Smith Nick: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Smith Nick: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:632;Page:4119] 
10.  
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
 to the  
Minister of Energy 
: Does he agree with the Connell Wagner report’s findings that major 220 kilovolt lines were strung above other circuits in a manner not “in keeping with current practice especially at such an important node” that the failed earth wires were not bonded in accordance with Transpower’s own “current standard practice” and that “Transpower’s routine inspection and maintenance regime failed to detect and replace seriously deteriorated hardware” that would “have been clearly visible for many years” with “at least a reasonable inference open that the inspection was not carried out”? 
Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister of Energy) 
: 
 Yes. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Given that it is over a month since the blackout affected Auckland can he tell the House whether those crucial lines have been inspected? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: Yes and those who assess the Government’s response on transmission issues will contrast the prompt practical and open steps that the Government has taken since those events with Dr Smith’s blatant misrepresentation last sitting week when he said and I quote from  
Hansard 
: “in the last 7 years not 1 kilometre of new transmission wire has been constructed despite a 20 percent increase in power usage;” in the very same month that he was proudly standing next to a transmission tower in the Transpower monthly magazine where an extra wire was being strung. 
Steve Chadwick 
: What has the Minister done to advance the implementation of the recommendations in the Connell Wagner report? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: As the House already knows the report was commissioned by me and immediately upon its receipt I supplied a copy of it to Transpower together with a letter from me that I have also released which highlights the four short-term remedial steps I think should be taken and are highlighted by Connell Wagner. I am expecting a response from Transpower by this Friday which is my deadline. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Does the Minister agree that Transpower erred in putting so much management time into complex lease-back tax deals with the grid rather than focusing on its core function of ensuring that it was properly maintained; if so why has his Government made a policy decision to encourage State-owned enterprises to do more deals outside their core functions? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: No I do not agree with that. I actually think Transpower did the country a favour and has saved New Zealand power consumers and taxpayers many millions of dollars as a consequence but that is no reason for the poor maintenance procedures that have been shown with regard to the Otahuhu site. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Does the Minister agree with the statement in today’s  
Dominion Post  
by industry veteran Mr Govind Saha: “The New Zealand energy sector has no leadership and the electricity reforms have failed to deliver on their goals” and: “We have lost our way in the last six years … We are playing the game but we don’t have a captain.” and does the Minister accept responsibility for that indictment on his Government’s energy policy? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I certainly accept that the Bradford reforms in the late 1990s were deeply flawed and that we have some way to go to fix all the defects that were left but we are making progress. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I made it plain to the House that the comments I was quoting were in today’s  
Dominion Post 
—not in 1989—and the quotes referred to the last 6 years and under my maths that takes us back to the year 2000. I seek for the Minister to answer the question and not simply try to hide it away by talking about who might have been in Government 8 years ago which is well outside the quote that I gave. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I am happy to respond to that because the point the quote made was that the reforms had not worked—and I agree. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Does the Minister agree with this statement made by Roy Hemmingway on TV3 last night that on 19 June—only a week after the Auckland blackout—“We were caught a bit flatfooted. We did not have the generation available to meet that specific couple of hours because plants in New Plymouth Huntly Roxburgh and Manapouri were out.” and what steps will the Minister take to ensure that the Electricity Commission is not caught flatfooted yet again? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I would say that when Mr Hemmingway said “we” he was not referring to the Electricity Commission; he was referring to the New Zealand electricity system. I agree that on that night when we did have record demand—we had the highest demand ever recorded in New Zealand—we coped but only just. One of the reasons it was “only just” was that some of the plants that should have been— 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: People’s lights got turned out. There were blackouts that night. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: People’s lights did not go out in Auckland as a consequence of— 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: It was in the Bay of Plenty. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: No not as a consequence of there being inadequate generation on the night—no they did not. But I do agree that we only just coped. The reason we only just coped was that some generating plant that one would expect to have been made available was not. I also agree that that again undermines one’s confidence in the current policy settings. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I seek leave to table today’s  
Dominion Post 
— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: No. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Order! 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I can understand that member is a bit edgy because he was the previous Minister of Energy with responsibility for the policy settings that the current Minister has just criticised. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Would the House please settle and would the member please get on with his leave application. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I seek leave to table the article quoting comments made at the energy conference held in Wellington this week where this Government’s energy reforms were damned and it was said that we had completely lost our way in the last 6 years. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I seek leave to table Transpower’s June newsletter which has a very nice photo of Dr Smith inspecting progress on the new line between Blenheim and Stoke. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that— 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I just want to have clarification of the page the Minister wants to table. Can he confirm that that is an existing line between Stoke and Nelson not a new line? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: No I cannot. I can confirm—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Madam SPEAKER 
: So we can hear the answer as we have sought a clarification would members please be quiet. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I can confirm that it was one of two projects on that page including a 123 kilometre line where an additional line was put— 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: There’s no new line. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: Oh it is not a new line? A new line is not a new line—well that is a new line! 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Peter Brown 
: Is the Minister aware—and if he is not will he inquire—as to how many shackles bolts or what have you have been found to be condemned since the Otahuhu mishap and if it is a significant number does he share the view that perhaps the best service the Government could do is to have the lines and what have you inspected by an independent organisation as occurs for example in the maritime industry? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I have so far been advised of two additional D-shackles that were in need of repair or removal and replacement at the Otahuhu site. It is possible that there have been others replaced in other parts of the country that I am not aware of. The Connell Wagner report discloses that the reason for the corrosion of those particular shackles was the electrical bonding of the join if you like between the end of the earth wire and the facility to which it was attached was not of the best practice and therefore it led to corrosion of the D-shackle. The remedial measures to avoid that sort of problem recurring in the future are set out in the Connell Wagner report.