Heather Roy's Diary 30 May 2003
ACT is dedicated to enabling New Zealanders to have more opportunities and choices in their own lives. We promote
political and economic freedom, strong families and communities, smaller government, and greater empowerment of
individuals.
The Generation Gap
New Zealand is in the midst of a power crisis, and the prospect of losing water heating looms for many people. The Prime
Minister isn't worried for herself, as she recently explained that she uses gas for heating. Talk of electricity cuts
have been muted this week, with Parliament in recess and no Question Time for the Prime Minister and Minister of Energy
to be asked tricky questions by the Opposition.
The causes of a power crisis are complicated and are subject to much official obfuscation. The reason cold showers loom
is that water heating is the one type of electricity consumption that power distributors have in their hands. It can be
turned off by remote, 'ripple', control. This process is a bit of a lottery for the public, however, as some people have
gas-fired water heating and many of those who have electrical water heating have a broken ripple switch. It is possible
to opt out of ripple control by paying more for your water heating. Another possibility is that electricity generation
simply falls below consumption, and then the voltage will drop causing a "brown out" as electrical appliances struggle
to work on reduced power. How things shape up from here depends on how much it rains but, if it is dry, hydroelectric
dams will have no water to drive their turbines as lake levels fall below operating levels.
If this all sounds familiar, it is because it was only in 2001 that we had our last power crisis. As Oscar Wilde would
have said under the same circumstances: "To have one power crisis when Minister of Energy is unfortunate but to have two
looks like carelessness." The effort to apportion blame is a high-risk game but Pete Hodgson knows that his job could be
on the line. Hence the current campaign to blame Max Bradford.
The reason lakes are falling is simply that water is being drawn off to generate power at a faster rate than rainfall
replaces it. When spring comes, the mountain snow will melt, and the lakes will be replenished - but while rainfall
remains low we face a long cold winter. In the background to all of this it should be noted that New Zealand obtains 60
percent of its power from hydroelectricity, and the amount of water that can be stored in reserve is limited. The
question has been asked as to whether or not the other means of generating electricity have been efficiently used. The
Huntly thermal power stations burn coal and natural gas, but have had a low level of coal stocks. We are currently
importing large quantities of coal from Indonesia and Australia, although Solid Fuel New Zealand has said it can meet
our own requirements - apparently we have around 1,000 years of supply of our own much better quality coal, but it must
be mined to be of any use.
The demand for electricity has been growing at about 150 megawatts per year, and much of our generating stock is getting
old. The only way to resolve this problem is to build new stations. Unfortunately, the Government has managed to get
itself cornered in a bureaucratic nightmare. The most obvious next step would be to build coal-powered thermal stations
- but coal stations produce a lot of carbon dioxide, and New Zealand has signed the Kyoto Treaty, which commits us to
reducing our carbon dioxide emissions. New Zealand does not produce much carbon dioxide because of our extensive use of
hydroelectric power, but the Kyoto protocol commits us to reducing it further, regardless of our low starting point.
That means that we could end having to buy "carbon credits". Wind energy has been suggested as an alternative, but
windmills remain an expensive source of power despite considerable advances in the technology.
The Government's solution is to build power stations and keep them as spare capacity. This is an expensive solution -
power stations cost big money and if they aren't used they produce no return. However they can't be run continuously
because they will produce carbon dioxide, thus breaching our Kyoto commitments. We will have large power stations
sitting idle most of the year. The Government says the market is inefficient, so central planning is on the agenda.
Ideology versus Pragmatism
It was revealed that two heart patients died while awaiting surgery in Wellington. Both had been admitted twice for
surgery, and had twice been sent home, dying while awaiting their third attempts. Meanwhile the private Wakefield
Hospital, a stones-throw away, had theatres and surgeons available. They could have operated immediately once these
patients' surgery was cancelled in the public system. Wakefield Hospital's contract was cancelled two years ago. Labour
has a philosophical objection to private contracting with the public system, but I doubt these patients would have had
any such objection.
ACC Medical Misadventure
This week, the Government released a consultation document regarding changes to ACC Medical Misadventure. Currently, a
patient must prove that their health provider is guilty of medical misadventure to gain compensation. The incentive is
wrong, and ACC is looking at changing the emphasis back to a 'no-fault' system. Although the emphasis is right, it is
anticipated there will be more claims accepted. This will cost more to run, and the funding will need to be increased.
This may well see an increase in the earners premium - as well as an opening of the floodgates for claims. ACT will be
watching.
Heather Roy is an ACT List MP. She was elected to Parliament in July 2002. Heather is a former Physiotherapist and
Medical Research Co-ordinator. She was also Publicity Officer for the New Zealand Portrait Gallery. Her portfolio areas
are Health, ACC, Women's Affairs, Youth Affairs, Senior Citizens, Arts Culture and Heritage and Internal Affairs.
Heather is married to Duncan, a Psychiatrist and they have 5 children. Se was attracted to ACT because of the principles
of freedom, choice and personal responsibility.
If you would like to comment on anything in this weeks diary please send an email to scott.gilmore@parliament.govt.nz