8817 (2026). Hon Julie Anne Genter to the Minister for Rail

8817 (2026). Hon Julie Anne Genter to the Minister for Rail: What advice, briefings, memos or any other communication, if any, has he received from KiwiRail since 9 March 2026 regarding the interisland ferries?

Rt Hon Winston Peters: We were advised within a few hours of the initial, brief intermittent technical fault on Kaiārahi on Saturday, 7 March 2026 and within an hour of the fault recurring the following Tuesday. We received emailed and phone updates on the issue identification, sourcing of the spare part, installation of the spare part, sea trials, and approval to resume services each day from then. During this time, as a Minister without operational responsibility, we expressed the importance of managing customer disruption in a timely and supportive manner, and asked KiwiRail to review its inventory practices, given it took three days, once the cause had been identified, to source the replacement part. The list of emails is as follows: • Saturday, 7 March, 6.45am - Kaiārahi sailing cancelled due to fault • Sunday, 8 March, 9.38pm - Further Kaiārahi sailing cancelled due to fault • Monday, 9 March, 6.21pm – Final Kaiārahi update • Tuesday, 10 March, 11.58pm - Further Kaiārahi issues and cancellations • Thursday, 12 March, 3.55pm - Kaiārahi update - growing media interest re passenger disruption • Saturday, 14 March, 5.46pm - Kaiārahi returns to service tomorrow (Sunday) morning