Kiwi drivers are at the whim of the market and levels of global oil production and, by and large, will pay whatever price those markets dictate. Photo / File
Kiwi drivers are at the whim of the market and levels of global oil production and, by and large, will pay whatever price those markets dictate. Photo / File
Editorial
EDITORIAL
It's often said you shouldn't worry about what you can't control.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was right, then, to give little time to this week's surge in global oil prices after the drone attack in Saudi Arabia.
Even if the air raid on the world's largest oil facility pushedup what Kiwis pay at the pump by 6c a litre, Ardern could rightly say her Government was powerless to influence relations in the Middle East.
Petrol prices, though, have proven ripe fodder for our PM this year.
Ardern pulled no punches last month on the back of a draft report from the Commerce Commission that claimed fuel companies made as much as $400 million in excess returns.
"I can tell New Zealanders we cannot stand by as they are facing that pressure at the pump and while they are being fleeced," Ardern said emphatically.
The PM had far less to say, if anything at all, about rising petrol prices this week - she had bigger problems dealing with ongoing fallout from the Labour sexual assault complaints botch-up.
The air raid on the world's largest oil facility in Saudi Arabia pushed up what Kiwis pay at the pump by 6c a litre. Photo / AP
But the attack on Saudi state oil company Aramco illustrated how vulnerable New Zealand is to international supply shocks.
Like most nations, we're at the whim of the market and levels of global oil production.
And Kiwi drivers, by and large, will pay whatever price those markets dictate.
If you drive to work every day, you're going to continue to fill up your car to get into the office even if the cost of doing so spikes.
It's a situation that makes the switch to electric vehicles all the more attractive.
Renewable electricity is something New Zealand does well – and it's a supply situation the Government is much better placed to manage.
Though for all the rhetoric around electric vehicles from the Green Party, the Coalition Government has done surprisingly little to get Kiwis into them.
The centrepiece of its push is a "feebate scheme", where low-emission vehicles will attract subsidies of up to $8000.
This will no doubt tip some drivers into taking the plunge and buying an EV.
But there's an area more deserving of Government's attention – and that's the infrastructure that makes EVs a more palatable choice.
For EVs to work, New Zealand needs more charging stations - in big cities and at points on state highways the length and breadth of the country. Photo / File
The last National Government's ultra-fast broadband scheme showed the wisdom in making sure infrastructure stays in front of demand.
While some worried that fibre internet lines were being rolled out when no one wanted to connect, you only have to see the scramble to sign up for the Rugby World Cup to see why it was a good idea to stay ahead of consumer appetite.
For EVs to work, New Zealand needs more charging stations – in big cities and at points on state highways the length and breadth of the country.
If people know they're not going to run out of juice while across the other side of town or halfway down the country, then they're more likely to ditch their gas guzzler.
We also need more mechanics trained in fixing and servicing electric vehicles, so that any EV engine issues aren't too expensive to repair.
Sorting this out will do more for EVs than the feebate scheme.
It's also within the Government's control - making it something well worth worrying about.
