Today on Politics Friday John was joined by National's Vanessa Weenink and Labour's Duncan Webb in studio.

Is New Zealand in an energy crisis, and will the RMA changes help get more power into our grid at a better price?

Why is National supporting the treaty bill to a certain point, even though they have no plans at all to support it past the first reading?

And does central government really have a right to tell local councils what to spend their money on?

LISTEN ABOVE

Today on Politics Friday John was joined by National's Vanessa Weenink and Labour's Duncan Webb in studio.
Is New Zealand in an energy crisis, and will the RMA changes help get more power into our grid at a better price?
Why is National supporting the treaty bill to a certain point, even though they have no plans at all to support it past the first reading?
And does central government really have a right to tell local councils what to spend their money on?
LISTEN ABOVE

Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays.

It’s all about the conversation with John, as he gets right into the things that get our community talking.

If it’s news you’re after, backing John is the combined power of the Newstalk ZB and New Zealand Herald news teams. Meaning when it comes to covering breaking news – you will not beat local radio.

With two decades experience in communications based in Christchurch, John also has a deep understanding of and connections to the Christchurch and Canterbury commercial sector.

Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings 9am-12pm with John MacDonald on 100.1FM and iHeartRadio.

Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays. It’s all about the conversation with John, as he gets right into the things that get our community talking. If it’s news you’re after, backing John is the combined power of the Newstalk ZB and New Zealand Herald news teams. Meaning when it comes to covering breaking news – you will not beat local radio. With two decades experience in communications based in Christchurch, John also has a deep understanding of and connections to the Christchurch and Canterbury commercial sector. Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings 9am-12pm with John MacDonald on 100.1FM and iHeartRadio.

Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays.

It’s all about the conversation with John, as he gets right into the things that get our community talking.

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Politics Friday with Vanessa Weenink and Labour's Duncan Webb: NZ's energy crisis, the treaty bill and central government

If you’ve heard all the talk over the past 24 hours about the Government making more changes to the Resource Management Act and you’ve thought ‘oh boring, nothing to do with me’, think again.

Because there’s one aspect that has potential to make a difference for anyone and everyone in the country. Which includes you.

I don’t think it’s going to be enough on its own. Because, if you don’t need cheaper power bills, then you’re shouting drinks tonight.

So I think a lot more than what the Government is proposing to do with the Resource Management Act is needed. But I’ll get to that.

What happened yesterday, is the Government announced more changes it wants to make to the RMA - the Resource Management Act - which is the legislation that sets out all the rules and requirements in place to protect the natural environment.

To make sure we don’t go all “get stuff done” and “you can’t stop progress” on it, and then look up and realise that we’ve stuffed the environment while we’re doing it. I know some people will argue that we’ve still managed to stuff the environment. But that’s what the RMA is all about.

In essence, it lays out all the hoops people and organisations and companies have to jump through before they can do things like set-up a new power station.

And this is the aspect of the changes announced yesterday that is most relevant to the here-and-now.

The here-and-now where wholesale electricity prices in New Zealand are seven-times higher than what they were three years ago.

Which is why we’ve seen some big manufacturing plants either closing down completely or putting things on hold for a bit until the power prices start to come down a bit. And the Government’s talking about interim fixes, such as importing more liquefied natural gas.

They’ll do that. And they’ll keep putting the heat on the four big electricity generation companies. Which not only generate the power, they also sell it to us. So this is Meridian, Contact, Genesis and Mercury.

But the more power there is, the lower their profits. Simple as that. Which is why I think the Government’s plan only goes part of the way towards giving a more sustainable electricity system and market.

What I think needs to happen, is the control these four big companies have over things needs to change.

And the most straightforward way of doing that, is changing the way things are structured - and separating power generation from power retailing. That’s why people refer to these companies as GenTailers - they make the electricity and they sell it.

I don’t see things changing all that much until we rip-up the current structure and tell Meridian, Contact, Genesis and Mercury that they’ll make the power, and other companies will sell it to us.

That way, they could only charge what the market is willing to pay. Instead of the other way ‘round, as it is now.

