Sydney has two new $78m ferry wharves – but no ferry to run between them

NSW taxpayers have forked out $78 million for a pair of wharves in Sydney’s south, but the state government has failed to find a ferry to run between them.

The Kamay Wharves were intended to revitalise a ferry route across the entrance to Botany Bay – from La Perouse to Kurnell – that closed in 1974.

The wharves are now open, and accessible for swimming and fishing, as well as berthing recreational and commercial vessels. However, their platforms equipped to berth ferries of up to 40 metres remain unused.

Transport for NSW unsuccessfully advertised for expressions of interest from ferry operators to work the route in July 2024.

An agency spokesperson said there was an ongoing effort to make use of the newly minted infrastructure, and it had not ruled out finding an operator for the ferry route.

“Transport for NSW is continuing to explore ways to maximise their value, including potential partnerships with tourism and charter operators,” they said, calling the wharves “a major investment in community access to Kamay Botany Bay National Park”.

“While a regular ferry service is not in place at this stage, we remain open to market interest.”

A ferry trip between La Perouse and Kurnell would take less than 20 minutes, compared to more than 45 minutes by car.

Neither Transport Minister John Graham’s office nor Transport for NSW responded to questions about whether it was protocol for operator contracts, such as the contracts for the ferry route, to be acquired after the completion of a major infrastructural investment.

In addition to the failure to contract a ferry operator, the wharf development has been controversial due to its significant cost blowout.

While the former state government forecast $18 million for the development in 2018, the final cost of the project is more than four times that, at $78 million.

Shortly after the Minns government’s election in 2023, then-transport minister Jo Haylen criticised the former government for never planning or commissioning a ferry service.

The Minns government completed the wharves because the cost of cancelling the project was put at $46 million.

Randwick Councillor Noel D’Souza said, while the ferry would be an appreciated addition, locals had made the wharf their own in its absence.

“At the moment [the project] doesn’t serve its purpose, but yet it’s serving a secondary purpose, and that’s making it a community hub,” he said.

D’Souza said the La Perouse wharf in particular, despite its lack of transport connection, has become a hub of local activity – from teenagers swimming to tourists admiring sunsets.

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