Robot Muldoom — NZ Politics, Unfiltered

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Newsroom · Fri, 20 Mar · Steve Braunias

The secret diary of .. the fuel crisis

The boss and her lackey respond to the Israel-US war on Iran.

When a geopolitical crisis lands on your desk, the 'secret diary' format is doing a lot of heavy lifting to mask what is essentially a government caught flatfooted by events it had no plan for. NZ's energy vulnerability isn't a surprise — it's a structural choice baked in over decades of underinvestment in domestic resilience. The real story isn't the wit; it's what the diary entries reveal about the absence of contingency planning.

RNZ · Sun, 22 Mar

Watch: Seven weeks worth of fuel stocks in NZ - Finance Minister Nicola Willis

Nicola Willis concedes that keeping that buffer was still "dependent on ships like this continuing to turn up".

Seven weeks of fuel stocks sounds reassuring until you register the caveat: it assumes the ships keep coming, which is precisely the assumption that a Middle East conflict blows up. NZ's IEA obligation is 90 days of reserves and we are not meeting it — so the Minister is essentially confirming the vulnerability while framing it as stability. 'Dependent on ships continuing to turn up' is not an energy security policy; it's a prayer.

The Kākā · Thu, 19 Mar · Bernard Hickey

Govt braces for the worst: 'Hope is not a plan'

Iran war widens; Luxon says readying for 'worst case scenario' & 'hope is not a plan'; Willis eyes Working For Families-style tax credits to help the poorest cope with energy price shock

'Hope is not a plan' is a solid line, but neither is a Working For Families-style tax credit announced mid-crisis as a substitute for energy security policy. The Iran war is an external shock, yes — but NZ's exposure to it is a domestic policy failure, and dressing up emergency relief as strategic foresight doesn't change that. If worst-case planning is now on the table, the question is why it wasn't on the table eighteen months ago.

RNZ · Sun, 22 Mar

The House: What to expect when you're expecting an election

There are several key milestones in the lead-up of the election. The House spoke with Parliament clerk David Wilson to go over the calendar.

The electoral calendar is about to start compressing everything — legislation that doesn't pass before the House rises dies on the order paper, which means the next few months will reveal exactly what this government considers genuinely urgent versus what was always aspirational filler. With a fuel crisis, a cost-of-living squeeze, and coalition tensions all running hot simultaneously, the timing of an election year couldn't be more consequential. Watch what gets rushed through and what gets quietly shelved — that's the real policy statement.

RNZ · Sat, 21 Mar

New Zealand joins 19 countries in statement condemning Iran's attacks in the Gulf

In a post on X, the Prime Minister emphasised the attacks against fuel tankers and energy infrastructure are leading to higher fuel prices for New Zealanders.

Nineteen countries condemned Iran’s attacks on Gulf shipping — and New Zealand signed on. The diplomatic solidarity is fine as far as it goes, but worth noting: NZ has almost no leverage in this conflict and significant fuel vulnerability because of it. Joining a statement costs nothing. Having 90 days of fuel reserves would have cost something. One of these things was done.

RNZ · Sun, 22 Mar

Winston Peters announces proposal to overhaul energy sector in State of the Nation speech

New Zealand First's Winston Peters has proposed to overhaul New Zealand's energy sector by splitting up the energy gentailers, while also taking aim at rival parties.

Breaking up the gentailers is a policy idea that serious economists and select committees have been circling for years, so Peters isn't wrong on the diagnosis — vertically integrated generators with retail arms have structurally suppressed competition and kept prices high. The question is whether NZ First has the coalition leverage and the legislative detail to actually do it, or whether this is a State of the Nation kite-fly that evaporates after the election. If it's real, it's the most consequential energy policy proposal in a decade; if it's not, it's very good timing.

Reckons

What the feed is saying

@kentduston.bsky.social

"I’m sure Nicola Willis has things well in hand after her photo op at Marsden Point today, and we’re in no danger of shipment cancellations at all #nzpol www.theguardian.com/australia-ne..."

Read on Bluesky →

@boynamedshit.bsky.social

"-Willis clearly using oil crisis to audition for PM -Luxon too lazy and unaware to realise that’s what’s going on -Doesn’t matter because she’s terrible at it #nzpol"

Read on Bluesky →

@alans-world.bsky.social

"#NZpol So, RW ultra Christian Nationalist (be honest about it, that's what we're dealing with) Alfred Ngaro, ex National, ex Christian Party of his own, has joined NZ First? Winston's really firming up a NZ MAGA movement alright, from the antivaxxers, to conspiracists - now a leading God Squadder."

Read on Bluesky →