With Judith Collins Dirty Politics is back

Judith Collins on 2020 election: 'We're going to take it back'

Analysis - For years Judith Collins has had her eye on the top prize and it took a complete leadership meltdown, just 10 weeks out from an election, for her National Party colleagues to give her what she's always wanted.

RNZ,

16 July, 2020

She had been labelled the nuclear option - not hugely liked within her own caucus but loved by the party base.

But the shock resignation of Todd Muller after just 53 days in the job saw the party reach for the nuclear button.

It took two hours for the caucus to decide the old guard was the new leadership they needed.

Collins, 61, fronted her first media conference as party leader last night with her entire caucus surrounding her - a show of unity after yet another leadership contest.

Introducing all her colleagues as her front bench she delighted in the pleasure of being anointed leader.

"And starting off as a Labour voter back when I was a child - almost - I find it remarkable that the National Party has chosen me,'' Collins said.

The proud Papakura MP and her deputy Gerry Brownlee have been trusted to get the derailed party back on track.

The pair are from the John Key and Bill English era - the party's glory days MPs are often heard harking back to.

Collins wasn't giving anything away as to whether there were any other challenges or how many votes it came down to last night.

Asked why she got across the line this time - her deputy came to her aid whispering a helpful response in her ear.

"Well, it's third time lucky really, isn't it?"

Collins has plenty of nicknames - and in 2009 she earned earned the title of Crusher Collins with the comment: "I guess the message to those who want to indulge in illegal street racing, is that every new offence will now bring them closer to the crusher.''

She isn't personally a fan of the name, but was happy to use it last night when saying her team will crush the other lot come 19 September.

"Jacinda Ardern is not someone who we should ever underestimate - her own party did so for many years,'' Collins said.

"She is an adversary that I would absolutely respect but I can tell you what, our team is better than their team, and we're going to take it back.''

Leadership ambitions aren't in short supply in a large caucus but Gerry Brownlee said he's not interested in the top job - although there was a caveat.

"You never know where that next bus is coming from,'' he said.

Jokes aside, Brownlee said he's there to support his leader and the team.

"Look it's not something you campaign to get, it's an opportunity that's arisen and I've put myself up for caucus and have been selected.''

A number of National MPs who were all singing from the same songsheet.

MP Michael Woodhouse said the move was a genuine sign of support for the new leadership team.

"[It's] one of the most difficult days for the party and I think it has ended better than it started," he said.

Retiring MP Paula Bennett who was ousted as deputy leader little more than a month ago has given Judith a glowing reference.

"Honestly if anyone can do tough and dig in and prove that they have got it, then it is Judith," she said.

Chris Bishop and David Carter also touted Collins' ability to put up a fight in this year's election.

"I think she will be a very strong leader of the National Party, who will take the fight to the government, she is a very determined person and I am really looking forward to serving in her team," Bishop said.

"She is a person of conviction, you've got a very strong Prime Minister she is up against and I think she will hold her own very, very well," Carter said.

And Matt Doocey was happy to have a fellow Cantabrian as deputy leader.

"Many will know that Gerry stepped up and led the recovery after the devastating Christchurch earthquakes and Gerry stood up, made decisions and really drove that recovery forward so he has a real breath of experience," he said.

The National Party found itself in yesterday's mess after a horrid week for former leader Todd Muller, followed by radio silence for three days.

He'd gone to ground, he wasn't speaking to some of his closest confidantes, and faced questions on whether he lied about what he did and didn't know about who had received private details of Covid-19 patients.

Collins said Muller will stay on in the caucus and he will be supported through this difficult time.

With the election so close, there won't be big changes to MPs' portfolios.

The caucus position not to work with New Zealand First remains.

Although Collins' final words last night that "it might be time for a drink" means she might have more in common with Winston Peters than she thinks.

