New Zealand signs a free trade deal with Singapore that includes fuel

@rimu From the analysis I've read (skimmed, TBF) Singapore only needs to "give it their best shot" in terms of ensuring our supply of refined products. When push comes to shove, there are no enforceable requirements and they could very well curtail deliveries.

Nathan Surendran wrote a piece a couple of weeks back (archive.is/DXahq) about the really bad optics of our govt doing SFA in terms of cutting demand in comparison with our trading partners in the fuel supply chains. In short, they notice, and when things get tight the ants aren't going to make sacrifices to carry the grasshopper.

This particular FTA puts a chirpy veneer over that ideological cesspool, but the unresolved asymmetry of the state responses is getting rather glaring.

@rimu given the likelihood that we'll have fertiliser shortages for the next growing season, we might have a hard time with our food/dairy provision... Things could get quite dire in more populous parts of the world fairly quickly. Suspect we'll be among the first cut loose when shit really hits the fan. This Gov't hasn't got a strategic bone in its body - they're totally paint-by-numbers, corporate droid-lite.