"\u003C!DOCTYPE html\u003E\u003Chtml xmlns:xlink=\u0022http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\u0022 xmlns:xsi=\u0022http://www.w3.org/2007/XMLSchema-instance\u0022 xmlns:mml=\u0022http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Chead\u003E\n    \u003CMETA http-equiv=\u0022Content-Type\u0022 content=\u0022text/html; charset=utf-16\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Cmeta name=\u0022viewport\u0022 content=\u0022width=device-width, initial-scale=1\u0022\u003E\n  \u003C/head\u003E\n  \u003Cbody style=\u0022font-family:sans-serif; font-size:100%;\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000001\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022a6d5d0291adf4b15849bb533087b4a0a\u0022\u003ETuesday, 16 December 2008\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000003\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002222fe5da7ab4e4f6ebd9df14bd51df9c4\u0022\u003ETuesday, 16 December 2008\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000002\u0022\u003EMr Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000004\u0022\u003EPrayers.\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000005\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022e097a39133294e15a34b7eb1a1d71fe7\u0022\u003EMembers Sworn\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000007\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00220ace8b85990b46d68e43d1a42a56ab9c\u0022\u003EMembers Sworn\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000006\u0022\u003ECatherine Delahunty was presented to the Speaker, made the affirmation required by law, and took her seat in the House.\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000008\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00225b5e9d35f4064cde8ab4e8e7fb1e679e\u0022\u003EVoting\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000009\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022235e1c4d68d64b75bd868807e75370f2\u0022\u003ECorrection\u2014Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022 data-id=\u00227e556f4f00f040cea97a37c6932d73be\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000010\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227e556f4f00f040cea97a37c6932d73be\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Honourable members, the vote on the question at the third reading of the Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill was announced as Ayes 65 and Noes 57. The correct result is Ayes 65 and Noes 47. I order that the result be corrected.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000011\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022106dc45c55734b49b6d5f042c5a4b2db\u0022\u003EQuestions for Oral Answer\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000012\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00229c2ae0a670644a699bcf507a2816732c\u0022\u003EQuestions to Ministers\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000013\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002213dbadb34c3a44ffafc34f39eb96b671\u0022\u003EMinisters\u2014Confidence\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000014\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002209431f21f22a4cdab45a946147abde2d\u0022\u003E1. Hon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition)\u003C/span\u003E to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in all his Ministers; if so, why?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022 data-id=\u0022920d2dd2b604427bbce5358adbdab1cc\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000015\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022920d2dd2b604427bbce5358adbdab1cc\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E Yes; because they are talented people who are working hard for New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000016\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a0b64bf0c84141a48d7ebd4ce3049088\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Why should the country have confidence in him as Prime Minister when his first actions in respect of Kiwi jobs was to lose $400 million of investment in the forestry industry, and hundreds of jobs; to remove from newly employed workers the right of protection against unfair dismissal; and in respect to wider jobs, when confronted with potential job losses, to sit like a possum caught in the headlights, with no plan for growth or to protect Kiwi jobs?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000017\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d9bb58e713464988bd0c1425128b8b1b\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I am sure the country can have enormous confidence in my leadership as we look to deliver productivity growth in a stronger economy\u2014something that his Government failed to do.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000018\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228b2bb1619e2e4056bda37e932edd5782\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: On what does the Prime Minister base his confidence in the Minister of Labour, Kate Wilkinson, who repeatedly told this House last week that the Employment Relations Amendment Bill would not remove any rights from workers, when he knows that the opposite is the truth, and that most workers starting new jobs can now be unfairly dismissed without the protection of personal grievance procedures or access to the Employment Court?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000019\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022196881c240894ca489063f6e74767849\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister of Labour knows what hundreds of thousands of small businesses in New Zealand also know: that the changes that the Government made last week are a \u201Cright to hire\u201D provision. They will see that hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders have an opportunity to get a job\u2014something they would otherwise be excluded from. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000020\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b8383f38-c78c-4e5d-8324-677d91e95c49\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cbc442711c3d479cb4325d8a2802b53a\u0022\u003EKeith Locke\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Prime Minister have confidence in his Minister of Police, given her statement on television last night that \u201Cthe special investigation group is not actually targeting groups but individuals who may be involved in criminal activities,\u201D when on 4 July 2007 the special investigation group sent its paid agent Rob Gilchrist an email asking: \u201CWhat is happening with climate change groups in Auckland? Who is involved? What actions might they be considering for the future?\u201D, and also asking similar questions in relation to anti-war groups; how does the Prime Minister justify that broad-spectrum spying by covert agents on protest groups?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000021\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002273c2bdbc99e84a7f8ab23572986b4372\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I have complete confidence in the Minister of Police, who yesterday quite rightly called in the Commissioner of Police to seek his assurance that the special investigation group was carrying out its activities properly. The Minister received that assurance. Might I add that if the member somehow wants to come to the support or aid of Mr Gilchrist, maybe Mr Gilchrist might like to give back the $600 a week that he has been receiving from the New Zealand Police.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e05eeee856b949bd9cf38bcf4fc68763\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: What confidence can the Prime Minister have in the Minister of Finance, Bill English, who told the country before the election that New Zealanders would be better off under National\u2019s tax package, but who, when it came to an amendment that would have given credits to anyone who was worse off under the legislation, sought to stop that amendment with a financial veto because it showed that National\u2019s tax package ripped $730 million out of the pockets of low-income earners; and does he accept Mr English\u2019s explanation that families do not need any help\u2014that they have had enough already?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000023\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022334a2ce35ce847078faa79eb116b7fd4\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The right honourable Prime Minister may choose to answer one of those questions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000024\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022db316855c7d94dc99e8ea80b19142cca\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I have complete and utter confidence in the Minister of Finance, and the reason for that is that his first action as Minister of Finance under my Government was to ensure that the taxes of New Zealanders would be lowered. The first action of the previous Minister of Finance, who sits behind the Leader of the Opposition, was to raise taxes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000025\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b8383f38-c78c-4e5d-8324-677d91e95c49\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224b048dfb9632415281afc5cdd595df08\u0022\u003EKeith Locke\u003C/span\u003E: How can the Prime Minister have confidence in the Minister of Police when the paid agent Rob Gilchrist was forwarding emails from the Greens parliamentary office to the special investigation group, and does he think that police spying on MPs and their staff is appropriate in a democratic society?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000026\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fcb893b6d92f4928b4998d8829004fea\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I think the member needs to accept that the police should act to protect the security of New Zealanders and our communities, and that they may engage in a wide range of methods in order to achieve that, provided that they are legal. As I said earlier, the Minister sought an assurance from the Commissioner of Police that the activities were legal and had foundation. I accept the commissioner\u2019s perspective on that matter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000027\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d08fa4e9f9784f3f9a6e96c30db1142d\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: What confidence can the Prime Minister have in the Minister of Housing, Phil Heatley, who spent the whole year telling this House that the Housing New Zealand Corporation needed to do more for people on the waiting list, but whose first statement as Minister of Housing was to say that he was going to stop acquiring any new houses, and who did a flip-flop after that, leaving the country in total confusion as to what he actually intends to do?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000028\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225e2dceb6f07d4ab2909e36afeb160d87\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I have complete confidence in the Minister of Housing, and the country is in no confusion about what his job will be. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000029\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002285fbb603715745fe9f9e24ff84b8f1bd\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Tell us!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000030\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f3f0b7632ba94c4081fafcf1a3701629\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: Amongst other things, it will be to fix up the fact that the Government is currently a slum landlord of far too many State houses. I do not know whether the Leader of the Opposition has actually noticed, but the thousands of people who are living in garages in south Auckland did not just appear there on 9 November; they were there for years, and the Labour Government failed to address the issue. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000031\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b8383f38-c78c-4e5d-8324-677d91e95c49\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224cdec23211494e438df62cc67686a07b\u0022\u003EKeith Locke\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table a statement made yesterday by Rochelle Rees that lists questions asked of the police agent Rob Gilchrist by the police special investigation group.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000032\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002217bcf9fa30ca4f8f8881b5301312308c\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that course of action? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000033\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000034\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b8383f38-c78c-4e5d-8324-677d91e95c49\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ec72b0815a054439a4e690626b8355a1\u0022\u003EKeith Locke\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table a sample of the emails that Rob Gilchrist forwarded to the special investigation group. These three emails were from the Greens parliamentary office.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000035\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223be8b576a35d4f499676217fc56ff918\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: There are to be no interjections during a point of order. Is there any objection to\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000036\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ff150977f52f42598b2f855dff8f30ce\u0022\u003EHon Judith Collins\u003C/span\u003E: Point of order, Mr Speaker. I\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000037\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b89a245666a1449b8fa94260d79055b9\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member will sit down while the Speaker is on his feet. I want to clarify whether the member is seeking a point of order in respect of the leave being sought. She is\u2014my apologies.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000038\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228513ae566aa048e5be58e3fec5d21795\u0022\u003EHon Judith Collins\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I want Mr Locke to clarify whether the emails reveal any details of any police officers, including their email addresses or names.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000039\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221f6dc9823e634b0d8ebf8a4ac7e31a34\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I am seeking some advice on that request. Would the member please indicate whether there is any such identification that the member has sought clarification on.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000040\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b8383f38-c78c-4e5d-8324-677d91e95c49\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002207aae5c83cbb413695abdc7ca581227f\u0022\u003EKeith Locke\u003C/span\u003E: There is no identification of any police officer. There is an email address, chuat@paradise.net.nz, which is the special investigation group\u2019s email.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000041\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223010c4b8a4624210bf2ad3ef8a2cc645\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that course of action? There is no objection. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000042\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EDocuments, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000043\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224ea169d7d232416bb4f3e46291bba842\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The House granting the member leave to table those documents, I wish to clarify for all members the change in the Standing Orders that has occurred since the last parliamentary term, and that is that documents now have to be tabled. There was concern that some members had been seeking to table documents that did not even exist. Under the new Standing Orders the Speaker determines when documents will be tabled. I have determined that documents will be tabled on the same day on which leave is granted by the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000044\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002293c2d48c7a6a4fbda10113ae46c0bdf6\u0022\u003EGovernment Spending Commitments\u2014Funding\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000045\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219bcf2ff-a193-4361-9072-813a4e36683c\u0022\u003E2. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cc3237a9a64b406eb4273ce4acacf92c\u0022\u003EPESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA (National\u2014Maungakiekie)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Finance: Has the Minister seen any reports of Government spending commitments which have no funding set aside to pay for them?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022 data-id=\u00222317e4f8c9984321a212743901941d84\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000046\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222317e4f8c9984321a212743901941d84\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance):\u003C/span\u003E Yes, the Labour Government made a number of spending commitments for which no funding was set aside. For instance, no funding was set aside for the $1 billion insulation fund agreed to with the Greens in the last few months of the last Government\u2019s term, and only a fraction of the $600 million promised in the Budget for the growth of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was set aside\u2014around $8 million of the $600 million. Some initiatives were creatively funded. The $40 million purchase of St James Station was funded by, among other things, cleaning out the Nature Heritage Fund for the next 4 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000047\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219bcf2ff-a193-4361-9072-813a4e36683c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224cd886d25bfc458191f3e22a076b087b\u0022\u003EPeseta Sam Lotu-Iiga\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Minister aware of any other Government spending commitments that have no funding set aside to pay for them? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000048\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229b3ee1cebd6c4361b609f0177330236e\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: Yes. In the 2008 Budget the previous Labour Government announced an economic transformation package, which it claimed was worth $300 million over 3 years, but only $93 million was set aside in the Budget for initiatives such as the CPI adjustment of funding for universities, literacy and numeracy in the workplace\u2014a $40 million initiative\u2014and other initiatives designed to \u201Chelp New Zealand firms compete globally\u201D. Although the Government had not funded all of its 2008 Budget, it nevertheless went on to promise larger extra expenditure, such as the universal student allowance, which it could not have funded if had won the election. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000049\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022774efef2ab554f9c8e3c37cec4ce733d\u0022\u003EHon David Cunliffe\u003C/span\u003E: Can the Minister confirm that all of the spending promises National made were \u201Cfully costed and funded\u201D and covered by the $1.75 billion spending allocation, and that he has no intention of trying to go back on any of them?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000050\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226564f8503575465eb2a72cd5e2bcc584\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, I can confirm that National will not be going back on any of those promises, as we fully costed and funded them, unlike the previous Labour Government, which produced a Budget in 2008 and an election campaign full of commitments it could not have funded.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000051\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219bcf2ff-a193-4361-9072-813a4e36683c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227551b3c48ecf4a948940057a58cd5508\u0022\u003EPeseta Sam Lotu-Iiga\u003C/span\u003E: What decisions is the Minister likely to make on unfunded spending commitments?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000052\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f7fa945d52874838bcd1cb4854a06a52\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: Because we are a new Government with new priorities, we will be committing a Budget allowance to the priorities of the incoming National Government, with a mandate from New Zealand voters. We will drop commitments made by the previous Government for which no funding has been allocated.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000053\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002242e2efa9e4774adb8308019968f3b6b5\u0022\u003EHon David Cunliffe\u003C/span\u003E: Can the Minister provide details of what remains of the Government\u2019s proposed stimulus package, which was so much vaunted in those members\u2019 election campaign, and can he confirm that he is still committed to the $8.6 billion of infrastructure over 6 years announced by his leader on 31 October and to the $7 billion stimulus over 2 years that he foreshadowed in late November, or does he now accept Treasury\u2019s advice that no further fiscal stimulus is necessary; if so, why?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000054\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002273742f75cd1840fda76225d3117ed530\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: The Labour Party should get its lines worked out. Its deputy leader was on the radio this morning saying there should be another stimulus package, and now David Cunliffe is saying there should not be. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000055\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229b1acbb1692b4e48923b87757fc2c7bc\u0022\u003EHon David Cunliffe\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The last time I looked, the Minister of Finance had no responsibility for members of the Opposition. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000056\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226d96e1018e244c8fb1ce7d18b06a889d\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I would alert the honourable member to the fact that his own question was very marginal in terms of the Standing Orders, in that the member cannot question the Government about statements or policies about something that the Minister is not directly responsible for as Minister, in regard to a political party. The member cannot insist on an answer being absolutely within the Standing Orders when his own question was very marginal in respect of the Standing Orders. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000057\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002209db6470e34a4ea98c9e08b732c2d6d7\u0022\u003EHon David Cunliffe\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The statements I quoted by the leader John Key and by the Minister were made after the election, while they held the positions they hold now. Therefore, they are purported to be statements of Government policy with fiscal consequences for which the Minister of Finance is responsible. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000058\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002272a9461c20e04231ab674f4783716943\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I will take the honourable member\u2019s word for that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222da58a0da07e4a54a95ecabd185b5a14\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: I can confirm that the Budget Policy Statement will outline what amounts to what Treasury calculates as a $7 billion stimulus into the New Zealand economy, which is made up of the 2008 Budget, the 1 October tax cuts, and the 1 April tax cuts that were legislated for last week. Treasury estimates that over the next 2 years that amounts to a $7 billion stimulus to the economy, and that is one of the largest among developed countries\u2014larger than Australia\u2019s, and comparable to the packages announced by the UK Government. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000060\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219bcf2ff-a193-4361-9072-813a4e36683c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221e31cb17beb04c94bc0c4b20228a20ce\u0022\u003EPeseta Sam Lotu-Iiga\u003C/span\u003E: What is the impact of the shortfall in the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC)?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000061\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227d3e1441694e4522989169b3f021fb54\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: Earners and businesses will hear about that impact when the Minister for ACC announces levy increases, but the part of ACC that is funded by the Government has turned out to be $300 million short in the 2008-09 year, and Cabinet has already had to make a decision to add $300 million to Government debt to ensure that ACC does not run out of money in March 2009 for the non-earners account, from which beneficiaries, superannuitants, and others who do not earn money are dependent for their assistance for accidents. Over the next following 3 years, the ACC shortfall will add $1.2 billion\u2014unexpectedly\u2014to Government debt. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000062\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022ae60a5a3d1e84043a70eb04b3ac35cd1\u0022\u003EEmployment Relations Amendment Bill\u2014Teachers\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000063\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E3. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022302c70a573e94cb591b1d81f0359909a\u0022\u003EHon CHRIS CARTER (Labour\u2014Te Atat\u016B)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Education: What representations did the Minister of Education make to her Cabinet colleagues in the light of her commitment that teachers would not be included in provisions of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000064\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226cf57d54e6054a8e839e5eced320c172\u0022\u003EHon Christopher Finlayson\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I did not raise a point of order when the Leader of the Opposition misread his question, but the Minister of Education has misread his question. He should read what is on the sheet. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000065\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f13c23fbddda41d6a6dcb4f9912c859b\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: He\u2019s not the Minister of Education. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000066\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002256b3bd88233f4b98b0ee434cad36d18f\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: For members who did not pick it up, the misdemeanour was very minor. The member read \u201Cthe Minister of Education\u201D instead of \u201Cthe Minister\u201D. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000067\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220da706a1a16c48f09ab6028cb59c7465\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: My question is to the Minister of Education\u2014with a slight sense of irony. What representations did the Minister make to her Cabinet colleagues in the light of her commitment that teachers would not be included in the provisions of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000068\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022249b4e8766ca488d9d3f47a5e701ca53\u0022\u003EHon Rodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I know the member is unused to asking questions, but I think it would be good to get off on the right foot by not including an ironic expression and an epithet when addressing a Minister. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000069\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002238925b77e7f6486787cd3222e5e08172\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I ask the Hon Chris Carter just to read the question as it has been put down on the Order Paper.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000070\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228fa0e51a8af44f83bc3b27c0a21b7c62\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I felt that I had, and my reference to irony\u2014[Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000071\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e065054ed94340239edd847ec0f94dc2\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Colleagues, I think the good order of the House would be well-served if members would just try to follow the procedures correctly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000072\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ecd05bc4af664644a54e97709dbd4a8b\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: What representations did the Minister make to her Cabinet colleagues in the light of her commitment that teachers would not be included in provisions of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022977cccaf-581d-4f48-924e-32bf6c54a93d\u0022 data-id=\u0022dea06cd7bda646bda9e5068e67f6c1a9\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000073\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022977cccaf-581d-4f48-924e-32bf6c54a93d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022dea06cd7bda646bda9e5068e67f6c1a9\u0022\u003EHon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education):\u003C/span\u003E As the member should know, Cabinet discussions are confidential.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000074\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221244c4a770694fdaacf1e92b6bb3b94b\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister should have made representations to her colleagues, because she wrote\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000075\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e2a2c2cb20ea4a17b490272a54ec41bf\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The honourable member should be asking a question, not making a statement. I ask him to do that, please.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000076\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ea75923b1ee94c1e96bb9310cafc164c\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: I would like to ask the Minister\u2014[Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000077\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022de4fdc51030d410eb83ca75fb3193e75\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The honourable member knows that when the Speaker is on his or her feet members should be silent. I say to members that I think a little latitude is appropriate when members are all in new roles here. I ask the Hon Chris Carter to please ask a question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000078\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d0dc24fbaf514b1fba05394ce4fb2104\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The proceedings of the House these days are televised, so everyone will have seen that, prior to your standing, the Hon Chris Carter sat down. Apropos a certain ruling early last week, I think you would have to rule that he had given up his opportunity to take this matter any further. I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000079\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022512bb0b5faeb427f86ec2547459c3cef\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: If the member would just resume his seat for a moment, because he has made a point of order\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000080\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221b095b7e81ba460a9e5da873293e570a\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I think it will be very helpful. I was going to seek leave for the member to be able to ask his question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000081\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ad3667f90a704543aa560325ba3d29ad\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: There is no such provision for the member to do that. I think the Hon Chris Carter sat down because he thought I was going to stand when there was disorder. I call on the Hon Chris Carter to please ask a question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000082\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dbe4100c78fd46eda11f247a29afc258\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: I would like to ask the Minister why she wrote in the October edition of the New Zealand Educational Institute\u2019s magazine, Rourou\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000083\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223ec98ac1c19e4a1a9edaed2d33e2e665\u0022\u003EHon Rodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. First of all, I think Mr Gerry Brownlee should run a seminar for the Labour front bench on asking questions. But, once again, the previous Minister failed to ask a question. To say \u201CI would like\u201D to do something is not asking a question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022291427defd5144ddbe0dcdceebae3866\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Technically, the honourable member is correct. I call on the Hon Chris Carter, please, for the good order of the House, to take the matter seriously and ask a question. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000085\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228503d214d2b84b30bc2061e7b20dc37a\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: Why did she write in the October edition of the New Zealand Educational Institute\u2019s magazine Rourou: \u201CWe do not expect a trial period to be included in the collective agreement, in which the majority of teacher and support staff employment relations are based.\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000086\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022977cccaf-581d-4f48-924e-32bf6c54a93d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222ec9346adbe84fe8a0e296bcf97999ac\u0022\u003EHon ANNE TOLLEY\u003C/span\u003E: The member might like to look at the September edition of New Zealand Educational Institute\u2019s Rourou magazine, in which the union itself showed that it well understood that our policy did not exempt teachers, when it stated that if new employees take up an individual employment agreement, they would presumably be subject to the 90-day probation period. This, of course, would still apply only if the individual employee agreed to the trial period.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749d97b8-a772-4227-83da-b5e264c37bc0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f6823a9b4c4a47ea9b472c6775421b98\u0022\u003EAllan Peachey\u003C/span\u003E: Has the Minister of Education had any reports on whether the new probationary period will be a compulsory element of any employment agreement with teachers?