Kerre Woodham: Access to electricity is a basic human right

If you woke up this morning and you turned on the heater because it was a bit chilly, not as chilly as it has been, but a bit chilly, good for you. Did you think about the cost? If you didn’t, lucky you.

An estimated 40,000 New Zealand households had their power cut due to unpaid bills in 2023, which is a phenomenal number of households. One in five had trouble paying their monthly power bill and this is at a time when the “big four” power companies are earning more than $7 million every day while some households struggle to heat their homes.

Mike's Minute: I've found some more cost savings for the Government

Do you want some savings?

I have found a couple of hundred million for you then.

A report out has looked at who gets the Winter Energy Payment. It's a shedload of money that is yet again going to be doled out this month for the colder period, so oldies don’t freeze to death.

Point of Order: The Govt puts the brakes on its spending....

.......in one part of the country, at least – by introducing a road toll

Taxpayers who increasingly are being pressed to hand over the readies for the Government to provide “free” services will have noted two articles in the newly launched The Post this morning. In one article, the $5 prescription charges fee is described as “inhumane”; in another, the newspaper delves into why some women get free pregnancy scans while others face hefty bills.

If the Government buckle, those services will become “free”.