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Speaker 1: Good afternoon. Prices have finally started responding today in a

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Speaker 1: significant way to the US war on Iran. We're going

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Speaker 1: to start with oil prices. They have broken through the

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Speaker 1: one hundred US dollars marked today for the first time

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Speaker 1: since twenty twenty two. Now the national average at the

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Speaker 1: petrol pump is about two dollars sixty odd. We are

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Speaker 1: being worn to brace ourselves for three dollars a liter.

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Speaker 1: Associate Energy Minister and Resources Minister Shane Jones is with

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Speaker 1: US now.

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Speaker 2: High Shane, Hi, Good afternoon, folks.

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Speaker 1: The AA is warning that it may get as high

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Speaker 1: as four dollars a liter. Is that likely?

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Speaker 2: Well, what we did as of today stood up a

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Speaker 2: responsible group of ministers with the best quality of advice

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Speaker 2: surrounding us. I don't want to jump to conclusions. We

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Speaker 2: did suffer price increases and the putin Ukraine hostilities broke out,

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Speaker 2: and we're just going to be very well prepared to

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Speaker 2: deal with any eventuality.

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Speaker 1: Okay, this group of ministers, this Ministerial Oversight Group on

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Speaker 1: Economic security, with the focus on oil and gas, what

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Speaker 1: are you supposed to do? What are you looking at?

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Speaker 2: Well, we need high quality, regular information, not only from

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Speaker 2: the big field users, but the fuel importers and obviously

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Speaker 2: our own bureaucracy. And also we need good quality taining

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Speaker 2: to access to fertilizer for our agricultural sector, and that's

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Speaker 2: also hampered by the closure of the strait. And on

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Speaker 2: top of that, we need high quality information and respect

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Speaker 2: of logistics, shipping supply lines and shipping arrangements. This needs

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Speaker 2: to be stood up asap.

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Speaker 1: And what is the power that you guys will have

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Speaker 1: to affect any change.

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Speaker 2: Well, there are a range of statutes, and Paris have

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Speaker 2: thought we should ever use them. But in the future,

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Speaker 2: if the situation really does deteriorate, then the Minister of

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Speaker 2: Resources of my good self we actually do have to

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Speaker 2: respond in the event that the International Energy Association requires

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Speaker 2: us to move towards a rationing model. But we don't

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Speaker 2: believe we're there in any man or of form.

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Speaker 1: We've got what twenty eight days of oil in this country,

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Speaker 1: twenty nine days worth on ships. What happens after that?

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Speaker 2: Well, you raise a damn good question. After the refinery

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Speaker 2: was closed down and we lost over three hundred and

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Speaker 2: fifty million elitter capacity to store additional fuel, we are

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Speaker 2: dependent on the just in time model, that is what

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Speaker 2: the oil companies and the labor government did to New

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Speaker 2: Zealand four or five years ago.

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Speaker 1: Okay, but what happens after the twenty nine days worth

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Speaker 1: of oil on the ships gets here? Have we got

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Speaker 1: more on order?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? We have a system which is administered through the

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Speaker 2: International Energy Association, where we have the ability to call

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Speaker 2: on fuel that is stored in Japan, America and various

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Speaker 2: other places, including an arrangement with Singapore that we can

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Speaker 2: call for some of their fuel to be released and

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Speaker 2: sent to New Zealand, but we have yet to exploit

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Speaker 2: that option.

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Speaker 1: Do you support the decision not to cut the fuel tax?

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Speaker 2: Oh, it's just ty hoe. I mean it was cut

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Speaker 2: in the past and any politician who cuts the text

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Speaker 2: funds are very difficult to re establish it. But I

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Speaker 2: think I if I understand, the Minister of Finances said, well,

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Speaker 2: we'll monitor it very closely. And look, if we got

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Speaker 2: to cut the fuel tax and you've got a whole

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Speaker 2: bunch of people doing the hacker they want four lane

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Speaker 2: highways everywhere, Well, the d's got to come from somewhere.

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Speaker 1: Fair point, Shane, Thank you very much appreciated. Shane Jones,

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Speaker 1: Associate Energy Ministan Resources Minister for more from Hither Duplessy

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Speaker 1: Allen Drive, listen live to news talks they'd be from

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Speaker 1: four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio