1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,559
Speaker 1: Good afternoon. The government has laid out at what point

2
00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:06,000
Speaker 1: they would consider introducing measures like fuel rationing. There are

3
00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:08,879
Speaker 1: six criteria that they would consider, and that includes things

4
00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:12,960
Speaker 1: like fuel dipping below our minimum storage obligations and refineries

5
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,080
Speaker 1: that supply us introducing their own restrictions. Finance Minister Nikola

6
00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:18,800
Speaker 1: Willis is with us right now. Hi, Nikola, good evening here.

7
00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,040
Speaker 1: There are we anywhere close to going to level two?

8
00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,600
Speaker 2: No? Not right now. There are six assessment criteria. One

9
00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:27,560
Speaker 2: of them would have to change for us to go

10
00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,720
Speaker 2: into an assessment. So first we'd let you know, right

11
00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:32,680
Speaker 2: one of the criteria have been triggered, we're going to

12
00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:36,040
Speaker 2: do an assessment. Then they'd be a gap while we

13
00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,839
Speaker 2: went and consulted with industry and talked to them. Then

14
00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,800
Speaker 2: we'd make the assessment and we may or may not

15
00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:43,760
Speaker 2: go into level two at that point. So if we're

16
00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,000
Speaker 2: going to make an assessment, we'd let you know at.

17
00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:50,120
Speaker 1: This point, looking at everything that you can assess, are

18
00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:52,360
Speaker 1: you seeing anything that is given you concern? Are our

19
00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,880
Speaker 1: refineries still giving us fuel? Are there any ships being diverted?

20
00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:57,240
Speaker 1: Are we sure of are we going to run out

21
00:00:57,240 --> 00:00:59,320
Speaker 1: of diesel in three weeks? Anything? Like that to worry about.

22
00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,080
Speaker 2: Well, what the fuel companies are telling us now is

23
00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:04,720
Speaker 2: we're good. We've got those seven weeks, they've got orders

24
00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,880
Speaker 2: still being filled through to May, and we know that

25
00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,360
Speaker 2: the ships that are on the water are making their

26
00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,560
Speaker 2: way safely here. But we're in a state of readiness

27
00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,440
Speaker 2: because what we're anticipating could happen in the future. It

28
00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,480
Speaker 2: might not, but could happen is that a fuel company

29
00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,600
Speaker 2: could have difficulty filling a number of orders. They, of course,

30
00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:26,679
Speaker 2: in the first instance, we're then try and get fuel

31
00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:28,840
Speaker 2: from somewhere else in the world. But if there were

32
00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,959
Speaker 2: delays or problems with that, we would want to know

33
00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,800
Speaker 2: well in advance, so that New Zealand was prepared.

34
00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:36,240
Speaker 1: Why would they have that trouble.

35
00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:42,320
Speaker 2: Well, if they, for example, had an order quickly canceled

36
00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,119
Speaker 2: out of a country in Southeast Asia with someone using

37
00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,040
Speaker 2: force masure saying actually, we just literally can't give you

38
00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:51,360
Speaker 2: the fuel, and then they went to source it from

39
00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,600
Speaker 2: America or South America or somewhere else in the world,

40
00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,880
Speaker 2: that would take longer to get to New Zealand than

41
00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,360
Speaker 2: their normal order would, so that could create delay. We

42
00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,480
Speaker 2: would want at that point to know that we had

43
00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,080
Speaker 2: sufficient fuel in the country. Good news is we have

44
00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,400
Speaker 2: minimum stockholding obligations in New Zealand, which means that all

45
00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,400
Speaker 2: fuel companies are required to have a safety buffer, a

46
00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,440
Speaker 2: reserve of fuel in the country. And so we haven't

47
00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:21,160
Speaker 2: had any notification that anyone's at any risk of breaking

48
00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,320
Speaker 2: those minimum stockholding obligations, and we would expect to get

49
00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:25,840
Speaker 2: a very good warning if that was going to be

50
00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:26,240
Speaker 2: the case.

51
00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,639
Speaker 1: Okay, why is it that the public dashboards like endsed

52
00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,280
Speaker 1: oil Watch and the Taxpayers Union Fuel Clock reckon that

53
00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,919
Speaker 1: we have less diesel in the country in particular than

54
00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:36,080
Speaker 1: what MB says we've got.

