It turns out Sydney’s jokingly named Ferry McFerryface was picked by the transport minister, not the public.

Last November, the NSW Government announced Ferry McFerryface had been chosen by an overwhelming number of voters after naming rights were crowdsourced.

The name is a reference to the UK’s infamous Boaty McBoatface.

But a Channel Nine freedom of information request has revealed this week that Ferry McFerryface was far from the most popular choice, and that more than ten times more voters had pushed to name the ferry after the founder of Clean Up Australia and 1994 Australian of the Year, Ian Kiernan.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance now claims that in early nominations, before the public vote, Ferry McFerryface received 229 nominations compared with 17 for Kiernan.

“The second round of voting did not include Ferry McFerryface as an option,” he said.

He also said the name was never meant to be permanent.

He also defended the name as “branding” that was only intended to be temporary.

“We always said we would just run it over summer, have a look at how it goes,” he told Channel Nine.

“It’s had a bit of international recognition, bit of lighthearted fun, lots of kids taking selfies.

“We followed the panel recommendations for the first five but, for the last one, we thought, ‘Let’s do something a bit different’.”

The initial announcement in November was strongly opposed by the Maritime Union of Australia, whose Sydney branch assistant secretary Paul Garrett accused Mr Constance was “taking the absolute mickey out of public transport in this state.”

The ferry will now be renamed after prominent Australian author May Gibbs.