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022977cccaf-581d-4f48-924e-32bf6c54a93d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022932d96f966c64541b66e9f593447bfc7\u0022\u003EHon ANNE TOLLEY\u003C/span\u003E: I have seen some hysterical comments as part of a campaign of misinformation by the Labour Party that suggests that the 90-day trial periods are compulsory for all teachers. These comments are wrong. First of all, trial periods will apply only to schools with fewer than 20 staff, and, secondly, despite the Labour Party\u2019s comments, a 90-day trial period can be included in a contract only by agreement between employee and employer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000089\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f0e3f0465eef437b85a4014b93278c62\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: Why did she tell a New Zealand Educational Institute political forum in Rotorua on 22 August 2008 that the 90-day period should not apply to teachers, and why did she make that claim?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000090\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022977cccaf-581d-4f48-924e-32bf6c54a93d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e079a8912694408bb7a7bcf2581b93cc\u0022\u003EHon ANNE TOLLEY\u003C/span\u003E: I made the statement that the member cites on 22 August. After I made that statement I had communications with education sector groups in September and October, and I made it clear to them that there would be no legislative exemption for teachers and other staff. In fact, that is what was published by the New Zealand Educational Institute itself in its Rourou magazine.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000091\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d3575cac3f5042c69562f0f5aa8cca6c\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: If that answer is correct, why did she tell a New Zealand Educational Institute political panel at Epsom Girls Grammar School in Auckland on 20 October that the 90-day rule would not apply to support staff in schools, and what do such clearly misleading statements do now for her credibility as education Minister?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000092\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220009764bee8146a48419cc9abe5089f0\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The issue of what Ministers can be asked has already arisen and the Hon David Cunliffe pointed out that his question related to a statement the relevant Minister had made subsequent to the election. It seems to me the quote that the honourable member is asking the Minister to confirm is a statement made prior to the election, and, as Minister, she is not responsible for that. I invite the member to reword his supplementary question to see whether he can bring it within the Standing Orders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000093\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b9351e97832d40dea251fc0dd59575d2\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Can I just clarify that what you are saying to the House is that a Minister may do the exact opposite of what he or she pledged to the country before the election and in no sense is accountable to Parliament for that?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000094\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222565c064551a43ab8af7cff65b498fbc\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Standing Orders are very clear on the matter. Ministers are separate people from other persons such as leaders of political parties or members of political parties, and in this Chamber Ministers, including the Prime Minister, can be questioned only on their actions and plans as Ministers and Prime Minister, not on any role they may have as political persons, or leaders of parties. There are many Speakers\u2019 rulings that cover that issue, and I am sure the honourable member is well aware of that. In fact, I am aware that the matter was discussed with the Labour Party only this morning in relation to questions being lodged today. The way that questions are to be handled in respect of confirming statements made prior to the election has to be handled carefully. I invite the member to ask a supplementary question and to bring it inside the Standing Orders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000095\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022550998442edc4f7585e032a1a37925c8\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. It would be in order for us to ask Mrs Tolley whether she has seen a statement made on a certain date, because she may have seen that since the election and since she became a Minister, and whether she can confirm that she made it but, in fact, it does not represent her views.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000096\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b4189ae123bb424d9440558873d1db2c\u0022\u003EHon Rodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: Of course, Dr Cullen is quite right, but it would be helpful if he gave his advice to the front bench of the Labour caucus outside this Chamber rather than having to come down and rescue Chris Carter and so embarrass him.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000097\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002263230c31f4a249e9b5abe50cc0df23e5\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I have heard sufficient on this matter. The point that Dr Cullen made initially is quite correct. The material is not outside the realm of the Standing Orders; the issue is how questions are asked about it. I invite the Hon Chris Carter to bring his question within the Standing Orders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000098\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a7fb4ced912d4b448d6141ed91ee41ed\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: How does the Minister reconcile her statement to the House just a few minutes ago that she had clarified this matter with the New Zealand Educational Institute in September before its October edition of its magazine, when the date that I have just quoted is 20 October?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000099\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022977cccaf-581d-4f48-924e-32bf6c54a93d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002233d9942ecb8e4b42a3531e0534d4354c\u0022\u003EHon ANNE TOLLEY\u003C/span\u003E: I have not seen that statement. I remind the member of what is printed here in the New Zealand Educational Institute\u2019s own document and I repeat\u2014I clarify\u2014that I had communications widely with the sector groups throughout September and October and I made it very clear to them that there would be no legislative exemption for teachers and other staff.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000100\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224d13b25e62784237b4bac79d7e84211a\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave of the House to table the October edition of Rourou in which Mrs Tolley clearly states that teachers will be exempted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000101\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c8f98de4e9d9443088c51952abb36889\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that document being tabled? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000102\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000103\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a9e3c53b67064cdfa6a250afaaf750fb\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave of the House to submit the transcript of a speech shown on Television One on 11 December. It is of Mrs Tolley telling the New Zealand Educational Institute meeting in Rotorua that teachers would be exempt.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000104\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aa0434840bd54b51b3783a88ae8e3aca\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Can I just seek from the honourable member\u2014was the member seeking to have that document tabled?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000105\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d4506109-be18-4b9d-9a79-1e15e2e2cd41\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022be1608427a6d4cd6a5bb1ad8899b7905\u0022\u003EHon Chris Carter\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, I am seeking leave for the transcript to be tabled.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000106\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220648fb11c6be40dda14557e8f9c74bde\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that transcript being tabled? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000107\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000108\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022ace1f0b36b7c4fd2a6436455e02cfbf2\u0022\u003EAccident Compensation\u2014Increased Costs\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000109\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022dc6c0f88-e781-476d-bca1-d1bf9b69302b\u0022\u003E4. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220d235515b5774ad582bd0bc3302b3617\u0022\u003EAMY ADAMS (National\u2014Selwyn)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for ACC: What advice has he received on increased costs for accident compensation over the term of this Parliament and when was he first advised of these?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022 data-id=\u00220ed4df32cb5944559d4d5c4bcf8755b8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000110\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220ed4df32cb5944559d4d5c4bcf8755b8\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for ACC):\u003C/span\u003E Officials sought an urgent briefing immediately after the Prime Minister\u2019s announcement of my appointment, and before I was sworn in as Minister. They advised that the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) had a significant funding crisis in the non-earners account that required an additional appropriation of $297 million, or an additional 32 percent, this financial year, arising from escalating costs. I have subsequently been advised of significant blowouts in the other accounts, with an average 26 percent increase in costs for next year. The total increased cost for the term of this Parliament is $4.093 billion.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000111\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022dc6c0f88-e781-476d-bca1-d1bf9b69302b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022afb2d8d01d144f3f9618163d7f15f36d\u0022\u003EAmy Adams\u003C/span\u003E: Will the Government have to increase accident compensation levies on workers, employers, and motor vehicles to meet this multibillion-dollar blowout?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000112\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002268197b2be0f54ea5b50ffc35f38dfaf6\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Officials have recommended very substantial levy increases on all the accounts for this year and subsequent years to fund these blowouts. The Government\u2019s view is that households and businesses are in no position to be facing huge additional accident compensation levies. This has to be balanced against the legal requirement to fully fund accident compensation over the medium term. The levy increases I will be detailing this afternoon for the earners and work accounts are half those that are recommended by the Department of Labour. We will be advancing work urgently to contain costs and to investigate extending the full funding period to minimise these increases in future years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000113\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022deb429382b0a45f4981af69fb221c217\u0022\u003EHon Ruth Dyson\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Minister aware that the ACC conducted a widely publicised public consultation process prior to the election, outlining the proposed levy rates for 2009-10; if he is not aware of that fact, what does that say about his attention to detail, and, if he is aware of that fact, why did he not tell Bill English and John Key, to stop them making fools of themselves by suddenly being shot by the proposed levy rates?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000114\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229508a1779ea7476685aafbcb50d76ae0\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Hon Nick Smith may answer whichever of those questions he chooses.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000115\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222a34f165951f48b3a6d746d13318ca64\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: The basic problem is that the levies on which the previous Government consulted with the community were significantly less than what is required to fund the blowouts. The part that I find extraordinary about the Labour Party is that its members have dismissed these sums as insignificant, and that is perhaps why the new Government is facing a decade of deficits.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000116\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022659f6556-09a1-4ead-bc52-05cbdb4eaab8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022264f2018c0d14b33a73dbc7b7e2860ca\u0022\u003ECraig Foss\u003C/span\u003E: What advice has the Minister received on the accuracy of a statement made by the Hon David Parker in respect of the non-earners account blowout not being in the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update, where he says: \u201CPapers show that Ministers acted appropriately throughout, as the money needed had not been quantified until the election period.\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000117\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226ec63331f7c34cf1b8bdc287eacc7fcd\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: The money needed was clearly identified in a report to the former Minister on 14 August, based on a PricewaterhouseCoopers valuation. A further 60-page technical report was completed by ACC on 22 August, which confirmed those figures. The election was not called until 12 September, and the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update closing-off date was 8 September, after the previous Government had that information. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000118\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022659f6556-09a1-4ead-bc52-05cbdb4eaab8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002237ad286f9bf34fc7b7d2b0f0cc47087d\u0022\u003ECraig Foss\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Minister aware of the Cabinet minute of 10 December 2007 that noted increased costs in the non-earners account and required the then Minister to report back on a clear funding policy before the levy-setting process began in August 2008; if so, did that occur?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000119\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a22761034ebb4132bf4f4abc1040e01e\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, there was a very clear Cabinet minute last December requiring the former Minister to report back on funding issues in the non-earners account. That did not occur, and there is no explanation as to why it did not occur.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000120\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022659f6556-09a1-4ead-bc52-05cbdb4eaab8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224441006062554a1b890eb89c20a6729c\u0022\u003ECraig Foss\u003C/span\u003E: Has the Minister received any advice about the accuracy of the statement issued by the former Labour Minister for ACC as to why the blowout was not included in the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000121\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002212453231f6b44770a58e7e2cb1feea0b\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Yes. The statement is inaccurate in three respects. It states the first advice the former Minister received was on 14 August, yet the chief executive of the ACC has advised me that the then Minister was given a heads-up in May. The statement also claims that the paper, dated 14 August, states: \u201Capproximately $300 million per annum 2009-2013;\u201D. The paper never uses the word \u201Capproximately\u201D, but notes that the change in baselines was $305.654 million and gives equal accuracy in subsequent years. Contrary also to Ms Street\u2019s statement, it also specifically notes a request for increased appropriations in this financial year\u2014something she did not disclose. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000122\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022659f6556-09a1-4ead-bc52-05cbdb4eaab8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022152db751721f4ca9a416b8b2dde2c1b9\u0022\u003ECraig Foss\u003C/span\u003E: What advice has the Minister received on the accuracy of the claim made by the Hon David Parker that it would have been constitutionally inappropriate for the Labour Government to address this urgent problem in the non-earners account during the election period?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000123\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c05567b1be9b4faca6390119bb393a50\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: The statement is also incorrect. That additional appropriation was not from any change of policy but simply to maintain an existing level of accident compensation cover. I find it strange also that Labour would make that claim, when it seemed to be no problem at all for it to promise, in the middle of an election campaign, interest-free student loans, big increases in Working for Families, and many other initiatives. It seems that if it is good news, Labour can do it; if it is bad news, it hides it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000124\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226dab00e148fb42bd869cd8d6044baed2\u0022\u003EHon Ruth Dyson\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table two documents. The first is the advice from ACC of 14 August to the former Minister, giving the indicative outline of changes to the appropriation baselines of \u201Capproximately $300 million 2009-2013\u201D, and also the accompanying documents from the Department of Labour and Treasury challenging that advice and telling the former Minister that they were seeking independent actuarial advice. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000125\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223d8f31b91142457bbed274028b95f2ef\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for those documents. Is there any objection to those documents being tabled? There is objection. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000126\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d8c74c9ee20c425e8ddb935133fd3a78\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave of the House\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000127\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a377cf650c49444bbf6562c901cfa63c\u0022\u003EHon Ruth Dyson\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. You put the leave request only on the first document, so I think my point of order comes before the Minister\u2019s point.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000128\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e89a36ab5e104741bb6c55eb2e18bd2a\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Both members will resume their seats. As I heard the honourable member, I thought she had described two documents, because if she were not describing two documents, her description was way too long, and I alert her to that. I had given the call, on a point of order, to the Hon Nick Smith, and that point of order will be heard now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000129\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dd319fc55b0840199e8d7ac3616249da\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: I seek the leave of the House to table three documents. The first of those is a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, dated 7 August 2008, that values the outstanding claim liabilities for the ACC. The second document I seek leave to table is in respect of the report to the former Minister on 14 August 2008, detailing to three decimal places the additional appropriations required, and the third I seek leave to table is a technical report on Vote ACC, dated 22 August 2008, which is the review and the confirmation of the size of the appropriation that was required.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022525a66fd80d9410c8f54d4e010608081\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to those documents being tabled? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000131\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EDocuments, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000132\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002210a2bab93992437a8b25a2582705ea0b\u0022\u003EHon Ruth Dyson\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table the advice from the Department of Labour given to the former Minister for ACC about the fact that it was considered unconstitutional for Cabinet at that time to make decisions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000133\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221706a22eab1f4dddb7a5bef6cd507e01\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that document being tabled? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000134\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000135\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022ccafb5581c0248fe9f2bbbccf81e5f25\u0022\u003EClimate Change\u2014ACT Confidence and Supply Agreement\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000136\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E5. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a1f629a9a0ea4938914646ce5dda837c\u0022\u003EHon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition)\u003C/span\u003E to the Prime Minister: Does his confidence and supply agreement with the ACT Party imply that he is suspicious of climate change and not even sure it is a problem, or that he is a firm believer in climate change and always has been?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022 data-id=\u00226210aa1365fd44199b223e9030e167b8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000137\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226210aa1365fd44199b223e9030e167b8\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E The member can rest assured that I believe that human-induced climate change is occurring, and that my Government will take a balanced approach to reducing New Zealand\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions. I guess that what we have learnt post-election is that I believe in human-induced climate change a lot more than that member believes in the Electoral Finance Act.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000138\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d503b4759e0c483aaa382b9d4f2654b7\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Which of the four contradictory positions that the New Zealand Herald says the Government has held on emissions trading over the last 6 weeks, or, indeed, which of the two contradictory positions that the Prime Minister has stated\u2014which were quoted in the original question\u2014is the Government\u2019s actual position?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000139\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fb4679d08ccd4b30817acb6ff7050d81\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: The Government\u2019s position is that we will have a high-level select committee, chaired by the Hon Peter Dunne, review the climate change legislation that is in place. It is the Government\u2019s view that legislation should be passed by 30 September 2009.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000140\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d01860e0d8874a0a8010597a4a97a32a\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: What confidence can the country have in the Prime Minister\u2019s claim that he is committed to combating climate change and that he is committed to the Kyoto Protocol, when every action that he has taken since the election has moved New Zealand in the opposite direction\u2014suspending the emissions trading scheme, repealing biofuel obligations, opening up the expansion of thermal generation, and scrapping energy conservation measures such as insulating older homes?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000141\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b74df17a0fb44ad189cc1d69cb534ea1\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: The member can rest assured that the Government will be taking a balanced approach when it comes to climate change\u2014balancing our environmental responsibilities with our economic opportunities. I might point out to the member that for all of the rhetoric of the last 9 years, it will not be lost on the member that when his Government was in office emissions rose faster in New Zealand than they did in America under George W Bush.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000142\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fc1298318a9744449349816e4397fbeb\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Why has the Government pulled the rug out from under the $10 million investment of BioDiesel Oils (NZ) Ltd in research and development, which has the impact of slowing New Zealand\u2019s achievement of self-sufficiency in transport fuel and increasing Kyoto Protocol costs; is it, as a former National Party president, Sue Wood, has suggested, because of pressure on the Government from vested interests in the oil industry?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000143\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225317090e43374a3ea8916c826872fa3f\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: The Government is committed to ensuring that biofuels play a part in our future, but I should point out\u2014and the member will be aware, just as others are aware\u2014that the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment herself indicated that biofuels, unless one can be sure that they are from a sustainable source, should not be included. Rather than mandating that we take on biofuels from a source that we cannot be sure is sustainable, we are going to build up a proper supply, and it will be used in the future.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000144\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022659f6556-09a1-4ead-bc52-05cbdb4eaab8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b4d846e2fa404f899c529e03d8a3928e\u0022\u003ECraig Foss\u003C/span\u003E: Can the Prime Minister confirm what the level of deforestation under the previous Government was, and what New Zealand\u2019s emissions profile for the last 9 years was?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000145\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c73a2026c6f14f31adf984e1ae5f8f2e\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I can confirm that New Zealand lost 37,000 hectares of forest in the last 5 years while New Zealand\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions grew by 12 percent\u2014faster than those of the United States and Australia. That suggests that the record of the previous Labour Government, which liked to talk a lot about climate change, was far from anything to be proud of.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000146\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228b24f7ab29c84b9198a70ed09d2a1aa4\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: To what extent did New Zealand\u2019s changing position on emissions trading and climate change affect the Prime Minister\u2019s credibility and undermine his ability to persuade Gordon Brown to remove the sustainability tax on long-distance travel; or was the real problem the strength of his advocacy, about which the Dominion Post said: \u201CHopefully he was a more compelling advocate of New Zealand\u2019s interests behind closed doors.\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000147\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d9e91a5e4ce340f6802d66eee5a3d984\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister\u2014sorry, the member; he was a Minister once, in the good old days, I guess, for him\u2014will be aware, if he has done his homework, that the departure tax being proposed by the United Kingdom is unfounded, that it is does not have a good basis, that it is larger than any carbon tax that could be reasonably justified, and that, in fact, it is deeply hypocritical, because it was announced in a mini-Budget in the United Kingdom at a time when financial reforms there lowered the costs imposed on larger carbon emitting cars. I can tell the member that the Government is continuing to work on the issue, and is looking to get a successful resolution.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000148\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220fd025da53b0445e8b3027659fb9d524\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave of the House to table the editorial from the Dominion Post stating that it hopes Mr Key was more compelling behind closed doors than he was in public.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000149\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224ced831d36be445b91f720a692bd6953\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that document being tabled? There is objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000150\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220f5bbbe7de3f4d9a979447fdfc71facd\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table a letter from a former President of the National Party, Sue Wood, outlining the case of Tom McNicholl, who, of course, has lost $10 million because of the reversal of the\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000151\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fc204888f3904fc6bd001d594046da12\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that document being tabled? There is no objection to that document being tabled.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000152\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000153\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bbe436ad5875415da9c972481cbcc1ac\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table the New Zealand Energy and Environment Business Week, which sets out that the Government\u2019s actions have meant the loss of $400 million worth of\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000154\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229b7f70171c694e94a1aa0296ed2a5bf2\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that document being tabled? There is objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000155\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00228d17ad006edc479bbddc2c47b8161bd2\u0022\u003EEmissions Trading Scheme\u2014Amending Legislation\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000156\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E6. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022306c058c8f1b4827a2847eba5dc2fc7f\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader\u2014Green)\u003C/span\u003E to the Prime Minister: When does his Government expect to pass \u201Can amendment to the ETS legislation delaying its implementation\u201D as agreed to in the National-ACT confidence and supply agreement?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022 data-id=\u0022b6ba2d5b295b4b19bead8fd5e3ede794\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000157\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b6ba2d5b295b4b19bead8fd5e3ede794\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E As agreed with the ACT Party, the Government has moved to set up a special select committee to review the emissions trading scheme and related matters. This week, legislation will be debated in the House to repeal the ban on thermal generation. The Government has committed, as I said earlier, to amending the emissions trading scheme legislation by no later than 30 September 2009.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000158\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022133b208c17214b73a6f89f62c0fd7000\u0022\u003EJeanette Fitzsimons\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Prime Minister saying he does not intend to legislate at this stage to put the emissions trading scheme on hold, yet that is what he has told foresters that he is doing; if that is the case, does he mean that foresters will still be able to claim credits in January for carbon sequestered during 2008 in post-1989 forests, as provided for in the Act?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000159\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e50e46a475af4548a2c8d1cfbe99ddb9\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I have not had any direct conversation with foresters. What I have pointed out is that no element will be currently affected by the emissions trading scheme legislation, because, effectively, it will not begin until 2010 when stationary energy comes into the scheme. It will be the Government\u2019s intention that the high-level select committee will have met, and the revised legislation passed by 30 September. On that basis the matter would have been cleared up before any elements come into the emissions trading scheme that could be used to offset the forestry sector.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000160\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223b083fa562084e72bccffb886d22dba5\u0022\u003EChris Auchinvole\u003C/span\u003E: Has the Prime Minister received any reports that indicate the need to be cautious in the implementation of an emissions trading scheme?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000161\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002212efceb19c1342c0a754296142135793\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, I have. The Australian Government yesterday released its white paper on the proposed carbon pollution reduction scheme. As I have said many times previously, we need to make sure that New Zealand\u2019s measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are aligned as appropriate with those measures taken in Australia.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000162\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f324c57fe31b476b8022c6ade46e49b5\u0022\u003EHon Pete Hodgson\u003C/span\u003E: When the Prime Minister said in question No. 5 that we needed to balance environmental action against economic opportunity, does that mean that the default position in his thinking is that, all other things being equal, assertive climate change action is economically deleterious?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000163\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224ec40412ffae4fd4ae3cbe70eb80e500\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: The member can rest assured that we intend to take a balanced approach to climate change and to our economic responsibilities. We will not export jobs, nor will we go around the countryside, as that member did when he was a Minister, telling New Zealanders that they were about to earn half-a-billion dollars off the Kyoto Protocol, when, in fact, it is now costing them a sum equivalent to that amount.