Press advisory on Judith Collins and the book Dirty Politics

Tuesday, 14 July 2020, 10:07 pm
Press Release: Nicky Hager

In recent days an incorrect story has been repeated in the news about how Judith Collins had to resign after the book Dirty Politics was published but was later exonerated and returned to Cabinet. In the interests of accuracy, it is worth correcting this misunderstanding.

After Dirty Politics was published in 2014, National was concerned about falling support and decided to end this by removing Judith Collins -- one of the Dirty Politics personalities -- from her ministerial post. But National did not want to give credibility to the book by saying that it was the reason for her demotion. Instead the Prime Minister's staff managed to obtain a new email, which had not been cited in the book Dirty Politics, involving Collins, dirty politics characters Cameron Slater, Cathy Odgers and Carrick Graham, and a campaign to smear the Serious Fraud Office head. It was on the basis of this separate email that Collins had to step down. After the election there was an inquiry into Collins' actions in relation to that single email. She was indeed cleared of involvement in the smear and went back into Cabinet.

Here is a reference to the new email and exoneration -- https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/63508530/judith-collins-cleared-of-involvement-in-sfo-smear-campaign. Judith Collins was soon saying that she had been cleared of all allegations in the book Dirty Politics. But neither the new email nor anything about a smear campaign against the SFO head appear in the Dirty Politics book.

Chris Trotter is one of our better commentators from the Left

DOES THE NATIONAL PARTY now constitute a threat to New Zealand’s national security? The recent conduct of persons belonging to the National Party suggests strongly that winning the forthcoming election has become an objective to be secured at any cost. National Party members and supporters no longer appear to regard the existence of legal and/or moral prohibitions as a good enough reason not to engage in actions likely to cause serious harm to New Zealand citizens – if that is what it takes to win. Under these circumstances, wouldn’t the country’s national security apparatus be well-advised to assess the threat of a rogue National Party supporter deliberately restarting the community transmission of Covid-19 as high?

Patrick Smellie, writing in the Herald on Sunday (12/7/20) sets out National’s predicament with clinical precision:

“Only two things can now save Todd Muller and the National Party from the growing likelihood of a crushing defeat at the September 19 election.

“Only one of them is in their control.

“The uncontrollable element is the potential for a severe enough pre-election Covid-19 outbreak to require a lockdown.

“A lockdown would change the current political dynamic, in which the Government’s broad success in keeping the virus at bay is fuelling its stratospheric poll ratings and overriding the political damage caused by the tendency for a few New Zealanders quarantined in hotels to break out of their gilded cages for a trip to the shops.

“Another lockdown would be a massive blow to the optimism and emerging economic confidence that comes from hoping we can live somewhat normal lives while the rest of the world is in chaos. When did you last hear someone complain that NZ should be following Australia’s lead?

“A lockdown, even if only regional, would also postpone election day, giving National more time to regroup. 

“If one part of the country can’t vote, then the whole country can’t vote.”

Smellie is to be faulted only for his inability (or unwillingness) to think the unthinkable. Because, of course, the re-commencement of Covid-19’s community transmission is very far from being an “uncontrollable element”. With sufficient motivation, any individual or organisation is capable of arranging for the virus itself (everything is available on the Dark Web – if the price is right) to be released. Or, alternatively, of smuggling-in someone infected with the virus (luxury yacht meets powerboat outside the 12 mile limit) and allowing them to move freely among unsuspecting New Zealanders – becoming the sort of “Super-Spreader” responsible for throwing the Australian city of Melbourne back into lockdown.

“Oh, come on!”, I hear you say, “The Nats aren’t that bad! This is paranoid political partisanship at its worst.” To which I would reply: “Mate, you haven’t being paying attention!”

Let’s just read the media release written by Michelle Boag announcing her resignation from the National Party:

“The last few days have underscored for me the unhealthy relationship I have developed with politics. For 47 years, I have devoted much of my professional and personal life to supporting the Party that for me has always represented the ultimate kiwi values of hard work, reward for effort, self-reliance and compassion. Unfortunately, this passion has put me on a self-destructive path. This was confirmed for me as I wrote to Michael Heron QC last night to advise him that towards the end of June I had sent several emails to Michael Woodhouse comprising notification of a small number of then-new Covid19 cases. My decisions to share this information were wrong, driven by my distorted view that providing that information would help the National Party to hold the Government to account. In fact it was harmful, not helpful, and it is time that the National Party and I parted ways.”

I suppose we should be grateful that, at the end, Boag was granted a small measure of self-awareness.  Not enough, seemingly, for her to openly concede the extraordinary breach of public trust (and quite possibly the law) which her unauthorised release of confidential patient data represented – but at least there was something.

Boag is very far from being alone on that “self-destructive path”. Many National Party MPs, members and supporters have trodden it before her – and with her. What leads them there is what drove the retired army officers who founded the National Party, way back in 1936: an abiding fear of “the wrong people” taking control of New Zealand’s destiny. To prevent that from happening: or, if it’s already happened, to end it as swiftly as possible; has always been the National Party’s raison d’être.

To destroy the capacity of “the wrong people” to play a decisive role in shaping this country’s future, the First National Government (1949-1957) led by Sid Holland (a former member of the far-right New Zealand Legion) was willing to engineer a crippling industrial dispute on the wharves, declare a state of emergency, and abrogate the democratic rights and freedoms of New Zealanders for 151 days.

To hold the crucial “marginal provincial seats” he required to retain office, the National Party Prime Minister, Rob Muldoon, made sure that the planned New Zealand tour of Apartheid-era South Africa’s racist Springbok rugby team would proceed. He was confident that the 56 days of angry demonstrations the tour was bound to provoke, and the deep social divisions they were bound to open up, would secure him sufficient votes – in the towns and cities where they counted most – to win the 1981 general election.

Throwing their country into civil strife, and damaging its economy, is nothing new for National. The preparedness to do whatever it takes to keep the wrong people in their place (i.e. out of power!) has been part of the party’s DNA for 84 years!

And, from National’s perspective, the case is easily made. If something isn’t done to rip away the huge public support Jacinda Ardern’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis has won – both for herself and for Labour – then National will lose the election. If that happens, then there is a real possibility of Labour and the Greens ushering in the “transformation” which, for the past three years, only the presence of Winston Peters and NZ First in the Coalition Government has been able to keep at bay. Unfortunately, that sort of luck cannot be relied upon forever. If 19 September brings a Labour-Green victory, then the wrong people, with the wrong policies, will be returned to power at precisely the wrong time.

On Sunday morning, Todd Muller’s deputy, Nikki Kaye, described to Q+A’s Jack Tame, her friend and mentor’s, Michelle Boag’s, extreme distress at precipitating such a destructive political scandal. “She was in tears”, Kaye protested. “We are talking about human-beings here!”

If history is any guide, however, not everyone in and around the National Party is quite so prone to Kaye’s sentimentality. Michelle Boag did what she did to help National win. It wasn’t enough. More is required.

Much more. 

POSTSCRIPT: Just as I was finishing this post the news broke that the Serious Fraud Office is investigating Labour for possible breaches of the Electoral Act in 2017. It would seem that the “more” has already arrived. – C.T.

https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/07/14/must-read-has-the-national-party-become-a-threat-to-national-security/?fbclid=IwAR2yKeaib5xsxvPdDHioBSe0YTwUdh4qKQM5lao3hG5X0_18-kVBAaIHw9A

NZ: Judith Collins lies about Venezuela

New Zealand Opposition Lies To Attack Venezuela, Maduro

By Curwen Ares Rolinson

Fort Russ,

4 February, 2019

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – There are a few things to be said about this attack-line from the NZ National Party’s Judith Collins. One of which, is that Collins either doesn’t know, or more likely simply doesn’t care about the facts of the situation. Juan Guaido did not contest the 2018 Venezuelan Presidential Election. It is therefore impossible to truthfully call him the “rightful winner” of said Election.

