Card declined – at least for now
It’s an agreeable thought that councillor Peter Kett champions – free ferry trips to Stewart Island for over-65s. The disagreeable thought is who pays for it.
Government, right? After all, Kett wants the service covered under the SuperGold card – a Government scheme. Well, Winston Peters’ scheme really, brought into being when he found himself in a position to insist upon it.
Since 2008 it has enabled cardholders to travel free on scheduled urban public transport off-peak, the operator being reimbursed by the Government.
Small point: There’s been a moratorium in place since 2010 preventing major new services entering the scheme. This, the Government said, was to ensure costs remained sustainable. Though the scheme initially cost $18 million annually, the number of card-holders has been increasing by about 20,000 a year so now, even with the moratorium in place, it’s estimated to cost $26m (and come on, you could probably buy a new flag for that much . . . ).
The Government is reviewing whether the moratorium should be lifted but this has been under way since Budget 2013, so you have to say the review has been proceeding at a stately pace. And sure enough, there’s scant indication of any announcement expectable in tomorrow’s Budget.
So, at the very least, delays await. This would allow time for Kett and company to do that cost analysis that doesn’t yet exist, and to obtain the figures he didn’t have about how many people fly and take the ferry to and from the island.
After all, the Government is going to need a stronger case than ‘‘but Waiheke Island has one . . . ’’ Especially since only the longstanding Fullers Waiheke ferry does. The newer competitor, Explore Group, remains excluded by the moratorium.
The company operating the Stewart Island ferry, Real Journeys, has (cheerfully, from the sound of it) suggested that, hey, local councils could buy bulk fares.
This was clearly not what Kett had in mind but he agrees that, OK, there could be a buy-in from local government. This could open up generational conflict, given that the younger public will want to know why not a general subsidy, if there’s going to be one.
But given that no group struggles harder to meet rates demands than superannuitants, the thought of them being hit up in in rates to pay for jaunts for them to and from the island will not in itself be an easy sell.