Polling conducted by Talbot Mills on behalf of transport unions shows support for publicly owned rail-enabled ferries is growing, with 54% of New Zealanders now backing this option – up six points from last year.

At the same time, support for a privatised option has decreased, and considerably more people think Finance Minister Nicola Willis made a mistake in cancelling the original ferry contract than support her call.

Rail and Maritime Transport Union General Secretary Todd Valster says the polling sends a clear signal to the new Rail Minister.

“Voters want ownership and control of this critical infrastructure to remain in public hands and to be rail enabled.

“That shouldn’t be surprising – it’s just common sense which is why a majority of voters for all parties of government are backing this option.

“If we want the Interislander to work most efficiently and effectively for all New Zealanders, we need it to support rail freight. That’s key to our economic future.

“The new Minister for Rail has a real chance to fix the economic and political problem the Finance Minister has created by cancelling the iRex ferries, and it’s clear that voters of every political stripe would back him in doing that.”

The poll was conducted by Talbot-Mills over the period 7–17 January 2025 and has a sample size of 1057.

A copy is available for download here: https://www.munz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Cook-Strait-Ferries-Jan-25.pdf

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