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000164\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fc70e751381b48168824ff74c4f8b103\u0022\u003EJeanette Fitzsimons\u003C/span\u003E: With regard to those parts of the emissions trading scheme that came into force on 1 January 2008\u2014relating to forestry\u2014will the Prime Minister put on hold the penalty regime for deforestation during 2008, and the credits that foresters expect to claim in January 2009 for the carbon sequestered by their forests this year?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000165\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221b738dbab48f4b0986ef78e2c9b333ec\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: The current legislation and rules about deforestation stay in place, pending the outcome of the select committee. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000166\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ba55724423e34cf582a8bca00f63e189\u0022\u003EJeanette Fitzsimons\u003C/span\u003E: In that case, what, precisely, is the Prime Minister suspending or putting on hold, given that nothing else is due to come in until 2010 and he is retaining the parts that are already in force; or is the Prime Minister saying that the forestry bit may be taken out of force later, which means they will have to give their credits back?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000167\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002217ee8ed70b434767b1cfae2b3febcb7e\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: That is exactly the point. Nothing is coming in until 2010 outside of forestry. The high-level select committee will have reported back. It is the hope of the Government that the legislation that will replace the existing emissions trading scheme legislation will be in place long before January 2010. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000168\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002223346311ec3a4be2abaf194cb2fd1dfd\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Did the Prime Minister just suggest then that this is all smoke and mirrors, and he is not doing anything\u2014he is not suspending anything?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000169\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c61350aef0d64975b5a2531811d88cb2\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: There is nothing about reviewing the emissions trading scheme legislation that is smoke and mirrors. What we intend to do is pass legislation that balances our environmental responsibility with our economic opportunities. We will do so in a way that will put some clarity in the legislation, and, actually, will do so in a way that works, which is a whole lot better than the climate change policy that his previous Government had. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000170\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022db4f5e84b742410587407cf6369ea5d6\u0022\u003EJeanette Fitzsimons\u003C/span\u003E: What reports has the Prime Minister received from Mr Groser in Pozn\u00E1n on how our Kyoto partners have received the news that New Zealand is reviewing or suspending the emissions trading scheme, has cancelled plans to make sustainable biofuels in New Zealand, has cancelled its preference for renewable electricity, has cancelled its Green Homes Fund, and gets its police to spy on organisations campaigning for a responsible attitude to climate change? Has anyone in Pozn\u00E1n given New Zealand the fossil of the year award yet?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000171\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223a5b71a8a5ab4c85bee7f009e857e175\u0022\u003EHon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I am not sure the Sunday Star-Times has made it all the way to Poland yet, but, putting that to one side, I expect that our partners will be looking at New Zealand in exactly the same way that they reviewed what came out of Australia yesterday, which was a very considered and balanced approach to climate change.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000172\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022fac0c525aad74a6e8b3799ec14bf13c6\u0022\u003EHousing Stock\u2014Reports\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000173\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003E7. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022badc7bee7ce64614bec27ff7648fe9da\u0022\u003EJONATHAN YOUNG (National\u2014New Plymouth)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Housing: What reports has he seen on the status of New Zealand\u2019s housing stock?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022cbb83aab-9566-44c4-9029-8bda4aaca7f2\u0022 data-id=\u0022a5fafc950c554572b3caf26e26d1aa8f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000174\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbb83aab-9566-44c4-9029-8bda4aaca7f2\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022a5fafc950c554572b3caf26e26d1aa8f\u0022\u003EHon PHIL HEATLEY (Minister of Housing):\u003C/span\u003E The briefing to the incoming Minister from Housing New Zealand Corporation revealed that \u201CIt is estimated about $2 billion is required to address the deferred maintenance and upgrade and modernise State houses to an appropriate standard.\u201D The books show that Labour was going into the depreciation fund to an unprecedented level over the past few years to acquire new State houses, instead of keeping the current ones up to scratch. While Labour was bragging about new State houses, it was actually strip mining the existing stock and leaving its tenants in squalor.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000175\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c8790c5e961d454db114735aecc00e25\u0022\u003EJonathan Young\u003C/span\u003E: What is the Minister going to do about the legacy he has been left?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000176\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbb83aab-9566-44c4-9029-8bda4aaca7f2\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223bf3e65359ec4d758a513af766da1185\u0022\u003EHon PHIL HEATLEY\u003C/span\u003E: Two billion dollars of deferred maintenance and squalor is clearly a huge challenge. We will be taking a balanced but urgent approach to upgrading existing stock. Members will see some increases in the number of State houses, and they will certainly see better management of the State house sector going forward.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000177\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228e686b62-8dc4-4f03-a7b6-2d0f9c874e9a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b37a96d0ce5a4f74be616e059cb99993\u0022\u003EHon George Hawkins\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister\u2019s latest announcement that only South Auckland will see additions made to Housing New Zealand Corporation stock mean that other areas of New Zealand will miss out or even have a reduced number of houses built, and how long has he suffered from the premature announcement syndrome that he appears to have? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000178\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbb83aab-9566-44c4-9029-8bda4aaca7f2\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002243d0b85df5f349448fb5b90e8974ee9a\u0022\u003EHon PHIL HEATLEY\u003C/span\u003E: I do not recall saying South Auckland was the only place that would see some increase in State houses. I have said that National has a high priority on upgrading the State housing stock, particularly in light of this $2 billion deficit, that members will see some increases in State house numbers, and that we will most certainly be better managing the State house sector.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000179\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022895c646441a24b229ad4bfb340e285dd\u0022\u003EJonathan Young\u003C/span\u003E: What will be your priority?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000180\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220816c4486d9f4cbf9c55deb13835a341\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I would love to know your priorities, but I am sure the member meant to ask what the Minister\u2019s priority is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000181\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a0c1cd69b1bb4af49b4feedb48be23c3\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The honourable member makes a perfectly valid point. Could Jonathan Young direct his question to the Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000182\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ebeb9b04781b47ddafc9f1c4e4fc4f8b\u0022\u003EJonathan Young\u003C/span\u003E: What will be the Minister\u2019s priority?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000183\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbb83aab-9566-44c4-9029-8bda4aaca7f2\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f994426fe8ec4c508a7cd8bfaa785833\u0022\u003EHon PHIL HEATLEY\u003C/span\u003E: The National Government will not be directing the Housing New Zealand Corporation to gut the depreciation fund in the way that Labour did. We are going to take a balanced but urgent approach. We are going to upgrade these State houses, and we intend to do it with some urgency. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000184\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbb83aab-9566-44c4-9029-8bda4aaca7f2\u0022\u003EI seek leave to table the briefing that says there is $2 billion worth of deferred maintenance.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000185\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002204c4a529195a4e8ab7db771b9a415b66\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that document being tabled? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000186\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000187\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022eeab2e340ddc4c1b951749ad21f5bd2a\u0022\u003EGovernment Legislation\u2014Referral to Select Committees\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000188\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E8. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a974be4d0ce04f15bf143b1147888448\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Labour)\u003C/span\u003E to the Leader of the House: Is it Government policy that no bill will be referred to a select committee if it was National Party policy for the general election 2008?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u00223f960715e36942d2860ca803b105184b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000189\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223f960715e36942d2860ca803b105184b\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House):\u003C/span\u003E No.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000190\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002285b45b9c689e463eaba76e9239a85ae7\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: How does the Minister reconcile that fulsome answer with the fact that last week the only reason he gave for bills not being referred to select committees was that they were in the National Party\u2019s election policy? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000191\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a0b9f19680e74a2d94fafd50ffdfe5a9\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Because they were. It may surprise the Minister to learn\u2014[Interruption]\u2014the member; I am sorry. I know from long and bitter experience how much the member on that side of the House loves those little moments. It may surprise the member to learn that the Government has decided in the very short time prior to the very, very long Christmas break that it wanted to advance some legislation that it felt was important for the economy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b597c0f740b141d8939455b695ac374c\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: Does the increasing confusion just expressed by that supplementary answer over his management of the Government\u2019s business in the House reflect the new Government\u2019s instruction to officials to avoid the use of words such as \u201Cstrategy\u201D, \u201Ccollaboration\u201D, and \u201Ccoordination\u201D in Government reports, or is that just a coincidence?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000193\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022990e6776bc604950a33260df0c36ce7a\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I am struggling to understand what Dr Cullen is so upset about. It would be interesting to know what Dr Cullen is so upset at. I look at his own record and I look at his performance over the last 9 years, and I tell you what, I have learnt a thing or two off him. I recall Dr Cullen coming into this House and introducing the 2006 Appropriation (Parliamentary Expenditure Validation) Bill. There was no bill on the Table and no explanation to Parliament, and that is because it was the bill that made legal the terrible pledge-card spending of the Labour Party. At least every bill we have put in does good\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000194\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e0cf2c25e4804d568e65b3cdd03eee7b\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member will resume his seat. Answers to questions are not meant to be opportunities for major speeches.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000195\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ea65c811f85e4b178a0ed434a78d6533\u0022\u003EHon Simon Power\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Leader of the House confident that all members of the House could ask meaningful questions during the select committee process, and has he received any reports about the lodging of oral questions?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000196\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e4933b52db9d4be6bc76e0c24a6298e0\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I must report to my fellow Minister that I have grave concerns about that. I heard a report this morning about a member of this House of very high standing, a member who has some 24 years\u2019 experience, a member who spent 15 of those years as a Minister, a member who we might have thought would understand the question and answer process quite well, but here we are in the first day of question time in the new Parliament, and that member completely mishmashed and hashed up his question lodging to a point where, somewhat embarrassingly, he had to resubmit it. That member, of course, was none other than the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon Phil Goff. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000197\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022200604dceac141d7b6d467eb90ba89fc\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: Of course, the National Party never had to resubmit a question. Does the Leader of the House now consider it good policy to refer bills to select committees; if so, will he discuss with his colleague the Minister of Energy the desirability of referring the legislation to repeal the mandatory biofuels requirement to a select committee, as it is likely to cost jobs in New Zealand and make it easier to import unsustainable biofuels?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000198\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223cc226c84bca48b9acfe6b799657a132\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: The matter of the biofuels bill will be discussed this afternoon and all of the relevant information sought by the member will be given. Does this House recall whether a bill was sent to a select committee after a long period of extraordinary urgency, when the House went through until 5 o\u2019clock in the morning, putting a little bit of extra tax on grandma\u2019s sherry\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000199\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e5f1a08fdf0f4b79b72dafb7a5f0aea8\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member will sit down and resume his seat. The honourable member will resume his seat when I stand. I just remind the member that, having answered the question, he should not go on to make a speech. I think it is something that both sides of the House need to be aware of. Some questions have been too long and some answers have been too long. There is some fault on both sides. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000200\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002289954bee24234ac8926d696fd7492966\u0022\u003EElectoral Finance Act\u2014Repeal\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000201\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003E9. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cf5a0d6e513044b2adec574f31039814\u0022\u003EJOHN BOSCAWEN (ACT)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Justice: On what date is the Government planning to repeal the Electoral Finance Act and introduce new electoral law?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022 data-id=\u0022ed9368a3e9fd4220abb0033cff862ca4\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000202\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ed9368a3e9fd4220abb0033cff862ca4\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice):\u003C/span\u003E As part of its first 100 days\u2019 commitment the Government intends to repeal\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000203\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225348713796d34cb0818d7d1ad9f55f48\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Fight them on the beaches.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000204\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b47f441da72c46f2964c1e3369726666\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER\u003C/span\u003E: Well, that member should go back to his seat. Oh, that is right, he does not have one.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000205\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bb7bd9b7ea3a4074be96b7b792f8aada\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: We have lost a fair bit of time today with unnecessary interjections, and I am sure that members of the House would like to see a little more decorum.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000206\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022756a0ee628194a4092c9d47e19ec4f89\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER\u003C/span\u003E: As part of its first 100 days\u2019 commitment the Government intends to repeal the Electoral Finance Act 2007 and replace it with an interim regime by 26 February 2009. The precise date is yet to be determined and it will depend on the cooperation of other parties in the House, which I hope will be forthcoming.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000207\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002258d58756366f4d88aac27fa8f6202a20\u0022\u003EJohn Boscawen\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister support free speech; if so, does he agree that political parties should have the right to purchase their own broadcasting time outside taxpayer-funded allocations?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000208\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022252fa63c4b5d4f699b188165a9536c4a\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER\u003C/span\u003E: By and large, yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000209\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224cd915a5b2eb4666bd0a8dc0cc32f26d\u0022\u003EHon Lianne Dalziel\u003C/span\u003E: Can the Minister advise whether the ACT Party has requested that the repeal bill contains a retrospective provision to annul the ACT Party supporter\u2019s complaint about the Hi-de-Hi! jacket, which has caused the Hon Rodney Hide to be embarrassed and has led him to concede that the public had a right to be furious about what was nothing more than a stunt?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000210\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225ae633365a11469b9428fef342ddab6d\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER\u003C/span\u003E: I can advise the member that I have no knowledge of such a request.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000211\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224b33576520eb4eb899c4dcb7514fff1b\u0022\u003EHon Rodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. There is a requirement under the Standing Orders that questions are to be factually accurate. I was furious, but I was not furious with the supporter of the ACT Party\u2014I love them all. I was furious about that crazy law that Lianne Dalziel and the Green Party passed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000212\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e20cf72202a64b97a80b6f0747c3a4ff\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: What the member has raised is not actually a point of order. However, what he might have raised was that the Hon Lianne Dalziel\u2019s question was not in order because the Standing Orders do not provide for that kind of information to be put in a supplementary question, where it is bringing into question what other members may or may not have said. If the member wants to check the Standing Orders, then I am sure she will find that ruling.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000213\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022036d6d2f55064bb396cfa1a3478b3b2d\u0022\u003EHon Lianne Dalziel\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table the article from the New Zealand Herald on 4 December that quoted the honourable member.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000214\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022294f0595a1824f758d273a8b3407f54a\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000215\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000216\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c0e7306454724777bc87e5bbc1a03403\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Could I just make it clear to honourable members that I ruled not because the member raised the issue; it was the manner in which she raised it. If the member wishes to check the Standing Orders in respect of questions, she will see that it spells out what they are allowed to contain and what they are not allowed to contain, and she will see that that kind of reference to material is out of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000217\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022edb7e2d799bb40bf9255986e01000e3c\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Did the Minister\u2019s earlier answer to Mr Boscawen imply that he is contemplating amending the Broadcasting Act to allow wealthy vested interests to spend as much as they like during an election campaign; or, if that is not what he was implying, then what was he trying to say?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000218\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222b3ef10471d44d60b0ae7a85db7ab86d\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER\u003C/span\u003E: I say to Mr Goff that I was referring to the first part of the question, which was \u201CDoes the Minister support free speech,\u201D. [Interruption]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000219\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221ca237fd50224aa58d50c93ff11f31eb\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Members should show respect to other members in the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000220\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a11e525d0ef848079c045916fb364910\u0022\u003EChester Borrows\u003C/span\u003E: What reports has the Minister seen regarding the potential cross-party support for reform of electoral laws?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000221\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c09e2dd2bd274baa9acbcab21fbf0bec\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER\u003C/span\u003E: I have been sufficiently encouraged by statements made by the Leader of the Opposition since the election that suggest there is now a willingness to participate in a bipartisan approach to the reform of electoral administration. Because cross-party consensus has historically been the hallmark of electoral reform in New Zealand, the Government believes this path is most likely to lead to enduring legislative frameworks. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000222\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cf80baf1418341ffabde3275ad7969a2\u0022\u003EJohn Boscawen\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister think it fair and reasonable that at the last election ACT was restricted to $100,000, while the taxpayer contributed around $1 million to each of Labour and National\u2019s broadcasting spend; if so, would he consider allowing smaller political parties like ACT to spend their own money, at least to match the two big old parties?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000223\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226a006919c3e047bbaa0c25284b3b744c\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER\u003C/span\u003E: I am sure that all issues of fairness and matters relating to parties of all sizes, both those represented presently and those represented potentially in this House in the future, will be taken into consideration and factored into an enduring legislative framework solution, which we all hope all parties will participate in. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000224\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022f11f5cd69e4843b787d64d9f920dd8ee\u0022\u003EAgriculture\u2014Speech from the Throne\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000225\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E10. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b76978d4b347416fbf974c7b63c66396\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON (Leader\u2014Progressive)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Agriculture: Is he aware of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry briefing to incoming Minister that states: \u201CThe agriculture, food and forestry industries are the core of our economy, major determinants of our employment and social well being and key drivers of our land, water and biological resource use\u201D; if so, how many times was the word \u201Cagriculture\u201D used in the Speech from the Throne?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022 data-id=\u0022e70f884bc0104f35939d3ade581781f4\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000226\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e70f884bc0104f35939d3ade581781f4\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CARTER (Minister of Agriculture):\u003C/span\u003E Yes, I am aware of that briefing, and I was extremely pleased to see that the briefing recognises what National policy has been for the last many years. Unlike the Opposition, we have always supported New Zealand agriculture and we have never considered it a sunset industry, as Labour did previously. The word \u201Cagriculture\u201D was mentioned in the Speech from the Throne, but, more important, the speech promised action in areas of real concern to farmers such as the Resource Management Act, a more balanced emissions trading scheme, increased infrastructure, and the removal of inefficient red tape\u2014all areas that the member and his colleagues did nothing about over the last 9 years. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022794db4aae9654649ac2bba43d21e5c2e\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I recall you stating publicly that you would take a firmer line in terms of the nature of ministerial answers and certain kinds of questions. Indeed, we had a discussion about these matters. This question asked, first, whether the minister was aware of something, to which the answer is \u201Cyes\u201D or \u201Cno\u201D, and, second, a very simple closed question, \u201Cif so, how many times was the word \u2018agriculture\u2019 used in the Speech from the Throne?\u201D, and the answer to that question is \u201CA number.\u201D I think this is a very good example of the kind of question where you were implying you would require Ministers to actually answer the question rather than go off into a broad political dissertation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000228\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002200489f0365a24cdea37f3bee1bee00d2\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CARTER\u003C/span\u003E: The member may not have heard, but I said the word \u201Cagriculture\u201D was mentioned in the speech, and then went on to mention a number of things that were mentioned in the speech as well, and which were far more important to New Zealand farmers. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000229\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f9de414890724b52915824dcfd3159b7\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: On the point of order made by the Hon Dr Cullen, I accept absolutely that where Ministers are asked a question, we want to try to avoid lots of additional information being provided in answers, because the Standing Orders do require them to be more succinct. I thank the honourable member for reminding me of that, and I am sure Ministers will want to make sure they improve order in the House by following that line. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000230\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002271a84b52ecb64c1cbc8e1beb7474946e\u0022\u003EHon Jim Anderton\u003C/span\u003E: Can I assume, then, that the real answer to the primary question is that the Government never mentioned the importance of agriculture or the primary industries to the New Zealand economy at all in the Speech from the Throne; if so, is this the example of the neglect of the backbone of our economy that we can expect from a Government run by downtown finance market traders? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000231\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228cad5e6105384b1da660724113dde8d3\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CARTER\u003C/span\u003E: As I answered earlier, agriculture was mentioned in the Speech from the Throne. But I went back and researched a Speech from the Throne given in 1999 when Labour became the Government, and in that particular speech agriculture was not mentioned apart from this comment: \u201CNew Zealand remains overdependent upon the production and exporting of commodities.\u201D There was the Labour Government again signalling that it had no interest in agriculture whatsoever. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000232\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ffff330f-1757-41d6-9973-25244f0fdada\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002294744b9cddc848bda7b3b29ba934a3c5\u0022\u003EColin King\u003C/span\u003E: What other reports has the Minister seen from the rural community on the Government\u2019s Speech from the Throne? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000233\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aa4d1df81357414bbf76939ed0c74921\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CARTER\u003C/span\u003E: I have seen a number of very positive reports on the Speech from the Throne, including a press release dated 9 December 2008 from New Zealand\u2019s leading rural sector organisation, Federated Farmers, stating that farmers are \u201Cpleased Government is on the same page\u201D, that farmers are \u201Cencouraged by a new Government that values the real builders of the economy\u201D, and that National\u2019s promises are \u201Clike green grass to farmers\u201D\u2014very high praise indeed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000234\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022621712d22424480eba92df1fadd6d616\u0022\u003EHon Jim Anderton\u003C/span\u003E: Why would anyone believe that our primary industries are even vaguely on this Government\u2019s agenda or the Minister\u2019s agenda, when the Government\u2019s own outline of its programme for the next 3 years never mentioned once our primary industries, the word \u201Cfarming\u201D, the word \u201Cforestry\u201D, the words \u201Cscientific research\u201D, or even the word \u201Cexport\u201D? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000235\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ffe99070e8414c2d80640d297fa34299\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CARTER\u003C/span\u003E: What the Speech from the Throne outlined were the areas of concern to farmers, and this Government is intent on doing something about those, not on ignoring the issues or on making compliance worse, as that member did while he was the Minister of Agriculture. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000236\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ffff330f-1757-41d6-9973-25244f0fdada\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002204d4be8bc03746fc9573e5367b254d56\u0022\u003EColin King\u003C/span\u003E: Has the Minister seen any reports on rural representation at a Government level?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000237\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002267afb7cfe5e14f839d1e40b78511533f\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CARTER\u003C/span\u003E: I have seen that this current Government is well represented by rural interests. We have a number of members who are actively farming. We compare that with the Opposition, which, to date, has not even bothered to name its own Opposition spokesperson on agriculture. That is how much interest Labour is showing in New Zealand agriculture.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000238\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002275c021d08884420cb96b3e89119495c0\u0022\u003EHon Jim Anderton\u003C/span\u003E: Was reference to the future of our agriculture industries omitted from the Speech from the Throne because the Prime Minister ignored the advice or submissions of the now Minister of Agriculture, Mr Carter, or was it because the Minister never made any submissions whatever to the speech?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000239\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022587baf4bcaad4a9fb4fb90fc9f6c7ac5\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CARTER\u003C/span\u003E: No.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000240\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e27507551b01473884e279778190651a\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The honourable member might have sought the call before giving his answer, but we will take the answer as given.