Ferries and trains owned by the state again

We’re back to the future with the Government giving Toll a huge wallop of cash for their trains and ferries. Toll will be laughing all the way to the bank with their $665 million.

There is a case for the Government to own core infrastructure assets, but I am far from convinced it needs to own the companes that operate on them.

$665 million would do far more for NZ investing in future infrastructure such as fibre-optic cables, than some second hand ferries and trains.

John Key has already said that they won’t be selling any assets in their first term, so I guess we are stuck with them for the foreseeable future. I just hope someone keeps track of how much money we throw into keeping them viable, and what the opportunity cost of investing that money elsewhere is.