Repealing the oil and gas ban, as the Government are about to do, puts right an egregious wrong – possibly the most egregious wrong of the last Government.
What gives this current Government a better than even chance of a second term is the fact the damage done to the economy was done by the very same people who are still in Labour, still running Labour, and presumably will still argue for the same recipe of destruction next year.
Megan Woods drove the oil and gas ban under the instruction of you-know-who. There was no warning, no consultation. Just a fateful announcement in Taranaki.
It was idealism at its very worst. If we had all the windmills and solar panels and batteries in place it might have made more sense.
But as we have seen and felt for the past handful of winters, we don’t. Not even close.
What has made it particularly galling is that Australia has doubled down on gas. It understands gas is the transition fuel, while the so-called renewable transformation takes place.
Australia's gas industry is run out of Western Australia, which is run by a Labour Government, and fed to the rest of Australia, which is run by a Labour Government.
And that, as I have said before, is what can make Labour palatable. A centrist Labour party is electable i.e. Albanese's version or Hawke's.
The Ardern and Hipkins version look like a bunch of wonks who never met an economy they couldn't wreck.
Now, the repeal won't solve everything overnight. Our reputation is so damaged that a lot of face time and explaining has had to be undertaken with potential investors, hence the Government's $200m stake in the game fund.
If you ever wanted a living, breathing, tangible example of a Government that simply didn’t get it, think back to your last couple of winters where the coal pile is a mile high, the rain may or may not have come, the gas reports keep getting worse, the spot price heads to the stratosphere and your power bill continues to head to the roof.
That is Labour's energy policy.
That is the Labour Government's idea of a fun winter.
Getting that repealed is rectifying a shockingly shallow, ill-conceived idea and a monumental mistake.
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.
Megan Woods drove the oil and gas ban under the instruction of you-know-who. There was no warning, no consultation. Just a fateful announcement in Taranaki.
It was idealism at its very worst. If we had all the windmills and solar panels and batteries in place it might have made more sense.
But as we have seen and felt for the past handful of winters, we don’t. Not even close.
What has made it particularly galling is that Australia has doubled down on gas. It understands gas is the transition fuel, while the so-called renewable transformation takes place.
Australia's gas industry is run out of Western Australia, which is run by a Labour Government, and fed to the rest of Australia, which is run by a Labour Government.
And that, as I have said before, is what can make Labour palatable. A centrist Labour party is electable i.e. Albanese's version or Hawke's.
The Ardern and Hipkins version look like a bunch of wonks who never met an economy they couldn't wreck.
Now, the repeal won't solve everything overnight. Our reputation is so damaged that a lot of face time and explaining has had to be undertaken with potential investors, hence the Government's $200m stake in the game fund.
If you ever wanted a living, breathing, tangible example of a Government that simply didn’t get it, think back to your last couple of winters where the coal pile is a mile high, the rain may or may not have come, the gas reports keep getting worse, the spot price heads to the stratosphere and your power bill continues to head to the roof.
That is Labour's energy policy.
That is the Labour Government's idea of a fun winter.
Getting that repealed is rectifying a shockingly shallow, ill-conceived idea and a monumental mistake.
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.
6 comments:
Excellent article, Mike.
One of the world's biggest LNG plant's is run by Santos in Darwin. The tankers come in from Asia 7 days a week 24 hrs a day to fill up on Aussie LNG. The dumbest thing the Ardern government did was to shut down Marsden Point and not green light that site for an LNG terminal . Or to develop one in New Plymouth ,as an interim measure to show they actually had a plan that exhibited real understanding of energy policy.The loss of skilled staff by the refinery shutdown is the most moronic betrayal Labour have ever perpetrated on NZ.The amount of investment required is now beyond us as a country and NZ will continue to go backwards .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barossa_Gas_Project
Yes, but why did this take 18 months to get done, and what hope is there that anyone will come here to commence the expensive process of exploration and drilling now we are down to just over a year out from the next election? And where is the go-ahead for more gas-powered generation to match, if indeed gas is to be used as a transition (that would be to nuclear BTW) fuel? A good move but again too weak and too late.
First right the ship then fix it, so it can get on its way. Our issue is, where are we heading?
If we are to have an oil and gas future , and I’m all for that, all future governments need to be hands off banning stuff when they clearly aren’t capable of thinking through the consequences.
Should have been repealed on the first day. This lot are useless
Kick start the industry ASAP.
However, it will also kick start another industry based on TOW, who owns whatever comes out of the ground and who should clip the ticket as you turn your lights on.
It's already happening with hydro and geothermal.
No doubt solar and wind are being looked at also, if not already.
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