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Speaker 1: Nicol Willis the finance ministers with US High Niccola Hiyather.

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Speaker 1: So when Genesis asked for money for the capital raise,

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Speaker 1: why not say.

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Speaker 2: No because we made a commitment last year we said

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Speaker 2: the government won't stand in the way of any of

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Speaker 2: the major energy generators wanting to invest in the firming

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Speaker 2: capacity in particular that the New Zealand energy system needs.

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Speaker 2: And we had presented to us of you that because

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Speaker 2: the government has a legal obligation to maintain its fifty

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Speaker 2: one percent stake in Genesis, that in the absence of

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Speaker 2: committing extra capital, that would prevent them doing the growth

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Speaker 2: plans that New Zealand needs. So by providing a share

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Speaker 2: of capital, we both allow them to grow the security

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Speaker 2: of New Zealand energy supply and we maintain our legal

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Speaker 2: obligation to keep a fifty one percent share.

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Speaker 1: Are you campaigning possibly this year on selling down the

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Speaker 1: power companies though.

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Speaker 2: Well, the government position is to maintain the fifty one

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Speaker 2: percent share, and as to national position on the future

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Speaker 2: of those energy companies, we haven't taken our position on that.

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Speaker 1: But so we could actually be in the situation here

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Speaker 1: where we've bumped in two hundred million dollars and then

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Speaker 1: after the next selection we sell it down again.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think there's a lot of water to go

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Speaker 2: into the bridge before you'd make that conclusion. What this

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Speaker 2: two hundred million dollars is there to support is a

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Speaker 2: pipeline of new development that's keeping Huntly going. They're looking

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Speaker 2: at options for gas storage, They're continuing to expand their

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Speaker 2: renewable energy generation. So what this investment is about is

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Speaker 2: ensuring reliable, secure electricity supply for New Zealand, and that

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Speaker 2: is a priority that stacks up as something we as

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Speaker 2: a government want to achieve.

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Speaker 1: Hey, are you guys at the moment actively considering an alternative,

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Speaker 1: an alternative way to pay for the Lery terminal rather

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Speaker 1: than a levy.

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Speaker 2: That's going through a procurement process at the moment to

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Speaker 2: determine whose best place to build that and what the

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Speaker 2: detailed costs of that would be and what their pricing

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Speaker 2: model would be. So we haven't considered those bids as

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Speaker 2: they've come through yet.

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Speaker 1: Okay, but what about the levee. Is it possible that

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Speaker 1: we never end up with the levy, we end up

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Speaker 1: with some other mechanism to pay for them.

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Speaker 2: Correct, Well, we do need to be very thorough about

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Speaker 2: the procurement process to make sure that as the detailed

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Speaker 2: proposal comes through, the benefits which we've had outlined to

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Speaker 2: us in theory way with the costs which we've had

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Speaker 2: outlined to us in theory, and so the costs are

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Speaker 2: very relevant to that equation. As we've said, this is

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Speaker 2: a proposal we want to go ahead with because we're

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Speaker 2: convinced that it will reduce electricity prices for households and businesses,

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Speaker 2: and that's the basis on which we've entered into it.

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Speaker 2: I do want to note reporting in the energy sector

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Speaker 2: shows that those forward looking wholesale prices have actually already

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Speaker 2: come down a little bit following the LNG.

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Speaker 1: Malcolm John's of Genesis said, you can't be sure it's

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Speaker 1: because of the LNG terminal.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's always very hard to know when prices may

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Speaker 2: in a market exactly what it is, but certainly some

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Speaker 2: commentators are of the view that that is seen as

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Speaker 2: a reduced risk in the future. It's uneffected in the

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Speaker 2: forward price.

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Speaker 1: David Seymour. The reason I'm asking about this levy, and

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Speaker 1: I am aware that you're not answering the question. David

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Speaker 1: Seymour was on the show last week and he said

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Speaker 1: there was the possibility that you would not be introducing

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Speaker 1: the levy and you'd think about another way to pay

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Speaker 1: for the terminal. Is that the truth?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think he and I are saying the same

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Speaker 2: thing in different ways, which is that we do need

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Speaker 2: to go through with this procurement process very carefully. I

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Speaker 2: share his intent and I think all New Zealanders would

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Speaker 2: want us to, which is we have to make sure

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Speaker 2: it stacks up that the costs aren't such that actually

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Speaker 2: we end up passing on price to households. We don't

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Speaker 2: want to do that.

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Speaker 1: Are you rethinking the terminal altogether.

