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Speaker 1: Afternoon. Now, the government's announced more details on its replacement

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Speaker 1: for three waters, specifically what they're going to do with

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Speaker 1: the debt funding. They've announced that water bodies which will

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Speaker 1: be controlled by councils, will be able to borrow more

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Speaker 1: money and more cheaply from the Local Government Funding Agency

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Speaker 1: than they would be able to do by themselves. Sime

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Speaker 1: and Brown is the Local Government minister and with us now,

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Speaker 1: hey simeon good, how much more cheaply can they get

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Speaker 1: it from this funding agency?

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Speaker 2: Well, if you go out and get access to deep

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Speaker 2: on the open market, which is what some councils do do,

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Speaker 2: it'd be about two percent more expensive. So this is

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Speaker 2: significantly cheaper. This is olgfas Triple A rated because of

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Speaker 2: the support that they get from coss guarantees from councils

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Speaker 2: in the support of Crown. They already fund councils at

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Speaker 2: exces international markets. And this is the best way to

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Speaker 2: be able to ensure that we can keep water assets

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Speaker 2: in local control. With local ownership, they can affordably make

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Speaker 2: those investments they need whilst also keeping costs down for consumers.

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Speaker 1: Okay, and so are you just giving them a year's

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Speaker 1: worth of access to this money or does it continue

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Speaker 1: after that?

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Speaker 2: No, this is this is, this continues after that. This

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Speaker 2: is this is an endurable solution for water infrastructure in

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Speaker 2: New Zealand. This is a deal being done to ensure

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Speaker 2: that we can allow counsels to invest in the long

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Speaker 2: term infrastructure they need in an affordable way. We don't

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Speaker 2: need the ten mega co governed entities the last government

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Speaker 2: was putting in place. All we need to do is

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Speaker 2: work with local government and have a solution which works

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Speaker 2: for them. And that's what this government's done in nine months.

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Speaker 1: So I mean, why did that ferry just crash in Wellington?

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Speaker 2: Well, I've just been on the phone to keew Rail

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Speaker 2: Lesban has high wind conditions down here are and a

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Speaker 2: number of other things which I think they're looking into.

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Speaker 1: What are the number of other things?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think the key rale CEO is here. We

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Speaker 2: spoke to him a few minutes ago in terms of

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Speaker 2: whether or not pay well you know, entering the particular

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Speaker 2: course correctly. Ultimately they'll be looking into that and have

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Speaker 2: more to say about that shortly. But there are high

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Speaker 2: wind conditions here in Wellington right now. Yeh.

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Speaker 1: But that's normal, Samen, That's not really a surprise, is it? Okay?

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Speaker 1: So who puts the little course.

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Speaker 2: In well I think those are the things that they're

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Speaker 2: looking into to ensure that the correct But.

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Speaker 1: Is it the dude's on board? Are the guys on

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Speaker 1: the bridge?

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Speaker 2: I mean, we've we've been making out point very clearly

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Speaker 2: around the operations of that organization that they need to

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Speaker 2: be lifting the game. And that's why we're refreshing the

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Speaker 2: board and we're going to be and we're sitting very

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Speaker 2: clear expectations doing it.

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Speaker 1: But they keep on crashing the boat in the meantime,

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Speaker 1: don't they.

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Speaker 2: Well, these things these exactly and the work that needs

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Speaker 2: to be dant to ensure that.

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Speaker 1: Let me just get this clear, Samin, are you telling

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Speaker 1: me that while they're trying to birth in Wellington's somebody

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Speaker 1: there is the possibility and we are investigating that somebody's

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Speaker 1: put the wrong coordinates in.

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Speaker 2: Look, I don't have all the answers. What I'm telling

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Speaker 2: you is we've been given a briefing around what's taken place.

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Speaker 2: It's being looked into, but the reality here is that

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Speaker 2: we need to ensure that that process goes is underway.

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Speaker 2: I want to make it very clear to the public

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Speaker 2: we have been unimpressed with the way key Rail has

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Speaker 2: been managing its assets and operations.

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Speaker 1: But this is what an asset management problem is it.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, this is just somebody being done.

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Speaker 2: Well, we don't know all The answer is just you.

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Speaker 1: Yes, well possibly possibly being done. How long is this

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Speaker 1: thing going to be out of commission for?

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Speaker 2: I think a couple of days what I've been advised

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Speaker 2: man alive.

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Speaker 1: Are you just pulling your hair out of these people?

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Speaker 2: Well?

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Speaker 1: Yes, okay, Now are you on board? This is really

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Speaker 1: the energy crisis is actually what I want to talk

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Speaker 1: to you about. Are you on board with Shane Jones's

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Speaker 1: idea of forcing gent tailors to charge less for power?

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Speaker 2: Well, the reality is we have an energy shortage. That

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Speaker 2: is the key issue here at the moment, and that

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Speaker 2: is because of the last government's policies where they put

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Speaker 2: the ban on oil and gas in place. They added

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Speaker 2: this ridiculous twenty thirty target of one hundred percent renewal energy.

