1. Dr DON BRASH (Leader of the Opposition) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does she have confidence in the Minister of Energy?
Does she have confidence in the security of power supply to the Auckland region; if not, what steps will she take, and when will she take them, so that she can express such confidence?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
Like all Aucklanders I am very concerned that this single event did trigger a stop in the supply to Auckland. Accordingly, I have asked for a report to be at the Cabinet policy committee tomorrow morning. The Minister of Energy is asking Ministry of Economic Development officials, the Electricity Commission, and Transpower to supply reports as quickly as possible. If there is a need to change policy, that can be done, but it may be that Transpower needs to speed up some investment around the Ōtāhuhu substation.
Why, when Dr Keith Turner, Managing Director of Government-owned Meridian Energy, advised last year that “New Zealand’s electricity grid is so overworked that some lines cannot be taken out for servicing. That is unheard of in the Western developed world.”, did no one in her Government take this to be a serious warning from a very senior energy expert, and why is it that in the intervening period no one in her Government has taken any action as a result?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
On the contrary, improving transmission on the grid into Auckland is a very high priority for the Government. It might be rather nice if National MPs like Judith Collins and Lindsay Tisch did not put every obstacle in the way.
Is she aware of the statement made by her Minister of Energy to the Parliament last November, following Dr Keith Turner’s observations, that “the problem is not as bad as the member would have others believe”, and does this still represent the official position of her Government?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
The transmission system needs an upgrade. The Minister, however, has not had an outage, unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who took 23½ hours to put out a statement on the matter.
Jeanette Fitzsimons Link to this
Has the Prime Minister sought any costings of what it would take to ensure that every electricity system in the country was duplicated so that even a freak storm bringing down a wire could never cause an outage, and has she had any advice from the leader of the National Party as to whether they would be prepared to forgo tax cuts in order to pay for it?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I think the cost of doing that doubling of all systems would be absolutely incalculable, but I understand that voodoo economics as proclaimed by the National Party says we can cut taxes and spend more on absolutely everything. So voodoo economics lives on, in the National Party.