Chris Hipkins is hitting out at the Taxpayers' Union as it prepares to launch a campaign against Finance Minister Nicola Willis. 

The lobby group is questioning Willis's track record on the economy. 

Willis has responded, challenging chair and former finance minister Ruth Richardson to a debate. 

The Labour Leader told John MacDonald the Taxpayers' Union has a view of "entrenched privilege". 

He claims the organisation is funded by a group of rich people who want to keep all of their money. 

Hipkins is also unimpressed by Willis’ decision to agree to the debate, which he says shows deep divisions among the National Party. 

He calls it petty and says Willis should be focused on things like creating jobs. 

LISTEN ABOVE  

Chris Hipkins is hitting out at the Taxpayers' Union as it prepares to launch a campaign against Finance Minister Nicola Willis.&nbsp;
The lobby group is questioning Willis's track record on the economy.&nbsp;
Willis has responded, challenging chair and former finance minister Ruth Richardson to a debate.&nbsp;
The Labour Leader told John MacDonald the Taxpayers' Union has a view of "entrenched privilege".&nbsp;
He claims the organisation is funded by a group of rich people who want to keep all of their money.&nbsp;
Hipkins is also unimpressed by Willis’ decision to agree to the debate, which he says shows deep divisions among the National Party.&nbsp;
He calls it petty and says Willis should be focused on things like creating jobs.&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE &nbsp;

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Chris Hipkins: Labour Leader on the debate between Nicola Willis, Taxpayers' Union, Andrew Coster

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/1cc327f5-0e3e-4c6f-8532-b3af00063778/transcript

Maybe my head is in the sand, but all this excitement about fuel prices isn’t making me any more inclined to buy an electric vehicle. 

Tell that to the people who are getting all excited and buying them. In big numbers too, it seems. 

So we’ve got the government warning that petrol prices could hit $4 a litre and EV dealers saying they’re being run off their feet because of the ongoing situation in the middle east. 

BYD sold 80 on Saturday across the country. Normally they’d sell 25 on an average Saturday. So that’s a major increase.  

Here in Christchurch, EV dealerships are reporting a major leap in sales too, with one of them selling out entirely in just two days. 

People are coming from as far away as nelson to get their hands on electric vehicles too, apparently. 

How things can change. In November, the EV dealers were ripping-in to the government for the changes it was making to the clean car standards for imported vehicles and we were all talking about the EV bubble busting. 

Fast-forward four months and throw in a bit of good old fashioned kiwi over-reaction, and the picture is very different.  

This war has only been going two-and-a-bit weeks but that’s enough, it seems, for some people to want to go all EV on it. 

I drive petrol cars. And, at this point, i have no intention of switching to an EV. 

One of my vehicles, especially, is a real gas guzzler. But despite that, I have never had any interest in owning an EV. I can‘t tell you exactly why. It’s not a protest of any sort. It’s not climate change denial. It’s none of that. 

I’m just not interested. And I am no more interested now, despite the war and the fuel prices.  

And i reckon that, once the oil tankers start sailing again through the strait of Hormuz, most people will still be happy with petrol and diesel vehicles. 

The other thing too is, that if i was buying an EV, I'd spend quite a bit of time looking into it. 

You wouldn’t get me seeing a few days of petrol price increases and going all knee-jerk on it. 

But the ev people are loving it that some people are. 

DTR motors in Hornby had six cars on the lot on Friday night. By Sunday, they were all gone. 

Alex Wu is the sales manager. He says: “people just showed up, even from nelson, paid and drove off.”  

He says the weekend was the most “explosive” sales period in the nearly two years that DTR motors has been operating in Christchurch. 

And that’s without any rebate assistance from the government.  

Which Finance Minister Nicola Willis said yesterday wouldn’t be making a comeback. Saying: "i simply don't accept the idea that giving subsidies to millionaires in Remuera would help those afflicted by high petrol prices." 

Nevertheless, EV’s are in demand again. So how tempted are you? 

