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Speaker 1: Afternoon. The final report into the Northland Power pylon collapse

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Speaker 1: has found, surprise, surprise, it was entirely avoidable. The report

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Speaker 1: found several key failures, including the fact that Transpower was

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Speaker 1: overly reliant on contractors and back in twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 1: a senior engineer had actually raised concerns that those maintenance

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Speaker 1: crews that they were overly reliant on just didn't know

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Speaker 1: what they were doing. Minister for Energy Simeon Brown is

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Speaker 1: with us. Now, Hey, Simeon, good afternoon. When did it

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Speaker 1: happen before?

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Speaker 2: Well, I've been given advice that there were that there

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Speaker 2: were three previous occasions on the seventeenth of June, eighteenth

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Speaker 2: of June six to seventh of June this year, So

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Speaker 2: that is the advice that's been in the report. But

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Speaker 2: I think what are in addition to the report? But

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Speaker 2: I think what I would I would say is what

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Speaker 2: the engineer from Transpower identified back in twenty twenty one

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Speaker 2: was a gap. So I don't know if there were

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Speaker 2: further occasions side of the occasions that we're actually aware of,

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Speaker 2: and ultimately Transpowered didn't do anything in relation to addressing

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Speaker 2: those concerns from twenty twenty one and that has led

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Speaker 2: to what happened in Northland in June this year, which

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Speaker 2: was completely unacceptable and avoidable.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So on the three occasions previous to this one

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Speaker 1: where the nuts were taken out of more than one

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Speaker 1: leg at a time, was it the same crew? Was

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Speaker 1: it the same contractor?

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Speaker 2: That is my understanding, and this is powers in the

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Speaker 2: nearby area which.

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Speaker 1: Were being worked. Are you telling me it was ome

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Speaker 1: exom all four times?

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Speaker 2: Well, I can't confirm that right now. I've been confirmed

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Speaker 2: that there were three previous occasions and this is in

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Speaker 2: regards to the same thing happening obviously within a very

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Speaker 2: close period of time, in relation to that same behavior happening.

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Speaker 2: So I think what this is identified and I guess

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Speaker 2: I guess what this report has identified is that this

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Speaker 2: behavior has been happening. It has led to this horrific

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Speaker 2: event happening in Northland. But more importantly, they knew about

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Speaker 2: this problem back in twenty twenty one and nothing was

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Speaker 2: done then and that shows issues around what happened around

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Speaker 2: that report from the engineer, how it was not taken

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Speaker 2: into account. And that's why this report is so important

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Speaker 2: to send the message to Transpower around its management of

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Speaker 2: its contractors, the procedures it needs to have in place,

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Speaker 2: the training, and also the governance assurance that's required over

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Speaker 2: top of all of that from its board downwards to

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Speaker 2: make sure the appropriate policies and procedures are being implemented

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Speaker 2: to keep our electricity system secure.

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Speaker 1: So, I mean the three other times that they took

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Speaker 1: the nuts out of more than one pilon league at

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Speaker 1: a time, why didn't the pylons fall over on those occasions.

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Speaker 2: Well, the particular site which where it did fall over,

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Speaker 2: it's all to do with the tensioning. The one that

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Speaker 2: it did fall over was on a corner, and so

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Speaker 2: when you have the tensioning pulling it over from one

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Speaker 2: side where the wires are turning a corner, you're going

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Speaker 2: to have that pressure which is getting applied. And so

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Speaker 2: the off they took off the bolts and the nuts

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Speaker 2: on the legs which were supporting the tower against that tension,

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Speaker 2: and as they did it for both of those legs,

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Speaker 2: ultimately that tension meant that it fell over.

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Speaker 1: Same And when they did this on the other occasions,

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Speaker 1: did they realize that it was the wrong thing to

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Speaker 1: do before they did it? When the you know, like,

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Speaker 1: did they realize, whoops, we shouldn't be doing it, and

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Speaker 1: then they did it anyway and the pilon fell over,

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Speaker 1: or did we realize after the fact that this was

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Speaker 1: about the fourth time they've done it?

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Speaker 2: Oh, well, after the fact that's come through because of

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Speaker 2: the minute that the report has obviously gone in there

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Speaker 2: and asked these questions. And that's why this report is

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Speaker 2: so important that we did that.

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Speaker 1: Loving OMXM, because not only do we find out so

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Speaker 1: they made the pilon fall over one time, they've possibly

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Speaker 1: done it three other times and now it turns out

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Speaker 1: they're also not giving the information to the electricity authority,

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Speaker 1: the electric They basically didn't let them talk to their contractors.

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Speaker 1: Do we need to stop transpower using this lot?

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Speaker 2: Well, one of the recommendations here is allowed allowing the

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Speaker 2: electricity Authority to be able to have more powers to

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Speaker 2: excess information. Will be MB's going to be looking at

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Speaker 2: that and giving me some advice on that, and I

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Speaker 2: think that's something which we actually need to be allowing

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Speaker 2: the ultrite Authority to ask the questions, get the information

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Speaker 2: so that they can actually get to the bottom of

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Speaker 2: these issues in relation to the contracting policies and particular companies.

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Speaker 2: I can't comment on that. They're a stat on enterprise.

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Speaker 2: They're ultimately responsible and accountable, and I would suggest you ask,

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Speaker 2: well they're responsible that, and I suggest you put those

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Speaker 2: questions to Transpower. They are questions that they should be answering.

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Speaker 1: Yes, we'd love to. Transpower has got a problem with

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Speaker 1: our cloud music, Sime, and thank you, Simmey and Brown.

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Speaker 1: The Ministry for Energy a Minister for Energy rather apparently

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Speaker 1: so omix On Electricity Authority tried to speak to the

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Speaker 1: contractors who work for omx On who took out the nuts.

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Speaker 1: But even though they tried, they say they asked the questions.

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Speaker 1: We've got a series of information from the contract to

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Speaker 1: some of it will suggests subjective. It reads like omix

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Speaker 1: On said, nah, you can't talk to our people. For

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