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Labour Says Government Must Explain Now Who Gets Priority In Fuel Crisis
Russell Palmer, Political Reporter
Labour says places like volunteer-run Kairos food rescue should be prioritised in the government's fuel plan.
The government unveiled updates to its four-phase fuel plan last month, but has yet to explain how any rationing measures would be prioritised.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the government needed to explain how its plan would work as soon as possible.
"There will be, you know, things that they need to iron out; there will be mistakes in it; there will be anomalies. So the sooner they can let people know what's going on, what their priorities are, the better."
Labour had far less time to prepare for Covid-19, he said.
"Of course, right at the start, everybody thought that they were critical and needed to still be able to go to work. The government at the end of the day does have to make some decisions, and the sooner they start giving people clarity about that the better.
"They've had several months already, and ... even in the worst case scenario, it's another month before we're potentially pressing go on some of that [fuel rationing], so they should be giving people that certainty now."
He was speaking at Kairos food rescue in Christchurch - a volunteer-run organisation that keeps four tonnes of food waste out of landfill each day.
"One of the things we're able to talk about is they want to be deemed an essential service. Should we end up in a fuel rationing situation, I fully support that - these organisations have to be able to keep functioning."
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