If you’ve heard all the talk over the past 24 hours about the Government making more changes to the Resource Management Act and you’ve thought ‘oh boring, nothing to do with me’, think again.
Because there’s one aspect that has potential to make a difference for anyone and everyone in the country. Which includes you.
I don’t think it’s going to be enough on its own. Because, if you don’t need cheaper power bills, then you’re shouting drinks tonight.
So I think a lot more than what the Government is proposing to do with the Resource Management Act is needed. But I’ll get to that.
What happened yesterday, is the Government announced more changes it wants to make to the RMA - the Resource Management Act - which is the legislation that sets out all the rules and requirements in place to protect the natural environment.
To make sure we don’t go all “get stuff done” and “you can’t stop progress” on it, and then look up and realise that we’ve stuffed the environment while we’re doing it. I know some people will argue that we’ve still managed to stuff the environment. But that’s what the RMA is all about.
In essence, it lays out all the hoops people and organisations and companies have to jump through before they can do things like set-up a new power station.
And this is the aspect of the changes announced yesterday that is most relevant to the here-and-now.
The here-and-now where wholesale electricity prices in New Zealand are seven-times higher than what they were three years ago.
Which is why we’ve seen some big manufacturing plants either closing down completely or putting things on hold for a bit until the power prices start to come down a bit. And the Government’s talking about interim fixes, such as importing more liquefied natural gas.
They’ll do that. And they’ll keep putting the heat on the four big electricity generation companies. Which not only generate the power, they also sell it to us. So this is Meridian, Contact, Genesis and Mercury.
But the more power there is, the lower their profits. Simple as that. Which is why I think the Government’s plan only goes part of the way towards giving a more sustainable electricity system and market.
What I think needs to happen, is the control these four big companies have over things needs to change.
And the most straightforward way of doing that, is changing the way things are structured - and separating power generation from power retailing. That’s why people refer to these companies as GenTailers - they make the electricity and they sell it.
I don’t see things changing all that much until we rip-up the current structure and tell Meridian, Contact, Genesis and Mercury that they’ll make the power, and other companies will sell it to us.
That way, they could only charge what the market is willing to pay. Instead of the other way ‘round, as it is now.

John MacDonald: RMA changes only part of the solution to our power puzzle

Today Kiwi iconic band Zed release their first album in 20 years, Future Memory.

Formed at Cashmere High School, the Canterbury band will celebrate with a launch party in Akaroa today.

Bassist Ben Campbell joined John to talk about the album, their history and the pressure their fame brought the young group 20 years ago. 

LISTEN ABOVE

Today Kiwi iconic band Zed release their first album in 20 years, Future Memory.
Formed at Cashmere High School, the Canterbury band will celebrate with a launch party in Akaroa today.
Bassist Ben Campbell joined John to talk about the album, their history and the pressure their fame brought the young group 20 years ago. 
LISTEN ABOVE

Ben Campbell:  Kiwi band Zed's Bassist on their first album in 20 years

If we thought the last government was a bunch of control freaks, the current one’s just as bad, isn’t it?

That's what I’m thinking with all this talk from the Prime Minister, telling local councils that ratepayers are sick of white elephants, that they need to focus on the basics like collecting the rubbish, fixing the pipes and filling-in potholes, and to stop blowing money on fantasy projects.

The thing for me is that —even though there are a truckload of things I see the Christchurch City Council doing, for example, that I question big-time in terms of blowing ratepayer money— I don’t think it is the place of central government to tell them to pull their heads in.

That’s our job. If we want to, we can turn up at council meetings and do one of those deputation things. Where you get a few minutes to say your piece to all the councillors around the council table.

And the ultimate way we can make it very clear whether we approve of the way they’re running things, or not, comes every three years at the local body elections. Which is exactly what the central government politicians tell us if we don’t like what they’re doing.

I remember Christopher Luxon himself saying, not that long ago, that if the Government’s fast track legislation led to some sort of environmental disaster, then people could punish them for it at the next election.

But when it comes to local government the Government’s attitude is very different. And yesterday, the Prime Minister told local councils that when it comes to spending money - the party is over.

