He tino māharahara i te katinga o ngā mira e rua, he rau tūranga mahi i mōrearea

Wednesday, 21 August 2024

Ruapehu's Winstone mills, facing soaring electricity prices, have halted operations, putting 300 jobs at risk. Electricity costs have surged 600% since 2021. The company seeks solutions while local jobs hang in balance.

Kua whakamāoritia tēnei pūrongo e tētahi hinengaro rorohiko, ā, kua hihiratia e te kaiwhakamāori a Puna, ko Joel Maxwell, nāna te pūrongo i whakapai hoki i mua i te whakaputa hei pūrongo reorua. Nā Straker me Microsoft te hinengaro rorohiko i whakawhanake.

This story, originally in English only, was translated into reo Māori by an AI tool then checked and edited by Stuff kaiwhakamāori Joel Maxwell before publication as a bilingual news story. The AI tool was developed by Straker and Microsoft.

He rau tūranga mahi i te Takiwā o Ruapehu kei runga i te paraka topetope i te wā e kākari ana ngā whānau āwangawanga ki te tumeke me te wehi ki ngā moni ngaro.

Hundreds of jobs in Ruapehu District are on the chopping block as distressed families grapple with the shock and fear of lost incomes.

Kua whakatū te whakaputanga o ā Ruapehu mira rākau me te puru a Winstone i te tīmatanga o tēnei marama, i te wā i arahia ai ngā utu hiko o Aotearoa.

Ruapehu’s Winstone pulp and timber mills halted production earlier this month, as New Zealand’s electricity prices sky rocketed.

Read this story in English here.

I taua wā, kua 1500% te nui ake o te utu hokorau hiko o Aotearoa i te wawaenga o Ahitereiria - me te aha e karanga ana te Pirimia Tuarua Winston Peters he 'mōrearea' pūngao.

At the time, New Zealand’s wholesale electricity price was about 15 times more than the Australian average - with Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters calling it an energy “crisis”.

I muri iho i tērā whakawetotanga taupua e rua wiki, ka whakaūria e te tumuaki a Winstone, a Mike Ryan, i whakatau ia ki te kati i ngā mira e rua mō 'ake tonu atu'.

After that temporary two-week shut down, Winstone chief executive Mike Ryan confirmed he planned to shut two mills “indefinitely”.

Workers at two of Winstone's mills have been told to lay down their tools.

I kī atu a Jude Sinai, he kaimahi i Karioi Pulpmill, ki a TVNZ kua “anea” ia.

Jude Sinai, a worker at Karioi Pulpmill, told TVNZ he was “devastated”.

'I te pakarutanga o ngā rongo i te tuatahi, i te tirotiro ahau i te rūma, a, he nui tonu te ohorere me te nui o te wehi.

“When the news first broke, I was looking across the room and there was actually a lot of shock and a lot of fear.

'Ka kite koe i te ngākau kōhuki me ētahi kare ā-roto e riporipo ana i roto i ia hinengaro.'

“You could see some stress and emotions playing over in each one of their minds.”

I tūtaki ngā kaimahi i te Karioi Pulp Mill me Tangiwai Sawmill i te Tūrei, ā, i muri i te kōrerotanga a te hui i whāki ki a Puna ka kino te hua mō ngā hapori e whakawhirinaki ana ki ngā mira.

Staff at the Karioi Pulp Mill and Tangiwai Sawmill met on Tuesday and after the meeting told Stuff the outcome would be disastrous for the communities that relied on the mills.

Read this story in English here.

He iti noa iho te taupori o ngā taone pātata, o Ohakune, o Raetihi me Waiouru, ā, e 230 ngā `tūranga mahi i tautuhia kia poro ki ngā mira, he maha atu ngā pānga ki ētahi atu umanga i te wā i homai e nga mira he mahi mō ngā kaikānataraki me ngā kamupene rārangi mahi puta noa i Ruapehu.

The populations of nearby towns, Ohakune, Raetihi and Waiouru are small, and while 230 jobs were set to go at the mills, there would be many more impacts at other businesses as the mills provided work for contractors and logistics companies across Ruapehu.

He māngai Uniana Tuatahi hoki a Hinai, a, ka kī atu ki a TVNZ ka whiwhi waea maha ia i ngā whānau āwangawanga.

Sinai was also a First Union delegate and told TVNZ he’d received a lot of phone calls from stressed families.

'He tokomaha ngā mema whakararuraru, ō mātou hoa rangatira e tangi ana, he tamariki e pouri ana – ka tino pā ki tēnei hapori.'

Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton said the closure of the mills was devastating.

“A lot of distressed members, our partners that are crying, children that are upset – cause yeah, it has a huge impact on this community.”

I a ia e kōrero ana ki a TVNZ, i whakaaro ia i whakatautikatia ngā katinga, ko ngā mira te 'iwituaroa o te hapori' ā, ka tino mōhiotia ngā hinganga.