LISTEN ABOVE

Maybe my head is in the sand, but all this excitement about fuel prices isn’t making me any more inclined to buy an electric vehicle.&nbsp;
Tell that to the people who are getting all excited and buying them. In big numbers too, it seems.&nbsp;
So we’ve got the government warning that petrol prices could hit $4 a litre and EV dealers saying they’re being run off their feet because of the ongoing situation in the middle east.&nbsp;
BYD sold 80 on Saturday across the country. Normally they’d sell 25 on an average Saturday. So that’s a major increase. &nbsp;
Here in Christchurch, EV dealerships are reporting a major leap in sales too, with one of them selling out entirely in just two days.&nbsp;
People are coming from as far away as nelson to get their hands on electric vehicles too, apparently.&nbsp;
How things can change. In November, the EV dealers were ripping-in to the government for the changes it was making to the clean car standards for imported vehicles and we were all talking about the EV bubble busting.&nbsp;
Fast-forward four months and throw in a bit of good old fashioned kiwi over-reaction, and the picture is very different. &nbsp;
This war has only been going two-and-a-bit weeks but that’s enough, it seems, for some people to want to go all EV on it.&nbsp;
I drive petrol cars. And, at this point, i have no intention of switching to an EV.&nbsp;
One of my vehicles, especially, is a real gas guzzler. But despite that, I have never had any interest in owning an EV. I can‘t tell you exactly why. It’s not a protest of any sort. It’s not climate change denial. It’s none of that.&nbsp;
I’m just not interested. And I am no more interested now, despite the war and the fuel prices. &nbsp;
And i reckon that, once the oil tankers start sailing again through the strait of Hormuz, most people will still be happy with petrol and diesel vehicles.&nbsp;
The other thing too is, that if i was buying an EV, I'd spend quite a bit of time looking into it.&nbsp;
You wouldn’t get me seeing a few days of petrol price increases and going all knee-jerk on it.&nbsp;
But the ev people are loving it that some people are.&nbsp;
DTR motors in Hornby had six cars on the lot on Friday night. By Sunday, they were all gone.&nbsp;
Alex Wu is the sales manager. He says: “people just showed up, even from nelson, paid and drove off.” &nbsp;
He says the weekend was the most “explosive” sales period in the nearly two years that DTR motors has been operating in Christchurch.&nbsp;
And that’s without any rebate assistance from the government. &nbsp;
Which Finance Minister Nicola Willis said yesterday wouldn’t be making a comeback. Saying: "i simply don't accept the idea that giving subsidies to millionaires in Remuera would help those afflicted by high petrol prices."&nbsp;
Nevertheless, EV’s are in demand again. So how tempted are you?&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

John MacDonald: Are you views on EVs changing at all?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/e12a1503-e14a-45ef-99cb-b4100001dfb6/transcript

I’ve got a story which has Covid-19 toilet paper mania written all over it. 

I was blown away talking to someone in Christchurch at the weekend who said they’d been out and bought a whole lot of extra food because of the fuel situation with everything going on in the Middle East. 

This is not something I endorse and it certainly isn’t something I'll be doing. But maybe the fact that they are British has something to do with it. 

Because they were saying that they remembered the time when Britain invaded Iraq and the government telling people then to stockpile. 

They said they were told they should have a month’s worth of non-perishable food in the cupboards. And that’s what they did. 

So, as soon as they started hearing about fuel tanks in New Zealand running dry over the weekend, they shot out to the supermarket and stocked up. 

They told me they’d been thinking about the potential consequences if we get to the point where the 50-days' supply the government keeps talking about starts to get a bit low on it. 

What if the farmers start getting rationed? What about food production lines that need fuel? Not to mention fuel for the trucks that deliver food supplies around the country. 

For a very brief second, I started thinking that they might have a point. 

But it was a very brief second. 

They also said they thought we should be rationing fuel now, instead of waiting until there’s a problem on the horizon. 

That, if a fuel shortage does happen, it’s going to be all the other things that we rely on fuel for that are going to be affected. 

But you’re not going to see me at Pak n Save filling the trolley up - just in case. 

Because if everyone did that then we really would have shortages on our hands. 

Just like there was no need for the rush on toilet paper during covid, there is no reason for us to be stockpiling food now. 

