The two new Cook Strait ferries will be named Kupe and Cook.
Minister for Rail Winston Peters has also confirmed KiwiRail will operate the ferries, once they arrive in 2029.
The government is buying two rail-enabled ferries, to be built by Guangzhou Shipyard in China, to replace the current ageing fleet.
In a speech to stakeholders at Parliament, Peters said the names Kupe and Cook were a "look to the future with positive recognition of the past," and spoke to New Zealand's maritime heritage.
"These are proper names. Historic names. New Zealand names."
Peters anticipated there would be pushback against the name Cook, with his speech targeting "snivelling wokesters" who considered Cook to be a "harbinger of colonisation".
"A mature country does not run from its history. A serious country does not vandalise its memory to satisfy the latest fashion in whinger politics."
He also confirmed KiwiRail would operate the new ferries, and pay commercial port fees to CentrePort, Port Marlborough, and Ferry Holdings.
"In its various guises from New Zealand Railways, to TranzRail, to Toll, and now KiwiRail, it has managed the Interislander for 64 years. In our book, experience counts," Peters said.
The arrangement will be reviewed in 2039, 10 years after the ferries come online. KiwiRail will also be required to build up a reserve so it can directly purchase new ferries in 2059.
Upon entering government, the coalition pulled the plug on the previous government's iReX project.
The total costs of the cancellation, which included fees paid to formerly-contracted Hyundai-Mipo shipyard, came to $671 million.
Had they not been cancelled, the iReX ferries would have been operational by now.
But the government has defended the cancellation by saying the cost of the project had blown out to $3 billion.
"There is real world, good honest ballast in our approach. Build what is needed, not what is desired. Do what works, not what dazzles. Trust the experts, not the yes-men," Peters said.
This story was first published on rnz.co.nz |  |
