You're listening to the Andrew Dickens Afternoons podcast from News Talks at b SO.

You're listening to the Andrew Dickens Afternoons podcast from News Talks at b SO.

I wrote an editorial yesterday after spending a week listening to the debate about the energy crisis. I was going to start my program with my thoughts about the energy crisis, but something else popped up this morning, so I've changed my mind. However, I will share with you some fun facts about the energy crisis that dominated conversation last week. Did you know that New Zealand uses about the same amount of electricity this year in twenty twenty four as we did in two thousand and four, Even though our economic activity and population has grown quite immensely over that twenty year period, we use the same amount of electricity. If you don't believe me, it's on a graph on the mb website. What happened is that we as consumers became more efficient with our use of electricity. We started using LEDs, we started saving, we started being more careful with our use. So the energy crunch we were talking about last week, it's more that we're not making as much electricity as we did, rather than we are using more. We're not making enough electricity, even though we've been saving electricity ourselves. Another little fun factor is did you know that there are currently twenty two renewable electricity projects fully consented but not started as yet by the gentailors. Now I mentioned those two facts because last week everyone spent the week blaming the oil and gas expiration ban on our energy crisis, which it will create an energy crisis in ten years time. But today's energy crisis is because the generators, who are also the retailers, have not ensured supply despite having it all available to them for years. Now they've got the resource CONSENSU can fast track them. They don't need them. They've got twenty two projects they could do but they didn't because well the price was good. Anyway, I've got more on all of this, but right now I'd like to mention the outgoing Treasury head, Carolye McLeish, who's leaving for a job as Australia's Order to General, and in the paper today she did an exit interview and she said the New Zealand government needs to make more revenue. Now, remember the only way a government makes more revenue is by more taxes, so she'd like to see a capital gains tax. She also says though, that the government needs to reign in it spending. It needs to save more, particularly in the big expensive items. So she mentioned super she'd like to see the age limit raised. This is important comments from carolely because in her job she normally doesn't get involved in the debate. It's also important because she's not some crazy ideological lefty who wants to see the old and the rich punished. She is a dry economics person, and she is pointing out the bleeding obvious that this country is structurally bad. The way we do things is structurally dysfunctional. Economists have been saying this for decades. I've change that economists have been saying this for generations. We don't tax enough, believe it or not. When we do tax, we tax the wrong people. We don't spend enough. But when we do spend, we try to do it cheap, and we do it too late, and then we complain when it all starts to fall apart. Structurally, it's a mess. Face with all this economic reality that people have been talking about for decades, the current government has decided to reduce its revenue. That's not what currently said. This helps some taxpayers and landlords actually that's the exact opposite of what the problem needs. And then to make things work, they've stopped spending. Then we end out on a country having a country where pregnant mums can't have toast Nelson can't get a new hospital building, We run ferries that should be a museums, We run out of power, we run out of water, and then we moan that we're becoming a third world country and it's all Labour's folm. So thank you to Carolyne McLeish for pointing out the bleeding obvious. Somebody has to do this every now and then just to remind us of where we're at. I'm pretty sure nothing will change because to change our structure would be too expensive politically, and no Turkey votes for Christmas. So what I would like to say is, before you moan again about just how useless this country is, remember it's actually the country you have voted for.

I wrote an editorial yesterday after spending a week listening to the debate about the energy crisis. I was going to start my program with my thoughts about the energy crisis, but something else popped up this morning, so I've changed my mind. However, I will share with you some fun facts about the energy crisis that dominated conversation last week. Did you know that New Zealand uses about the same amount of electricity this year in twenty twenty four as we did in two thousand and four, Even though our economic activity and population has grown quite immensely over that twenty year period, we use the same amount of electricity. If you don't believe me, it's on a graph on the mb website. What happened is that we as consumers became more efficient with our use of electricity. We started using LEDs, we started saving, we started being more careful with our use. So the energy crunch we were talking about last week, it's more that we're not making as much electricity as we did, rather than we are using more. We're not making enough electricity, even though we've been saving electricity ourselves. Another little fun factor is did you know that there are currently twenty two renewable electricity projects fully consented but not started as yet by the gentailors. Now I mentioned those two facts because last week everyone spent the week blaming the oil and gas expiration ban on our energy crisis, which it will create an energy crisis in ten years time. But today's energy crisis is because the generators, who are also the retailers, have not ensured supply despite having it all available to them for years. Now they've got the resource CONSENSU can fast track them. They don't need them. They've got twenty two projects they could do but they didn't because well the price was good. Anyway, I've got more on all of this, but right now I'd like to mention the outgoing Treasury head, Carolye McLeish, who's leaving for a job as Australia's Order to General, and in the paper today she did an exit interview and she said the New Zealand government needs to make more revenue. Now, remember the only way a government makes more revenue is by more taxes, so she'd like to see a capital gains tax. She also says though, that the government needs to reign in it spending. It needs to save more, particularly in the big expensive items. So she mentioned super she'd like to see the age limit raised. This is important comments from carolely because in her job she normally doesn't get involved in the debate. It's also important because she's not some crazy ideological lefty who wants to see the old and the rich punished. She is a dry economics person, and she is pointing out the bleeding obvious that this country is structurally bad. The way we do things is structurally dysfunctional. Economists have been saying this for decades. I've change that economists have been saying this for generations. We don't tax enough, believe it or not. When we do tax, we tax the wrong people. We don't spend enough. But when we do spend, we try to do it cheap, and we do it too late, and then we complain when it all starts to fall apart. Structurally, it's a mess. Face with all this economic reality that people have been talking about for decades, the current government has decided to reduce its revenue. That's not what currently said. This helps some taxpayers and landlords actually that's the exact opposite of what the problem needs. And then to make things work, they've stopped spending. Then we end out on a country having a country where pregnant mums can't have toast Nelson can't get a new hospital building, We run ferries that should be a museums, We run out of power, we run out of water, and then we moan that we're becoming a third world country and it's all Labour's folm. So thank you to Carolyne McLeish for pointing out the bleeding obvious. Somebody has to do this every now and then just to remind us of where we're at. I'm pretty sure nothing will change because to change our structure would be too expensive politically, and no Turkey votes for Christmas. So what I would like to say is, before you moan again about just how useless this country is, remember it's actually the country you have voted for.

For more from Andrew Dickens afternoons, listen live to News Talks at b or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.

For more from Andrew Dickens afternoons, listen live to News Talks at b or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.