Kerre Woodham: A massive press conference to tell us very little

Well, a great deal of expectation and excitement. We all gathered around the wireless to listen to the 8am announcement about reform of our electricity and power sector and, wow, a lot of hullabaloo and hype over a meh kind of announcement.  

This government has announced there is money to invest in critical energy infrastructure. Woot. Good to know. We used to criticise the previous government for its announcement of announcements, but by crikey, Nicola Willis has picked up that ball and she's run with it. There was a lot of talk in the press release and at the press conference – reliable and affordable energy is key to New Zealand's prosperity. Well, yeah. Energy powers every part of our economy. We know.  

But what's happening right now is a gas shortage that is driving New Zealand manufacturers out of business. What's happening right now is that people are really struggling to pay power bills that go up year on year. And what have the Finance Minister and the Energy Minister told us? That they wish to correct the perception that the Government won't invest in the electricity sector. Cool. I thought exactly what Mike said this morning when he was talking to Simon Watts: why didn't you just ring the bosses at Genesis, Mercury, and Meridian and tell them the chequebook was open? Not hold a massive press conference to tell us really very little.  

There was also an announcement that there's going to be a procurement process started for an LNG import facility, which may or may not be around in two years. Again, announcement of an announcement.  

The only thing that really stands out for me looking at it is developing new rules to ensure the lack of dry year backup supply, which has a massive ongoing effect on the economy, doesn't happen again. But again, no detail on how that will happen or what energy source will be used as backup. Simon Watts was talking up the government's package on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning.  

“We've got a pretty significant renewable pipeline. I don't doubt that. But am I seeing that flow through in terms of the price of energy? No. And that is what is hitting hard Kiwi households and Kiwi businesses. That's the issue that we need to deal with and this package of announcements and actions, taken as one, is some of the most significant bundle of energy market package announcements that we've seen in a long time. It's going to need to be seen as one package, not as individual parts, but together, we are confident that it'll make a significant impact.” 

Really, Simon, is it so significant? If you're a manufacturer wondering how on earth you're going to stay in business given the lack of gas and the soaring cost of energy, what will this announcement do for you? If you're trying to juggle the family's household budget and looking at a power bill of $500 bucks, are you going to feel particularly grateful that Nicola Willis and Simon Watts have announced what?  

According to Meridian, and we'll be talking to Meridian CEO a little later, it's bold. ‘We acknowledge the government's commitment to help the country move forward. It will add greater momentum to our development pipeline and building new generation’. But we know that with the fast tracking of resource consent.  

This government really does need to stop being so underwhelming in terms of how they report to voters. They get excited about the dry policy wonk stuff and your average voter, not so much.  

I like a lot of what they're doing. I really do. And if you think about it, you probably do too. I like the health targets. I like the focus of the new curriculum in the schools. I like the improvement in school attendance. I like the banning of gang patches, the fast tracking of projects, Chris Bishop's plan for improving housing supply. Compare that to the pie in the sky of 100,000 Kiwi Build homes. I like the refocusing of Kāinga Ora on its core job of providing homes for people who need them. There is a lot that I like.  

But the thing is they score own goals with press conferences like this, with all the bells and whistles, that don't actually deliver anything of substance for the people who cast their votes.  

The problem with the last government is they were all jazz hands and no substance, no delivery. I never thought I'd say this, but the problem with this lot is that they need a bit more stardust. They're solid, they're working hard. They have hard data on what is working policy-wise and what is not. But people just aren't feeling it. There aren't enough good vibes. We need more cowbell, baby, and we need it soon. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the carrywood of morning's podcast from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Well, great deal of expectation and excitement. We all gathered
round the wireless to listen to the eight a m.
Announcement about reform of our electricity and power sector and wow,
a lot of hulla balloo and hype over a mech
kind of announcement. This government has this very morning announced

(00:35):
there is money to invest in critical energy infrastructure.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Whoot.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Good to know. We used to criticize the previous government
for its announcement of announcements, but by crikey, Nichola Willis
has picked up that ball and she's run with it.
There was a lot of talk in the press release
and at the press conference reliable and affordable energy is
key to New Zealand's prosperity. Well yeah, energy powers every

(01:08):
part of our economy, we know. But what's happening right
now is a gas shortage that is driving New Zealand
manufacturers out of business. What's happening right now is that
people are really struggling to pay power bills that go
up year on year. And what if the Finance Minister

(01:28):
and the Energy Minister told us that they wished to
correct the perception that the government won't invest in the
electricity sector. Cool. I thought exactly what Mike said this
morning when he was talking to Simon, what why didn't
you just ring the bosses at Genesis, Mercury and Meridian

(01:49):
and tell them the checkbook was open, not hold a
massive press conference to tell us really very little. There
was also an announcement that there's going to be a
procurement process started for an LPG import facility, which may
or may not be around in two years. Again, announcement

(02:11):
of an announcement. The only thing that really stands out
for me looking at it is developing new rules to
ensure the lack of dry year backup supply, which has
a massive ongoing effect on the economy, doesn't happen again.
But again no detail on how that will happen or
what energy source will be used as backup. Simon Watt,

(02:33):
what's was talking up the government's package on the My
Costing breakfast this morning.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
We've got a pretty significant renewable pipeline. I don't doubt that,
But am I seeing that flow through in terms of
the price of energy? No, and that is what is
hitting hard. Kiwi households and Kiwi businesses. That's the issue
that we need to deal with. And this package of
announcements and actions taken as one, is some of the
most significant bundle of energy market package announcements that we've

(03:02):
seen in a long time. It's going to need to
be seen as one packag not as individual parts, but
together we are confident that it will make a significant impact.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
Really, Simon, is it so significant if you're a manufacturer
wondering how on earth you're going to stay in business
given the lack of gas and the soaring cost of energy?
What will this announcement do for you? If you're trying
to juggle the family's household budget and looking at a
power bell of five hundred bucks, are you going to
feel particularly grateful that Nikola Willison Simon Watts have announced

(03:37):
what According to Meridian and we'll be talking to Meridian
CEO a little later, it's bold, Ah, we acknowledge of
the government's commitment to help the country move forward. It
will add greater momentum to our development pipeline and building

(04:00):
new generation. But we know that with the fast tracking
of resource consent, this government really does need to stop
being so underwhelming in terms of how they report to voters.
They get excited about the dry policy walk stuff, and
your average voter not so much. I like a lot

(04:21):
of what they're doing. I really do, and if you
think about it, you probably do too. I like the
health targets. I like the focus of the new curriculum
in the schools. I like the improvement in school attendance.
I like the banning of gang batches, the fast tracking
of projects Chris Bishop's plan for improving housing supply. Compare

(04:44):
that to the pie and the sky of one hundred
thousand Kiwi built homes. I like the refocusing of caying
or Order on its core job of providing homes for
people who need them. There is a lot that I like.
But the thing is they score own goals with press
conferences like this, with all the bells and whistles, that
don't actually deliver any thing of substance to the people

(05:08):
who cast their votes. The problem with the last government
is they were all jazz hands and no substance, no delivery.
I never thought i'd say this, but the problem with
this lot is that they need a bit more stardust.
They're solid, they're working hard, they have hard data, on

(05:28):
what is working policy wise and what is not. People
just starn't feeling it. They aren't enough good vibes. We
need more cowboll Baby, and we need it soon.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
For more from carry Wood and Mornings, listen live to
News Talks at B from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio