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6:00 am, March 28th, 2026 - 13 comments
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Open mike is your post.
For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.
The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).
Step up to the mike …
If the efforts our CoC MPs are putting into distancing themselves from the Covid response could be converted to diesel then the current crisis would evaporate.
Alternatively, if diesel does run out, then no-one will be worrying about a future inquiry into the effectiveness (or otherwise) of the CoC's response.
https://pavlovapost.co.nz/air-nz-cancelled-flights-fuel-crisis
In a nutshell:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/590863/why-economists-are-very-worried-about-what-lies-ahead
One cannot even argue that the Iran war and oil crisis derailed the Coalition’s plan for the economy because filling potholes & killing road cones, building more roads, inviting a few golden Visas into the country, and kissing up to Trump is not a plan as such but forlorn hope of arrogant fools.
I’ve always liked Sci-Fi stories and when I was young, ignorant, and naïve (I still tick 2/3) I was fascinated by stories about quests to discover a Perpetuum Mobile, infinite sources of energy, and the Holy Grail (more figuratively than literally). I should have chosen economics as my specialty. The magic of Ponzi schemes, trickle down, and multiplier effect is just like Sci-Fi/Fantasy but much better – life imitating art. And economists have such beautiful models and shiny computers, super-computers even, often quite similar to the ones used by weather forecasters.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/26-03-2026/the-many-dodgy-claims-behind-the-governments-major-events-fund
Throw in a little bit of dodgy stats and one can predict just about anything you’d wish for. Is it too late to re-train as economist and become like Nostradamus?
"Is it too late to re-train as economist"
It is never to late. The longest bit though may be unlearning everything you think economists believe but they really don't.
Give it a try.
It’s the other way round and it’ll be the easiest bit for me. So many economists are so pretentious.
I love the level-headedness of Marc Daalder of Newsroom and his intelligent evidence-based pieces that are well-written. Lately, I’ve detecting a little more sarcasm in his writings, which is understandable under the circumstances and I don’t mind a little sarcasm or satire.
I fully agree! And public perception of shortages and whiffs of political panic (how to balance the books and save Budget-2026 and get re-elected in GE-2026) have been amplified by mainstream media and undoubtedly, further multiplied by social media. It’s just like the good old times of the Covid-19 panic pandemic.
When I was on the road briefly, yesterday, I got the impression that people (except EV drivers) were driving slower. However, it only takes one driver to slow down others, but still.
Again, I agree, but this doesn’t mean that Government can just sit idle; now is the time to check & inspect. We all can do our bit, and probably are already doing it because it’s costing us an arm and a leg just for daily living, but what are the commercial players in industrial & transport sectors doing, the ones that use almost 11 million litres of diesel a day in NZ? What is Government telling them, without telling them what to do, of course?
https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/27/why-the-fuel-crisis-isnt-covid-and-shouldnt-be-treated-the-same/
I rate Daalder highly. Not sure about that piece. Yes, the in our face issue is price. But the precautionary principle says we should be conserving fuel now. Asking people to consider using less seems prudent, along with suggesting ways for various situations.
Daalder seems to miss the time lag. By the time a supplier uses force majuere, we will only have a finite amount of fuel. Assuming all suppliers wouldn't do this at the same time seem reasonable, but we're all on a learning curve here.
I still haven't seen anything useful on the supplies that come after the ones we already have in motion, and what the risk to those are.
I agree that we need to take care not to panic. But a strong narrative of sensible precautions now as part of resilience makes more sense to me than what National are doing.
I just have a funny feeling this government will never, ever rally the 'team of five million.'
Which is, of course, what they should be doing.
Sure
Yes, there are time lags between ships leaving loading port and landing at destination point. I think confirmed ships are much less likely to be diverted away from NZ by declaring force majeure. No known, at least not publicly known, force majeure has been declared by any of NZ’s international contractual fuel suppliers. Vice versa, the closer you set the pointer to the Strait of Hormuz, the more uncertainty there is.
IDF are the lowest of the low. Killing kids at school was just not enough. Now they are attacking Iran's nuclear sites.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/27/israel-launches-strikes-on-iran-nuclear-sites-as-war-enters-fifth-week
I don't have a link for this as yet; my only source is a private email from someone very much involved (and very unwillingly). So I have to observe confidentiality, at least for now, and confine myself to saying that my correspondent lives in the western North Island. But by crikey, the story needs to be got "out there", and as quickly and as widely as possible.
It seems Smirkmore has decreed that surplus school lunches, up till now donated to certain charities for redistribution to those in need, are instead to be held in the schools overnight and then sent to landfill. His justification? Such redistribution, in his book, is "theft". Too bad about the hungry kids, the unnecessary waste, and the environment.
Words fail one.
Far Out ???
Are the people thinking about fuel security and the economic impacts aware that the attack on Iran is about to get a lot worse?
We knew about the current offensive because it was telegraphed well in advance in the preceding weeks by US military hardware movements.
The very same movements, this time of amphibious troops, has been underway over the last 10 days.
This admin telegraphs well and doesn't seem to move stuff without intent therefore it's highly likely some form of US personal inside Iran will happen soon.
This alone would extend the war by many months and the global economic destruction by many years.