The Insider
Hold the emergency
A year ago, the new organisation Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) came into being with politicians cheering it on. At the time, there were a few (including this column) who pointed out that if you crunched the numbers, things didn’t look so rosy. First, it was unclear how much the new and expanded service would cost. Second, it was murky how it would be funded. However, it was clear that the proposed levy model was likely to put a lot of businesses under, while organisations such as museums and churches might as well set fire to their buildings and walk away, as they could never afford the premiums. At the time, politicians said all would be fine and after a delay everything would be sorted out. Well, it hasn’t been and this week the Government introduced a bill to delay the new levy regime which was due to come into force next July. Apparently, they have discovered “some serious concerns about the unintended consequences of the levy calculation”. More than a year on, it seems more time is needed to work out Fenz’s costs before setting the levy to fund it. Now it is all going to be sorted out by 2020, and if not then, by 2021.
Sparks fly, #1
The always fractious electricity sector is seething again. This time the Electricity Authority has managed to anger almost every lines company with its plan to reform distribution charges. One problem is that the lines companies say the law does not allow them to do what the authority wants. Also, some people will end up paying less, but some will pay a lot more — and they will have to deal with that, not the regulator. But what really annoyed the lines companies was that the authority sent its plans to company head offices in individual sealed envelopes to send on to board members, without management knowing what was in the letters.
Sparks fly, #2
Some smaller electricity retailers have also been accusing the big players of gaming the market to push wholesale prices higher than is necessary or fair. The major companies say this is not so, and they are focussed on energy security in the face of low hydro lakes and gas supply disruption. This may well be true, but some companies are going out of business, which will be bad news for them, but good news for those who would like less competition. The Electricity Authority says it is the market in action.
Silent letter
Once upon a time there was a massive row over putting the letter “h” into Wanganui. Now there is a proposal to change the official name of the ManawatuWanganui Region to the Manawatu¯ -Whanganui Region. This time, there appears to have been barely a squeak of reaction.
Spy fears
Ministers are starting to finalise their thinking about the rollout of 5G cellular communication technology. This means another round of lobbying and argument about whether Chinese telco equipment-maker Huawei should be allowed to be part of it. Australia banned Huawei from involvement in Australian 5G infrastructure and the previous Government was lobbied by the GCSB to ban Chinese companies from earlier telecommunications infrastructure. Other members of the Five Eyes spy network are keen to block the Chinese again. They say it is about security, but the local telco industry reckons it is more about reducing competition for US companies supplying the same market. There are millions of dollars at stake on the one hand, or possibly national security on the other — and our relationships with the US and China.
Musical chairs
There aren’t many meetings left for Cabinet’s appointments and honours committee before the year ends, and there are some important appointments to sort out. One job is to find a new boss at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to replace Brook Barrington. He is moving to take over at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in February as part of a great state sector boss reshuffle. This includes DPMC chief executive Andrew Kibblewhite going to Justice, Justice chief executive Andrew Bridgman moving to Defence and Barrington going to DPMC. Foreign Minister Winston Peters is keen to rebuild his service, so is pushing for promotion from within.