The NSW transport minister made a "balls-up" of the Ferry McFerryface saga, according to environmental campaigner Ian Kiernan, whose name could have been emblazoned on the now-controversial Sydney ferry.
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Andrew Constance made a "captain's call" when naming one of the city's new vessels Ferry McFerryface and claimed it was the popular pick of Sydneysiders in a competition.
However, Freedom of Information documents revealed the name attracted just 182 votes and was ineligible under the NSW government's criteria, according to the Nine Network.
Mr Constance nevertheless signed off on the name, which was dropped this week following a backlash from ferry workers and the public.
The FOI documents reveal Mr Kiernan received the most votes - more than 2000 - in the competition which cost taxpayers $100,000.
"He's made a balls-up of it," Mr Kiernan told AAP on Wednesday.
"It's a political hijack, that's what it is. I'm not particularly concerned about it except that the public's been deceived. They voted, they selected it, then the government grabs it.
"It's disgraceful that this has become politicised."
Mr Constance on Tuesday denied he'd gone against the public vote and suggested the Nine report was "incorrect".
The transport minister said Ferry McFerryface came from the first open call for public nominations where people could vote for any name without stringent criteria.
"In that round, Ferry McFerryface received 229 nominations and Ian Kiernan received 17," Mr Constance told AAP in a statement.
"We always intended this vessel would be named for the kids."
The minister said after a summer on the harbour, Ferry McFerryface would now be renamed after prominent Australian author May Gibbs.
"This will retain the vessel's appeal to our youngest customers while also recognising an Australian icon with a long connection to Sydney."
Mr Kiernan remains unhappy and has questioned the ferry's new name.
"What's she got to do with Sydney Harbour though?" he asked.
Gibbs moved into a boarding house in Neutral Bay in 1913 and travelled by ferry to her "Little Studio" on Bridge Street in Sydney. She subsequently moved to Nutcote in present-day Kurraba Point, where she lived until her death in 1969.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday supported her minister.
"All of us from time to time look back and think we could have handled things differently or better," she told reporters in Sydney, adding Mr Constance was "focused on the job of providing good services and quality infrastructure".
The five other new inner-harbour ferries were named Catherine Hamlin, Victor Chang, Fred Hollows, Bungaree and Pemulwuy.
