National is counting on brighter days as it counts down to its campaign for re-election.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis addressed delegates in Lower Hutt on Saturday at the annual National Party conference, both cautiously optimistic that economic headwinds were coming to a close.
Luxon said while he was not going to stand there and pretend the hard part was over, Kiwis were not the type of people to be put off by the weather, as strong winds and rain hit the Wellington region.
"We know the rain doesn't last forever... the skies are starting to clear."
During her economic address, Willis said it was no secret "that things took a turn in March - Thanks, Donald Trump."
"The global oil shock washed up here in higher fuel prices, higher costs, and a knock to confidence. Kiwis, already buffeted by a tough few years, had to brace themselves once again, and we feel for everyone impacted, and we wished we could wish it away, but we chose not to panic..."
"We faced the crisis with an eye not just to today but to tomorrow too," Willis said.
Willis said Treasury forecast that New Zealand's economy "is set to bounce back strongly as we look beyond the Middle East crisis, New Zealand is forecasting economic growth to accelerate and for debt to come down."
Statistics NZ released its gross domestic product data for the March quarter on Thursday. It showed the country’s economy grew 0.8% in the first three months of the year, before the impacts of the Middle East conflict and late-quarter fuel crisis really kicked-in.
Meanwhile, Willis was also celebrating statistics from the KiwiSaver contribution increase from 3% to 3.5%, saying almost three months since the default rate increased, only 9300 people opted out.
"Only half a per cent of regular contributors have opted out of the increase," she said.
“This means hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will be better off in retirement.”
12 Comments
"This means hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will be better off in retirement"
That depends whether NZ super remains. The more people have in retirement via kiwisaver, the lower the chance that tax payers will want their tax to pay for NZ super. I can't imagine taxpayers wanting to give a universal benefit to millionaires.
If they raise kiwisaver to 12%, that will be the end of NZ super. They may as well just announce it.
I think the first sign of incompetence showed by this Government is that they take the ceasefire for granted and they're not preparing (both themselves and the population) for a worse case scenario
It's Iran (namely the radical faction of IRGC) and Trump we're talking about. Iran will always try to get the maximum out of Hormuz, as they know this won't last forever. Pipelines are buried as we speak in the desert for good reason. It's also in their culture to negotiate ad nauseam from a Western perspective
Just as I was writing this Israel and Hezbollah took their toys out of the drawer again lol. Expect instability until it's day and night that it's settled (probably regime change on one side, or China stepping into the game to seal a deal). A paper is not enough to calm this one down
Tehran closes Straits of Hormuz after fighting flares in Lebanon
Peace deal between only two parties but is judged on Isreals actions and the Iranian proxies as well?
This is going to end in a boot's on the ground war.
IT Guy,
"boot's on the ground war". This is trivial I know, but why use an apostrophe with a plural? It's not difficult to understand.
Yeah between Iran, Bibi and the orange man there is very little chance of long lasting peace in the ME. Each purely interested in their own interests and what they can get out of it. Any positive progress can be attributed to the likes of outside mediators.
Always remember the 'WHY?' of it all.
Too many people and a dwindling set of planetary stocks.
We were overshot - in long-term resource-equilibrium terms - by 1970. Arguably earlier, but that's time-wasting semantics. We are reaching 'earth overshoot day' ever-earlier in the year - and that count is half-blind itself.
Then there's the difference between oils - sour heavy crudes like Venezuela and Alberta, vs the light sweet stuff currently being bottlenecked. And the untruths - like the US being a net exporter (it isn't).
Mediation is a human cranial construct - along with laws (rules constructed to further consumption). Both are in jeopardy in the face of real reduction. Canute territory.
and we wished we could wish it away, but we chose not to panic... No need to thank Trump - there were oil price spikes long before Trump came along.
Nicola and Luxinda should get busy/get out of the way by throwing out the ETS and/or start producing our own domestic diesel.
rcr.media/episodes/dave-bennett-oil-gas-exploration-veteran-expert-nz-could-be-refining-diesel-in-a-year/
Forget about diesel. Let's follow the Aussie lead on this
https://bigrigs.com.au/2026/06/19/linfox-rolls-out-26-heavy-duty-electric-trucks/
If the Nats want to get back in they'll need to ditch brainless policies like importing lng
Yippee, more borrowing for corporate welfare virtue signalling. The climate industry/public sector trough at work.
"The rollout is part of Linfox’s heavy truck electrification project which is backed by $19.63 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) through its Driving the Nation Program.
The taxpayer-funded program includes targeted funding for heavy battery electric vehicles and charging infrastructure."
It's corporate welfare either way, but on the spectrum of sustainable businesses oil & gas ain't it
Nah. You pay tax and ETS on diesel. The corporate welfare is transferring the ETS funds from people living in their cars to to struggling Swedish furniture retailers.
Despite these taxes Diesel overtook petrol as the main fuel for land transport in 2020 and continues to grow.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HDaz1DjaMAA2dFn?format=png&name=900x900
interesting, this would provide us some diesel
Building a 15,000-barrel-per-day (BPD) modular topping plant to produce diesel will typically cost
between $150 million and $250 million
in initial capital expenditure (CAPEX). The final cost is highly dependent on crude oil quality, infrastructure requirements, and the level of environmental and sulfur-reduction technology required. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Key Cost Breakdown
Setting up a mini-refinery or topping plant of this size involves several distinct components:
- Installed Plant & Equipment:
Estimates for simple modular refinery construction generally run from $12,000 to $15,000 per barrel
of installed capacity. For a 15,000 BPD plant, this equates to roughly $180 million to $225 million
.
[1]
- Storage & Infrastructure:
Building tank farms (for crude supply and diesel output), pipelines, and utility units (steam generation, heat recovery) typically adds another $20 million to $40 million
.
[1]
- Site Preparation & Permitting:
Land acquisition, grading, safety/fire suppression, and environmental licensing can add $10 million to $30 million
, depending heavily on the region.
[1]
Important Considerations for Producing Diesel
- Type of Crude:
Light, sweet crude yields a higher percentage of middle distillates (like diesel and kerosene) naturally through basic atmospheric distillation. If you process heavier, sour crudes, you will also need to invest in a hydrotreating unit
to reduce sulfur content to meet commercial diesel standards.
- Operating Costs:
Once operational, processing costs (feedstock, catalysts, labor, and routine maintenance) generally run between $8 and $15 per barrel
processed.
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