But, you know, it isn’t nearly as neat of a soundbite to talk about the installation of an “Interim President” with a view toward organizing pending new elections, so a simplistic “TRUE WINNER” vs “CORRUPT FAKE” narrative is what she’s gone for here.

Another, is the curious contradiction entailed in Collins’ statement that the European Union supports Guaido over Maduro. Leaving aside for the moment the fact that it’s not actually true (the actual E.U. stance is only to recognize Guaido if Maduro continues to refuse to hold fresh elections; with the additional corollary that the Bloc’s individual member-countries will issue a range of statements which *avoid* explicit ‘recognition’), it completely erases the stances of a number of E.U. member-countries, such as Italy and Greece, which have pointedly refused to recognize Guaido as President, interim or otherwise.

The attempted monolithicization of the moral force of the entirety of Europe behind Guaido on show here, is also a very handy illustration of the way in which the supranational institutions that underpin neoliberal-globalism directly undercut the actual ability of any country to have its own say, its own views, its own voice. And actively distort realty in the process. But we shall perhaps leave that exploration for another time.

In any case, for all their faults, I’m not sure that it would be particularly tenable to try and argue that either Italy or Greece are not currently “democratic”. Or, for that matter, that the world’s largest democracy, a longstanding friend of ours with whom our interests increasingly align, the Republic of India, is not to be counted amidst “The World’s [sic] democracies” simply because India has also refused to bend the Boltonian knee and recognize Guaido.

In fact, there are quite a number of democratic countries which aren’t against Maduro. but once again, because this would be inconvenient for Collins’ “Good Democracies vs Evil Socialists” moral duality, this is completely ignored. I must also confess myself abjectly surprised at The Economist suddenly being a champion of democracy, given some of its previous positions *against* democratically-attained outcomes it feels to be “problematic” from the perspective of neoliberal-technocracy; as is the curiousness of Collins’ sudden apparent allergy to being cordial with the People’s Republic of China, given her very specific history in this area – but, again, another series of stories for another time.

Collins’ comments around New Zealand being offside with “all of our traditional allies” on this issue, further ring perplexing.

After all, you take a look at a number of the countries we’re now apparently off-side with, and it almost seems like the opposite is true. I mean, as applies the United States, France, and Israel … this therefore means that we are not joining, respectively, a country that broke *off* military relations with us and turfed us out of a defence pact over the NZ-nuclear-free issue, a country which carried out an act of international terrorism against us (a situation in which, I note, we did not have the United States’ or United Kingdom’s support, due to it being contrary to their interests to do so), and a country whose extensive array of strikes against us includes the ongoing theft of our passports for espionage purposes, an attempted hacking of our police computer-systems, and an implicit declaration of war against us at the United Nations only a few months ago.

The “BUT ALL OUR FRIENDS ARE DOING IT!” school of international diplomacy theory has also been trotted out previously by the National Party, most prominently with regard to its vitriolic opposition to the Clark Government keeping New Zealand out of the Americans’ illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The New Zealand refusal to proceed in the absence of a clear U.N. mandate for THAT Bolton-approved Neocon brouhaha, has since been vindicated on any number of levels. Although no doubt, there are still holdouts within National who yet believe we made the wrong call on Iraq, and want to ‘make it up’ to the Americans with subsequent silliness at their behest.

Oh, and speaking of the U.N. – it’s probably worth noting that that august body has thus far refused to ordain Guaido as a legitimate leader of Venezuela. Maybe Collins doesn’t think the United Nations are a “traditional ally” of New Zealand, either.

Collins often likes to play the populist – hence her quip about “Even the E.U.” choosing to recognize Guaido. The implication being clear that “even” the horrifically anti-democratic and anti-popular European Union has chosen to do the ‘right thing’, and is in this instance – in Collins’ heavily skewed view – on the side of the ordinary Venezuelan people and some measure of “democracy”.

