Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Darryn Fisher: North Chamber CEO says Transpower needs to front up and explain why they can't compensate Northland businesses for the power cut

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Darryn Fisher: North Chamber CEO says Transpower needs to front up and explain why they can't compensate Northland businesses for the power cut · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Almost two months on from the major power outage in Northland,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Transpower say compensation is off the table for those impacted.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: The tower was being cleaned when a worker removed too
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: many nuts, causing it to collapse while the team leader
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: was busy sand blasting the North Chamber Chief Executive Darren Fisher, Darren,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: good morning.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Good morning Ryan.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: So we know what happened now there was a problem,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: too many nuts taken out, not enough attention being paid,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: but no compensation, although I do note that the Transpower
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: says they might look at a donation of sorts to
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: the community. What do you reckon? Yeah?
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: He cringe worthy yesterday, wasn't it, Ryan. I mean it's
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: almost like watching the spin doctors at work. But I'm
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: talking about giving an MP one hundred thousand dollars to
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: hand out ice creams at the local amp show. It
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: is very different to compensation to a business. Trying to
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: maintain the employment of six hundred people in a small
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: regional town is a huge difference. I mean, an average
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: household in New Zealand earns one hundred and twenty five
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: thousand dollars a year. In Northold, that's one hundred thousand
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: dollars a year, typically made up of one bread winner
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: and one secondary Incomuna. Now in a place like Kaitaia,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: where six hundred people are reliant on one big business
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: staying alive, the direct result of what has happened here
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: with Transpler puts those things in Jepardy And I'm calling
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: for that board and that management to have put their
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: big boy pants on, get on an aeroplane, get up
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: here and front up to these local communities and explain
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: why their negligence is putting their livelihoods at risk.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Was it a serious suggestion to give the MP ice screams.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: It's a serious suggestion that the MP has been down
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: in Wellington saying you need to make a good will
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: donation to the people of Norfold and do something community
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: wide and be good Samaricans here. But that's a very
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: different conversation to keeping people in serious employment. Transpower have
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: got values on their website talking about how they are
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: good social citizens and how they're good community people. Well,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: what they're about to do through their negligence and avoiding
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: all of this conversation is absolutely crush a workforce in
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: small community towns like Katia.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Darren Fisher is with North Chamber and he's the chief
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: executive there. He wants the Board of Transpower up North
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: asap to answer some questions. Please and no, we don't
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: want ice creams at the amp. For more from News
• 2:33
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• 2:37
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• 2:39
  Speaker 1: on IR Radio.