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000241\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226d85ba97f22446e79e00b1fe524e6dd5\u0022\u003EHon Jim Anderton\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table the Speech from the Throne in 2005 and the Speech from the Throne in 1999, where agriculture and science were part of\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000242\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002230abf6b7a6954bafb36a2f1d4a926206\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought to table those two documents. Is there any objection? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000243\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EDocuments, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000244\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022deae59f25d634467ad7406cc38402987\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CARTER\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table the Speech from the Throne dated 21 December 1999, in which Labour claims that New Zealand is over-dependent on agriculture.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000245\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228522cd6861a64a828b774353fc68b358\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that document being tabled?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000246\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002298d510646d274aa1b56806d2471515a8\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s just been tabled. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000247\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022080cba2fd2f6481fb086b41f69d75aba\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: As I heard\u2014and I stress, as I heard\u2014I thought the Hon Jim Anderton sought to table the Speeches from the Throne for 2005 and 1999. The honourable Minister sought to table the Speech from the Throne for which year?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000248\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e7375300b0b844df976f398bd582855d\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CARTER\u003C/span\u003E: Just to clarify, I understood that the member sought to table the Speeches from the Throne for 2008 and 2005.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000249\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022627d5840a4b44b77a019511ca2d12f29\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: It was difficult to hear because of all the interjections. I ask the Hon Jim Anderton which documents he sought to table.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000250\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229da177f33ec440dc93ee4e862f4b91ce\u0022\u003EHon Jim Anderton\u003C/span\u003E: It was the Speech from the Throne in 1999 and in 2005.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000251\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002201c007f2b0564331a62a60fe0770049b\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Was there any objection to those two documents being tabled? There is no objection. I ask the Hon David Carter which document he seeks to table. There are no further documents.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000252\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022deb9c114992f464ead97ec6fbed36f4b\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. For the third time today when you were on your feet, the Leader of the House carried on speaking at some length while he was on his feet. I suggest that at this early stage of the Parliament it would be wise to draw to the attention of members of the House that when you are on your feet the rest of us should be sitting down and showing you appropriate respect.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000253\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f55a2ed2ab674be299f529881614bcf3\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I thank the honourable member and say to him that I hope he just remembers it himself, as once before, today, the same thing happened.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000254\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002278ccc07c1b7c436cb0a282d451a94d57\u0022\u003ETe Puni K\u014Dkiri\u2014Focus on M\u0101ori Potential\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000255\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ec266512-9fe8-47da-883e-48f046ee5059\u0022\u003E11. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022acc5a771c1f64259a462f7078f8485f2\u0022\u003ETE URUROA FLAVELL (M\u0101ori Party\u2014Waiariki)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs: Kua tau ng\u0101 whakaaro o te Minita ki te arotahi o Te Puni K\u014Dkiri m\u014D te p\u016Bmanawa nohopuku M\u0101ori?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000256\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ec266512-9fe8-47da-883e-48f046ee5059\u0022\u003E[Is the Minister satisfied with the focus of Te Puni K\u014Dkiri on M\u0101ori potential?]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022 data-id=\u0022b37d4f47131647ba8048c292e70ae504\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000257\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b37d4f47131647ba8048c292e70ae504\u0022\u003EHon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs): \u003C/span\u003EK\u0101tahi an\u014D ka t\u012Bmata ng\u0101 k\u014Drero a ng\u0101 \u0101piha o Te Puni K\u014Dkiri ki a ahau. Haere pai ana ng\u0101 k\u014Drero engari, ka m\u0101rama pai ahau ki t\u0113nei kaupapa te p\u016Bmanawa nohopuku M\u0101ori, \u0101 , he pai ki ahau. He tino pai ki ahau t\u0113nei p\u016Bmanawa \u0101taahua.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000258\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ae4bfc5225d447a48dfdf15363390ac8\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. We have not had an interpretation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000259\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022405ad76d194f4fc6bd263dceb9fc637e\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Quite right. I beg your pardon.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000260\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000261\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E[Talks between Te Puni K\u014Dkiri officials and me have just commenced. Good progress has been made and I am better informed about the M\u0101ori Potential Approach. I am impressed by it.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000262\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ec266512-9fe8-47da-883e-48f046ee5059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022130b372ba72244d18b80c3098cf5bd2e\u0022\u003ETe Ururoa Flavell\u003C/span\u003E: What does he consider has been achieved by the M\u0101ori Potential Approach?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000263\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ac117968d0b14e628b30464641c3206c\u0022\u003EHon Dr PITA SHARPLES\u003C/span\u003E: The M\u0101ori Potential Approach has promoted a conscious shift across Government\u2014also a mind-shift\u2014identifying positive outcomes for M\u0101ori going forward, and has provided a very strong platform for effective relationships between M\u0101ori and the Government. It was developed from within the Te Puni K\u014Dkiri policy area, and has its focus totally on the positive areas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000264\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228a9f008d04a0478e9fd88c697527e79d\u0022\u003EHon Parekura Horomia\u003C/span\u003E: Can the Minister explain to the House how the Government\u2019s law that takes away the rights of workers in their first 90 days can possibly help M\u0101ori reach their full potential?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000265\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ab8d8864c4c74f73b0cc7a70cddd752a\u0022\u003EHon Dr PITA SHARPLES\u003C/span\u003E: As the Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000266\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ec266512-9fe8-47da-883e-48f046ee5059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022672754c22693472f9ec87c205a80c604\u0022\u003ETe Ururoa Flavell\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Can I just check with you about the relevance of that question to the primary question. The primary question focused on Te Puni K\u014Dkiri and its approach into the future. I want to check whether the question from the previous Minister is appropriate under that banner.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000267\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229d0e72b18e094d6d80bb41b08d58dcbf\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: The primary question asked whether the Minister was satisfied in terms of the focus by Te Puni K\u014Dkiri on M\u0101ori potential. That opens up questions around M\u0101ori potential, and, indeed, on advice that the Minister may have received on certain matters relating to M\u0101ori potential. I realise it could be a difficult question, but it is perfectly in order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000268\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002266258c7aa52f44deb5a720fa627fde00\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I accept the point the honourable member makes that the primary question does have a range of possible openings in it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000269\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bde4b1bbe7a84913a56703eb02eb3be4\u0022\u003EHon Dr PITA SHARPLES\u003C/span\u003E: T\u0113n\u0101 koe, Mr Speaker. Our party, as a party, spoke against that law, and as a Minister seeking to promote potential amongst the community, I also voted against it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000270\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002228f9b8fa746047d79d4e7eb2f4bbf768\u0022\u003EHon Nanaia Mahuta\u003C/span\u003E: How does the Minister think the Government\u2019s tax changes can possibly help M\u0101ori reach their full potential, when the vast majority of M\u0101ori, who earn between $24,000 and $44,000, are worse off because of the law he supported last week?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000271\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222584850060b74b9b83d04675963afcc6\u0022\u003EHon Dr PITA SHARPLES\u003C/span\u003E: I do not think they help M\u0101ori at all, but M\u0101ori are not worse off, and let us be clear about that; they are still in exactly the same position. But I would point out that those changes were part of the agreement on confidence and supply that we entered into, and we know exactly where we are on that issue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000272\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f9237a0c5b964108a6984cdb9768bedd\u0022\u003EHon Nanaia Mahuta\u003C/span\u003E: Did the Minister receive any advice from his M\u0101ori Party MPs on what benefits will be delivered to M\u0101ori earning between $24,000 and $44,000 that will lift M\u0101ori potential?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000273\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ec266512-9fe8-47da-883e-48f046ee5059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229db4ac4847fc4858834dea04fde6e013\u0022\u003ETe Ururoa Flavell\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Following the line taken by other members earlier, the question asked about the views of the M\u0101ori Party, and that is outside the realm of ministerial responsibility. I ask you to consider that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000274\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ef2efd72812d40f89a3a61785955be49\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: The question asked whether the Minister had received advice from certain people. Who those people are is actually quite irrelevant. One could ask whether the Minister had received advice from these people, those people, or any people. It was a perfectly legitimate question. Ministers may seek advice from anybody.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000275\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ec266512-9fe8-47da-883e-48f046ee5059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022161b7af49d8c4c2f8f79f40540667f81\u0022\u003ETe Ururoa Flavell\u003C/span\u003E: As a member who is new to challenging some of the decisions in our House, I noted earlier, Mr Speaker, that you talked about parties explaining party policy. The question talked about members of the M\u0101ori Party, and, under that view, is the question still relevant and in order?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220f1c48d144fb4d4c8b46ffd49acaa764\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I am happy to rule on this point of order. In so far as the Minister was asking whether the Minister had received advice from anyone, that is a perfectly fair question and the answer can be yes or no as to whether there was advice. But asking about advice from party people, as distinct from officials, would not be in order, because the Minister has no responsibility for any advice he might receive from party members. He does have responsibility for advice he receives from officials. I am sure members will understand the difference. Members can ask him as Minister whom he received advice from; the answer to that may be yes or no. But only advice from officials is relevant to his role as Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000277\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d105d6e3a41e460dada5c7cf4d475b80\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I certainly do not want to question your ruling, but I would like to seek some clarification. Of course, it would be completely inappropriate to ask Dr Sharples about National Party policy, because Dr Sharples is a co-leader of the M\u0101ori Party. We have always been able to ask questions about Mr Key and National Party policy. Mr Key asked questions about the previous Prime Minister and Labour Party policy, because, obviously, she was the leader of the Labour Party in the House. So it does seem to me that we would be in a rather strange position if a M\u0101ori Party co-leader who is a Minister cannot be asked questions about matters relating to M\u0101ori Party policy, and input from his colleagues on policy. Similar questions to those have been asked in the past in the context of the Labour Party, the National Party, or whatever party it may be. We now just happen to have Ministers who are not members of one of the two major parties.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000278\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002233abbe3b00ff40f2aba18e9781180133\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: That is almost a contradiction of what Dr Cullen has so eloquently argued in the past. It would seem that the question simply is whether question time is confined to Dr Sharples\u2019 responsibilities as a Minister, or whether it is open to members asking Dr Sharples anything about anything he has spoken of in a political sense. I would make a strong case, as Dr Cullen has done in the past, for delineating between the responsibilities that Helen Clark had as leader of the Labour Party as opposed to her responsibilities as Prime Minister, and suggest that in Dr Sharples\u2019 case his responsibilities as a Minister inside that portfolio, or any of the portfolios for which he is responsible, should be the limit of reach in the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000279\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ee46f0ca42694b8a806f2d7fc8222944\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: If one was asking about Dr Sharples\u2019 interaction with his colleagues about a matter outside his ministerial portfolio, then to object to that would be perfectly appropriate. But the question was about his discussion with his colleagues about matters inside his portfolio\u2014that is, in relation to the actual nature of the question asked, which was about M\u0101ori potential. That is broad, but, then, that is the very nature of a policy ministry; it covers a very wide range of areas, and any areas that are relevant within that ministry\u2019s work can come up. Mr Speaker, I would find your ruling very strange, because if we take that point, then we could ask Dr Sharples whether he had sought advice from various iwi leaders about M\u0101ori potential, and whether he had sought advice from local authorities about M\u0101ori potential, but not whether he had sought advice from his own M\u0101ori Party colleagues about M\u0101ori potential. I would find that a very strange position for us to end up in.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000280\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002277a63b1df0c849b9bf9ab4a5e8713ac7\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I think that members have raised a serious issue, and it is obviously one that we need to think about very carefully. The Minister clearly has responsibility for Government policy, but he is not responsible for members of the M\u0101ori Party in this House, because those members are not party to the Government in that regard. He has no responsibility as a Minister for the actions of the M\u0101ori Party. That is where we have to be a little careful, and I want to be very careful in my ruling not to expand what has traditionally been the accepted scope of question time. As I said before, I saw nothing wrong with the Minister being asked who had given him advice, but the question, as I heard it, related to the nature of what certain M\u0101ori Party people had said to the Minister. I believe that the point of order raised by Te Ururoa Flavell was a valid one in that the Minister is not accountable in this House for the advice given to him by those M\u0101ori Party members. If it had been official advice\u2014from officials\u2014that would be different. I do not believe I have changed the accepted interpretation of the Standing Orders. I am very happy to discuss the issue further with members of the Opposition, because it is an important issue and it is not going to go away, and I want to make sure that I am fair to all sides of the House. But on this occasion I will accept the point of order of Te Ururoa Flavell and rule the question out of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000281\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002200b6f440396c4326af063d35e38abc71\u0022\u003EHon Nanaia Mahuta\u003C/span\u003E: Did the Minister receive advice from any Government M\u0101ori MPs on the benefits of what would be delivered to M\u0101ori earning between $24,000 and $44,000 to lift M\u0101ori potential; if so, did he agree with that advice?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000282\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225d02b16862a842c3a8124111ac17c73a\u0022\u003EHon Dr PITA SHARPLES\u003C/span\u003E: Yes. [Interruption]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000283\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fc24315578114350ad73d4315a4f3182\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister is absolutely at liberty to answer the question in a way that he chooses. \u201CYes.\u201D was a perfectly adequate answer. He does not need to add to it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000284\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e1ead03-bf7f-496a-a02f-ce52859c58c1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c58b6a33488d4ae8820f79206b7b431d\u0022\u003EHekia Parata\u003C/span\u003E: Ka p\u0113hea te Minita M\u0101ori m\u014Dhio ai ki te tutuki angit\u016B te p\u016Bmanawa tipuranga M\u0101ori?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000285\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e1ead03-bf7f-496a-a02f-ce52859c58c1\u0022\u003E[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000286\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e1ead03-bf7f-496a-a02f-ce52859c58c1\u0022\u003E[How will the Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs know when M\u0101ori potential is being successfully achieved?]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000287\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229e054d8b491f49569bdb9607694c0f97\u0022\u003EHon Dr PITA SHARPLES\u003C/span\u003E: Kua hangaia e Te Puni K\u014Dkiri ng\u0101 tikanga kia taea e t\u0101tou te kite kua haere p\u0113whea t\u0113nei kaupapa. Ka taea t\u0101tou te kite i te p\u016Bmanawa o te M\u0101ori hei te w\u0101 k\u0101 t\u016B rangatira ai te M\u0101ori i roto i \u0101na kaupapa m\u0101tauranga, oranga tangata, whakahaere kaipakihi me te hanga whakataunga ia r\u0101, ia r\u0101 m\u014D t\u014Dna ake oranga \u0101 k\u014Dmua, me te eke ki \u0113nei taumata ia r\u0101, ia r\u0101, k\u0101re anake i te w\u0101 kotahi.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000288\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000289\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E[Te Puni K\u014Dkiri has created measures that will enable us to assess where the potential is. We will see M\u0101ori succeeding in education, in improved health and well-being, in owning and operating their own businesses, and in making powerful decisions every day about their quality of life in the future. Achieving these will become a daily thing, not just something done on a one-off basis.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000290\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ec266512-9fe8-47da-883e-48f046ee5059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f871f04a8ccd4725a7c134b96f8d4041\u0022\u003ETe Ururoa Flavell\u003C/span\u003E: Ki te Minita, he aha \u0113tahi huarahi k\u0113 atu e whakaarohia nei hei whakahihiko i te ara p\u016Bmawana m\u014D t\u0101ua te M\u0101ori?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000291\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ec266512-9fe8-47da-883e-48f046ee5059\u0022\u003E[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000292\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ec266512-9fe8-47da-883e-48f046ee5059\u0022\u003E[What robust changes will he make to the M\u0101ori Potential Approach for us in M\u0101oridom?]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002256e0699b85a542b4b6975d8e3e1644a2\u0022\u003EHon Dr PITA SHARPLES\u003C/span\u003E: Mai r\u0101 an\u014D Te Puni K\u014Dkiri e rapu tikanga kia tutuki ai ng\u0101 wawata, ng\u0101 tikanga, t\u016Bmanako o te iwi ahakoa ko wai te k\u0101wanatanga, t\u0113nei k\u0101wanatanga, t\u0113tahi atu. Ko te mahi nui m\u0101ku pea, te tuhituhi i ng\u0101 tikanga a te k\u0101wanatanga nei me ng\u0101 kaupapa here o te tari ki ng\u0101 wawata, ki ng\u0101 t\u016Bmanako o te iwi M\u0101ori. Kia haere ng\u0101tahi ai i te whakaaro kotahi.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000294\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000295\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E[Te Puni K\u014Dkiri has for a very long time looked at strategies whereby people\u2019s hopes and aspirations are fulfilled regardless of who is in Government\u2014 whether it is this one or that one. The most important thing for me to do is perhaps to align this Government\u2019s manifesto and the department\u2019s policies in respect to the aspirations and hopes of the M\u0101ori people, so that they go together with the same thought in mind.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000296\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002279b3a26706c54017a0a91acc46bc080a\u0022\u003EIncandescent Light Bulbs\u2014Ban\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000297\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003E12. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e32f495182d043f1a4a63155b4e8570a\u0022\u003EAARON GILMORE (National)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Energy and Resources: Will the Government be moving to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022b15c9155a9534bb0a7e87278d2cb545e\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000298\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b15c9155a9534bb0a7e87278d2cb545e\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E I am delighted to inform the House that I have issued firm instructions to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority to stop its plans to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs. This Government, in stark contrast to the previous Government and the previous Minister of Energy, David Parker, rejects the idea that the Government knows best and must constantly meddle in the lives of New Zealanders. If people wish to buy incandescent light bulbs, then this Government will not stop them from doing so.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000299\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229e79610603504b36a9a829c7cd6d73f5\u0022\u003EAaron Gilmore\u003C/span\u003E: Why is the Government not going to ban incandescent light bulbs?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000300\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d987fd236cd848bea27f3adc867de235\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: There are a number of excellent reasons why we have not moved to ban those light bulbs. The first is that this Government believes that choice not compulsion, and the ability for individuals to make their own decisions about what sorts of lives they want to lead and what contribution they want to make to climate change, is far better than nanny State telling them what to do.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000301\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002201f999e7acaf478b8190ea94429ee351\u0022\u003EHon Pete Hodgson\u003C/span\u003E: Can the Minister confirm that it has never been a New Zealand Government policy to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs, but, rather, to phase out some incandescent light bulbs as a range of identically performing high-efficiency alternatives come on to the market, and that that policy has just been adopted across the European Union, saving the equivalent of the entire electricity consumption of Romania; if he can confirm that, would he care to tell the House why he is ramming this country into reverse gear?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000302\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022493c2eb8487142c294bf70b2075234c2\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Supplementary question. [Interruption] Oh, sorry! No. [Interruption]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000303\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227b47bf8125974c85b4d56822356a3f58\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister in reply.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000304\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c4acb3fd10724a18925e33309612fea3\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I have answered.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000305\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226741a80f9c514b85b9a793f4689ef569\u0022\u003EHon Members\u003C/span\u003E: We didn\u2019t hear.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000306\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002204e7da8f9cf74e268824aa950fd9241b\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I gave the House an answer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000307\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002202fafba60a3d47a498c4ecfd9307d260\u0022\u003EUrgency\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000309\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00220fe2d64c119048bb824f9bb93e1e7003\u0022\u003EUrgency\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022a125d5888be0449dba514a5540e729b5\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000308\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022a125d5888be0449dba514a5540e729b5\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That urgency be accorded the introduction and passing of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill, the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill, and the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Amendment Bill; the passing through their remaining stages of Government orders of the day Nos 1 and 2; any maiden statements to be made at times determined by the Business Committee; and a motion to adjourn the House and adopt the sitting dates for 2009. I have moved this motion in accordance with the requirements of the Standing Orders. I wish further to signal to the House that although it is the Government\u2019s intention to take those first two bills through all stages, it is not our intention to do anything other than make progress, and as much progress as possible, on Government orders of the day Nos 1 and 2. The House will of course consider the sitting times for next year in the adjournment motion later in the week.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022 data-id=\u00224c9169deb4c24282bb3bdc717b3e2a4b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000310\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00224c9169deb4c24282bb3bdc717b3e2a4b\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. This of course is not a debatable motion and I am certainly not trying to debate it, but there is a requirement for the Minister to give a reason. He did not actually give a reason. He stated that this was in accordance with the Standing Orders, and then outlined, very helpfully I think, to the House the nature of the business that is to be considered. But he does have to give a reason for urgency.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022 data-id=\u00220845367aa2d74cd8a946498c023b8560\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000311\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220845367aa2d74cd8a946498c023b8560\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister can give as much or as little reason as he chooses to give. I believe that his explanation of the issues behind urgency was quite helpful to the House. In future the Minister may choose to give more reason than he did, but that is a matter for his judgment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022 data-id=\u0022f6262cb502864a2aa418a7eb9196f53b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000312\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f6262cb502864a2aa418a7eb9196f53b\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E It seems to me that he gave a \u201Chow\u201D, not a \u201Cwhy\u201D, if I can put it that way. He explained to us how things are going to happen, and it was very helpful. I thank him very much for that\u2014I appreciated it. But he has to give a reason. The reason does not have to be a big one. It can be that this motion is required to meet the Government\u2019s requirements for legislation to be passed before Christmas, or before the House rises for the Christmas adjournment\u2014whatever it may be. But it is actually a reason, a \u201Cwhy\u201D, that has to be given, not a \u201Chow\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022 data-id=\u0022349b7527ebaa4ca694abf74a00b1163f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000313\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022349b7527ebaa4ca694abf74a00b1163f\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I will just deal with this issue. As I understand the Standing Orders, if the Opposition feels an inadequate reason has been given, the Opposition may not support the motion, and that is the remedy it has, of course. But if the Minister is happy with the explanation he has given, the question is that the motion be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00224fb9ddad4dc3411f93484d83d730e8b1\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That urgency be accorded.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 53\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAbstentions 5\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EM\u0101ori Party 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000314\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022e678fb1eae174ecd8a89709eccb691d9\u0022\u003EEnergy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000315\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00221917c4281a974602940336950469bf18\u0022\u003EFirst Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022980680076dc24633ab75440eef2a9fb2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000316\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022980680076dc24633ab75440eef2a9fb2\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill be now read a first time. The biofuel legislation passed by the previous Government in September of this year established a biofuel obligation requiring a proportion of the petrol and diesel market to be sourced from biofuels, increasing to a level of 2.5 percent by 2012. The obligation came into force on 1 October this year. This bill repeals the obligation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000317\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI emphasise at the outset of my speech that the Government is supportive of the use of biofuel in New Zealand. A number of exciting biofuel developments are taking place around the country that the National Party has watched with interest for some time now. There is no doubt that biofuels will play a big role in our energy mix in the future. Indeed, some companies, like Gull, were using sustainable biofuel well before the obligation came into force, and they will continue to do so. So-called second-generation biofuels produced from things like wood waste and algae are available to be produced sustainably, and will increase the security of our fuel supply whilst reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. There is general agreement that biofuels will be part of our energy future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000318\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe question that needs to be asked is what is the best way to ensure that biofuels are added gradually into the fuel mix in New Zealand. The previous Government, as I have said, regarded a mandatory approach as the best way to do that. Companies supplying petrol and diesel were compelled by law to add increasing amounts of biofuel to their fuel blends. The new Government takes a different approach, which partly reflects our philosophical difference from the previous Government. It also reflects the considerable evidence that the mandatory approach will load uncertain costs on to consumers, and, further, will lead to the importation of biofuels from overseas, with no guarantees that they had been sustainably produced. This is a Government that believes in choice, not in compulsion. We think that biofuels should be introduced through companies responding to commercial, environmental, and market considerations, not because the Government simply tells companies to introduce them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000319\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003ELet me briefly explain the two problems with the mandatory biofuel obligation and why the Government is repealing it. The first problem is that the obligation will lead to oil companies importing biofuel from overseas that may be produced from unsustainable sources. Many first-generation biofuels like soy, corn, and rapeseed compete directly with the use of those crops in the food market and as animal feed. There have been protests all around the world against biofuel production from those sources, because it has caused, at least in part, increased food prices. The United Nations food agency has, for that reason, called biofuels \u201Ca crime against humanity\u201D. In addition, some biofuels have increased the deforestation of rainforests in places like Brazil and Indonesia. Moreover, as researchers have analysed the full lifecycle of greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels, it has become increasingly clear that when the emissions from agricultural cultivation, processing, and distribution are included, it raises the question whether biofuels actually reduce carbon dioxide emissions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000320\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThere is not a large enough amount of biofuel produced in New Zealand at this time for the industry here to supply oil companies with all that they would require to meet the obligation. The previous Minister of Energy, the Hon David Parker, admitted that this was the case, and the previous Government, mainly at the insistence of the Green Party, asked officials to draft a sustainability standard that would apply to imported biofuels, to ensure that those fuels came from sustainably produced sources. Unfortunately, those sustainability standards are not yet in place and are not likely to be for quite some time. No country in the world has yet developed such standards; the European Union has been trying for many years. Yet the obligation for companies to sell biofuels in New Zealand has been in place since 1 October. Indeed, by 31 October, under the current law, companies subject to the obligation will have to issue their first report proving they have complied with the obligation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000321\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe new Government believes that biofuels the production of which contributes to deforestation and destruction of arable land should not be sold in New Zealand, yet that is a real risk of having the biofuel obligation in place. The new Government agrees with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, who recommended against Parliament passing the Biofuel Bill earlier this year because, she said, doing so would damage New Zealand\u2019s clean, green image. The commissioner\u2019s report stated: \u201CImporting biofuel while avoiding contributing to the highly damaging environmental and social impacts occurring in countries like\u201D\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000322\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eed3ba8f544d4bf7b46fb4f3eba8ed99\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: No, no, not in the bill as reported back, not in the bill as passed. Come on, get your facts right, Gerry!