"How do you expect consumers to swallow that?" "I'll mix it in with a Risotto.." [B] 9 December 2009

The cartoon shows Energy Minister, Gerry Brownlee, in the guise of a chef, about to cook a rat that represents the electicity industry in a pot of boiling oil. Beside him is a man reading in a newspaper the news that there is to be 'another electricity industry shake-up'. This man asks Gerry Brownlee how he expects consumers to swallow that - (meaning the rat as well as the reforms) Refers to the fact that Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee has adopted almost every major recommendation of the Electricity Technical Advisory Group, in a package of reforms for the electricity market that he describes as "putting the boot back on the consumer's foot". The main purpose of the reforms is to stimulate more retail electricity competition in the North and South Islands by giving the state-owned power companies a greater mix of northern and southern assets. Meridian Energy is the biggest loser in the electricity reforms announced today, ceding its two Tekapo hydro power stations to its North Island competitor, Genesis Energy, while being forced to pick up the diesel-fired Whirinaki power station, currently owned by the Crown and operated by Contact Energy.

Version B (DCDL-0012984) does not have the news item ''celebrity chefs charged for roasting rats'.

Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).