It is therefore considerably ironic that the confederation of forces which she has allied herself with, and which she seeks to drag New Zealand kicking and screaming into greater alignment with … are the anti-populist ones, more generally speaking.

Meanwhile, many of those who are castigated or characterized as being “populist”, concerned with national sovereignty against intergovernmental interference, with the upholding of the democratically expressed will of the people *against* transnational neoliberal (or, for that matter, neocon – as in this instance) elites … they are not on the side of Guaido.

I state this, because it illustrates the clear dysjunction between the anti-elitist, and somewhat ‘popular’ in style rhetoric which we have increasingly heard from the National Party over the past few years … and what they actually believe, and actually support, when they think they can get away with it.

A similar instance can be observed with the National Party’s recent declaration of opposition to the UN Migration Pact – despite its own immediately previous tenure presiding over historically high levels of immigration to New Zealand, and its earlier championing of the anti-sovereignty Trans-Pacific Partnership trade/investment agreement.

In any case, it is probable that another thought percolates at the back of Judith Collins’ mind, motivating her and her colleagues/cronies to take such vociferous stands on the politics of a small nation on the other side of the globe.

Namely, that in situations wherein elections do not produce the “right” outcomes for some reason [whether due to alleged improper governmental actions in the Venezuelan election; or due to NZ First opting for Labour, over the notionally more popular National Party here in the NZ General Election in 2017], that the Guaido recognition suggests you can shift governing arrangements more toward the neoliberal right via ‘top-down’ (‘diplomatic’) interventions – no “elections” required.

It is no wonder that Collins is contemplating such a concept.

After all, it is pretty much the only way that she would possibly be able to become Leader of the National Party , and/or Prime Minister of New Zealand

New Zealand praised for refusing to back Venezuela's interim president Juan Guaidó

Dirty politics: Are the Hard Right going to take power in the National Party?

The dirty politics campaign to destabilise Bill English

The Right are rising within National and expect them to usher in a level of dirty politics never seen before. They will ignite white rage and fan it with Chinese business money.

TheDaily Blog,

14 February, 2018

One of these 3 men is going to stab the other two deep in the back and dump their corpses in a tunnel. Can you guess which one?   

How did media go from ‘Bill has leadership wobbles’ to ‘there are no leadership wobbles’ to ‘oh Bill’s gone’ – where were all our political journalists?

When it’s Labour, the media have wall to wall coverage of Labour’s leadership worries for months on end, when it’s National they all seem to just believe ‘there’s nothing to see here, move along’.

If you can’t see this as a coup stretching back to the Todd Barclay leaks, then you don’t deserve to be a Political Journalist.

There has been a concerted campaign to destabilise Bill the moment the Todd Barclay leaks started in the middle of last year.

The way Winston’s super leak managed to damage everyone this group wanted to hurt.

The way Bill was purposely destabilised before the conference and the way Chris Bishop was set up with the snapchat allegations 24 hours before Bill stepped down so that Bishop couldn’t run are all obvious signals that this group’s grasp of dirty politics exceeds anyone else’s within National.

The winner will be the Collins/Bridges ticket with Judith as leader and Bridges as the deputy. This will immediately empower each of their pet Sith, Cameron Slater and Matthew Hooton.

If you thought Dirty Politics was bad before – prepare to see real horror.

Mark Mitchell is Judith’s boy and his entry into the leadership battle is merely to anoint  him so that when he suddenly steps down from National 6 months before the next election to become the leader of the Conservative Party  he gets a free run in his electorate and gives National their political partner to become the next Government.

It’s interesting that all the power players now moving into position to take the leadership are all former members of the controversial Slater and Lusk candidate preparation camps.

The Right are rising within National and expect them to usher in a level of dirty politics never seen before. They will ignite white rage and fan it with Chinese business money.