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000323\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b00620e12eab4ed3ae803340178d23aa\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014\u201CIndonesia and Malaysia would be difficult and very expensive.\u201D For the benefit of the member opposite who wishes to yell his way through this offering to the House, I state again what the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment told Parliament. She said: \u201CImporting biofuel while avoiding contributing to the highly damaging environmental and social impacts occurring in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia would be difficult and very expensive.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000324\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI want to make it clear that the repeal bill that I have introduced today does not abolish present sustainability standards for biofuels being promulgated by the Government. Indeed, we have asked the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry for the Environment to continue their work to develop those standards for use in New Zealand. Some companies in the future may wish to import biofuel from overseas, and when they do so it is important that it comes from sustainable sources and is measured against standards that have been developed in New Zealand. The Government therefore regards the officials\u2019 work on sustainability standards as very important, and the Ministry of Economic Development will continue that effort. But in the absence of those sustainability standards it is important there is no biofuel obligation, and, therefore, no immediate likelihood of imported biofuels produced from unsustainable sources coming into this country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000325\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe second problem with the mandatory obligation is that it will load uncertain costs on to consumers. The evidence from the oil companies to the select committee was that meeting the obligation, when fully implemented, would add anywhere from 2c to 8c a litre to the cost of fuel. In these tough economic times the Government does not regard that as a desirable outcome, especially when the environmental benefits of doing so are so very unclear. We believe that biofuels should be introduced gradually, and when biofuels offer the transport fleet cost advantages rather than cost increases, that will be the time the market itself will start demanding their greater use inside our economy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000326\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EWith regard to that, I want to signal now that the Government is concerned about the imbalance in the tax treatment between bio-ethanol and bio-diesel. Bio-ethanol sales incur associated excise tax, like the petrol it substitutes, whereas bio-diesel and mineral diesel incur road-user charges equally. There is no meaningful public policy justification for that distortion. I am particularly concerned that it disadvantages New Zealand biofuel producers, whose current focus is bio-diesel, in favour of imported bio-ethanol. The Government is undertaking further work in this area, and will look at applying a consistent tax incentive for sustainable biofuels that exempts bio-ethanol and bio-diesel from excise charges and road-user charges, in proportion to the blend. So, in future, a 10 percent bio-diesel or bio-ethanol blend will get a 10 percent exemption in excise taxes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000327\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EIn conclusion, let me reiterate that the National-led Government supports the introduction of biofuel as a part of New Zealand\u2019s energy mix. However, we are opposed to the previous Government\u2019s mandatory obligation. In the absence of sustainability standards, nobody can claim that there would be a positive environmental outcome, and, further, the obligation would load uncertain costs on to consumers. Neither of these is desirable, yet they are real risks if the mandatory obligation stays in place. I ask that the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill be considered properly and reasonably by this House in order that New Zealanders can be comfortable that the fuel mix they are using each day does not add unduly to our carbon dioxide emissions profile. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000328\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EDebate interrupted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000329\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00225b01552ac76d415e99ea654531a924b4\u0022\u003EMaiden Statements\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000331\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022985ffaa82be346f1a4f210c4fa599ab3\u0022\u003EMaiden Statements\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022 data-id=\u00221001e171b11445a09540a2cabeba9436\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000330\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221001e171b11445a09540a2cabeba9436\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Honourable members, as was the practice during previous maiden statements, I would ask that when each member has concluded we refrain from congratulatory responses, so that all members have a fair chance to be able to make their maiden statements. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022 data-id=\u0022d1bcec520fec41b2bdd9dd8747417a1c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000332\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d1bcec520fec41b2bdd9dd8747417a1c\u0022\u003ESIMON BRIDGES (National\u2014Tauranga):\u003C/span\u003E Nearly every maiden speech that I have read has begun with the member congratulating Mr Speaker on his appointment to high office, and I congratulate you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and also Mr Speaker, the Hon Lockwood Smith. I congratulate the Hon Lockwood Smith not only as a matter of professional courtesy but because of our personal friendship, going back to a beer we shared at Auckland University\u2019s Shadows bar when he was getting a hard time as education Minister and I was a pimply young Nat. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000333\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EIndeed, I joined the National Party at a young age, not because of any longstanding family connection to the greatest political party in the history of our nation but because then, as now, I believed in less not more government, in individuals doing as much for themselves as possible, and in reward for hard work and enterprise. Then, as now, I was generally economically dry and socially conservative, but never unthinkingly or uncaringly so. We need to do what works, not what sounds good in theory. In human affairs matters are often shades of grey, and not simply black or white. In economic times like these, rigid adherence to orthodoxies may not solve things for ordinary Kiwis. World-class health and education systems are essential. New Zealanders clearly understand this, and voted on 8 November for a John Key - led Government and the fresh approach to our nation\u2019s challenges that it brings; they voted to move away from a slavish adherence to ideology, towards a new style of politics that is inclusive, dignified, and decent, and that believes that politics can be noble and deliver greater justice. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000334\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003ECan I today in this hallowed hall acknowledge my wonderful family and my amazing wife. My mother is from Waih\u012B dairy-farming stock and my father from Frankton in Hamilton. Like so many in this nation, my mother\u2019s ancestors came from England, while my father\u2019s mother, Naku Joseph, was Ng\u0101ti Maniapoto and came from rural \u014Cp\u0101rure, near Te K\u016Biti. She remained in an unhappy relationship with her hard-living husband, Alf Bridges, because in those days early last century she thought that marriage to a P\u0101keh\u0101 man was bettering herself and her children\u2019s prospects. She continually told my father that she wanted her children and grandchildren to have letters behind their names, without really understanding what that meant. The dysfunction my father grew up with, and the sacrificial example he saw from his mother, played large roles in his becoming a Baptist minister and dedicating his life to service in many parts of New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000335\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EAll my childhood and teenage years were in Te Atat\u016B North. Just as my father has lived a life of service, so has my mother\u2014bringing up six children of whom I am the youngest by some way. All six of us children, despite a lack of material wealth, have gone on to higher education, the surest path from poverty to prosperity that I know of. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000336\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EIn relation to my amazing wife Natalie, I acknowledge my debt of gratitude to her. She has sacrificed a lot because of my journey to Parliament. She is the daughter of a Welshman and a Polish woman, and she and I met in England while both of us were studying at Oxford University. She is here in New Zealand because she married a Kiwi. New Zealand must develop a fuller policy for stemming the brain drain than intermarriage; a John Key - led Government will. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000337\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EMy story is that I am the product of the wonderful family and world-class health and education systems with which I grew up. I am grateful to all hues of Government for the provision of health and education systems of such a standard. Following on from degrees at Auckland and Oxford universities, I have worked as a litigation lawyer and a Crown prosecutor, prosecuting over a hundred jury trials in the last several years in my electorate, Tauranga. These trials have included trials for the city\u2019s worst murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and violent offenders. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000338\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EMartin Luther King Jnr once said that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and in many jury trials I have seen injustices\u2014indeed, manifest indignities\u2014performed on the weakest in our society as court rules worked against them. We need to make law that redraws the balance between victim and community on the one hand and criminal accused on the other. Victims and the community deserve better than the so-called justice I have seen served up to them on occasion, and although there has been tinkering previously, more reform is needed to make the jury trial a more just institution. In short, juries need to be trusted with more information, and victims need to be treated more evenly when compared with accused.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EJust as constant vigilance and scrutiny are required in relation to the ancient tradition of the jury trial, so is diligence necessary regarding our rules for elections and our constitutional arrangements. Nothing is ever perfect; there is always a better way. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000340\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EMy already-mentioned ancestry or whakapapa, of course, makes me who I am. In reference to it again, let us remember what another MP for Tauranga, the Rt Hon Winston Peters, said in his maiden speech to this House, which is equally apposite for myself: \u201CI am a New Zealander, I am a M\u0101ori, and I am also a lawyer. New Zealand is not a monotonous garden where every flower is the same; it is a garden where the diversity of the blooms enriches the view.\u201D The diversity of my ancestry enriches my outlook, and deepens my empathy for all New Zealanders, no matter their race or background. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000341\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003ECan I at this point acknowledge Winston Peters, whom I stood against in Tauranga. As I said on the evening of the election, Winston Peters, I respect you, and I acknowledge that I learnt a lot from you while we jousted on the campaign. You have been amongst the very longest-serving members in this House, and now you are no longer here. You will nevertheless be long remembered, and I wish you well in the future. Can I also acknowledge another colourful Tauranga politician\u2014we seem to have had a few of them\u2014Bob Clarkson. Bob, you have been a great servant of Tauranga, inside and out of Parliament, and you put National back on the map in Tauranga. I know that your high level of service will continue, and I also wish you well in the future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000342\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003ETauranga has attracted politicians of colour because it is a place of singular loveliness. Its beaches, weather, and people are special, and renowned throughout our nation. Tauranga is a jewel in the crown that is our nation. And no longer is it the sleepy little seaside village of yesteryear. Since the early 1980s it has grown exponentially from approximately 50,000 people to become a vibrant city of the future with a population of over 110,000. School rolls have burgeoned as young families have flooded in. A baby boom has occurred in our city. In years to come, and perhaps even while I am still privileged to represent it, Greater Tauranga is, on some estimates, set to rival both Hamilton and Wellington in population terms. Accordingly, National Ministers can be assured I will fiercely advocate my city\u2019s cause on the back of a strong case based on growth in numbers, now and going forward. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000343\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EAs a student in Te Atat\u016B North and then at Auckland and Oxford universities, and later as a professional in Auckland and then in Tauranga, I have always kept the fire of my politics alight. Indeed, since 1992 I have continuously held office in the National Party, at nearly all levels.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000344\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EAlthough to many this is not a selling point, I say to this House that I have long dreamt of standing here and delivering my maiden speech. Just as in some quarters it is no longer de rigueur to believe in jury trials, so in others Parliament is a place out of fashion. Nevertheless I believe in it, and want to do all I can to uphold its integrity and central position in our society. As I have said, I have long dreamt of standing here and delivering my maiden speech. I have wanted to, for my ancestors and family and for my future family and people. I have wanted to, as a pimply young Nat and now as a man in his 30s, because then and now I have realised that Parliament is a place that matters. This is still the place that makes a difference to the Naku Josephs of yesteryear, and to the Simon Bridgeses of tomorrow. This is still the place that can deliver world-class health and education systems, and can ensure that individuals get ahead regardless of their race or background.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000345\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EAlthough it is perhaps unusual to quote from a valedictory speech in a maiden speech, let us remember former British Prime Minister Tony Blair\u2019s final words to the House of Commons last year: \u201Cto all my colleagues from different political parties. Some may belittle politics but we who are engaged in it know that it is where people stand tall. Although I know it has many harsh contentions, it is still the arena that sets the heart beating a little faster. If it is, on occasions, the place of low skulduggery, it is more often the place for the pursuit of noble causes.\u201D My prayer in this House is to always pursue noble causes and greater justice on behalf of all who need it in Tauranga and further afield; to be in the service of those ends and no other master. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000346\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003ECan I end by once again congratulating you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and Mr Speaker, the Hon Lockwood Smith, and by thanking my wonderful family, my amazing wife, my multitude of terrific Tauranga supporters, and my God for getting me here.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022 data-id=\u0022401060ba06694587916774468a6418e8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000347\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022401060ba06694587916774468a6418e8\u0022\u003ETIM MACINDOE (National\u2014Hamilton West):\u003C/span\u003E E ng\u0101 mana, e ng\u0101 reo, e ng\u0101 karangatanga maha ahakoa n\u014D whea, ahakoa ko wai, mai i te Whare P\u0101remata nei, \u0101, puta atu ki ng\u0101 t\u014Dpito o Aotearoa, \u0101, puta atu ki te ao wh\u0101nui tonu, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou katoa. E t\u016B ana ahau hei m\u0101ngai m\u014D Kirikiriroa ki te Hau\u0101uru ki roto o Waikato n\u014D reira, he mihi hoki ki a K\u012Bngi Tuheitia, te pou herenga waka, pai m\u0101rire. He mihi hoki ki te whare ariki o te Heuheu o Ng\u0101ti T\u016Bwharetoa. Ka mihi hoki ki \u014D t\u0101tou t\u016Bpuna m\u0101tua i haina nei i te Tiriti o Waitangi i t\u0113r\u0101 rau tau. Ko t\u014D r\u0101tou wawata, kia noho tahi r\u0101tou hei iwi kotahi. N\u014D reira, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 t\u0101tou katoa. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000348\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000349\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E[To the powers, languages, and many callings, regardless where and whom, from within this House of Parliament, to the extremities of New Zealand and out to the world at large, greetings to you, greetings to you, and greetings to you all. I stand as representative of Hamilton West, Waikato, and therefore acknowledge King Tuheitia, the mooring pillar of canoes. Good and peaceful tidings. Greetings also to the noble house of te Heuheu of Ng\u0101ti T\u016Bwharetoa. Acknowledgments as well to our ancestors who signed the Treaty of Waitangi in the past hundred years. Their wish was that they live together as one. So greetings to you, greetings to you, and greetings to us all.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000350\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EMr Deputy Speaker, I join other members in congratulating you and your three colleagues on your election. Your collective dignity, patience, and humour will serve you and us well in the years ahead, although I dare say all those qualities will be tested from time to time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000351\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EI also extend my respects to His Excellency the Governor-General. I am proud of our constitutional heritage and Westminster traditions, and a firm believer in the institution of the Commonwealth. It is a pleasure to see the House presided over this afternoon by my friend the member for Waikato, not only because we are from the same region but because you, sir, walked an equally long and uphill path on your journey to this place. I say to members that I lost the selection contest in the then Karapiro electorate to Mr Tisch 9 years ago, and subsequently served on his first campaign committee. Sir, I thank you for returning the favour this year as my caucus mentor on my campaign committee and for your encouragement over many years. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000352\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EI also wanted to greet my colleague Dr Hutchison. I lost a selection contest to that member in the Port Waikato electorate 10 years ago. At the end of it he promised me hospitality in Bellamy\u2019s at a mutually convenient time. I had hoped the good doctor would share my view that tonight would be an ideal time for him to recall his generous offer but I am advised that he took one look at my rather large contingent of family and friends in the gallery today and fled the country. To my other fellow Waikato MPs on both sides of the House, greetings, especially to my friends from across our beautiful river. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000353\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EI lost the selection contest to David Bennett in Hamilton East 4 years ago. At the time I was mystified but I came to understand some time later when our local paper named him the Waikato\u2019s sexiest politician. When not striding the catwalk, David Bennett is very active at home and I welcome the opportunity to work closely with him for the good of our city. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000354\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003ELike Mr Speaker, I have aspired from a tender age to serve in this House so I am humbled and a bit emotional to be here in my cramped corner at the back of the House, at last delivering my maiden speech, having been a candidate in every general election New Zealand has held under the MMP system. In fact, this is the second time I have risen to take a call. I was alarmed to receive a Hansard transcript to check last Saturday afternoon, and I thank members for this courtesy as it would have been hugely deflating after five attempts to enter this House if my doomed attempt to move a closure motion under urgency had been recorded for posterity as my maiden speech. At least I could have imagined that members would remember every word of it, although given the difficulties some of my colleagues experienced with the motion\u2019s construction, perhaps even that small consolation would have been denied me. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000355\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EMy first real opportunity\u2014or so I thought\u2014came in Tauranga in 2002. To the wonderful team who supported me there, led by Sandy Garland, Barbara Steele, and Margaret Townshend, my warm regards and gratitude. I shall mention one other young lady from that campaign in a moment. In retrospect, it was not a great year to be National\u2019s candidate against a resurgent Winston Peters. Timing is everything in politics! I watched with admiration Bob Clarkson achieve my goal 3 years later and I am delighted that Simon Bridges has now secured such a strong mandate in that city. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000356\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003ENo candidate could have wished for a more professional or loyal committee than I enjoyed this year in Hamilton West under the inspiring leadership of Ken Williamson. Three of them are here today: Lance and Dulcie Coombes, and Peter Osborne; so is my youngest supporter, Andrew Osborne, and his brother Craig. Others are watching at home with my electorate chair: Barbara Weedon, who very capably leads our dedicated electorate executive. To the committee and executive team and all who supported our campaign in a myriad of ways this year, I extend heartfelt thanks and my pleasure that your commitment resulted in success. Similarly, to the party\u2019s board and leadership, to our regional team led by Jo Stuart, the ever-helpful Alison Renwick, and my campaign secretary Jenny Kain, my sincere thanks. Ours was a true team effort but I am sure that none of my team will mind if I single out Dulcie Coombes for a special mention. Her efforts, generosity, and unfailing enthusiasm are humbling. Every candidate needs a Dulcie\u2014thank you, FG! \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000357\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EPolitics is in my blood. My paternal grandfather was an Auckland City councillor, Auckland Harbour Board member, and a friend of former Prime Minister Gordon Coates. His son and daughter-in-law\u2014my parents\u2014had been members of the National Party for more than half a century when my father died, and my mother remains an enthusiastic member and supporter. As a child I remember endless debates in our home between my parents and their farming friends from Ng\u0101hinap\u014Duri, south-west of Hamilton, over whether Sir Keith Holyoake or Sir Les Munro would make a better leader of the National Party. It struck me then as a strange way to socialise, but something obviously rubbed off on their youngest child for, by the time I was 13 and glued to the televised coverage of the State funeral of Prime Minister Norman Kirk, I was hooked. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000358\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EI have not spent all of the intervening time campaigning but I think my wife and children might dispute that. To my wife Anne, whom I do not thank often enough but who is with me still, after five consecutive general elections in which I have actively campaigned, I extend heartfelt thanks and my love. She is here today with our younger daughter, Jessica. Anne and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary last month, and I am so proud of the family that we have raised. I am pleased that my elder sister Janne, brother Guy, and godson Oliver, are with Anne, Jessica, and my mother today in the gallery. All my family supported and encouraged my ambition over many years. This is their day as much as it is mine. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000359\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EI feel keenly the absence of three people whom I always envisaged being here for this moment, each of whom greatly encouraged my political thinking and involvement. One is the remarkable Mrs Ursula McGrath, who is watching her boys\u2014Simon Bridges and Tim Macindoe\u2014with her family in Tauranga this afternoon. At nearly 87 her energy, determination, and Christian faith are an example to my generation. Her unwavering support for my candidacy, and hard work in Tauranga 6 years ago, were hugely encouraging during a campaign that was hardly a morale-boosting experience in other respects. We share a desire to see our nation\u2019s children taught the values that underpin patriotism, moral courage, and good citizenship. All that Mrs McGrath would ever ask for from me would be that I keep working for those ideals, and I give her that commitment today. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000360\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EThe second was my brother-in-law, Gerald Smith, the son of those farming friends from Ng\u0101hinap\u014Duri, whom I mentioned earlier. He first brought me to this House 31 years ago as a guest of his local MP, Barry Brill, when I was still a schoolboy. Sadly, he lost his battle with cancer at Christmas last year. For nearly 40 years Gerald farmed on top of the Paek\u0101k\u0101riki Hill, demonstrating a work ethic, commitment to his family, and strength of character that made a lasting impression on me. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000361\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EThe third was my father, Harley Macindoe, a businessman and a sportsman, but, most of all, a family man. Sadly, he, too, is no longer with us, having died less than a fortnight before the 2005 general election. He and my mother, Jill, gave their children the security and example of a stable home, with much love, a lot of hospitality, and plenty of encouragement and opportunities. Dad was no saint, but his virtues were many. I feel his presence on my shoulder today, knowing how proud he was of all his children and what this moment would have meant to him, and what it does mean to my mother. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000362\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EI also acknowledge with love and gratitude close family members who are unable to be here: my elder daughter Sarah, two of my sisters\u2014Sally and Belinda, and their families\u2014and my parents-in-law, Michael and Joan Murray. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000363\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EMy parents made me who I am today, and I am convinced that parenting is our greatest responsibility in life. Strong families are our best hope for healthy communities. We should always consider the consequences for our families of decisions made in this House. I am a former teacher, a former public servant, a former Otago University student politician, a former student of Dr Michael Cullen\u2014and of the deputy mayor of Wellington\u2014a former prison tutor at Christchurch Women\u2019s Prison, a Kiwibank customer, a follower and advocate for the performing arts, and a very proud member of the National Party, and at last of this honourable House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000364\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EMy political role models include \u201CGentlemen Jack\u201D Marshall, Brian Talboys, and George Gair, National MPs who served our country with distinction; but I also admired Bill Rowling for his intelligence and dignity, David Lange for his wit and humanity, and many who still serve in this House but will have to wait a little longer for their tributes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000365\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EEight MPS have served as MPs for Hamilton West since its inception in 1969. They include the aforementioned Sir Les; Dorothy Jelicich; the colourful Mike Minogue, who passed away just over a fortnight ago; the very much alive Trevor Mallard; my friends Grant Thomas and Bob Simcock, who both, since leaving this House, have served our city with distinction on our city council, where Bob continues to provide outstanding leadership as our mayor; and most recently, Martin Gallagher. Three years ago I lost a close contest to Martin. While we debated issues vigorously that year and this, we always did in an atmosphere of mutual respect without acrimony or personal attacks, despite the additional pressure that those who campaign in marginal electorates always face. Martin generously acknowledged my contribution in the Address in Reply debate that followed his re-election in 2005. Today I place on record not only my respect and appreciation for the contribution that Martin Gallagher made during 12 years of service as the member of Parliament for Hamilton West, but also the gratitude of my new constituents from across party lines. Martin is a Hamiltonian through and through. He was highly regarded in our city as a diligent and likable constituency MP. His concession on election night was gracious and generous. I thank him sincerely and know that he will continue to contribute positively to Hamilton, albeit in a different capacity in years to come. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000366\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EAs has been noted by many speakers in this debate, the new Government faces major economic challenges and could scarcely have taken office in more difficult circumstances. I am wholly committed to my party\u2019s determination to implement an ambitious programme to secure strong economic growth for our country. Time and time again, during our recent election campaign, the good folk of Hamilton West voiced their concern to me that their children and grandchildren love their country but no longer feel that it offers them a fair deal or meets their expectations in the delivery of social services or the maintenance of safe, caring communities. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000367\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EBoth sides of my family were among the early generations of European settlers in this country and I am incredibly proud and grateful to be a New Zealander. But like many members of this House I have also spent many years living abroad, and I am fortunate to have had that experience. It taught me to appreciate the freedom, beauty, cultural diversity, and lifestyle that we sometimes take for granted, but which are such treasured features of our shared heritage. Professionally, it taught me a great deal that proved valuable in my former career. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000368\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EOur children were born in the UK and may well appreciate in years to come the benefits of holding both New Zealand and European passports. While we were away for more than 5 years we never doubted that we would return to New Zealand, because this was where we wanted our children to grow up and to think of as home. That was nearly 20 years ago. Today I fear that young parents in a similar position still feel the tug of home, but resist it because they see a low-wage, high-tax economy that does not adequately reward enterprise and hard work or provide a social climate conducive to safe, healthy lifestyles. For many, New Zealand has become merely a holiday destination for grandchildren to meet their grandparents and to glimpse the country of their parents\u2019 birth. I pray that during the next decade we will change that worrying perception. I want our children and theirs to see a worthwhile future here, to be proud of this country, their country, and to contribute fully to making it \u201CGod\u2019s own country\u201D once more. Securing sustained economic growth, a fair and balanced tax system, and higher living standards across all sectors of society will be vital to achieve to that vision. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000369\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EI applaud the decision to channel more of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund into New Zealand projects, which will preserve and create jobs, and accelerate our crucial infrastructural development. Most vital of all projects, of course, is the completion of the Waikato Expressway. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000370\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EBut I am convinced that the greatest challenges that our country faces, and which our generation of parliamentarians must tackle with all the conviction and energy that we can muster, are environmental and social. Whatever one\u2019s view of the subject of climate change, or the best means to reduce carbon emissions, it is clearly desirable for us all to do our bit to save our planet. We can and must aim to protect and enhance our environment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000371\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003EWhen the Prime Minister, as the new leader of our party, delivered his landmark \u201Cunderclass\u201D speech in January of last year, I was delighted. He highlighted some of the major concerns that have motivated me to keep seeking a political career for as long as I have. We have major problems and must tackle them with all the energy we can muster, both at source to overcome them, and in the courts to protect our citizens. The P culture, in particular, must be confronted. As I was reminded last night at Rhode Street School\u2019s prize-giving in my electorate, our country is blessed with many good schools, and with talented committed staff, all dealing directly with major challenges and the greatest hopes of the 21st century. Let us do everything we can to encourage and promote teaching as a career for our young people. We have in our city a younger than average population and more PhDs per head of population than anywhere else in the country. Our university is a national leader in several disciplines; the Waikato Institute of Technology, now known as Wintec, is equally dynamic and world class; and our local w\u0101nanga campus is catering for many who would never previously have aspired to tertiary education.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000372\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225ecb8d56d94841848f9b54a53bdbe7a5\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I think we have a slight problem here. The member obviously has a time problem. I think members on this side would be happy if leave were sought for him to complete his speech.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000373\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228f52b86d3a32470dab56be18c153c3a6\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? Thank you. Continue, Tim Macindoe.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000374\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022df19bf30ec0c4e61bcadd50fadfb2996\u0022\u003ETIM MACINDOE\u003C/span\u003E: I entered this House with hopes and a vision for a generation. Perhaps we need to change our perception of what constitutes success. It could mean breaking a cycle of violence or dependency, or it could mean working as a volunteer in one of the myriad of vital not-for-profit or community agencies. It could mean overcoming an addiction or accepting a job that others shun. I believe that all honest work is inherently valuable. I admire those at the margins of our society who often work long and unsociable hours for modest pay in vital but unseen roles. They deserve the real honours. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000375\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003ETo our support partners in the new Government, I look forward to a constructive relationship as we set about implementing our shared vision for a better New Zealand. Especially to our colleagues in the M\u0101ori Party, kia ora t\u0101tou. Thank you for the courage and leadership those members have demonstrated. I share their aspirations for improved and mana-enhancing opportunities for their people, firmly believing that what is good for M\u0101ori is good for our country as a whole. I am absolutely committed to building a lasting relationship between our parties that is founded on mutual respect, trust, and an overriding belief in the mana and potential of every human being. Kia kaha! Similarly, I commit myself to serve the people of Hamilton West with vigour and integrity. May God bless all members of this House, and grant us his wisdom and compassion in our service to our nation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022 data-id=\u00229c79625dca8b47b39553e9f2a5bd81ee\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000376\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229c79625dca8b47b39553e9f2a5bd81ee\u0022\u003EPAUL QUINN (National):\u003C/span\u003E Papaki kau ana ng\u0101 wai o Te Moana-nui-a-Toi, mai i ng\u0101 Kur\u012B-a-Wh\u0101rei ki Tihirau, te \u016Bnga mai o M\u0101taatua. Mai hoki i Maket\u016B ki Tongariro, te tauranga mai o Te Arawa. Tihei mauriora! Ki ng\u0101 tini mate o te w\u0101 kua mene ki te p\u014D, haere, haere, okioki atu. T\u0101tou ng\u0101 kanohi ora o r\u0101tou m\u0101, t\u0113n\u0101 an\u014D t\u0101tou katoa. T\u0113n\u0101 koutou Te \u0100tiwa e manaaki nei i a m\u0101tou. Kei te hau k\u0101inga i takahi mamao mai ki te tautoko i ahau i te rangi nei, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou. He uri o M\u0101taatua, o Te Arawa me Airani e mihi atu nei. Ko au te m\u0101t\u0101mua o Te Hau Paul te tiamana tuatahi o Te R\u016Bnanga o Ng\u0101ti Awa. N\u014D reira, t\u0113n\u0101 koe e te Mana Whakaw\u0101, \u0101, t\u0113n\u0101 r\u0101 t\u0101tou katoa e te Whare. Kia ora.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000377\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000378\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E[Waters crash upon the shores of the Bay of Plenty, from the Dogs of Wh\u0101rei at Katikati, across to Tihirau, the landing place of M\u0101taatua. From Maket\u016B to Tongariro also, the anchorage of Te Arawa. \u2019Tis the sneeze of life! To the many deaths of the day who have passed on, farewell, depart, rest in eternal peace. To those of us, living descendants of departed ones, greetings once again to all of us. Greetings to you, Te \u0100tiawa, for your hospitality. To the people from home who have travelled from afar to support me today, my acknowledgments. I am a descendant of M\u0101taatua, Te Arawa, and Ireland, extending greetings, and I am the eldest son of Te Hau Paul, the first chairman of Te R\u016Bnanga o Ng\u0101ti Awa. So, greetings to you, Mr Assistant Speaker, and to us, the House. Greetings.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000379\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EFirstly, let me offer my congratulations to Mr Speaker. His elevation to the highest office in this House is a testament to the long and distinguished public service he has given. I also congratulate my fellow inductees on both sides of the House. We join experienced and wise counsel as we start to share in the mantle of responsibility for overseeing the country\u2019s affairs. In accepting that challenge, we each have a valuable contribution to make, but in my view what is really important is that we remind ourselves daily what that value proposition is. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000380\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EI want to return to that theme a little later. For now let me say that politics was furthest from my mind in my formative years, so much so that I had no concept of our country\u2019s democratic processes until my mid-teens, and then only because for about a 3-week period prior to an election there seemed much ado about nothing, following which everything appeared to return to normal.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000381\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EIn many ways my life has trodden a familiar path, rooted in the traditions of a Catholic rural upbringing, exposed to the idealisms of university life, and a career that in the early years traversed the public sector, and, for a much longer period thereafter, has been roughed up by the realities of the commercial and voluntary sectors. Throughout I have been driven by the mantra of standing up for what I believe in, whether it be as a committee member of the Marist St Pats Rugby Club, because I believe taking part in sport and recreation is just one of many ways for our youth to start achieving their potential, or as a servant of Ng\u0101ti Awa, resolving a Treaty claim. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000382\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EThe reason I now stand in this House before you, Mr Assistant Speaker, is not because I have had an ambition to be a member of Parliament, but because I became increasingly concerned at the direction the last administration was taking this country. I believe that there are two primary functions to being a member of Parliament, both of equal importance. The first is to represent the people of New Zealand. In the case of a constituent member of Parliament, that manifests itself in representing one\u2019s electorate and the citizens within that electorate. The decisions this House makes affect the ordinary lives of every person in every electorate. It is something we must never lose sight of. Speaking of electorates, I would welcome the opportunity of working through the issues confronting Hutt South with that electorate\u2019s member of Parliament. Now that he has me to turn to, Hutt South is likely to be able to reverse the declining socio-economic indicators that have been occurring in that electorate for some time. The issues confronting residents in Hutt South\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022 data-id=\u00223ec0bc9202d6484a830d15a5530fd860\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000383\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223ec0bc9202d6484a830d15a5530fd860\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: Order!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000384\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225007bc773cd649d089952c3a9169334b\u0022\u003EPAUL QUINN\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014are the same as those facing all electorates\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000385\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dc69f60861d645a6962f2360e45bacb7\u0022\u003EHon John Key\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sorry to interrupt the member\u2019s speech. There is a longstanding convention that members\u2019 maiden speeches are not interrupted, and members can take it on the chin from time to time if a member wants to make a comment. If Mr Mallard cannot control himself, I suggest that he goes back to his office.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000386\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b3d292a386f54649bf542a9219a1f22a\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: Speaking to the point of order\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000387\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002208ffec45047445609fd5e26523fd906b\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: I do not need any assistance; please sit. I did chastise the member. It is a long-held tradition; there will be no interjections.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000388\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dda97f17b25943c49d2400c7bc658f89\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. It is not a long-term tradition. There have been points of order on maiden speeches on many occasions, and they occur on the occasions when individuals breach their responsibility to be non-controversial. That member did that then.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000389\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cdbcf2b2083144a39e46ea34c07de770\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: Certainly, it has been my experience in this House, which goes back to 1993. It is the first experience I have had of it, and I would ask the member to contain himself.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000390\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002237e4b820693245fc9886ddae08cb111c\u0022\u003EPAUL QUINN\u003C/span\u003E: The issues confronting residents in Hutt South are the same as those facing all electorates; that is, a desperate lack of front-line services. In Hutt South that translates into 3,000 residents not having their own doctor because of the general practitioner shortage. Violent crime is on the increase, businesses are closing, and unemployment is rising. I have no doubt that the policies this Government campaigned on to address these and other challenges facing this country are the right ones. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000391\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EI believe that the second primary role members of Parliament have is to provide the leadership necessary to ensure New Zealand is once again acknowledged as a pre-eminent member of the world community. Bookend comments attributable to a very senior member of the previous administration, both made within the precincts of this building, to me encapsulate everything that was wrong with its oversight of the country. The first, made in August 2000, was the words \u201CWe won. You lost. Eat that!\u201D. That sneering comment set a reference point for what was to prove a downward-spiralling series of behaviours that oozed negativity and did not engender the leadership necessary to capitalise on years of economic opportunity. The other bookend comment, made as the country was winding up in readiness for this year\u2019s election, was words to the effect that the election was a fight for power. A fight for power is a fight for control, which in turn is a fight to have command over our lives. It is what ordinary New Zealanders refer to as the nanny State. The annals of history will record that the people rejected that style of administration at the ballot box this year. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000392\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EInstead, the people of New Zealand have opted for the National Party leadership model, one based on a value set that provides equal opportunity for all, protects individual freedoms, embraces choice, encourages innovation and enterprise, and inspires aspiration. Everyone is encouraged to achieve his or her potential. That is why I am proud to stand today as part of a National Government and acknowledge the already outstanding leadership of our Prime Minister, and I look forward to contributing, under his leadership, to the team effort. That team effort includes a partnership with the M\u0101ori Party\u2014a partnership that I welcome. Ng\u0101 rangatira t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, kei te mihi ki a koutou.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000393\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E[Greetings to you, esteemed ones; I acknowledge you.] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000394\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EThere has been hysterical denunciation of this partnership in some quarters. This denunciation is an affront to freedom of choice, as have been the accusations levelled at the M\u0101ori Party last week by the Opposition during the passage of the Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill through its various stages. Labour members accuse the M\u0101ori Party of selling M\u0101ori short, when under their watch the average income of M\u0101ori has gone from being 84 percent of what P\u0101keh\u0101 earn to 77 percent. The facts speak for themselves. Under the previous administration most M\u0101ori socio-economic indicators deteriorated. No wonder \u201Cclosing the gaps\u201D disappeared from the vernacular.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000395\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EFor some time now I have publicly stated my view that the M\u0101ori Party is a natural coalition partner for the National Party. Why? Because our value sets are aligned. We are both fiercely protective of property rights. We are both focused on aspirational pathways. We are both determined to provide a framework whereby everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve his or her potential. All the paradigm advances that have occurred to move M\u0101ori forward in this country\u2019s short history have, in my view, occurred under a National Government: the setting up of Apirana Ngata\u2019s land reforms; the introduction of w\u0101nanga; kohanga reo; Te M\u0101ngai P\u0101ho; the Te Reo Maori Television Trust; the fisheries settlement; the first Raupatu settlement; and subsequent Treaty settlement processes were driven by a National Government. I welcome the M\u0101ori Party as a team member in this Government, and I look forward to working with them in advancing the cause of M\u0101oridom\u2014kia kaha. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000396\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EOf particular interest to me in this regard is expediting Treaty settlement processes. It is but one specific reason why I now stand in this House. It is my response to the total lack of leadership provided by the previous administration in getting on with the job, particularly when it was obvious that there was a better way. I note that it magically found that better way some 6 months out from an election. Another concern is getting the Crown to abide by the commitment to partnership set out in Treaty settlements once those settlements had been agreed. By way of example, Ng\u0101ti Awa has had to go to the High Court and the Court of Appeal to demonstrate that the words in their deed of settlement, finally executed in April 2005, mean what they say. One would think, after four comprehensive defeats and no victories, the message might have got through, particularly given some of the findings in the judgments, but, sadly, not. I look forward to the leadership my friend and colleague the Hon Chris Finlayson will bring to this portfolio in ensuring enduring settlements are expedited in the spirit of partnership. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000397\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EI now return to the value proposition. This Government has committed itself to going for growth in the knowledge that only through real economic growth will our country once again be able to provide the aspirational pathways that improve the lives of every New Zealander. The great moments of history were achieved against a simple focused vision: Abraham Lincoln set out to abolish slavery and unite a country; John F Kennedy challenged his country to send a man to the moon before the decade of the 1970s arrived; and Bill Gates took the computer to the home. Of course, we have our own icons to look up to. Lord Rutherford and Sir Edmund Hillary are but two. A third is Sir Peter Blake and Team New Zealand, who benchmarked everything they did against one simple test: will it make the boat go faster? Our partnership with another of our team members, the ACT Party, calls for the closing of the income gap with our near neighbours by 2025. It is a laudable goal, but what happens if Australia slips back or if we pass them by 2015? Whatever we agree on, we need to be ready to respond to the challenges of the world. That will take dynamism, energy, enthusiasm, and a fair degree of business smarts. That is what today\u2019s modern National Party brings to New Zealand at this critical time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000398\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EThere is one other very important member of our Government team that must be acknowledged, and that is the Public Service, for it is the Public Service that helps the Government do its work. I have no doubt that under this Government the mana of a neutral Public Service will be restored so that it can, in complete confidence, give free and frank advice. My one reservation is that at times a silo mentality can be adopted by some departments. We must move past this by bringing greater cohesion, and have all departments, each day, challenge themselves with the question: \u201CHow are we contributing to growth today?\u201D. I am proud to be part of a Government that is going for growth. Everything I do as a member of this House will be benchmarked against that, and everything we do in this House should strive for the same. That is what this Government\u2019s leadership is focused on, and that is what must drive the Public Service. Our guardianship of this country is, in relative terms, for a short time. Our responsibility is to leave it a better place for those who follow.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000399\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EMy arrival in this House is not the end of a journey, but the beginning of a challenge. In concluding, I have already acknowledged Ng\u0101ti Awa, my family, and their support for me. I now take the opportunity to acknowledge the National Party and its Wellington metro branches, and, in particular, its president, Judy Kirk, who has encouraged and cajoled me in moments of doubt. I also take this opportunity to record my indebtedness to certain other people: Ursula Quinn, the Sisters of Compassion, Therese Pimley, Peter McCormack, Rose and Bernard Grant, Rolland O\u2019Regan, and Reg and Geraldine Power. Without their care and support, I would not be standing here today. But most of all I thank my wife, Viv, who, although initially a reluctant participant, has none the less been prepared to put her own outstanding career on hold and to unselfishly support and allow me to pursue what I believe in. She is my beloved, my confidante, and my conscience, and I thank her. N\u014D reira, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou katoa, kahuri.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003EWaiata\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022 data-id=\u002209d08d5fc8044832b1170d19e254c830\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000401\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002209d08d5fc8044832b1170d19e254c830\u0022\u003ERAYMOND HUO (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I congratulate you, Mr Assistant Speaker, and your associates, on your appointments, and I wish you all the best for the term of this Parliament. Greetings to all members and to the diverse group of citizens that each member represents. \u4F60\u4EEC\u597D! Greetings to you all.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000402\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EIt is a privilege to stand and present my maiden speech to this forty-ninth New Zealand Parliament. I wish to recognise the Governor-General and the dignified calm that he brings to that office. I should like to pay my respects to the Rt Hon Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister and leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. I am very proud to have been a part of the recent campaign under Helen Clark, upon whose vision and leadership I believe history will look back favourably. Her vision and leadership have strengthened my Kiwi identity and made me proud to be a New Zealander. Equally, I am very proud to have now become the first Chinese member of the Labour caucus, serving here under the Hon Phil Goff. I recall that my very first meeting with a Labour Cabinet Minister upon seeking the nomination to run for Parliament was with Phil at his Mount Roskill electorate office. I thank Phil for his support.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000403\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EI owe my presence here to many people whom I consider to be my mentors. To name names unfairly omits others, but some do need special mention: the Hon Chris Carter, for his passion to fight for the values the Labour Party stands for, and for his trust and confidence in me; the Hon Dr Michael Cullen; the Hon Lianne Dalziel; the Hon Darren Hughes; the Hon Judith Tizard; the Hon Maryan Street; and the Labour Party president, Mike Williams. I also pay tribute to the Hon Parekura Horomia and, through him, to all our M\u0101ori colleagues in the House, and to Aotearoa\u2019s tangata whenua. It is to them that we owe a profound debt for the foundation they laid for a bicultural nation that is now multicultural. Kia ora.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000404\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EThanks also go to many of my free-thinking friends, intellectuals, and teachers: Professor Yongjin Zhang\u2014with whom I am proud to be a fellow alumnus\u2014and Mr Gavin Ellis, the former editor-in-chief of the New Zealand Herald, who duly became my first employer in New Zealand. I followed Gavin\u2019s advice of listing all the pros and cons and adding them up to help draw a conclusion when I was not certain about vacating my legal profession in order to run for Parliament. He did not give me an answer, but he showed me how to get one. That reminded me of the way Gavin taught me, in the news room more than 10 years earlier, to distinguish between news and views when writing articles. However, sadly it appears that few media in this country appreciate the difference nowadays.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000405\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EMy most heartfelt thank you is extended to my wife, Yunfang, and our children. Thank you, xiao fang, for all the love, support, and wisdom that you continue to share. I know you are watching this on the Sky TV network together with other friends and supporters at home and abroad. I am thrilled to learn that the live broadcast has been arranged via the Internet as far away as Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Thank you for your support. \u65B0\u897F\u5170\u5DE5\u515A\u7B2C\u4E00\u4F4D\u534E\u4EBA\u56FD\u4F1A\u8BAE\u5458,\u5728\u8FD9\u91CC\u5411\u5168\u4E16\u754C\u534E\u4EBA\u95EE\u597D! I offer my sincere greetings to Chinese all over the world from me, the first Chinese MP of the New Zealand Labour Party.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000406\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EI am not sure whether it is appropriate, on this occasion, to thank many of my loyal clients. They often fall into a category of the most ideal clients of any law firm: rich and always in trouble. Some had troubles that were not of their own making. For instance, a young Chinese couple purchased a residential section in Auckland, but their development of this section, which was purely for residential purposes, was hampered by legislation passed in 1915 that meant consent for the required works\u2014in this case, the excavation or cutting of less than the 40-degree minimum\u2014could be granted only by the Governor-General. The Auckland Volcanic Cones Society demanded that work stop on the affected slope, citing the 1915 legislation. Others, however, strongly argued that the relevant provision should be repealed simply because of its redundant role.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EI have just learnt that a bill is currently before Parliament that was postponed because of the election. Under the proposed amendment, the Minister of Conservation would be able to delegate responsibility to his or her officers, thus making the process a lot more streamlined. Currently, people must go to the Department of Conservation, then to the Minister, and then to the Governor-General, all because of a 93-year-old Act that was designed primarily for mining. This change would be beneficial for all affected parties. As one reporter following the case correctly suggested\u2014showing a strong sense of humour\u2014my election to Parliament represents some level of comfort both to the Auckland Volcanic Cones Society and the developers like my clients, because from now on my service to all parties is free.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000408\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003ECases like this one make my transition from lawyer to parliamentarian much easier. I have a sense of obligation to work with all parties to create durable and effective laws. Clearly, my focus is to become the best possible advocate that I can possibly be, for the best interests of our peoples, our communities, and our society. In that regard, I trust that my fellow parliamentary colleagues from a variety of ethnic backgrounds share with me the same sense of mission\u2014that is, to bring our migrant community members closer to mainstream society. \u201CMainstream\u201D may be the wrong word, but without integration, alienation will inevitably follow. So our job, among other things, is to help communicate, build bridges, and bring people together.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000409\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EMany will recall that much was made of the concerns of Kiwi Asians about crime rates leading up to the election. The related press coverage prompted around 15,000 people to take to the streets in Auckland to air their fears. This was despite police statistics showing an overall drop in crime, although referring to such statistics would get any messengers, including myself, into trouble. But what cannot be denied is that these people were genuinely concerned about their safety, and that they took exception to the police\u2019s priority policy. They argued that sometimes we cannot distinguish between property-related crimes and life-threatening ones, as was demonstrated with the death of Joanne Wang after her handbag was snatched in Manukau.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000410\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EMany Asians have migrated from countries with civil law jurisdictions, where the inquisitorial system enables the courts to determine the truth in the first instance. When the prosecution is successful, sentencing is delivered to fit the crime and its specific circumstances, but here in New Zealand many Asians do not understand or appreciate our adversarial system of justice, or due process. When their expectation of a speedy and fair delivery of justice is not met, they often become frustrated. This is where we as MPs can help guide our new New Zealanders to understand and appreciate these differences.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000411\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EI want to promote in this House the value of looking forward, not backward. But it is worth noting that the process of migrant integration, or settlement, requires two-way communication, not one-way application.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000412\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EUntil about the early 1970s, New Zealanders did not talk much about ethnic groups, what rights they might have, and how a variety of them might be accepted or incorporated into the political arrangements of the country. Rather, they thought about race. As Professor Andrew Sharp said at the Learning and Practising Democracy symposium in 1996, when we had our first election under MMP: \u201CChinese and Indians were thought of as races too, indeed as \u2018race aliens\u2019\u2014the point of saying which was to deny that they could assimilate into the population at large.\u201D On the other hand, Professor Sharp went on to suggest that \u201Cthe more you think of yourselves as not \u2018ordinary New Zealanders\u2019 the less you will feel your interests and your cultures to be represented.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000413\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EI am confident that New Zealand can, and will, do remarkably well\u2014indeed, it has already done reasonably well\u2014in constructing a multicultural society. The rationale\u2014if I have not oversimplified it\u2014is that, for example, we are free and encouraged not only to be Chinese, or some variation of racial, linguistic, and ethnic Chinese, but also to be an ordinary New Zealander. To celebrate our differences is to promote our common purposes. Positive media will therefore play an important role. The ability for ethnic minorities to move from the margins of social and political life relies, largely, on the willingness of mainstream opinion to hear their voices, and the ability of the media to correctly report their differences.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000414\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003ETo some extent, ethnic minorities are vulnerable. If we allow ourselves to satisfy the appetite of the commercial mass media for stereotypes in whatever form, we are facing a risk of inflating intercultural misunderstandings rather than alleviating, minimising, and overcoming them. After all, this is not just your home; this is not just my home: this is our home\u2014our Aotearoa!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000415\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EI came to New Zealand in 1994, and, after some initial cultural shock in terms of settling in, I came to appreciate and celebrate the differences. I regard myself as someone who is extremely lucky to have been a witness of change and transformation, not only of China under reform but also of New Zealand in an increasingly globalised era, when multiculturalism has become entrenched and when New Zealand\u2019s identity is consistently shaped and reshaped.