Totally in agreement with you Maurice. Just one part of the picture to pick on. Energy. Fundamentally important to our society. Hydro schemes built relatively quickly via taxation. Sold off for way less than it was worth. Now we have a system that is supposed work like a market, but can’t because we only have one connection per dwelling.…
Totally in agreement with you Maurice. Just one part of the picture to pick on. Energy. Fundamentally important to our society. Hydro schemes built relatively quickly via taxation. Sold off for way less than it was worth. Now we have a system that is supposed work like a market, but can’t because we only have one connection per dwelling. The energy sector continues to make poor decisions because of importance of “profits”. Building for the future or factoring in climate change not happening. It’s one of the key sectors of our society that needs to be owned by society ie the government.
I worked as a bus driver for the Christchurch Transport Board until it was ‘deregulated’ at the end of the 80’s. The assets were valued at $50m when they were sold to the CCC-owned Red Bus Company for $5m. The sale included 6 as-yet to be delivered brand new vehicles valued at over $5m, plus the CTB building assets, land, etc. Within a few years the competitive tendering system put the city council company out of business and those public assets were lost. For the bus workers the deregulated system, including the soon to follow Employment Contracts Act demolished our wages and conditions, not to mention our community. The current public transport in Ōtautahi is in better shape than the national energy system you mention. But that’s a low bar.
Totally in agreement with you Maurice. Just one part of the picture to pick on. Energy. Fundamentally important to our society. Hydro schemes built relatively quickly via taxation. Sold off for way less than it was worth. Now we have a system that is supposed work like a market, but can’t because we only have one connection per dwelling. The energy sector continues to make poor decisions because of importance of “profits”. Building for the future or factoring in climate change not happening. It’s one of the key sectors of our society that needs to be owned by society ie the government.
I worked as a bus driver for the Christchurch Transport Board until it was ‘deregulated’ at the end of the 80’s. The assets were valued at $50m when they were sold to the CCC-owned Red Bus Company for $5m. The sale included 6 as-yet to be delivered brand new vehicles valued at over $5m, plus the CTB building assets, land, etc. Within a few years the competitive tendering system put the city council company out of business and those public assets were lost. For the bus workers the deregulated system, including the soon to follow Employment Contracts Act demolished our wages and conditions, not to mention our community. The current public transport in Ōtautahi is in better shape than the national energy system you mention. But that’s a low bar.
We’ve work to do. Together. ✊🏼