with the inter Islander done and if they
want or need to take a ferry across Cork straight,

(00:58):
it'll be Bluebridge all the way. And that's not because
of delays. This person has lost confidence in the safety
of Kiwi Rails inter Island to service.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
I'm not at that point yet, but I want to
find art and I'm keen to hear where you're at
on this one. You know, for me, I think I
can say yeah, I'm pretty confident that if I jumped
on and into island to ferry right now, I'd be
pretty confident about getting their safety safely. Reliability of the

(01:31):
service going ahead and not been canceled at the last minute,
That's another thing. I wouldn't feel confident about that until
it was full steam ahead and I was in the
middle of corks straight somewhere and it was still full
steam ahead. But I would feel pretty confident about the
safety side of things. But there was a key key
word there, did you hear it? I've said it what
three times now? Pretty, I reckon ten years ago there'd

(01:55):
be no pretty about it, and I would have no
qualms at all about safety. And as we stand here today,
I'm still confident in the safety of Kiwi rails into islander,
but not as confident as I used to be. And
Kiwi Raw you should be listening to this, listening to this,
listen to me. The reason why my confidence in the

(02:17):
safety of your service isn't what it used to be
isn't because of what happened just under three weeks ago
when the yard try ran aground. The reason my confidence
in the safety of the inter islander is diminishing is
because of Kiwi Rail's nothing to see here attitude. That's

(02:38):
what it's been like, which you see on first leader
Enacting Prime Minister Winston Peter said, is nothing new. This
is not his first rodeo with the Intro Islander. He says,
the people running the Intra Islander are just continuing what's
been happening for years, and that is not being upfront
about things.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
This has happened countless times in the past with respect
to the fairies and all we've had over the years,
going back, you know, a long time in nine eighty
six is the same regime of denial and we're having
an inquiry. We're going to find out. And the fact
is it was so dumb obvious that the question was

(03:13):
what on earth was it doing on autopart it in
the first place?

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Good ques. And the reason why Kiwi Rail is doing
what it's doing is because the last thing it wants
is the crew on board the ferry that night when
it ran aground. The last thing they want is them
feeling as if they've been thrown under the bus by
their employer. And keep We Rail finding itself being hit
with personal grievance cases left right and center. I get that,

(03:37):
and generally what happens in these situations as employers because
of that just clam up say nothing being on about
following a process and investigations and not jumping into conclusions
and not pointing fingers. But that all means nothing when
you have political parties speculating on social media, as New
Zealand first has, and when you get internal reports being

(03:58):
leaked as has happened in the last twenty four hours.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Now.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Kiwi Rail would have been far better say as soon
as it knew about this issue with the wrong button
being pressed, I should have said something like the ship
had been serviced recently. What happened when it ran a
ground seems to be related to the steering, but it
looks like there was some element of human error involved here,
or even water it down of it looks like there
was some element of human involvement here or something along

(04:25):
those lines. So emphasize that the ship itself wasn't packing
a sad because that's the impression we're all getting about
the intro islander, isn't it Just make it clear that
there was a little bit more to it, And if
they'd done that, it would have worked wonders for my
confidence in the Intro Islander. But instead we've now got

(04:46):
people starting to question the safety of the service altogether,
not just its reliability, but it's safety. And as I
said earlier, I've even had a person telling you this
morning that they will never never travel on the Intro
Islander again because they don't feel safe enough to do it.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
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