Payment details withheld from the Government for months.
The Rail Minister, Winston Peters, has expressed his disappointment over KiwiRail's decision to pay $8 million to a management consultancy firm, McKinsey. Despite engaging their services in December 2023, KiwiRail did not reveal this information or the payment value until June of this year. The Ombudsman recently ruled that the total payment amount should be disclosed.
According to Mr Peters, the money could have been better spent on improving service quality and increasing customer reliability. He believes that KiwiRail's focus should be on tightening spending, lifting service standards, and building a loyal customer base. In contrast, the Minister praises the company's efforts in achieving schedule reliability, particularly for major industry customers, with Interislander delivering near 100% reliability.
KiwiRail has reportedly achieved $30 million in savings this year, and the company aims to attract more volume from both existing and new customers. Mr Peters is pleased with KiwiRail's customer strategy, which he believes will lead to increased earnings and loyalty among customers. However, the decision to engage McKinsey's services remains unacceptable, according to the Minister.