LISTEN ABOVE

I’ve got a story which has Covid-19 toilet paper mania written all over it.&nbsp;
I was blown away talking to someone in Christchurch at the weekend who said they’d been out and bought a whole lot of extra food because of the fuel situation with everything going on in the Middle East.&nbsp;
This is not something I endorse and it certainly isn’t something I'll be doing. But maybe the fact that they are British has something to do with it.&nbsp;
Because they were saying that they remembered the time when Britain invaded Iraq and the government telling people then to stockpile.&nbsp;
They said they were told they should have a month’s worth of non-perishable food in the cupboards. And that’s what they did.&nbsp;
So, as soon as they started hearing about fuel tanks in New Zealand running dry over the weekend, they shot out to the supermarket and stocked up.&nbsp;
They told me they’d been thinking about the potential consequences if we get to the point where the 50-days' supply the government keeps talking about starts to get a bit low on it.&nbsp;
What if the farmers start getting rationed? What about food production lines that need fuel? Not to mention fuel for the trucks that deliver food supplies around the country.&nbsp;
For a very brief second, I started thinking that they might have a point.&nbsp;
But it was a very brief second.&nbsp;
They also said they thought we should be rationing fuel now, instead of waiting until there’s a problem on the horizon.&nbsp;
That, if a fuel shortage does happen, it’s going to be all the other things that we rely on fuel for that are going to be affected.&nbsp;
But you’re not going to see me at Pak n Save filling the trolley up - just in case.&nbsp;
Because if everyone did that then we really would have shortages on our hands.&nbsp;
Just like there was no need for the rush on toilet paper during covid, there is no reason for us to be stockpiling food now.&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

John MacDonald: The COVID toilet paper rush was OTT and so is this

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/3b8bc67a-a8b3-4515-8785-b40e017eb6ec/transcript

Aside from trying to make sure we don’t run out of fuel because of what’s going on in the middle east, the other challenge the Government has on its hands is that we’re not the country we were six years. 

Six years ago, when COVID first hit, we were much more compliant. Way more than we are now. 

Six years ago - by and large - we all went along with all the restrictions and the initial lockdowns without too much resistance. 

These days, it’s a different story. Which is why i think the government would be pushing it uphill with some of the fuel conservation ideas being thrown around. 

I think it’s brilliant that the Government is thinking about this now and not waiting until the tanks are starting to go dry. Which is about 50 days away from happening, according to Finance Minister Nicola Willis 

She says if new orders started being disrupted, then the Government would have to think about prioritising fuel for the likes of emergency services and the transport industry and other measures, such as car-less days, fuel rationing and working from home.  

Let’s start with car-less days. The only way I could see them working was if insurance companies came out and said they wouldn’t cover a vehicle if it was driven on the nominated car-less day. 

I don’t think more working from home would make much difference, either. Because people would still use their vehicles.  

If anything, fuel rationing would be the only practical way of reducing fuel consumption. Because, if you can’t buy it, you can’t use it.  

LISTEN ABOVE

Aside from trying to make sure we don’t run out of fuel because of what’s going on in the middle east, the other challenge the Government has on its hands is that we’re not the country we were six years.&nbsp;
Six years ago, when COVID first hit, we were much more compliant. Way more than we are now.&nbsp;
Six years ago - by and large - we all went along with all the restrictions and the initial lockdowns without too much resistance.&nbsp;
These days, it’s a different story. Which is why i think the government would be pushing it uphill with some of the fuel conservation ideas being thrown around.&nbsp;
I think it’s brilliant that the Government is thinking about this now and not waiting until the tanks are starting to go dry. Which is about 50 days away from happening, according to Finance Minister Nicola Willis&nbsp;
She says if new orders started being disrupted, then the Government would have to think about prioritising fuel for the likes of emergency services and the transport industry and other measures, such as car-less days, fuel rationing and working from home. &nbsp;
Let’s start with car-less days. The only way I could see them working was if insurance companies came out and said they wouldn’t cover a vehicle if it was driven on the nominated car-less day.&nbsp;
I don’t think more working from home would make much difference, either. Because people would still use their vehicles. &nbsp;
If anything, fuel rationing would be the only practical way of reducing fuel consumption. Because, if you can’t buy it, you can’t use it. &nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

John MacDonald: The only way to stop the tanks running dry

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/46de0545-8df1-46a3-927d-b40b0184db93/transcript

Chris Hipkins: Labour Leader on the debate between Nicola Willis, Taxpayers' Union, Andrew Coster

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