Qiulae Wong recently became leader of The Opportunity Party and, as she tells Mike Casey in the second episode of our new series Political Power, she has been on the electric bandwagon for a while now.
When she and her partner returned from London, they looked a getting a hybrid but instead bought a Tesla with an assist from the Clean Car Rebate; they upgraded their electric heating to a more efficient heatpump with the help of a green loan; and the next step is getting solar - although, as she says, being the leader of a political party doesn't leave much time to go through the quotes.
Her dad is pretty pro-gas, something she says is common in Chinese circles, but she showed him how their induction cooktop worked last Christmas and he was amazed at how responsive it was.
When it comes to getting New Zealanders off gas, she says it's an equity issue. That's why the Government needs to help those who are least able to afford the electric upgrades and will eventually get stuck with the rising costs and why she's also supportive of the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme, which would offer low-interest, long-term loans to homeowners. \While she thinks we need significant reforms of the energy market, she says we also need to stop the flip flopping between Governments and, in a similar way to places like Ireland, build a vision that Kiwis can believe in. "This is where we're going. We could be the most electrified, cheapest renewable energy country in the world. And that's in our DNA. It's kind of what we're built on and people know us for. But we're starting to lose a bit of that reputation internationally."
While she thinks we need significant reforms of the energy market, she says we also need to stop the flip flopping between Governments and, in a similar way to places like Ireland, build a vision that Kiwis can believe in.
"This is where we're going. We could be the most electrified, cheapest renewable energy country in the world. And that's in our DNA. It's kind of what we're built on and people know us for. But we're starting to lose a bit of that reputation internationally."
Rewiring Aotearoa is in favour of universal Road User Charges as we believe it will address an artificial market distortion for vehicles that is not in New Zealand’s economic, fuel security, or resilience interests. Here's what we told the Select Committee.
Read moreDownloadThe story of Uruguay's renewable push and why it's relevant here; EVs reach a tipping point in the EU, but they're growing in developing nations, too; Tauranga Crossing and Endless Energy go vertical with a new solar install; new research shows panels keep on trucking far past their warranty periods; and if you need a hand getting out on the waves, how about getting your own electric towing machine.
Read moreDownloadOur Political Power series aims to show that going electric is good for everyone, no matter where you sit on the political sprectrum. Whether you're looking to lower costs, reduce emissions or increase resilience, it increasingly makes sense at an individual, community and country level and ACT's Todd Stephenson, who bought an electric Jeep around one year ago and built his new home in Queenstown to run on electrons, is a good example of that.
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