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Speaker 2: They chilled the market by saying they're going to build

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Speaker 2: a lake at the bottom of the South Island and the

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Speaker 2: Mountains called Lake Conzo, costing sixteen billion dollars. We have

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Speaker 2: an energy shortage crisis. That's the issue here. I do

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Speaker 2: have an update in terms of a number of key

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Speaker 2: things that are being done. Firstly, Transpower has just announced

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Speaker 2: that they will be starting consultation on changes to bring

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Speaker 2: forward hydrogenerators' ability to access contingent storage, so that is

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Speaker 2: being brought forward. That is a really important change it's

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Speaker 2: just been announced by Transpower in terms of bringing forward

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Speaker 2: that additional storage in those lakes and making that available

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Speaker 2: based on the risk curves that we're seeing. The Ultricity

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Speaker 2: Ultricty Authority also using their powers to commence an investigation

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Speaker 2: of the Section sixteen of the Altricity Industry Act into

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Speaker 2: spot pricing, including whether generators are profiting through the time.

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Speaker 2: I think it's really important to make it clear that

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Speaker 2: we need to have full assurances we're not seeing price

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Speaker 2: garging during this shortage, and I've made my expectations very

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Speaker 2: clear to the EA on that, and we are getting

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Speaker 2: advice on the powers around what needs to be done.

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Speaker 2: But I think the key message is that we have

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Speaker 2: a shortage of energy and that is what is driving

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Speaker 2: the situation. We do need assurances that there's no price

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Speaker 2: garging is not happening. We've got that work underway, but

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Speaker 2: we have an energy shortage as a country, and that

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Speaker 2: is the most critical issue we need to resolve.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I'm glad you're saying that, because I feel like

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Speaker 1: Shane Jones is barking up the wrong tree with what

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Speaker 1: he's talking about. I'm going to get to that later.

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Speaker 1: But the energy shortage that we've got is primarily caused

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Speaker 1: by a gas shortage. So what are you doing about it?

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Speaker 2: Well, that's why we've announced yesterday that the government is

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Speaker 2: looking at importation of liquid natural gas.

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Speaker 1: Where would you store it?

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Speaker 2: Well, is not required to be stored. This is something

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Speaker 2: which can be imported on ships and pumped into the

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Speaker 2: existing pipelines. The advice we've received is that this is

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Speaker 2: something that could be set up in a not a

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Speaker 2: short period of time, like a year away of time.

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Speaker 2: It would take some time, so we're getting further advice

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Speaker 2: around the speed and what was required in order to

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Speaker 2: do this. We're facing a dry year at the moment.

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Speaker 2: There's been low snowfall on the Southern Alps, which means

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Speaker 2: there's low storage down there. We're seeing low wind obviously

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Speaker 2: that the gas situation is worsened this year quite quickly,

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Speaker 2: and so we are putting this option on the table

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Speaker 2: because it's very clear that New Zealanders cannot afford to

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Speaker 2: see this shortage continuing.

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Speaker 1: Still, for a gas producing nation to be important gas

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Speaker 1: does sound a little kooky. So what we actually need

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Speaker 1: to do is get the existing people in this country,

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Speaker 1: the existing investors, to be drilling and looking for more gas.

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Speaker 1: Are you making any headway there, Well.

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Speaker 2: That's where we're repealing the oil.

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Speaker 1: And case, but that's still not wanting to do it

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Speaker 1: because labor. If labor gets in in sixty years or

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Speaker 1: nine years or something, you're just going to do crazy

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Speaker 1: stuff that It's.

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Speaker 2: One of our biggest issues we face the country is

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Speaker 2: around sovereign risk, yes, and all of these questions, and

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Speaker 2: that is because of that. There is the reckless decisions

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Speaker 2: made by the.

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Speaker 1: Last Are you making any headway convincing them to put

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Speaker 1: money in or are you coming up with any ideas

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Speaker 1: to be able to kind of hold off Labour's crazy?

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Speaker 2: There There is work underway in that space, and I'm

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Speaker 2: working very closely with Honorable Shane Jones on that.

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Speaker 1: And when are we going to see it?

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Speaker 2: Well, you'll be seeing We've made commitments around that legislation

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Speaker 2: coming into Parliament this year. Network is underway, but I

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Speaker 2: would just point I would just make the point of

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Speaker 2: and remind you listeners that the sovereign risk issue that

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Speaker 2: has been created by the previous government is a very

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Speaker 2: serious issue and it has been reckless and it is

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Speaker 2: it is one of the things which worries me the

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Speaker 2: most about the future of our energy security as a nation. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: we need energy as a country and what they did

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Speaker 2: has made fixing these problems a lot harder than they

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Speaker 2: should be.

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Speaker 1: Sime and thank you, mate, appreciate it. Sim And Brown,

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Speaker 1: local Government Minister, Minister for Energy, Minister for Transport.

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