Think how Labour would have dealt with the fuel crisis?

ACT points out:

It’s hard to see Adam Smith’s invisible hand of the market, perhaps that’s why media don’t report on its many successes. They’re first to complain when things go wrong, but who’s around to praise the market when it works? Free Press, that’s who, and this week we look at the crisis that wasn’t.

So, what happened to the fuel crisis? Only two months ago, it felt like we could be digging in for a COVID-level crisis. Shock jock commentators seemed to hope so, as they made scarier forecasts and called for deeper Government interventions.

Former Herald columnist Matthew Hooton wrote that we were entering a Mad Maxscenario, and the Prime Minister should go overseas and trade food for diesel, immediately. Westpac Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold appeared to be auditioning for the role of Michael Baker for this crisis, calling for dramatic controls on diesel and forecasting $150/bbl oil.

At various times the opposition stood up in Parliament and demanded the Government copy the most extreme version of every rationing or subsidising policy they could find overseas. There was some wild stuff to find.

The Australians made public transport free and halved fuel excise taxes. Various countries started down the path of rationing, others got into buying fuel by the billions.

In New Zealand we refurbished a tank, bought nine days’ diesel to fill it, just in case. We also raised per-kilometre reimbursement rates for low-income care workers who need to drive from house to house.

We gave low-income working households with kids $50 extra per week on the Earned Income tax Credit. The $50 will cease when petrol is back under $3 for a month – an ACT idea – that will probably save the taxpayer $250 million.

And the crisis? Now on Auckland’s Manukau Road, the super competitive strip of upstart fuel retailers, Unleaded 91 is going for $2.75. Diesel has been spotted at $2.10. The market has worked, but the media won’t thank it.

I can only assume a Labour Government would have imposed fuel restrictions from Day 1, and spent $10 billion on the crisis, with less than half actually being spending on anything to do with the crisis.