When an independent expert / advisory group is anything but ..

Are there any tells?

OPINION: Yesterday, 1News reported that the Government's "independent" advisory group had recommended Kiwirail offload its ferries to another entity.

Except this wasn't entirely new news at all, besides that it came formally from Nicola Willis’s advisory team.

TVNZ is under significant cost pressure, and earlier this year, after expressing strong discontent with our media, David Seymour said he was going to review TVNZ’s value for money proposition. The timing of their broadcast also doesn’t appear to allow deep dives.

The National Government has actually been slow-leaking its intent over the last few months.

Let me elaborate:

Their first and biggest tell was cancelling the fixed price contract, that would have delivered next generation, future-proofed, rail ferries appropriate for the Cook Strait, within appropriately seismic upgraded terminals, by 2026.

• Yes, 2026. Not a typo.

• The Government had already been told that the ferries were nearing end of life, and maintenance costs and issues wo…