55
00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:39,720
Speaker 2: Well, there was some confusion with some of the information

56
00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,920
Speaker 2: that MB released during the week, and I acknowledged that

57
00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,760
Speaker 2: today because what they've been doing is releasing two types

58
00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,040
Speaker 2: of information, fuel that's in the country and then fuel

59
00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 2: that's on the water, and so people are reading on

60
00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:54,560
Speaker 2: the water and thinking, gosh, that could be days and

61
00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:57,200
Speaker 2: days away. So what I did today was I updated

62
00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,720
Speaker 2: and said, actually, a big proportion of that is actually

63
00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:04,640
Speaker 2: just literally ships discharging at port, so literally putting the

64
00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:08,160
Speaker 2: diesel in at port, or is going from port to

65
00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:10,639
Speaker 2: port in New Zealand, or is less than a day's

66
00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:13,560
Speaker 2: shipping away because it's in our sovereign water. So I

67
00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,120
Speaker 2: gave a breakdown of that. We've got eighteen point one

68
00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,720
Speaker 2: days of diesel in the country, fifteen point eight days

69
00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,760
Speaker 2: of diesel on the water in our sovereign waters, in

70
00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,200
Speaker 2: twelve and a half days of diesel in ships that's

71
00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:28,000
Speaker 2: on its way to New Zealand but not yet in

72
00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,360
Speaker 2: our sovereign waters. So that pig for much clearer picture.

73
00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,920
Speaker 1: Okay, Now, Chris Bership was at an infrastructure summit and

74
00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:38,320
Speaker 1: made the following comment. He said, read the fuel crisis.

75
00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,480
Speaker 1: It's a scary prospect what may happen, and I'm not

76
00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:43,800
Speaker 1: one hundred percent sure the public have quite worked it

77
00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:45,160
Speaker 1: out yet. What does he mean by that?

78
00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:48,000
Speaker 2: I well, I wouldn't want to put words in Chris

79
00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,480
Speaker 2: Bership's mouth, but I think what he's anticipating is if

80
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,520
Speaker 2: we ever had to move to a Phase three or

81
00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,160
Speaker 2: four as we outline today, that wouldn't be great for

82
00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,920
Speaker 2: the New Zealand economy. It wouldn't be great for anyone

83
00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,240
Speaker 2: for jobs or livelihoods, which is why we're working so

84
00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,200
Speaker 2: hard now to try and prevent that ever being possible.

85
00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,640
Speaker 2: But we also recognize these are events outside our control,

86
00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,240
Speaker 2: and we're really conscious that the price spike that you

87
00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:19,080
Speaker 2: experiencing right now could persist for some time and that's

88
00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,159
Speaker 2: going to be corrosive for people's cost of living, for

89
00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,320
Speaker 2: our economy, and that really bites and we understand that.

90
00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:28,479
Speaker 2: But these are international events that do remain outside our control.

91
00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,800
Speaker 1: Do you reckon we haven't worked it out? Because I'm

92
00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:33,800
Speaker 1: of the view that we have worked it out and

93
00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:36,640
Speaker 1: we're just keeping calm about it, and we're reading columns

94
00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,039
Speaker 1: like Matthew Houston's and going and basically choosing not to

95
00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:41,719
Speaker 1: be freaked out. Isn't that what we're doing.

96
00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,720
Speaker 2: I hope that New Zealanders are choosing to be calm

97
00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:50,080
Speaker 2: about it. That's been my experience with many people absorbing

98
00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:54,359
Speaker 2: the information understanding what's happening, and I hope that we

99
00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,600
Speaker 2: continue to see that because I think the government's role

100
00:04:57,640 --> 00:04:59,760
Speaker 2: here is to make sure we're doing everything that we

101
00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,120
Speaker 2: can to secure fuel supplies and have a plan if

102
00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:07,320
Speaker 2: they're disrupted, and I think people understand that events happening

103
00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:09,080
Speaker 2: in the Middle East are having a big impact here

104
00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:10,840
Speaker 2: at home, and we're doing everything we can.

105
00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,000
Speaker 1: Call Nichola, thank you very much for your time Nicola Willis,

106
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:13,800
Speaker 1: Finance Minister.

107
00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,800
Speaker 2: For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, Listen live to

108
00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,919
Speaker 2: news talks the'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow

109
00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:22,720
Speaker 2: the podcast on iHeartRadio