The Trans Tasman Pol Pod Episode 7

The Government has established a Ministerial Group to oversee fuel security as it tries to navigate through what could be its most testing time since coming to office. Some analysts optimistically say the crisis gives the Government a chance to recover some of the credibility it has lost. But this would imply the Government has a workable plan to deal with the situation. At this stage it appears not to. Backing economists' claim of a nascent recovery, latest Stats NZ data on businesses shows the numbers are up across most of the measured criteria. The coalition took great delight in castigating Labour when the budget for the cancelled iRex project was forecast to blow out – it promised a cheaper alternative to be delivered on time and on budget. But documents obtained by The Post show the current cost estimate is now $1.867bn, already exceeding the $1.7bn Crown-tagged contingency approved by Cabinet a year ago. All eyes will be on Winston Peters to see whether the Rail Minister can actually deliver the project on time and on budget – odds are he can't. We're joined this time by Auckland University Emeritus professor of economics Basil Sharp, to discuss the current fuel crisis.