56483 (2025). Francisco Hernandez to the Minister for Rail

56483 (2025). Francisco Hernandez to the Minister for Rail: What meetings if any, listed by date, has the Minister held with their departments , agencies, crown entities and any other bodies that the Minister is responsible for, if any, regarding any Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plans, if any, from 1 July 2024 to 5 December 2025?

Rt Hon Winston Peters: We have had no meetings with KiwiRail or Ferry Holdings regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plans, but have set very clear expectations of: 1. KiwiRail to cut costs and improve price competition, schedule reliability, safety, volumes and earnings. We are pleased to see the company is making great progress in these areas. 2. Ferry Holdings to deliver our no nonsense ferry replacement programme. We are pleased to note our solution will save the taxpayer $2.3 billion. If you are specifically interested in equity, being the form of commercial funding through the issuing of shares in the company, 880,780,000 shares have been issued by KiwiRail since July 2024 and 735,200,000 shares by Ferry Holdings since 3 March 2025. These share issues are designed to improve the long-term performance of the companies, funding new locomotives, wagons, ferries, and network improvements.