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000416\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EI taught myself to speak English when I was a teenager in China by listening to the radio. This was furthered by my middle-school teachers in Qianshan and my brother-in-law, Professor Jianming Xu. Of course, he was not a professor at that time. He had the same fate as his peers, and at the age of 16 he was sent to a remote countryside to be \u201Cre-educated\u201D. He taught himself English and science, and 20 years later he graduated from two top medical schools with one bachelor and two doctoral degrees. I followed that DIY spirit and was lucky enough\u2014and successful enough, if I may add that\u2014to be one of the very privileged few to attend university in China in the early 1980s.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000417\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EMy upbringing plays a big part in who I am today. My father was a doctor and my mother was a head nurse at that time. In their early 30s, they volunteered to move from the big city to a remote countryside town to help locals fight a parasitic disease known as Schistosoma, or blood fluke. On many occasions I witnessed how my parents resuscitated patients and saved them from death. This was approaching the later stage of the Cultural Revolution. Being a medical doctor working in harsh conditions in a remote countryside town did not mean you were immune from persecution. My father, like other \u201Cintellectuals\u201D, was ordered to stand still at the main entrance to the hospital, holding a wide whiteboard with his name painted in black, followed by the title \u201Ccounter-revolutionary medical expert\u201D. Sixty minutes a session, three sessions a day\u2014those in power believed that this would help him to be scrutinised by the public, which would eventually help him to \u201Cpurify\u201D his mind.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000418\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003ELike any naughty 5-year-old boy could and would do, I duplicated a smaller whiteboard and voluntarily joined the roster. I even invited my father to write my name and my title on the little whiteboard with something like \u201Clittle counter revolutionary medical expert\u201D. And guess what? He did! The Cultural Revolution ended shortly afterwards, and from then on I secretly believed that it was me who brought the nationwide political turmoil to an end with my little whiteboard.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000419\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003EIn hindsight, my journey to this honourable House stretches back to my birth in that small rural town, from that small stage I once shared with my father and from the desire for free will that I inherited from my parents. That experience was relevant. It influenced\u2014and will continue to influence\u2014my politics and world outlook. I have learnt to be resilient. I have learnt to be kind, caring, and more philosophical when confronting difficulties. To those who have asked me of my secret weapon behind successful careers in Beijing and now in New Zealand, I say it is a simple one: double your efforts, halve your expectations.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000420\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002248d9e7fe-3603-456c-bd32-c8d6177395fb\u0022\u003ELet me borrow from what the Hon David Cunliffe said in his maiden speech in February 2000: \u201CWhere there is a wrong, right it; where there is injustice, fight it; where there is hunger, feed it; and where there are no jobs, find some.\u201D I am so proud to be part of the Labour team that has striven for those very principles under the great names, including Michael Joseph Savage, Peter Fraser, Walter Nash, Norman Kirk, David Lange, and Helen Clark, and that will now continue to do so under Phil Goff. Kia ora. \u8C22\u8C22! Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022 data-id=\u0022340fa6d4d3ff4c9483993706f210f10a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000421\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022340fa6d4d3ff4c9483993706f210f10a\u0022\u003ECLARE CURRAN (Labour\u2014Dunedin South):\u003C/span\u003E T\u0113n\u0101 koutou, koutou te k\u0101hui t\u014Drangap\u016B o Aotearoa me Te Wai Pounamu. T\u0113n\u0101 koe hoki e te Mana Whakaw\u0101 o te Whare nei. He kupu whakamihi t\u0113nei n\u014D roto mai i te awa o \u014Ct\u0101kou me \u014Dna wahap\u016B ki a koutou e noho nei ki te Waha o te Ika. T\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 hoki t\u0101tou katoa.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000422\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003E[Greetings to you, the political collectives of New Zealand. Greetings also to you, Mr Assistant Speaker of this House. This acknowledgment from the waters of Otago and its harbours, to you living here at the mouth of the fish\u2014Wellington. Greetings to you collectively, and to us all.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000423\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI dedicate this speech to my grandmothers, Ellen Kinney and Peg Thompson, two strong-willed but compassionate women who would be proud, if somewhat astounded, to see me standing here today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000424\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI want to talk about honesty, aspiration, and community. I stand here a New Zealander, a union member, a member of the Labour Party, a mother, and until very recently the owner of a small business.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000425\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI acknowledge M\u0101ori as tangata whenua and the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000426\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI thank the people of Dunedin South for putting their trust in me to represent them as their member of Parliament. I thank all the volunteers, supporters, and members of the New Zealand Labour Party who worked tirelessly on the campaign to win Dunedin South. You are the bedrock of our party. I warmly acknowledge Pete Hodgson, the MP for Dunedin North, and David Parker, who imparted to me much wisdom in my journey this year, and Mike Woodhouse, the new Dunedin National List MP. I hope we will all work together constructively for our city.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000427\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EAs the first Labour woman to hold the seat of Dunedin South, I pay tribute to all the people who have come to this House before me to represent Dunedin South and St Kilda in all its various forms. David Benson-Pope has worked hard for the community and the Labour Party. It has been a hard few years for David and his family. I wish them well. Before him were the inimitable Dr Michael Cullen, Bill Fraser, James Barnes, and Fred Jones. The Dunedin South electorate has a long and proud history. For decades it has been a safe Labour seat and it remains a safe Labour seat. We are a staunch and steady lot.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000428\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EThe electorate extends from the working-class suburbs of South Dunedin, Caversham, and St Kilda, to Green Island, Fairfield, Brighton, and Mosgiel, from the lush Taieri Plains to the Lammermoor Range, and includes Graeme Sydney\u2019s Maniototo up to Middlemarch and Hyde, which includes the beginning of the Otago Central Rail Trail and the historic Taieri Gorge Railway. The glorious coastline of St Clair and St Kilda, and the Otago Peninsula, are home to some of the rarest wildlife in the world, and my home too.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000429\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI am a passionate Dunedinite. I was born in Wainui\u014Dmata but grew up in Dunedin. Like many New Zealanders, I went away to see the world and was gone for a long time Six years ago I uprooted my Australian partner and two little boys from Melbourne to return to Dunedin\u2014the best decision we ever made. There is something special about Dunedin. We are innovative. We are edgy. We manifest the can-do attitude of New Zealanders and the stoic nature of our early settlers to take whatever life offers and make the best of it. And we do make the best of it, every day. Dunedin, particularly South Dunedin, can claim to have nurtured many of our most creative and talented people. Janet Frame and James K Baxter both hailed from Dunedin South, along with myriad other writers, painters, poets, sportspeople, and musicians. But for many in Dunedin South, the low-paid and pensioners, life is hard. Seventy percent of people over 15 have an income of $40,000 a year or less. I am here to make sure their voices are heard.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000430\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI was raised in a Catholic household to do the best you can for yourself, your society, and for the people around you. I hail from mostly peasant Irish stock. My father, Kinney, worked in the Department of Justice, and from him I learnt the values that underpin the Civil Service: behaving ethically, taking responsibility for your actions, and doing the right thing. My mother, Shirley, taught me with her strength and tireless commitment to voluntary work the difference between right and wrong, and to always try my best. At St Dominic\u2019s College in Dunedin\u2014which has produced two Labour MPs, Marian Hobbs and me\u2014I was one of \u201Cthose\u201D Catholic girls who questioned everything, pushed boundaries, but ultimately took away strong principles of social justice and fighting to redress disadvantage. And inner strength. I pay tribute to the principal, Sister Albert, who instilled in me a sense of fairness and dignity.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000431\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI am not a practising Catholic, but I draw strength from the collective spirit, fellowship, and underlying values of Catholicism and many other faiths. My faith is in the ability of people to act together to do good. I have a belief in the importance of all people having a voice, whatever their background, and faith in the principles of community.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000432\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EBecoming an MP was not a pathway I had mapped out for myself, but, rather, a combination of circumstances, timing, and my readiness. Almost my entire working life I have been driven to work on issues that affect working people and the disadvantaged. I have been motivated by a resolve to fight injustice, and I hope I always will be. My first political act was to protest against the Springbok Tour in 1981. I clearly recall what apartheid meant for our country at that time, and I know where I stood on that issue. But being a mother is by far my greatest motivation. The responsibility of bringing up two little people has made me focus on what I really believe, and examine my values. As my children have grown, that drive has grown stronger.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000433\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI stand here today because of what I believe, and because I am committed to doing something about it. Should we not, as a nation, want more people who truly reflect our community to stand up for what they believe? It worries me that so many are disinterested in, and turned off by, politics. Why? One reason is that they fear what might happen to them. They fear that they will be exposed to unsustainable public scrutiny. Of course people standing for office should be accountable. But none of us, including me, is without blemish.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000434\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EOne of the biggest tasks ahead of us is to restore faith in politics and politicians. I believe that politicians of all parties have lost touch with the public we are trying to serve. It is not confined to New Zealand, but it is up to us to do something about it. How many of us have struck the repeated refrain from our constituents that politics is a joke, that all politicians are as bad as each other, and that the contest of politics is more important that the issues? In this latest election, more than 20 percent of registered voters did not vote, and in the M\u0101ori seats 35 to 40 percent did not vote. Is it good enough to accept that perception is the inevitable reality? No, it is not. It is time for a new politic, a new way of engaging, out of which emerges greater participation and faith in politics. We start by listening to the people around us and taking them with us. The real politic occurs in the collective beliefs and actions of people in their communities.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000435\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EAnd maybe it is time to consider making voting compulsory, as it is in Australia. The ancient Greeks, who gave birth to democracy, held that it was every citizen\u2019s duty to participate in decision making. Well, let us have the discussion.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000436\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI spent the 1990s in Australia, and witnessed the rise of the Howard Government, a period of great internal upheaval, and the rise of economic rationalism and a shift to social conservatism. It was a period characterised by attempts to silence the voices of many people and make fear and negativity the currency of the day; a period where so-called choice for working people meant taking away their rights, new immigrants were placed in detention, indigenous people were marginalised, and crime was used as a weapon to drive through draconian laws. This was when I learnt about the politics of dishonesty. And the politics of fear.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000437\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI do not want those sorts of politics to emerge in New Zealand. I am in the Labour Party because it is committed to transparency, and it does have values of decency, fairness, and honesty at its core. I want to articulate a vision that is greater than one of individual aspiration. I do believe in aspiration, that all of us should have the best opportunities in life and be encouraged to get ahead. But getting ahead is not just about material wealth and not just about individuals. Doing well is about fulfilling your potential. But it is also about caring for the people around you, whether they are your family, your wh\u0101nau, or your community. We are in this House today because we aspire. But I hope that it is not just aspiration for our own personal ambitions, that it is aspiration for all New Zealanders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000438\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EAbove all, I believe in community. Community is at the heart of what Labour means. With strong communities, you have social cohesion. You have people feeling connected and settled, and being able to look outwards to what they can achieve. I believe in a society where children are at the core of all policy decisions, where addressing the causes of child poverty is at the forefront of all that we do. Children are our future. They need the best environment to grow up in, and strong, safe communities.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000439\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI also care passionately about our country\u2019s natural values and the importance of preserving them for the future. For me it is about the people and the planet. You cannot have one without the other, and it is the huge challenge of our time to reconcile the two.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000440\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EIt is a travesty that this Government does not consider it a priority to invest in a low-cost means to make houses warm and dry. I think of the houses where small children are constantly sick with asthma and other respiratory conditions. I think of the woman I spoke to on the doorstep of her uninsulated South Dunedin flat in midwinter who did not get out of bed before midday because she could not afford to heat her home. Her story is common across South Dunedin, and what a difference warm and dry houses would make to those people\u2019s lives. In Dunedin there are 40,000 residential dwellings that were built before 1978 insulation standards, many of which need urgent attention. Under Labour, the billion-dollar energy efficiency fund, which has been canned by the National Government, would have assisted families to make their homes warmer, drier, and healthier, reduced their power bills, saved energy, and reduced carbon emissions. Numerous speakers in the House this week have referred to this critical issue. I ask all members to press for an investment in insulation and heating of housing across New Zealand. We have the means to do it. Do not ditch this policy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000441\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EAnd I believe that rail is an extremely important part of our future. It was the right decision to buy it back. I hope this Government will invest in KiwiRail, and acknowledge that integrated public transport is essential for economic growth and to reduce our carbon emissions. Getting more cars and trucks off roads is a public good.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI worked for 20 years in the communications industry. I started off as a journalist and moved into public relations. I have worked in Australia and New Zealand, largely in the private sector. I have run my own business for the last 6 years. I understand that small business is the backbone of our country. I also understand the importance of balance and fairness in the relationship between employers and employees to drive productivity. Introducing a law that allows employers to fire workers at will in the first 90 days is not about fairness; it is about exploitation and will create insecurity.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000443\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EInstead of taking rights and protections away from ordinary people, we should create new opportunities. Let us use information technology to punch above our weight and drive economic growth. Already, 1.5 million New Zealanders are connected to the Internet, a third of our workforce does at least some work from home, and there are 200,000 home-based businesses. We need to pay more attention to building strong communities that provide people with better choices: the ability to work flexibly, to live in well-resourced communities with strong public transport links, and to live in good-quality housing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000444\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EAlong with some other Labour colleagues I too support New Zealand becoming a republic, for us to become a truly independent nation. The time is right for a public conversation about this important issue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000445\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EAnd we urgently need to openly discuss the role of Government in our lives. National and ACT say less, not more, that the Government should get out of people\u2019s lives, and that private sector investment is more important than State investment. Contrary to these views, I believe that most people look to the Government for stability, security, support, leadership, and action. And for strong public services.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000446\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EThe fifth Labour Government fulfilled those things and will be judged by history to have been a very good Government, a strong and wise Government. I pay tribute to two important people in this Parliament, and in the lives of all New Zealanders. Helen Clark is the role model for generations of New Zealanders. She embodies leadership, inner strength, courage, and determination. She has kept our party strong and placed New Zealand high on the international stage. Michael Cullen has made a huge contribution to our party\u2019s thinking, and to the shape of our country. He is a finance Minister who took the tough calls and protected our future. His humour, sparkle, and eloquence are not matched in this Parliament.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000447\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI look forward to serving under the able and energetic leadership of Phil Goff and Annette King, and to working with, and learning from, my caucus colleagues.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000448\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EIn closing, I pay tribute to my parents, Kinney and Shirley, who are here today; to my sisters, Judith and Katherine, who have always stood alongside me and from whom I draw inspiration; and to my little family. To Doug Lilly, my partner, my friend, we embarked on this journey together and I could not do it without you. My two boys, Callum and Riley Curran, you are the most important people in my life. You are the future. You are the reason I am here in this place, but your welfare will always be my first priority. I may be an MP, but I will always be your mum.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000449\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EAnd, finally, I say to the people of Dunedin South that you will be my touchstone and my backbone. I will do my best to listen to you and involve you, and I endeavour to work with you to restore your faith in politics, strive to make opportunities for you to fulfil your potential, and strive to make our communities strong.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000450\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EE aku rahi, e aku iti koutou i areare taringa mai ki t\u014Dku whaikupu tuatahi, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou katoa. Ka huri.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000451\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003E[To my chiefly people, big and small, who listened attentively to my maiden speech, my acknowledgments to you all.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022 data-id=\u0022dd45e2e0a7254ec39a0d55c641de24ba\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000452\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022dd45e2e0a7254ec39a0d55c641de24ba\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS (Labour\u2014Rimutaka):\u003C/span\u003E Kia ora koutou katoa. E kui m\u0101, e koro m\u0101, e te wh\u0101nau, ng\u0101 iwi o te motu, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 t\u0101tou katoa.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000453\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E[Greetings to you all. To you, the gracious men and womenfolk, the family, and the people of the land, greetings, greetings, and greetings to us all.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000454\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EIt is with tremendous pride and a great sense of responsibility that I rise almost for the first time as the new member of Parliament for Rimutaka. As a genuine Hutt boy I feel deeply honoured to have this opportunity to serve and represent the community that has given so much to me. My speech is notable at least in the sense that maiden speeches from my part of the country are reasonably infrequent events. In the last century the part of the Rimutaka electorate formerly known as Eastern Hutt elected just four members of Parliament\u2014Sir Thomas Wilford, Sir Walter Nash, Trevor Young, and my immediate predecessor, Paul Swain. It is my sincere hope that the good people of Rimutaka will choose to continue this tradition of stability in the future and I will have many more opportunities to address this House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000455\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThis time 2 years ago I was just settling into a new life in London. Never did I imagine that 2 years later I would be standing in this House. My time living away from New Zealand gave me a much greater appreciation for all that I love about Aotearoa New Zealand. While I was away I missed the beaches, the mountains, and the forests, and I missed the unique diversity of cultures that makes us so special. There is nothing quite like watching an All Black haka in a cold and dreary London pub to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck and your heart call out for home. Living and travelling throughout the UK and Europe also gave me an insight into things that I think we could do much better here at home. As a backpacker I made it right around the Continent by train, by bus, and on foot, and it made me realise just how far we have to go before we live up to our own propaganda about being a truly sustainable nation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000456\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003ESince arriving back home in New Zealand I have made a point of catching the train to work whenever possible, and cycling where I can. The residents of the Hutt Valley are keen users of public transport, but we have a long way to go before we make it a truly world-class service. Anyone who has tried to bike from Upper Hutt to Wellington during peak-hour traffic will also know that we have a way to go in regard to cycle safety. I am aware that there is active discussion about improving the cycleway between P\u0113tone and Ngauranga, and I believe that we need to progress that with some haste. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000457\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EIn many ways the Rimutaka electorate embodies the rich diversity that I love about New Zealand. The Hutt Valley is home to a wide range of cultures, ethnicities, and families with a wide variety of economic means. Our rolling green hills and fresh clean river represent the wonderful natural environment we take for granted throughout the country. There is no place I would rather call home and no place that I am prouder to represent in this Parliament than the Hutt Valley. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000458\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI acknowledge all of those who have come before us. Standing in this House we do indeed stand on the shoulders of giants. I acknowledge two giants of the Labour Party here in the House today, Helen Clark and Michael Cullen\u2014I wrote that before I realised I was going to be standing next to you. For the past decade they have led our country with great strength and dignity, and I honour their lifelong commitment to making New Zealand a better place. I believe that the fifth Labour Government will be remembered for restoring the balance between our right to individual freedoms and our responsibilities to one another as members of society.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000459\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EIt will be remembered for ensuring that the needs of the competitive free market are balanced by the need for the Government to set a few boundaries and ensure that the most vulnerable are protected. The past weeks and months of economic turmoil have demonstrated very clearly that the great promise of humanity will never be realised if we leave our most vulnerable exposed and unprotected in cruel economic winds. We will never live in a truly harmonious and prosperous society unless we turn our backs on the \u201CWhat\u2019s in it for me?\u201D mantra of individualism that pervaded our public policy decision-making for much of the 1980s and 1990s. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000460\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EGrowing up in the Hutt Valley during the 1980s I saw, first hand, the impact the great rolling back of the State had on many of our families. Many of the kids I went to school with had parents who had worked in the public services and found themselves on the economic scrap heap, thanks to Rogernomics. Those parents struggled to provide their kids with the basics in life. Their problems were compounded when what little financial support they did receive was cut by the incoming National Government in its now infamous \u201Cmother of all Budgets\u201D. Like mine, they were loving parents who wanted the best for their kids. I utterly reject the notion that they could have got ahead, if only they had worked harder. They had no jobs, and there were no jobs to get. In many cases they had only minimal skills and qualifications and there was no support available to gain any. As a society, we simply turned our backs on them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000461\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWe live with the legacy of that action today. Those tough economic times created a huge divide between those in our country who have, and those who have not. The result was a breakdown in our collective community spirit. As a society, we became indifferent to the lives of those around us. We see that indifference to others in the terrible growth in violent crime. We see it in the tragic level of child abuse that goes unreported, until it is too late. We see it in the graffiti and vandalism that has invaded our public spaces. We cannot solve these problems by turning away from them, and we cannot solve these problems by pretending they are someone else\u2019s responsibility. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000462\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI believe that a major challenge for this and future generations will be rediscovering our sense of community spirit and responsibility. We need to rediscover our faith in collective institutions and processes. I too am ambitious for New Zealand but the prosperity that I dream of will not be measured by the size of our cars or the number of holiday homes we own. It will be measured by the strength of our compassion towards one another. It will be measured by the collective efforts that we take to give our kids the best possible start in life. It will be measured by the respect we show to our older citizens. It will be measured by the steps we take to help each other up the ladder of opportunity. We need to move past the notion that our welfare system should be little more than a safety net at the bottom of that ladder. It can and it should help people up. I have little time for those who, having climbed that ladder themselves, think it is their right to pull it up behind them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000463\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWe need to look very carefully at the support available to our families and recognise the tremendous importance of families and wh\u0101nau in all of our lives. I would not be standing here today were it not for the love and support I received from my parents, Rose and Doug, who are sitting in the gallery this afternoon. They are joined by many of the wider wh\u0101nau, the friends and family who have supported me throughout my life and helped me realise all of the opportunities that are available to me. I recognise that my success in life, and my ability to grasp the opportunities in front of me, is as much a tribute to the love and support I have received from those around me as it is to my own individual efforts. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000464\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI carry with me the values that my parents taught my brother Dave and I, and, hopefully, at some point he will be watching this speech on the Internet in Dublin. They taught us to place ourselves in the shoes of others and treat them as we would like to be treated ourselves. They encouraged us to measure ourselves not just by our own happiness, but by the happiness that we bring to others. Growing up, I never considered myself a rich kid, but my brother and I were raised with an abundant supply of love and support, and there can be no greater wealth than that. Our parents were always there when we needed them and they gave us all of the time that we needed. I do sometimes wonder whether the overwhelming emphasis we place today on paid work is undermining the importance of family time. How many of our social problems that we face today would be overcome if only we took a little more time for family and for those around us? Perhaps the people in my Rimutaka electorate would stop worrying about the significant growth in the size of Rimutaka Prison if we started measuring our response to crime by the steps we take to prevent it in the first place, rather than by the number of people whom we lock up after the event. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000465\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EToo often we are asking our social institutions to compensate for the breakdown in our family lives and in our social networks. The education system is a classic example. I recognise the critical role of social workers in our schools, but also I recognise they are the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, not the fence at the top. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the thousands of dedicated teachers we have in our schools. They carry an incredible responsibility and it is all too easy when debating education to resort to a \u201Cblame the teacher\u201D mentality. There may be some teachers who could do better, but I believe that the vast majority of our teachers are dedicated and hard-working, and they quite literally change lives. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000466\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI believe that we need to rethink the competitive model of schooling that was introduced through Tomorrow\u2019s Schools. When schools compete, the real losers are the students who have no other option than to attend the poorer performing schools. They are often from poorer families, are frequently brown, and sadly they often do not enjoy the same level of support at home that others in more affluent areas do. If we are to ensure that Kiwi kids get the best possible chances in education, we need to ensure that every school is a great school and every teacher is a great teacher. We can start by looking very carefully at the physical learning environment in our schools and the level of resourcing that they have available. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000467\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThe state of Upper Hutt\u2019s State intermediate and secondary schools was a major issue during the recent election campaign. One of my priorities over the next 3 years will be ensuring those schools get the $30 million in additional funding they were promised. Like so many throughout the country, those four schools are trying to make do with old facilities, built for the schooling needs of the 1960s and the 1970s. They are no longer fit for purpose. I visited most of the schools in the Rimutaka electorate over the past year and I know that most of them are struggling to provide their teachers and students with the learning resources they need, given the level of funding they have available. