Address to constituents in Taumarunui 20.10.11

Good afternoon. My name is Peter Cleave and I am standing for the Mana Movement in the Rangitikei electorate. Smart metering? Or smart gouging of the needy and helpless?

Everywhere I have gone today people have been complaining about the pricing policies of this power company, Lines Company.

The Fair Go team has challenged the Lines Company in a number of ways.

They report that power customers in the central North Island say they have seen their power bills double or triple since a new metering system was introduced.

Fair Go says that the Lines Company, which has embraced the system known as smart metering, covers about 20,000 customers in the central North Island, from Otorohanga to Ohakune.

While most line charges go up and down with the power used, the Lines Company calculates the single highest peak of the year and that's what its customers are billed on all year round.

Customers Fair Go spoke to are not happy with the system, saying they have seen the bills go up significantly.

Congratulations to Fair Go on a very fair report.

Mana wants answers and we want them now on the energy costs for working and unemployed people in such communities as Kakahi as well as in Taumarunui itself. Living in Raetihi, National Park, Waiouru and lots of small, isolated places in the Central North Island is not easy for working people anyway. The last thing people need is a rapacious power company doing this kind of damage to people. This company seems to be in a monopoly situation here.

This is yet another example of the theme I have seen again and again in the Rangitikei electorate; the plight of the isolated community.

I am Peter Cleave and I am the candidate for the Mana Movement in the Rangitikei Electorate.

He korero ki tetahi karawhiti ki Taumarunui 20.10.11

Tena rawa atu koutou. Ko Pita Cleave au, a, e tu ana au mo Mana ki te rohe poti o Rangitikei.

He inenga hiko pai tenei, he takahi ke i nga rawakore me nga pohara? Ahakoa ki hea au i haere ai i tenei ra kua amuamu mai nga tangata mo nga mahere utu o tenei kamupene hiko ko Lines Company.

He rahi nga whakapae i whakatakoto ai i nga kairangahau o Fair Go ki a Lines Company. E ai ki nga kairangahau o Fair Go kua piki ma rua, ma toru ranei te utu hiko mai i te wa timata o te mahere hou.

E ai ki a Fair Go ko Lines Company nana nei i mau ai i te whakaaro o te ‘smart metering’ nei, ka maruhia he kaihoko 20,000 i te rohe ki waenganui o te Ika a Maui atu i a Otorohanga ki a Ohakune.

I te nuinga o nga wa ka piki, heke ranei te utu ngongo hiko engari ra ka hopu te Line Company nei i te tihi o nga utu i te tau, a, ko tena te inenga utu mo te katoa o te tau.

Ko nga kaihoko hiko i rangahaungia e Fair Go kaore kau ratou e pai ana ki tenei mahere, a, e ai ki a ratou, he nui ke te pikinga o te utu.

Tena rawa atu koutou e mahi na ki Fair Go. He rawe a koutou na mahi rangahau.

Kei te whai whakautu a Mana inaiatonurawaatunei mo nga utu hiko mo nga mea mahi me nga tangata kaore kau ratou e mahi ana i nga hapori pena i tena ki Kakahi me Taumarunui tonu. He uaua ke te noho i nga wahi pena i a Raetihi, National Park, Waiouru me etahi atu wahi tawhiti ki waenganui i te Ika a Maui. He kino ke te apitihanga o tetahi taniwha pena i te kamupene hiko nei e kaikai ana i te ate o te iwi.

Ko te ahua, ka tu motuhake te kamupene nei i tenei rohe. He tauira ano tenei i tetahi ira i kite ai i a au i te rohe o Rangitikei; ko te tu mokemoke, te tu pani hoki o tena hapori, tena ranei i tenei rohe.

Ko Peter Cleave au, e tu ana au mo te rohe o Rangitikei.

ENDS

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