New Zealand is down a ferry today with the Aratere’s final sailing, and there’s still no replacement in sight.

“Christopher Luxon has wasted more than half a billion dollars to replace the Cook Strait ferries and doesn’t have anything to show for it,” Labour transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said.

“The Aratere’s last sailing today means the country is reduced to two Interislander ferries, which are ageing and 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.

“Christopher Luxon promised his business background would fix things – but he cannot even run a project to replace our ferries. This isn’t a delay, it’s a total failure of leadership.

“New Zealanders are still waiting for an update from the government as to whether they are any closer to securing ferries by 2029, as they’ve promised.

“The money National is wasting has to come from somewhere, and we’re all paying for it through cuts to health care, job losses, and families falling behind.

“People are struggling with the cost of living while Christopher Luxon makes bad deals that leave Kiwis worse off,” Tangi Utikere said.