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26 July 2021 • 12:02am
An inflatable craft carrying migrant men, women and children crosses the shipping lane in the English Channel
Credit: Getty Images
/Dan Kitwood
SIR – The French say that they cannot stop a migrant boat unless it is in distress. If these were private boats, this could be true. However, the migrants pay for their passage, which makes the voyage a commercial operation. These commercial vessels must therefore meet the standards required to conform with safety rules. The person in charge is also required to hold a certificate of competence.
If a vessel is stopped and fails the inspection, it should be escorted to the nearest port in France.
O’Connor said the suspension was ironic, given Consumer NZ named Flick “energy retailer of the year”, and was tough for staff and the business. But it didn’t make sense for any independent retailer at the moment to be acquiring new customers, he said. The suspension does not affect a “small number” of sign-ups through Flick owner Z Energy, which began selling power plans under its own brand in March, sourcing its power and services from Flick. The wholesale price of electricity has spiked this year, with spot market prices spending long periods above 30 cents a kilowatt hour. Energy Minister Megan Woods has expressed concern high prices could persist and Enerlytica analyst John Kidd has said uncertainty is affecting futures prices out until 2024.
NZ imported more than a million tonnes of dirty coal last year Wed, 14 Jul 2021, 10:27AM
New Zealand s imported more than a million tonnes of dirty coal from Indonesia only twice in the last 20 years - 2020 and 2006. (Photo / File)
NZ imported more than a million tonnes of dirty coal last year
By Jordan Bond, RNZ
In the same year that the Government declared a climate emergency, imports of an especially dirty type of coal from Indonesia topped a million tonnes for the first time since 2006.
Last year, 235kg of overseas coal was imported for every New Zealander in order to power homes and businesses. This is also only imported coal; the country also produces coal domestically.
But Harbord said the Interim Climate Change Committee had found prices above $115/MWh were “unaffordable for the economy”. Woods said in a June letter to retailer ElectricKiwi that she was concerned about the current performance of the electricity market “and whether the current shift towards higher electricity prices will persist and continue to adversely affect smaller retailers and consumers”. The Electricity Authority is currently conducting a review of the wholesale market, which it expects to complete in September. Independent retailers ElectricKiwi and Flick Electric have previously said they have lost confidence in the regulator. ElectricKiwi chief executive Luke Blincoe told Woods the authority had sought to “put a positive spin on the market it has designed, even when it’s failing”.