Best of 2024: Barry Soper - Northland pylon collapse was completely preventable

The Electricity Authority's report in to a toppled pylon has found the collapse was entirely avoidable.

The Transpower pylon north of Helensville fell - cutting power to 88,000 people in Northland - after unsupervised, inexperienced maintenance crews undid three legs at once.

The report found there was evidence removing all the nuts wasn't a one-off event.

ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this incident came with significant economic impacts to Northland.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Barry Sopower seeing your political correspondence with us.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Barry, Hello, good afternoon, Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Oh what a surprise about the Transpower.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Well, we could have saved them the inquiry, couldn't we
because we said within hours of seeing well within minutes,
i should say of seeing the photograph, was pretty obvious
that the pylon collapse because the bolts were What's.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Interesting is that it's not the first time that all
of the bolts were taken out of more than one leads.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yes, exactly, and that's something that we've learned from this
inquiry and also the absolute cost to the Province of
Northland eighty eight thousand people without power. The cost to
Northland was massive, as the Energy Minister Simeon Brown outlined
in Parliament this afternoon.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
The report identifies a range of estimates between thirty seven
point five million and eighty million dollars of lost economic
activity for Northland. The report recounts how concerns are raised
by senior engineer within Transpower in twenty twenty one regarding
a gap in the knowledge of maintenance crews undertaking foundation work,
but that the recommendations for improvement by Transpower were not

(01:03):
acted on and the report also identifies that the removal
of all the nuts from the base plates from more
than one tower leg was not a one off event.

Speaker 4 (01:14):
To have a question to the minister whether or not
the government is considering compensation and whether that will be
provided to effective businesses and residents, and whether that is
something that has been actively pursued by the government.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yeah, well that question came from Megan Woods, who was
the Energy Minister at the time when Transpoer was alerted
to the major problem the disconnect between maintenance crews and
the company itself. So I think you're.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Talking about the sor the senior engineer who in twenty
twenty one warned Transpower that this guy's doing the word
we made recommendation, didn't realize what they were doing. No, yes,
but do you really expect that Meghan Woods knew that
level of detail of what transpower. I think this is
a Transpower problem, not a Megan So true.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
But I just thought that her getting up and saying
that that she was the minister at the time, and
I think it was probably a bit rich coming from her.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
I feel like there should be some copper for the
people in Northland. So whoever advocates for them at the moment. Whatever, right, Yeah,
thank you, So you make Takuta Ferris is off to
the Privileges Committee.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah, we all know what happened last Wednesday. Today, though,
I've got to say, Ferris was digging his whole even deeper,
appearing holllier than thou, quoting at length and Iahu chaired
justin deeper talking about the Treaty Principals Bill.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
You can't have a reasonable, reasonable debate with a person
or party who just thought the truth.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, well, he should look at his own principles following
the denial he made last week. Lies.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
In other words, many in this House are masters of it.

Speaker 5 (02:50):
If that is what the member said, then he should
withdraw and apologize as quickly as possible. I haven't made
this statement.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, well today these speaker Jerry Brown. He sent him
off to the sinbin to explain himself.

Speaker 5 (03:03):
Following a point of order alleging that he had called
members liars. Mister Ferris replied to me, quote, I haven't
made that statement, and denying that he made the statement.
It is possible that mister Ferris has himself deliberately misled
the House. That is a matter for the Privileges Committee
to judge.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Well, I can save them the time and effort for
that as well. Heather that he clearly did mislead the
House and now I guess it's the penalty that now
they'll now bestow upon him which will be of the
most interest and I would imagine his risk is going
to be rather sore after a bus tickets.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
I mean, it's the Privileges Committee who cares. But but
have we heard from the Malori party yet?

Speaker 2 (03:45):
No, we haven't. Once he they had the opportunity And
this is supreme arrogance to me in Parliament if you
have some standards, and we've looked at the standards in
the debating chamber and they have diminished considerably. I think
in recent years. I've got to say there's nothing to
do with Jerry Brownie. Jerry Brownie, I think has been
a very good chairman. He gives much more latitude than

(04:07):
what other speakers have done, and I think people feel
that they're a bit more involved. But the standards in
the House for some of the morons that stand up
and make points like this one, I think they have
to be pulled up because I guess the dignity of
Parliament has to be maintained and you can't call you
colleagues liars.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
Barry, what do you make of Chris Luckson's chief media guy,
Hamish Rutherford quitting after ten months? Well job.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
It's interesting when you consider that he has worked with
and for Chris Luxon for almost two years because when
Luckson was the leader of the opposition, of course Hamish
left The Herald in his business role there and went
to work for him, so he knows he would know
Luxon pretty well. By now. I've done a bit of

(04:54):
a talking around to see what sort of boss that
Chris Luckson would be. The phrases that I was offered
was hard charging whatever that means, relentless, tough task master,
doing a lot of social media, which has said it
has been suggested to me is something of an obsession

(05:16):
for him. But you know, you would say all those
attributes are what you would expect in a leader.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
I've heard micromanager doesn't take advice.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
Well, maybe that, and maybe at times is a bit
indiscreet about the people who are working for and around him.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
I think when you listen, Barry, when you become the
media guy for someone who's going to be the prime minister,
and after ten months you decide you don't want to
do the job anymore. I think it's a poor reflection
of something's gone wrong here in the relationship between the
two of them, right.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Well, something's gone wrong with one of them, one or
the other. I haven't talked to you, Hamish, because I
thought I'd rather talk to others just to see how things.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
He's too classy to say anything bad about Chris Luxen.
Oh all right, Berry, thanks very much apreciated a very
soper senior political correspondent. Eight Away from five.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
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