Think Simon Bridges is the reasonable member of that team? Watch this and watch the cute mask slip for a hard core right winger…

The real threat now to the new Government is that after banishing Matt McCarten, they have no one who can play at the level they need to protect themselves from a Slater/Hooton/Lusk onslaught.

There’s a great story about establishment National Party identities debating Judith ever becoming leader and their genuine fear – so the story goes – was that none of them could hand on heart ever rule out Judith declaring martial law.

Let that sink in.

Auckland's fuel crisis a reflection of National Party crony capitalism, corruption and deregulation

This is a crisis of unprecedented proportions for Auckland which relies for its supply of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel on ONE pipeline that has been damaged by an operation digging out swamp Kauri in Northland.

This is also days out from a national election.

It looks as if it COULD be a firm linked to a sitting National MP, Judith Collins and ex-PM Jenny Shipley.

There is history behind this.

Apart from revealing the nature of supply lines and the ease with which they are disrupted with terrible consequences it is an illustration where neo-liberal policies and dergulation, together with corruption and crony capitalism lead us.

I sent the following Facebook item to Martyn Bradbury of the Daily Blog for his comments.

Kauri company in Ruakaka: KAURI RUAKAKA LTD

Previous Names: ORAVIDA KAURI

Chairman of Board: Jenny Shipley

Director: David Wong Tung

His reply was -

Yes - I understand it's true but the weak regulation meant councils didn't need to be notified - we don't know if it was them.

Why the Auckland oil pipeline rupturing is the perfect symbolism of 9 years under National

the Daily Blog,

19 September, 2017

It’s a god damned Greek tragedy in 3 parts, it really is.

It’s a Schadenfreude Dégustation of such epic proportions it deserves its own documentary.

The story of how Kauri poachers damaged the only oil line into Auckland sums up the last 9 years of the National Government so perfectly and has dropped it hot into the lap of the voting public days before the impact of Auckland running dry of petrol will arrive with the election.

We don’t know who damaged the oil line because the piss poor regulation National imposed on the buried Kauri tree poaching industry means they don’t have to get consent from the local council so we may never know who did this.

We all hope it’s Judith Collin’s husband’s Oravida company because as the Minister of Energy and personally benefitting from exploitative Chinese business practices it would be the cherry on the top of this shit cake of crony nepotism that perfectly encompasses National Party and Chinese business interests.

So let’s get the full stop of this clusterfuck shall we?

Some company exploiting the loopholes in National’s weak regulation wreaks the only bloody oil line running into Auckland, an oil pipe line that the Government was warned was vulnerable.

The Government’s response to critical underfunding of infrastructure despite turning on the immigration? To do sweet fuck all nothing of course. The Plan National put forward in case of an emergency was hope the people of Auckland wouldn’t start stockpiling.

FFS. That’s not a plan, that’s wishful fucking thinking.

Regulation demands the oil industry keeps 8 days stockpile of petrol in case of an emergency. We have an emergency. The only pipeline providing Auckland with petrol has been damaged and out of action for at least 10 days. How many believe the oil industry kept their side of the bargain and have 8 days worth of stockpile? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just keep 7 days? 6 days? 5 days? Once Aucklanders realise the city is about to go dry there will be panic buying for the remaining petrol.

I don’t think people get how big a deal this could be and if Auckland runs dry before the election, it will be Bill English facing the wrath of the entire city of Auckland.

Here some historical background - our wonderful kauri trees being harvested and sent off to China by crony capitalists directly linked to the National government. 

National Party donors allegedly involved in illegal kauri exports

1 July, 2015

Oppostion MPs have used parliamentary privilege to link the exporting of swamp kauri in Northland to National Party donors and insiders.

Concerns have been raised in Northland that kauri logs are being exported illegally - with stumps being labelled as finished products and sent offshore.

Northland MP Winston Peters says that is a rort, but the Government rejects the claims....