While he told TVNZ he felt the closures were justified, the mills were the “backbone of the community” and the losses would be felt deeply.

'Ki taku whakaaro i mahia e tō mātou kamupene ngā mea katoa e taea e ia hei whakaheke i tō rātou tapuwae pūngao,' tana kī.

“I think our company’s done everything it can possibly do to bring down their energy footprint,” he said.

'E mōhio ana mātou he take ā-waho tēnei kāore ō mātou mana. He hapori tino kikī mātou, ā, ka ngākau pōuri mātou.'

“We know that this is an external factor that we have no control over. We’re a very tight-knit community and it’s just heartbreaking.”

I pāorotia e te Kahika o Ruapehu a Weston Kirton te whakaaro, e kī ana he whakararuraru te āhuatanga.

Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton echoed the sentiment, saying the situation was devastating.

“E tino rongo ana mātou mō aua whānau tērā pea ka ngaro ā rātou mahi,” tana kī atu ki a TVNZ.

Winston Peters accuses power companies of 'profiteering', as many high energy users say business is getting tougher.

“We really feel for those families that potentially could lose their jobs,” he told TVNZ.

'He mōrearea pūngao tērā i roto i te iwituaroa o tēnei āhuatanga, ā, e tino hiahia ana mātou ki te kawe mai ki te aroaro o te Kāwanatanga me uru atu rātou ki te tiaki i tō tātou iwi, ki te pare i ā tātou umanga me te tiaki i te whakawhirinakitanga o Aotearoa mō te hoko whakawaho i tēnei hua mira puru.'

“It’s an energy crisis that is in the backbone of this and we just really want to bring it to the Government’s attention that they need to intervene and to protect our people, to protect our business and protect New Zealand's credibility in terms of exporting this pulp mill product.”

I tutaki hoki a Ryan rātou ko ngā manukura ahumahi ngahere ki ngā minita i te Pāremata i ngā wiki e rua ki muri kia kōrerorero mō te utu o te hiko.

Ryan, alongside other forestry industry leaders, met with ministers at Parliament two weeks ago to discuss the cost of power.

Hei tāna, i taua wā he mahi whakamutunga tērā kia ngana ki te kimi he pēwheatanga kia tuwhera tonu ngā mira.

He said at the time that it was a last-ditch effort to try to find a way to keep the mills open.

Engari i te Tūrei, i whakatūturu ia ki a Puna kāore ia i kite i tētahi ara kia pērā ai.

But on Tuesday, he confirmed to Stuff that he did not see any way to keep the mills operating.

'Mēnā kua whakaūngia, mā te marohi e mutu i a WPI tana mahi nā whai anō ka poroa ngā tūranga e 230,' te kī a Ryan.

“If confirmed, the proposal would see WPI cease operations indefinitely with the loss of 230 roles,” Ryan said.

I tūmanakohia ka tae mai te Kāwanatanga ki te tēpu me tētahi mōkī whakaora mō ngā kamupene hiko, tō te nuinga o ērā he hunga whaipānga tūmatanui.

There had been hope that the Government would come to the table with a rescue package for the power companies, most of which are partly publicly owned.

Government concerned about rising power prices, and in part blames the Labour government for stopping exploration for natural as.

Engari kāore he taenga o te whakaora, ā, ka poroa ngā tūranga mahi e whai ake nei i muri i te mutunga i te Hepetema 9 a tētahi wāhanga whiriwhiria.

But no fix has arrived, and the jobs are set to go following a consultation period that is due to end on September 9.

Ka tukua ki ngā kaimahi te utu whakamutu mahi tūao, me te hunga kāore kia whakaae ki te tāweretanga ka tū tonu i runga i te utu katoa mō te toenga o te wāhanga whiriwhiri.

Staff would be offered voluntary redundancy, and those who did not accept redundancy would remain on full pay during the consultation period.

E ai ki a Ryan, kua āraia e Winstone ki te mākete hiko tākohukohu, engari kua whakahōungia ōna kirimana, ā, e kore e taea te utu ki te whakakapi.

Ryan said Winstone had hedged against electricity market volatility, but its contracts were up for renewal and the cost of replacing them was unaffordable.

''I te nuinga o te wā, kāore he kaupapahere ārai, ngā whakapainga whāomo rānei ā muri ake ka whakakore i te pikinga hanganga o ngā utu pūngao.'

‘’Realistically, no hedging policy or future efficiency improvements will offset the structural increase in energy costs.”

Hei tāna, kua piki haere tō Winstone pire hiko e 500% nō te Hepetema 2021.

He said the price Winstone paid for electricity had risen 500% since September 2021.

Kua whakaritea e te hapori o Raetihi he hui i te Tūrei, Ākuhata 27, ki Te Pūtahi, kia kōrerorero i te tūāhuatanga.

The Raetihi community has arranged a meeting on Tuesday, August 27, at The Centre to discuss the situation.

This is a Public Interest Journalism-funded translation through NZ On Air