Here’s a little bit of what Christopher Luxon said to councils yesterday:

“Ratepayers expect local government to do the basics and to do the basics brilliantly. Pick up the rubbish. Fix the pipes. Fill in potholes. And more generally, maintain local assets quickly, carefully, and cost effectively.

“But nothing in life is free, and ratepayers expect to pay for it in exchange. But what they don’t expect to pay for is the laundry-list of distractions and experiments that are plaguing council balance sheets across the country.

“Ratepayers are sick of the white elephants and non-delivery. So, my challenge to all of you is to rein-in the fantasies and to get back to delivering the basics brilliantly.”

Which, from the reports I’ve seen, generally went down like a cup of the old proverbial with the mayors and councillors in the room.

And it wasn’t all just talk and bluster either. The Prime Minister also announced what the Government wants to try and do to get councils under control.

It’s looking into performance benchmarks for local councils. It’s looking at how councils might be stopped from spending money on what the Government considers to be “nice-to-haves”. 

It’s going to look at transparency and accountability rules to make it easier for councillors to request information from council staff. And it wants to reform the code of conduct process to balance councillors’ freedom of speech rights with what it calls “politicised” code of conduct investigations.

But, even though I agree that local councils need to up their game, I don’t like the Government poking its nose in like this.

For a government that banged-on pre-election about keeping things under local control, it’s not really walking the talk, is it?

If we thought the last government was a bunch of control freaks, the current one’s just as bad, isn’t it? 
That's what I’m thinking with all this talk from the Prime Minister, telling local councils that ratepayers are sick of white elephants, that they need to focus on the basics like collecting the rubbish, fixing the pipes and filling-in potholes, and to stop blowing money on fantasy projects. 
The thing for me is that —even though there are a truckload of things I see the Christchurch City Council doing, for example, that I question big-time in terms of blowing ratepayer money— I don’t think it is the place of central government to tell them to pull their heads in. 
That’s our job. If we want to, we can turn up at council meetings and do one of those deputation things. Where you get a few minutes to say your piece to all the councillors around the council table. 
And the ultimate way we can make it very clear whether we approve of the way they’re running things, or not, comes every three years at the local body elections. Which is exactly what the central government politicians tell us if we don’t like what they’re doing. 
I remember Christopher Luxon himself saying, not that long ago, that if the Government’s fast track legislation led to some sort of environmental disaster, then people could punish them for it at the next election. 
But when it comes to local government the Government’s attitude is very different. And yesterday, the Prime Minister told local councils that when it comes to spending money - the party is over. 
Here’s a little bit of what Christopher Luxon said to councils yesterday: 
“Ratepayers expect local government to do the basics and to do the basics brilliantly. Pick up the rubbish. Fix the pipes. Fill in potholes. And more generally, maintain local assets quickly, carefully, and cost effectively. 
“But nothing in life is free, and ratepayers expect to pay for it in exchange. But what they don’t expect to pay for is the laundry-list of distractions and experiments that are plaguing council balance sheets across the country. 
“Ratepayers are sick of the white elephants and non-delivery. So, my challenge to all of you is to rein-in the fantasies and to get back to delivering the basics brilliantly.” 
Which, from the reports I’ve seen, generally went down like a cup of the old proverbial with the mayors and councillors in the room. 
And it wasn’t all just talk and bluster either. The Prime Minister also announced what the Government wants to try and do to get councils under control. 
It’s looking into performance benchmarks for local councils. It’s looking at how councils might be stopped from spending money on what the Government considers to be “nice-to-haves”.  
It’s going to look at transparency and accountability rules to make it easier for councillors to request information from council staff. And it wants to reform the code of conduct process to balance councillors’ freedom of speech rights with what it calls “politicised” code of conduct investigations. 
But, even though I agree that local councils need to up their game, I don’t like the Government poking its nose in like this. 
For a government that banged-on pre-election about keeping things under local control, it’s not really walking the talk, is it?

Politics Friday with Vanessa Weenink and Labour's Duncan Webb: NZ's energy crisis, the treaty bill and central government

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