Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Isn’t it amazing that, after all the time spent wringing our hands over the price of electricity, we still haven’t bitten the bullet and gone full boar with solar energy?

You might have heard Chris Hipkins hinting yesterday that, if Labour forms the next government, solar will be on the agenda.

He isn’t giving too much away but says, yes, ramping up the use of solar power will be one of Labour’s election policies.

There’ll be no details, though, until after the Budget in May. That’s because he wants to get a better idea of how much money he’s got to play with.

But, if last election is anything to go by, it looks like Labour might be resurrecting the policy it had back then of providing $4,000 grants to help people install solar panels.

In my mind, it is ridiculous that we don’t require new houses to be fitted out with solar panels. It would add to the cost of the build but, long-term, I think it would be a game changer.

I’m not the only one who thinks this. Sir Ian Taylor is saying today that electrification is the future and solar is how we get there.

Solar on homes. Solar on farms. Solar on commercial buildings. And I couldn’t agree more.

He says the cheapest electricity is the electricity you don’t have to move.

So his version of full-boar solar includes storage capacity - not just solar panels - at our houses, on our farms and on our commercial buildings.

He says: “Every kilowatt generated where it is used is one that does not need to be transmitted across the country. that reduces losses. it reduces strain on the grid. and it reduces the need for expensive new transmission infrastructure that ultimately pushes power prices higher.”

No argument from me.

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The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor tells me several things, one of which is how much the late Queen really dropped the ball on this one. And that’s putting it politely.

She was the one who protected him when all the stories started to emerge. She was the one who, apparently, helped him out with some of the hush money paid out to one of his accusers.

Which only fueled the impression - rightly or wrongly - that the Royal Family thought it was above everything and everyone else.

Which is why I think this development is a brilliant opportunity for the monarchy.

Because this takes the monarchy down a peg or two, which can only be a good thing in the public’s eyes.

King Charles obviously sees an opportunity. He hasn’t been slow in coming forward, saying “the law must take its course”.

We’ve also got the likes of Major General Alastair Bruce, who is a historian and a royal watcher for Sky News, saying that this is “the most shocking day for the British Crown, to have a former prince of the blood arrested”.

Other commentators are describing the arrest as “extraordinary”, “unprecedented”, “spectacular” and a “body blow”.

Whether it is a body blow remains to be seen. Because these developments overnight show that the monarchy is just as answerable as the rest of us. Which is no bad thing, is it?

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National's Matt Doocey and Labour's Megan Woods joined John MacDonald for Politics Friday this week.

They covered some of the biggest topics from the week from the Infrastructure Commissions report, NZ First pushing for English to become an official language, and they reflect on the February 2011 earthquake sixteen years on.

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