But all three stories have the same outworkings - we look like a basket case of a country, but we got there three different ways.
First is the plane.
That’s on the Government, and indeed various Governments, who failed to take defence expenditure seriously and it's caught them out.
Like NATO, member countries promise to spend 2% of their GDP on it, but don’t. Until Putin rolls into Ukraine and then they panic.
We talk it up here as vital, but make the same mistake until it gets too embarrassing to ignore.
Second is the ferries.
That seems to be on KiwiRail. KiwiRail don’t seem to be up to much.
Yes, they have been mucked around over the years by various Governments. But as I said yesterday, read the paperwork between them and Grant Robertson over what they were looking to do and what it was costing and how clearly they had no control over what was going on and the bill blowing out.
Governments can't run literally everything on a daily basis and it is KiwiRail who have let the Government down, and badly.
The third story is the power tower.
“Inconceivable” was the word.
Given it took us about three and a half minutes to work it out and given it only took them less than a weekend to join a few dots, they really shouldn’t have been so defensive on Friday.
Idiots were in charge of spanners. Why they have launched a further inquiry baffles me.
Once you have worked out thick people don’t follow instructions, what else is there to investigate?
So, all in all, a shocking week for a country that is having a tough time of it anyway.
All of it was avoidable, but we arrived here through different channels - indifference politics and lack of vision for a plane, laziness and contempt over other people's money and lack of discipline for a ferry, and then people you wouldn’t hire to walk your dog over a tower.
All of it was avoidable. All of it is more expensive now because of actions not taken at other times.
So the trick is, have we learned anything and, if we have, do we put it into action?
Do we get better?
Do we work harder? Do we try harder?
Do we want to improve?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
That’s on the Government, and indeed various Governments, who failed to take defence expenditure seriously and it's caught them out.
Like NATO, member countries promise to spend 2% of their GDP on it, but don’t. Until Putin rolls into Ukraine and then they panic.
We talk it up here as vital, but make the same mistake until it gets too embarrassing to ignore.
Second is the ferries.
That seems to be on KiwiRail. KiwiRail don’t seem to be up to much.
Yes, they have been mucked around over the years by various Governments. But as I said yesterday, read the paperwork between them and Grant Robertson over what they were looking to do and what it was costing and how clearly they had no control over what was going on and the bill blowing out.
Governments can't run literally everything on a daily basis and it is KiwiRail who have let the Government down, and badly.
The third story is the power tower.
“Inconceivable” was the word.
Given it took us about three and a half minutes to work it out and given it only took them less than a weekend to join a few dots, they really shouldn’t have been so defensive on Friday.
Idiots were in charge of spanners. Why they have launched a further inquiry baffles me.
Once you have worked out thick people don’t follow instructions, what else is there to investigate?
So, all in all, a shocking week for a country that is having a tough time of it anyway.
All of it was avoidable, but we arrived here through different channels - indifference politics and lack of vision for a plane, laziness and contempt over other people's money and lack of discipline for a ferry, and then people you wouldn’t hire to walk your dog over a tower.
All of it was avoidable. All of it is more expensive now because of actions not taken at other times.
So the trick is, have we learned anything and, if we have, do we put it into action?
Do we get better?
Do we work harder? Do we try harder?
Do we want to improve?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
8 comments:
The key comment in your article is the cost associated with doing nothing has come back to bite the country in the arse.
Not spending money on maintenance is a false saving.
It happens so often we have become consumed in the problems and can’t see a way out.
Stop talking, get doin and give clear instruction.
And yet no heads will roll.
The plane I do feel some sympathy for the defence people. They have wanted to change it for quite some time. At the same time, if it is unsafe, then say so and ground it.
The ferry is the same. No heads will be chopped because, they did their best, they believed it was okay, no one told them how bad it was, I need the job so my kids can start in private school. Anything but taking responsibility.
The tower, well that was a contractor, so not my problem. Even if we went with the cheapest option who happened to be a friend of a friend and they fixed up my holiday home in Russel and forgot to send me an invoice.
Responsibility, should be removed from the dictionary as it is such a last century concept.
CXH, I completely agree - the word 'accountability' has basically lost its meaning in this country. For that matter, so has the balance of 'Rights', the other half of the set of scales being "Responsibilities".
CXH
Having involved in the HV industry for 50 plus years and involved with contract work in the industry, be assured that heads will roll. Quite a few I suspect.
No doubt also, considerable cost will fall to the contractor as part of the contract specific to the work.
It is hard to comprehend that apparently experienced workers would make a mistake like this one. Perhaps the problems are at a higher level ie; supervision etc.
While there were no injuries, no doubt Work Safe will be looking at the work from the safety aspect and making recommendations as to whether they need to take any further action.
One of the learnings from the pylon incident is that not having any generation north of Auckland puts all of that area at the mercy of the overhead lines that feed it. If Northland is to prosper, say with the port moving up to Whangerei, a reliable power supply is a must. Generation in that area is also beneficial to the day operation of the grid.
As for the pylon falling over, the saying about paying peanuts........
Perhaps if at school the pylon workers had been taught some science and practical topics and been held to account for their work and had it robustly marked, instead of wasting hours on maori twaddle, they might have twigged the inevitable consequence of their intended action.
Quite right Allen.
There was a thermal power station at Marsden Point. Admittedly it used fossil fuel but would have proved its worth during this incident.
It was progressively dismantled over a number of years.
There is a small geothermal station near Kaikohe.
Spot on Robert A "... wasting hours on maori twaddle" cannot help but agree. As a retired electrical/electronic systems engineer, fortunate to have an education without all the nonsensical, pointless brainwashing baggage chucked into the syllabus and foisted upon the young now, I see a bleak future. We all make mistakes and these pylon workers sure made a beaut with this - would not want that on my CV.
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