OP-ED: Government MPs and members of Mana Hapori have taken to the streets at Auckland Airport in protest of the arrival of Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. This directly places the Government in a position of direct endorsement of these forms of protest, with a key Government MP leading the attendance of the protest.
This comes as Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, arrives in New Zealand with interest in competition for the Wave Energy Prize. The Wave Energy Prize, passed by Parliament recently, is a prize set out for innovation in the field of Wave Energy. Through the Wave Energy Prize, New Zealand could have a more diversified and cleaner energy supply and cleaner methods of energy generation. The Wave Energy Prize was entirely designed to be for competitors from the private sector to directly compete for this goal and achieve competition in the market, allowing for innovation as a by-product and better outcomes for New Zealanders.
So why then has the Government chosen to go against this and refuse to speak out as TheOwOTringle, a Government MP with a previous history of racially targeted comments which faced a lack of condemnation from the Government, and Mana Hapori have chosen to turn out against Mr Musk? Mana Hapori and TheOwOTringle from Labour have directly chosen to pick and choose those who they wish to seek the prize, prioritizing ideology over people by trying to stand against Mr Musk on arrival rather than seeing the long-term goal of achieving better energy outcomes for New Zealanders. The lack of Government condemnation of these activities seemingly implies a direct endorsement by the Beehive, with radio silence acting as a form of assent from the Government as to this behaviour against the interests of New Zealanders.
It makes you question the commitment of the Government and Mana Hapori when such policies appear to be common-place and out in the open, as the Government and Mana Hapori both seem to agree mutually that intervention in this field is necessary. Rather than welcome Mr Musk and other private entities and firms wishing to enter the competition as the Wave Energy Prize is intended to incentivize, Labour and Mana Hapori have chosen to go directly against this and place their own personal beliefs over the wellbeing of New Zealanders.
Especially in a country where energy generation has a history of inefficiencies and which leads to a direct cost on many New Zealand households while do not have access to good supplies of energy through location or circumstance, it is especially clear that Labour and Mana Hapori lack the focus of will for the people of New Zealand.
They’ve chosen to protest private entities entering into a competition which prevents the innovation the prize was intended to produce.
Therefore, I am proud and I am proud to stand by the National Party who has elected to take the common sense approach on the issue. We’ve chosen to support welcoming individuals like Mr Musk and other private entities who wish to compete and we hope that Parliament and the Government can show the force of character to enter good, serious negotiations with parties involved to ensure the best outcomes for New Zealanders. Rather than be motivated by personal hate, we wish to have our public policy motivated by the people and what leads to the best outcomes for New Zealand earners and ensures that the taxpayer money being spent into the Wave Energy Prize produces the best result. Anything else will result in negligent spending and protests against private entities will directly lead to worse outcomes for the same amount of taxpayer dollars. That is why National is proud to stand as the side of reason in this debate.
Gregor_The_Beggar, National Party Deputy Leader, The Bugle of Liberty
The Bugle of Liberty 