Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

  1. 46 MIN AGO

    Ryan Bridge: On oil shock, people want more self-reliance

    The war in Iran is not a shocking event in the sense that we knew it was coming. Trump has been not so much hinting but sounding a fog horn for months. As we’ve been covering on this show, he’s been amassing military assets in the region since the end of January.  So not surprising. What has surprised is Iran hitting their neighbours, the Gulf states, so hard, including oil fields and refineries.  This has surprised markets. Hence what we’re seeing in Asia and at home. Same goes for the price of oil. Yesterday when we talked about that Goldman Sacks estimate of $100 a barrel by the end of the week. We got there by the end of Monday. Remember they also warned of $150 a barrel by the end of the month? Let’s hope we’re not there by Friday.  Oil and fertilizer run our agriculture sector. I listened to a grain farmer in Christchurch yesterday say daily harvesting costs would increase by $2000-$3000. Already.  We are not immune to the price spikes, but we’re also not very well insulated from them either.  We’re reliant on energy imports to keep us afloat now more than ever. Marsden Point used to refine 70% of our petrol and 90% of our diesel. Extracting oil and gas became a cardinal sin under Labour. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone. The international shocks, which as we all know, aren’t now so shocking, are also driving a surge in support for economic nationalism and self-reliance. Think New Zealand First. To this government’s credit it has extended our emergency oil back-up supplies and done deals with the Singapore's of the world, so we don’t run out. As a back stop, we’re about to do LNG. But again, that’s imported and subject to shocks. The more global events we have, the more we yearn for self-reliance and greater energy independence.  Our world-beating exports keep us afloat, but what use are they without a reliable supply of reasonably priced inputs that help produce them? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    2 min
  2. 1 DAY AGO

    Ryan Bridge: This country's fines make no sense

    This country's fines make no sense.  you can get$70 for parking a few minutes over in the wrong spot, $150 for driving in a bus lane at the wrong time, which is the same texting while driving, an act that could, in theory, distract you enough to kill somebody on the road. So what gives?  You get $30 for going a few Kms over 100 on a main road.  Anyone who's been to Australia knows things are different. Way harsher. People, generally, follow the rules as a result.  Burt that doesn't mean nobody's crashing and dying on their roads, does it.  The problem is revenue gathering. If you actually set the fines based on the potentially damage an action may cause, we'd have a totally different system and set of punishments.  But you'd also have councils and cops who take the piss and revenue grab - speeding cameras in areas nobody's seen a crash in decades.  That's basically why we are where we are.  There is one change they can make that I support - free parking for over 80s.  Gore already does it. Oamaru is looking at doing it.  They've got new parking meters installed in December and it's apparently, according to Age Concern, making the elderly anxious.  They're digital. You get two hours free but then have to enter your details for a third hour. The fear of getting a $70 ticket is too much for them so they just don't drive into town. That's a massive setback for an older person.  That's less chatting to people in the mall, shop-owners and cafe owners, less socialising.  If you've made it to 80, you deserve to head into town. In your own car. Without being scared of half yah pension flying out the window in fines. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    3 min

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A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

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