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Speaker 2: No, we're actively in a procurement process. We want to

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Speaker 2: go ahead with an LNG two just to make sure

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Speaker 2: we get well we need to get. We need to

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Speaker 2: make sure that the proposal we go ahead with meets

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Speaker 2: this team.

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Speaker 1: Not cool, happy to hear it. Okay, now, this credit

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Speaker 1: cards sur charge band, can you confirm it's being killed?

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Speaker 2: We are considering the feedback that we receive through the

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Speaker 2: Select Committee. On the one hand, we think it's very

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Speaker 2: important consumers should pay the price they see on the shelf.

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Speaker 2: On the other hand, as you know, there were real

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Speaker 2: concerns raised about adding costs to small business, and there

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Speaker 2: were some proposals for some ways that those costs could

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Speaker 2: be mitigated. So we're working through that.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So is it going to happen before the election?

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Speaker 2: Well, look, as I say, we're working through the detail

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Speaker 2: of the feedback on the proposal, and so I'm just

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Speaker 2: not in a position to make that commitment. Now.

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Speaker 1: Can't you just answer any of these questions straight? They're

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Speaker 1: really sympathy.

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Speaker 2: Because whenever I speak here that I speak on behalf

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Speaker 2: of cabinet, and cabinet hasn't made that. Winston has gone

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Speaker 2: get ahead of cabnet.

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Speaker 1: Winston is saying it's dead in the water. It's not

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Speaker 1: going to happen. So if Winston look at his polling Nikola,

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Speaker 1: he's going up in the polls because he answers straight.

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Speaker 1: He gives us straight answers and speaks English. So I mean,

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Speaker 1: is that maybe some feedback that's worth considering. Is he

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Speaker 1: said it's dead? Why don't you say it's dead?

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Speaker 2: Well? Feedback segift, thank you for it?

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Speaker 1: Oh lord? Okay, what's going on with you guys trying

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Speaker 1: to find a candidate in North Wellington? Why doesn't anybody

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Speaker 1: want to stand for the nets.

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Speaker 2: Oh well, we've got a selection process underway and I'm

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Speaker 2: very confident that we will select a candidate there, and

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Speaker 2: so nothing to see there. Really, our selection processes are

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Speaker 2: always confidential and we'll select a great candidate. And of course,

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Speaker 2: as is the case with every electorate around the country,

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Speaker 2: the vote that matters the most that we ask our

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Speaker 2: candidates to campaign for is the party vote, and a

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Speaker 2: party vote in Wellington North is worth exactly the same

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Speaker 2: as a party vote in the safest national seat in

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Speaker 2: the country.

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Speaker 1: You know, everybody thought you were going to stand there.

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Speaker 1: Why aren't you standing there?

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Speaker 2: Well, actually, going even back to the last election, I

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Speaker 2: had people in the party saying, please, could you not

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Speaker 2: stand in a Wellington electorate. We don't want you running

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Speaker 2: up and downhills door knocking when you should be out

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Speaker 2: selling our economic plan and going up and down the

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Speaker 2: country talking about New Zealand's financial position. So the Party

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Speaker 2: have for a long time said, look, focus on that role.

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Speaker 2: And I judged at this election, much as Grant Robertson,

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Speaker 2: Bill English and Michael Cullen did before me, that that

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Speaker 2: is in fact the job I should be focused on.

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Speaker 1: Is the Mount VC Tunnel going ahead or not? After

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Speaker 1: what Bush said last.

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Speaker 2: Week, Well, it is going ahead in the sense that

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Speaker 2: the investment case has been signed off by the NZTA

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Speaker 2: and geotechnical workers currently occurring. There have been drills in

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Speaker 2: the ground assessing the ground and therefore what that means

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Speaker 2: for the construction. What we're also doing is we're looking

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Speaker 2: at all of the roads of national significance to determine

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Speaker 2: what order do we sequence these in and how do

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Speaker 2: we make sure that we fund them in the most

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Speaker 2: appropriate way. Do we use time of use charging, do

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Speaker 2: we use tolls? How much taxpayer money do we put in?

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Speaker 2: And how does that sit alongside our really important obligation

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Speaker 2: to be maintaining the roads we already have.

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Speaker 1: So when is construction starting on the Mount VAC tunnel.

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Speaker 2: We haven't sided that date, are you?

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Speaker 1: Can you assure us that it will happen in the

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Speaker 1: next term.

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Speaker 2: It's look, the projects will go. As I say, there's

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Speaker 2: literally work happening at the moment, geotechnical work which they're

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Speaker 2: already spending millions on, and we are committed to that tunnel.

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Speaker 1: Okay, thank you, Nicola, I appreciate it. Nichola Willis Finance Minister.

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