Auchinvole Chris: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Auchinvole Chris: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:649;Page:17701] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National) 
: 
 I wish to question the Government’s performance on energy supply or the lack of it. This is the fourth year since the Government came into office that there has been an electricity crisis. New Zealand has relied on a broken-down cable between the North Island and the South Island running at only 5 percent of capacity. An inefficient gas-fired plant that was riddled with asbestos had to be fired up to keep the lights on. The so-called emergency plant at Whirinaki burnt millions of litres of expensive and carbon-emitting diesel just to keep the lights on. That is not a matter of electricity supply; that is a lack of supply. It is an insecure situation. 
Spot prices hit the highest levels since the electricity market began—over $450 per megawatt hours at some points. I will not question at this stage the way that we calculate that spot price. Suffice it to say it has brought misery and economic difficulty to a number of companies. High-value companies that would normally be having economic success were suddenly faced with a period of downturn and had to consider cutting shifts and reducing staff simply because we seem not to have security of supply. 
The Government’s response to the difficulty was pathetic. Mr Parker spent weeks telling the country there was no problem at all: the security of supply was tight but nothing else needed to be done. He said for the entire infrastructure to be broken all at the same time was a coincidence. Finally and reluctantly through gritted teeth he was forced to admit that New Zealand needed to save power. In June the power companies to which he had devolved responsibility launched a power-saving campaign. What happened as a result of that campaign? I can imagine the misery in some households where elderly people felt they had to have only one bar of a heater on and shivered in the cold. Old people particularly suffer under these experiences. People who would normally bottle fruit were constrained not to engage in such a useful activity. Finally the rain fell and the Government escaped having to require even more serious savings. 
Pita Paraone 
: The rain fell and it’s been falling for weeks. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: But it was pure luck I tell that member that we managed to get through that situation not good management. The member knows that because people have had a bit of rain up in the north. 
The Government has been irresponsible in its approach. Savings should have started far sooner than they did. Of course we have reservoirs but our reservoirs are generally fairly shallow and they do not hold great quantities of water. In a similar crisis in 2003 an electricity savings campaign started in April. This year the Government waited until mid-June before sounding the alarm. The difficulty with that is that we will not ever be able to calculate the economic damage done to New Zealand during that period simply through not having a reliable supply of electricity. 
What is most galling is that the Government now mocks the Opposition for raising serious questions about New Zealand’s security of electricity supply. The Opposition was being responsible and was listening to the experts who were raising the same questions that we were. We were actually the party that was looking out for New Zealanders’ interests because the present Labour Government had walked away from its responsibilities. 
Electricity prices have gone up by nearly 50 percent in the past 5 years; I think that they have gone up by 48 percent. Security of supply is perilous and not guaranteed. 
Hon Shane Jones 
: Geothermal energy’s growing. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Geothermal energy—I see. Well thermal energy use is growing under this Government. We have heard Dr Nick Smith asking what the actual figures have been on carbon emissions and there was a reluctance on the part of the Minister in the chair the Hon David Parker to take a call. Here the Government as in most other fields has utterly failed.