Talk:Mercury Energy
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[edit] NPOV tag removed
I removed some POV content and the associated tag. It would be good to have afactual account of the proportions of energy this company derives from various sources. - Just zis Guy, you know? [T]/[C] :: AfD? 11:08, 5 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Same trading name but different entities in different times
It must be beared in mind that Mercury Energy prior to 1 March 1999 and the one that was the supplier during the 1998 Auckland CBD power crisis was a different company. The "original" Mercury Energy sold its retail division along with trading name to the then Electricity Corporation of New Zealand in the aftermath of electricity market reform legal requirements in 1998. The "original" comapny renamed itself Vector Limited.
[edit] Inappropriately emotive addition
The section entitled "Death of Folole Muliaga" is inappropriate for inclusion in this article, as the Police have confirmed that Mercury Energy were not culpable for her death. Even some of the less emotive news reports make it clear that neglect by health providers, neighbours and family contributed at least as much towards the death as the electricity disconnection, which could have occurred for a number of other reasons. This section should therefore be deleted. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.89.9.107 (talk) 07:04, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
I have toned that sentence down and made it more neutral. Leaderofearth 07:37, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
Money Hungry Merciless Mercury Energy Kills A contractor hired by State Owned Enterprise (SOE), Mercury Energy, cut off the power to the home of Folole Muliaga, despite being told by her children that she was required to use an electric power pump , due to her health problems. The contractor, according to the family, said "I'm just doing my job" and then cut off the power. In two hours Mrs Muliaga was dead. The family owed $168.40 to the energy company but had been making regular payments to catch up. Finances had been stretched since Mrs Muliaga's poor health had forced her to leave work.
The story has received media attention around the World.
Community activists and unionists in Auckland have called for the sacking of Mercury Energy's directors, who took several days to even offer the most simple apology to the family. Solidarity Union organiser, Joe Carolan, said:
"Yet again we see a so-called State Owned Enterprise put profit before people in New Zealand. Mercury Energy should be renamed Murder Energy- they are corporate bully boys who prey on the weak, old and vulnerable of South Auckland, and are no better than the corrupt money lenders who plague our communities."
A group of 50 people staged a rowdy picket outside Mercury Energy's HQ in Greenlane Auckland. The demo was addressed by Mrs Muliaga's relative and family spokesman Brendan Sheehan. [ Pictures | Video ]
A condolence book was signed by a huge number of people at Otara Markets yesterday and the whole market observed a minute's silence in memory of Mrs Muliaga. Demonstrators also picketed the Electricity Commission in Wellington.
Since the neo-liberal reforms, pushed by both Labour and National Governments in the 1980s and 1990s, essential services such as water and electricity have been run on a completely commercial basis, without any regard to the impact this has had on poor communities. We shouldn't just blame Mercury Energy and its parent company Might River Power - the political and business leaders who have been pushing these anti-human economic policies over the past 20 years have blood on their hands too —Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.157.108.25 (talk) 00:13, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