These are the events as of yesterday as reported by the NZ Herald

Airport fuel crisis: Kauri log digger damaged oil pipeline

NZ Herald,

18 September, 2017

An initial investigation by the Marsden Point oil refinery has found a digger driver searching for swamp kauri caused the critical damage to the fuel pipeline months ago.

When the pipeline burst on Thursday, the response has included finding out how the damage had been caused.

A source familiar with the situation said refinery bosses had found a swamp kauri hunter had been working in the same area as the damaged pipe around three months earlier.

In his efforts to remove a log 20 metres long and one metre wide, the digger struck the fuel line.

It did not rupture but laid the seed for the failure that would follow.

While the route of the pipeline is clearly marked with warning signs, the source said that the signs closest to where the pipeline ruptured where overgrown and could not be clearly seen.

The digger driver moved on and months passed until Thursday, when refinery bosses increased the pressure in the pipeline which forces fuel to Auckland.

The increase in pressure was too much for the damaged pipeline and it ruptured, spewing fuel into a peat swamp.

Refining NZ spokesman Greg McNeill said that the pipeline burst on Thursday as a result of "external damage" in a peat swamp.

He could not confirm the cause of when the damage happened but said excavation teams had found kauri near the pipe.

"There was swamp kauri on the site, in our excavation we have come across pieces of it," he said.

"The team can see that there is quite a series of scrapes across the top of the pipe. What actually led to that I don't know."

Swamp kauri extraction is controlled by local councils.

Whangarei Mayor Sheryl Mai said she had not been briefed on the Ruakaka work but would be asking questions.

"It's a very serious event that has happened in our district. The Refining Company is the lifeline for all of our fuel and clearly this is a major disruption, so I will be asking some questions of our staff to clarify what should have happened and what went wrong."

A review of NZ oil security for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment recognised in 2012 that any cut in the oil pipeline would mean "no jet supply to Auckland Airport".

"In the short term there are few alternatives for jet supply into Auckland," the report said citing options like diverting flights to other airports - here or overseas - for refuelling before landing in Auckland.

The report considered options including duplicating the pipeline's Auckland terminal at Wiri, but said that would cost more than $10 million a year and the probability of a short-term disruption to the pipeline was put at only 0.5 to 1 per cent a year, or once every 100 to 200 years.

This is Oravida's unmarked/secret sawmill at Ruakaka. It's 2km from the pipe rupture

Meanwhile, the crisis is rapidly deteriorating just days out from a general election

Thirteen Z petrol stations now out of 95

NZ Herald,

19 September, 2017

Thirteen Z Energy service stations are out of 95 octane petrol as a result of the ruptured Marsden Pt fuel pipeline, the company says.

This morning just four Z stations were out of the premium fuel, but this afternoon it said that number had more than tripled.

Z Energy has been prioritising trucking 91 octane and diesel from its plants elsewhere in the country as these are used by the majority of motorists.

"As a result of this deliberate focus, a few service stations have run out 95 octane petrol. However, all grades of fuel are being trucked into the city and sites will be replenished soon," the company said in a statement.

At this stage, only Z service stations have reported running out of fuel as a result of the incident, which has been causing havoc in the aviation industry with scores of flights in and out of Auckland Airport cancelled, delayed or diverted.

Auckland Caltex stations, which are operated as franchises owned by Z, do not appear to be affected by the shortage at this stage. The 12 stations contacted by the Herald said they were all adequately stocked with 95, however, the St Heliers station did not receive its 95 delivery today but this was due to arrive tomorrow. A staff member said it would likely run out of 95 otherwise.

BP spokeswoman Leigh Taylor said the company continued to have all grades of fuel available.

She said if there were to be any shortages they would be "intermittent and short-lived".

BP was bringing in fuel to Auckland from other parts of the country.

Mobil Oil New Zealand managing director Andrew McNaught said it did not have any supply issues or stock outages for ground fuel in the Auckland region