Simon Watts: Energy Minister explains Government gas plan amid accusations over 'extra taxes'

The Energy Minister is clearing up some misconceptions after yesterday's newly announced LNG import facility sparked backlash.

The Government yesterday announced plans for the storage site in order to maintain energy supply, and a levy will be used to fund infrastructure costs.

Simon Watts says the Huntly Power Station isn't cutting it anymore and New Zealand needs more gas.

"We need gas and we need those molecules, and that's the problem we're facing. And importation will allow us to get that gas." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Henner. Obviously, the main pressure that's been piled on the
government is over the levee that it's imposing on households
after campaigning on removing taxes. The Energy Minister Simon Watts
is asked to come on the show to respond to
these attacks and is with us, Hi, Simon, Good evening, Heather,
what are people getting wrong?

Speaker 2 (00:16):
So the levee point is a levee to build the
infrastructure that will go on the electricity sector. We'll also
see a downward pressure on energy prices and if you
net those two things off, we'll see a net benefit
to households and we will see downward pressure in terms
of household bills. I listened to that interview before, Heather,
and the reality is we've already got proof of the

(00:38):
pudding in twenty four that energy prices spiked because we
didn't have enough gas and Huntley does not cover enough
of that gap with coal alone. We need gas and
we need those molecules and that's the problem we're facing
and importation will allow us to get that gas.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Seems to me that politically, at least your biggest problem
is going to be running a campaign, will have a
crack at labor for wanting to tax us when you
yourself are taxing us. So what about Jordan Williams and
the Taxpayer Union's idea, which is to sell off some
of the I guess some of the publicly floated the
share you have in the publicly floated assets and ring

(01:13):
fence that and use that money to build the facility
instead of taxing us to pay to build the facility.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah. Well, hither we both know that labor are just
trying to create a distraction. You know this is a
net savings for helphold a conversation around assets sales.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Simon.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Sales.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
You can you can you can turn this into a
labour's having a cracket. You think I am a punter
who's going to vote in November, and I'm telling you
now you're taxing me, and that's going to be a problem.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
We're not taxing you. There is a net benefit to
household power bills and businesses as a role of it
is a benefit and is a levy cost. But let's
talk about the ASTI sales, which is a question. PM's
made our position pretty clear on asset sales. It's not
something that's on the table this term. And you know
we will won't campaign on So that's where we are on,

(01:59):
all right.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Is this something that is this a concession to Shane Jones?
Is this something Shane wanted in one of the meetings
and has now got.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
No. This is a solution to the underlying problem that
we faced in twenty four, which is we do not
have sufficient gas to make electricity to keep the lights on,
and we need to be able to import that gas.
And if we've got certainty of that supply, then we've
got certainty of being able to keep the lights on.
And that certainty is important not only for households and businesses,
but also for gas users that are trying to make

(02:28):
you back. I mean, the last person said, hey, the
way we deal with this one way is to tell
industry to shut down production. Well, that's insane. You know,
we want to be building and making as much as
we can in this country. I don't want to turn
down the dials of invery industry every time I have
a dry year. That doesn't cut it. We need a
much more strategic solution and an importation of gas, does

(02:49):
the author Simon?

Speaker 1 (02:50):
I appreciate your time, and I really appreciate you taking
the time to come on the show again. Look after
yourself and we'll talk soon. Simon, what's the Energy Minister?
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