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000468\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWe need to recognise that technology has changed our school system dramatically in the past decade, but, unfortunately, the funding system has not kept up. If we are to realise our full potential as a nation in the coming decades, education will be critical, and it will not just be in the school system. At this point I would like to acknowledge our new Speaker, the Hon Dr Lockwood Smith, and the vision of a seamless, lifelong education that he articulated during his time as Minister of Education. I believe it was the right vision then, and it remains the right vision now. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000469\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EIt is perhaps somewhat ironic that it was whilst protesting the last National Government\u2019s policies in tertiary education that I became actively involved in politics at a national level. Following a protest march to Parliament I found myself enjoying Her Majesty\u2019s hospitality at the Wellington Central Police Station. Eleven years after being forcibly removed from the grounds of Parliament, I find myself back on the inside, although in a very different sense. Having experienced parliamentary urgency for the first time last week, I can say the feeling of containment is very similar, although the surroundings certainly superior. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000470\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI remain as committed today as I was 11 years ago to breaking down the barriers to participation in higher education. I am incredibly proud of all that has been achieved over the past 9 years, from putting an end to the massive tuition fee increases to the introduction of interest-free student loans. I am deeply disappointed we are one election victory away from achieving a universal living allowance for students. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000471\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EHowever, we also need to recognise that in a modern economy a great deal more learning is going to be taking place in non-institutional settings. The time I spent working in the industry training field convinced me of the enormous value and potential of on-the-job learning. We need to do more to ensure that is adequately supported. In particular, I believe we need to look very closely at the level of support we provide to small employers who take on apprentices. Many of the people living in the Rimutaka electorate are former employees of large manufacturers such as General Motors or South Pacific Tyres, or of the former large Government departments such as the Post Office or the railways. Those organisations were much more than just large employers; they were also places of learning. They trained many of the tradespeople whom we have in our workforce today. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000472\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EAs increasing numbers of those people are nearing retirement age, we will need to find new ways of ensuring that their skills are passed on to new generations. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the retirement of the baby-boomer generation will be one of the biggest challenges we are going to face over the coming decade. In recent years we have seen a considerable growth in the number of rest homes and retirement villages in the Hutt Valley, and with half a million New Zealanders nearing retirement age, that trend will only continue. I firmly believe that the care of our older citizens is far too important to leave to the vagaries of the free market. I find it morally repugnant that the assets older citizens have spent a lifetime accumulating can be scooped up in a few short years and added to the profit margins of large corporate conglomerates. Older citizens deserve so much better. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000473\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003ETo paraphrase former US Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, the moral test of a Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick and the needy. As our world grows ever more complex and demanding, reconnecting with each other will be one of the great challenges of the 21st century. We have never been more mobile than we are today, yet we have never had higher rates of loneliness and depression. Technology connects us with friends and family across the globe, yet we have never been less likely to know the names of our own next-door neighbours. We need to reignite the fire of our collective spirit; we need to rediscover what it means to live as part of a community. Compassion, respect, friendship, love, tolerance, and forgiveness need once again to become values embedded in all that we do. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000474\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI thank the people of the Rimutaka electorate who have given me this opportunity to serve. Particular thanks go to the Rimutaka Labour campaign team: George and Josephine Collins, John and Anna Young, Janette Granville, Bill Werry, Julie Englebretsen, Ian Dunwoodie, Claire Norris, and Jan Smith. It was a long and exhausting campaign, but you rose to the challenge. I thank my family, and all those others who have supported me along this journey. I hope I live up to your expectations. He aha te mea nui o te ao? M\u0101ku e k\u012B ake, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata. What is the greatest thing in the world? I say, it is people, it is people, it is people. N\u014D reira, kia tau te rangim\u0101rie ki a t\u0101tou katoa. T\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 t\u0101tou katoa.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022 data-id=\u0022e6b74842e15543fbb81473ef7ee29109\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000475\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e6b74842e15543fbb81473ef7ee29109\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E Mr Assistant Speaker, I am honoured to stand in this House today, and I join my colleagues who have gone before me in congratulating you on your election as Assistant Speaker. Maiden statements are a bit like words spoken in a heated argument; like it or not, they will come back to haunt one. Today I will share with members the words that I wish to haunt me: my values and beliefs, and the things that have brought me here. I do so in the hope that should I ever abandon them, I will have the good grace to leave. But I cannot begin without first paying tribute to the previous leader of the Labour Party, Helen Clark. There are many reasons why I joined the Labour Party, but it was Helen who made me proud to be a member. My generation grew up under Helen\u2019s leadership and many do not know how good they had it. I have no doubt that her leadership will leave a legacy well beyond my own generation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000476\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI cannot pinpoint exactly when my interest in politics began, but I know it began when I was young. I was born in Hamilton, but in the 1980s my family relocated to Murupara, where my father took up the role of the local police sergeant. My memories of that place are vivid. I knew that a lot of people had lost their jobs, but I did not understand that it was due to the privatisation of the forestry industry and to a complete lack of central government support. I knew that there were suicides, and that the girl who used to babysit my sister and me one day turned yellow from hepatitis and could not visit us any more. But I did not understand the linkages between these things and the poverty of the community I was living in. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000477\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EMy passion for social justice came from what I saw; my love of politics came when I realised that it was the key to changing what I saw. And there is much to change. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000478\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EThe fifth Labour Government made good progress on what I believe must continue to be our focus\u2014reducing poverty in this country. Labour has ensured that no elderly person lives below the poverty line, but that does not mean that many do not still live a very hard life. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000479\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003ELabour lifted 130,000 children out of poverty through Working for Families, but that does not mean that many do not remain there still. I will not pretend that the response is simple; it is not. The majority of children living in poverty now are dependants in families where the main means of support is a Government benefit. But if we believe that our welfare State is a necessary safety net and a support for those unable to support themselves\u2014as I do\u2014then the children living in these circumstances should not be living in poverty. These children are not part of an underclass, as I have heard them called; they are part of our community, and we have a responsibility to continue the momentum of the previous Labour Government and to finally rid ourselves of poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand. This is our collective challenge. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000480\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EMurupara and the wonderful people who live there, and who continue to work hard to rejuvenate their community, formed just one of the many lessons I have learnt. Demonstrating my parent\u2019s absolute love of big cities, my family relocated to Morrinsville. I have very good memories of growing up in this small rural Waikato town. It is a key productive region of New Zealand, and is the region of my family. My grandfather dug the drains there, my other grandfather farmed there, and I had the privilege of campaigning there in the last election. It is a place that keeps me grounded. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000481\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI attended Morrinsville College, which is a fantastic school and an example of why we should be proud of our public education system and the teachers working within it. I only wish that my education could have extended to the universal teaching of te reo M\u0101ori, so that more of my generation could converse in our national language rather than in the more common offering of German, French, and Japanese. Education in language builds understanding. I join colleagues who have gone before me in calling for the universal and compulsory teaching of te reo in our schools, and for all of the necessary resource that goes with it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000482\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EMorrinsville College was also the place where I experienced my first election, campaigning on the weighty electoral issue that girls should be allowed to wear trousers to school. I was elected to the Morrinsville College board of trustees and was subsequently appointed to the suspension committee as the student representative. It was tough. I sat face to face with my peers who were facing removal from the education system. Although I had no qualms about handing down punishment to those students who were bullies in our school, I also saw many come before us who quite clearly had no emotional or financial support from their families, from their caregivers, or from their community. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000483\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003ESo much lies in our beginnings. Research tells us that young people who find themselves in front of the criminal justice system have also experienced instability in their homes. They have witnessed violence, and three out of four are likely to have grown up in families that did not have enough to get by. We will never find durable solutions that genuinely prevent issues like disengagement in education right through to entry into the criminal justice system if we continue to look at the shallow end of the problem. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000484\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EMorrinsville brought with it other experiences. When I was 14 I got my first job, at a fish and chip shop, and eventually I ended up at a grocery store, as a number of my colleagues have done. It was the 1990s. I earned roughly $5 an hour, I joined a union that struggled to support us under the realities of the Employment Contracts Act, and I saw the real consequences of working for a hostile management team. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000485\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI saw the importance of unions again in 2005 when, on a whim, I packed my bags and moved to New York. While I struggled to find work I volunteered in a soup kitchen and on a campaign for home-care workers who had been without an employment contract for over a decade. I busied myself as a campaign assistant\u2014coming up with chants that sounded fine in a Kiwi accent, but never sounded quite right when belted out by Americans\u2014and I organised the workers. Their very presence on that picket line threatened their livelihood. It was an experience that deepened my commitment to having a balance in employment relationships\u2014a balance that I was shocked to see so severely disrupted in my very first week in this House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000486\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI have never given up on finding new ways to change what was going on around me, but I am the first to concede that I am not a normal young person. At this election young people made up 50 percent of those who did not bother to enrol. They are in the age group that is least likely to vote but is most likely to be affected by the decisions we make here.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000487\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI have the privilege of holding the youth affairs portfolio. There are many issues within this role\u2014health, education, justice. However, it cannot be just about speaking on behalf of young people but also about giving them the opportunity and reason to speak for themselves. Like many who have gone before me, I too believe that civic education plays a massive role in doing this. But so does the simple impact of our example. We all have the responsibility to help restore a little faith in our political processes, to continually show the relevance of politics to young people and the wider community, and to find new and better ways of listening and responding. Some may call this participatory democracy; I just call it our job. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000488\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EOne of my first opportunities to see all sides of a member of Parliament\u2019s role was when I took a job in Phil Goff\u2019s office. It was an honour to work for Phil. I saw at first hand just how hard he is prepared to work for New Zealanders and his commitment to them, and I am very honoured to work with him once more. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000489\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003ELike so many Kiwis, I also took the opportunity to travel abroad. I studied at Arizona State University for a semester. Midway through my time there two planes flew into the World Trade Center and everything around me changed. I have watched as international politics has continued to change while serving as the president of the International Union of Socialist Youth\u2014an umbrella organisation of over 150 progressive youth movements from around the world. This role has sent me to some far-flung places around the globe, from Bhutanese refugee camps to the people of Western Sahara, to Lebanon, and to Jerusalem and the West Bank and the wall that divides the two. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000490\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003ESome people have asked me whether I am a radical. My answer to that question is very simple: \u201CI am from Morrinsville.\u201D Where I come from a radical is someone who chooses to drive a Toyota rather than a Holden or a Ford. I am, though, a social democrat. I believe in what I believe strongly\u2014the values of human rights, social justice, equality, and democracy, and the role of communities\u2014and I believe we have a role to play in defending these principles abroad. Anyone who has moved abroad will know what it is like to reflect on one\u2019s home from afar, and I have always done so with pride; not just for our position on foreign affairs but also for our thriving music and film industry, our culture and our heritage, and our country\u2019s beauty. But these things do not merely exist. They must be fostered and must be protected, and with more than empty rhetoric. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000491\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI fear that our pride in New Zealand\u2019s clean, green reputation is already misplaced. It is shameful enough that we are about to lose New Zealand\u2019s most proactive legislation in response to the impacts of climate change that we have seen to date. It is unspeakable that, in addition, we now have a parliamentary select committee to question the science of climate change itself. We had the potential to be a world leader. National told us we should be fast followers, but now all I see are the many, many losers\u2014the future generations whom some people in this House do not yet believe they have a responsibility to. Well, I do. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000492\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EThere are other things that time spent working in an international environment can teach you. I spent 3 years in the United Kingdom working as a public servant\u2014a career I have a great amount of respect for. This role took me from the UK Cabinet Office to the Department for Business and Enterprise, where I was an assistant director working on regulatory issues. I spent most of my time\u2014this is probably a shock to members on the other side of the House\u2014talking to small businesses, local authorities, and even police officers, trying to understand the delicate balancing act between creating a regulatory environment that protects citizens whilst also allowing business and public services to flourish. I am very mindful of the importance and the need for both. With a strong economy comes the chance to further strengthen public services and create a fairer society for everyone. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000493\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EBut personal experiences are only a very small part of the thing that brings you to a place, and I have to acknowledge the role of my family. My parents have always challenged me and supported me. They have shown me that the world is not black and white, nor is it rose-tinted, and I honour them. I honour my mother, who gave up everything for her girls in an era where choices were made between family and career. I honour my father for his dedication to his family and to the New Zealand Police for the past 35 years. He has seen the most horrific side of human nature, but has always shown compassion and a commitment to building communities in New Zealand and now in Niue. And to my dear sister, Louise, I say that nothing bores her more than politics, which is why her support has meant so very much to me. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000494\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EBut apart from my dear Auntie Ann, it was my nana who was the true political beast in my family. Gladys was staunch Labour. Sadly, I never had the opportunity to ask her what made her so passionate that she would switch off the TV if Muldoon ever came on, and would leave it off for at least 10 minutes to make sure he was not polluting her screen any longer. I know that I can do no better than to make Gladys, Harry, and Annie proud. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000495\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003ETo my Waikato campaign team, including my wonderful grandparents, who fought hard alongside me in a seat that has been held by National for the past 40 years, I say that next time we will take it on the specials. To all my friends and to the new and existing Labour team; to Darren, for all the leave that I know he will grant me and for dispensing the kind of advice that proves he was born middle-aged but also that he was born wise; to Marian Hobbs, the old conscience of this House; and to Michael\u2014I am proud to be the youngest member of this Parliament but even prouder to serve here with him as the father of this House\u2014I thank them all. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000496\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003ESo there it is: the answer to that golden question. It is the things I have seen, the lessons I have learnt, and the people of New Zealand whom I wish to serve that have brought me to this place. These are the very things that I wish to haunt me for as long as I have the privilege of serving here. T\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou katoa.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000497\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022f8ef0b97abe74b2780708d68299887ef\u0022\u003ESittings of the House\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000499\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022dcb7780bdfc4491884d277bd645eea99\u0022\u003ESittings of the House\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022 data-id=\u00220cd52e4475464684a2beb95033e8b465\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000498\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220cd52e4475464684a2beb95033e8b465\u0022\u003ENATHAN GUY (Senior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E I seek the leave for the House to rise a couple of minutes early this evening and to resume at 7.30 p.m.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000500\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221eeb14c095fa42b684acadbecd9d9b6e\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for the House to rise at this point for the dinner break and to resume at 7.30 p.m. Is there any objection to that course of action? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000501\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003ESitting suspended from 5.57 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000502\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00221e7af052350e48a69667d9b565b898af\u0022\u003EEnergy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002255f657247d2e4df88f56f44100397532\u0022\u003EFirst Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000504\u0022\u003EDebate resumed.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u0022e528dcea3ad34396b03a56820e94c481\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000505\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e528dcea3ad34396b03a56820e94c481\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E It will come as no surprise to this House that the Labour Party will be opposing this legislation, vociferously. We think the decision of the Government to wind back biofuels is simply wrong. We think that it is unjust. We think the process that is being used by the Government is particularly unjust. We think that it is wrong for a Government to pass legislation that takes away the productive capacity of this or that individual enterprise without the enterprise having an ability to submit its case. We think that is wrong. We think that is unjust. We think that it is economically damaging. Quite apart from the fact that this company or that company will have to close, and that there will be a loss of jobs\u2014and in the case of one such company the loss of 46 jobs\u2014it is economically damaging. Quite apart from that, it is also economically damaging in the sense that it does not allow New Zealand to make slow and early steps\u2014and let us make it clear that the progress of biofuels is in its infancy\u2014towards a biofuels future. That has now been stopped by this legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000506\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e1ecd81fada4492181c9ec034db818a6\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: No, no!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000507\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ed19fd9d4dee46d4a1ee897d26bc66eb\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister is deluding himself. It is environmentally damaging in the sense that our ability to replace the fossil fuels used in our transport sector will now be reduced.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000508\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022727a0d09c8af4b9d9f253bb076e51ae3\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: No, it is not.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000509\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022335d412a91374cd795423a2c05d8c21c\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: It will be reduced, and that will be environmentally damaging.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000510\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EMost important, it seems to me that this legislation will go through the House this week without a rationale, and it is that absence of a rationale that I want to concentrate on. The rationale, of course, was what the Minister in his first reading speech attempted to lay out. I listened to the speech very carefully and I have taken notes from it. I find that the argumentation of the Minister\u2019s first reading speech is dishonest. I find that the argumentation is dishonest, and I am saying that it is dishonest in order to stay well within the Standing Orders. I now want to lay out, step by step, why I think the argumentation is dishonest. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000511\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe Minister began\u2014I thought quite correctly\u2014by pointing out that biofuels can cause enormous damage. They can displace an awful lot of arable agricultural space, for example, and they can also cause a great deal of deforestation. That is known; that is accepted. The Minister made the point correctly. However, he failed to point out two other things. The first is that the legislation this bill seeks to repeal does not allow for that type of biofuel to come into New Zealand. Secondly, by the repeal of that legislation, such biofuels will now be able to come into New Zealand\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000512\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c4267961827140df98e745cb6802a6d5\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Rubbish!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000513\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022938705e0e9844249aefabd1262997bed\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014unless there is some regulation that the Minister has forthcoming that we do not know about. He sits there and says \u201CRubbish!\u201D; he is wrong. It is a matter of fact that the biofuels legislation that was passed by this House earlier this year contains a significant number of sustainability safeguards. Furthermore, it is a matter of fact that the Ministry for the Environment and other agencies had indicated to the Government of the day\u2014and would have indicated to this Government, too, I have no doubt\u2014that their final regulatory regime would be ready by about July 2009. Yet we are getting rid of this legislation. We are getting rid of the sustainability parts of it that are in the primary legislation. The Government is squealing that somehow that is a good thing, but it is clearly something that will take our country backwards.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000514\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe Minister says there are not enough biofuels now to supply the sales obligation. What should be a surprise about that? The Government would lay out a sales obligation, give the industry notice, put up the obligation by a little bit each year, and then the industry would invest to meet that target. Those targets will no longer exist if this legislation is repealed\u2014those sales obligations will no longer exist\u2014and most, if not all, of the biofuel industry in this country will shut down. Mark my words! \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000515\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe Minister said that the standards were not in place; I say that if he had waited 7 months they would have been in place. The Minister said that the standards could not be put in place, but that is contrary to the advice that officials gave to this Government, and to the select committee, on the original bill, etc.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000516\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EBut the thing I disliked most was the Minister saying that the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment opposed the bill and said that it was wrong. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000517\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002202f93f8fd1b844858374158b06008695\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000518\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002204d3b0246b8d4aa1b73c0a1c09b5e493\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: It is right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000519\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022339d41fbd66e4fbba91cc0f2c3662df3\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Absolutely right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000520\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229b723b227cd440e1b620bd5073e16005\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: It is right, but what is wrong is that the bill was changed, and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment then said that the legislation was in satisfactory form. The legislation was passed with her blessing, but the Minister has failed to acknowledge to the House that that parliamentary officer did her job. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment went into the select committee process with the bill as introduced and said it was not good enough, and it was not. The select committee fixed it up so that it was, and she said then that it was satisfactory, but the Minister in his first reading speech failed to advise Parliament of the views of one of Parliament\u2019s own officers on the bill as it came out of the select committee\u2014failed to advise Parliament. That is what I think is dishonest argument. I think the Government is bewildered on this; I think it is bewildered, illogical, and wrong.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000521\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ELet us now go to the next point that the Minister raised, which is to do with money. The Minister said that the price of biofuels would cost somewhere between 2c and 8c a litre additionally. Well, that was the advice received by the select committee from the oil companies\u2014that is what Chevron Oil said, or BP said. If the Minister is to become some sort of spokesperson for the \u201Cseven sisters\u201D, that is fine and dandy, but why did the Minister not also advise the House what the official advice would have been on that cost differential? Why did he not do that? It seems to me that he did not do it because it did not suit his argument. Here\u2014unfortunately for the Minister\u2014are the official advice figures: the cost would not be from plus 2c to plus 8c per litre; the cost would be from minus 4c to plus 1.3c per litre. That was the advice that was given to the select committee\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000522\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002207a45dd5478d40e0b90d802ce488d3e1\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Just like the climate change\u2014Kyoto credit analysis.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000523\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022447fa837cc294c79a685e1005070c6e4\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014and whether the Minister believes that advice, or not, it is really pertinent that he did not put those figures into the public arena when he was trying to give this lovely measured example of why he has to undertake this act of environmental vandalism. The member has made a botch of this. He has done it for substantially political reasons. It will mean loss of jobs. It will mean that our ability to progress biofuels will not be able to proceed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000524\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThere is the whole case of Mr McNicholl and his investments, but I will leave that for other speakers to talk about, because that is an example of someone who invested on the basis of certainty and law, and who found that that certainly did not carry through to the next Parliament, and that the incoming Government was going to roll back that law. That is an example, I think, of where the Government has decided to take a series of steps for political reasons rather than for reasons of good policy. All I can say is that in the entire first reading speech, which is when we would expect the rationale to come out, there is a Minister who is using dishonest argument, who is using figures that are selective, and who is in fact totally befuddled when it comes to the logic of sustainability because this legislation sweeps away the sustainability criteria that are now in the primary legislation. At the end of this week there will be none of that, and then anything will be able to flood into this country.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000525\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ESo here we are, in only the second week of Parliament, and the list so far is that the emissions trading scheme will be put to a so-called high-level select committee, that biofuels will be wound back, that somehow or another it is really bad to have halogen or fluorescent lamps around this country, and that the country will have other forms of environmental vandalism\u2014all of which add up, in total, to this country moving into reverse. Later this week we will even be saying that it is OK to have gas-fired power stations all over again.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000526\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EDoes the member not know that climate change is now up front of, and central to, global politics? Does the member not realise that there have been elections in recent times in Australia and in the US? Does the member not realise that far from being a leader around the place on a response to climate change, this country is now becoming a follower? It has lost its way, it is a slow follower\u2014it is not a fast follower, by any means\u2014and it is illogical, out of date, heading in the wrong direction, and completely befuddled. That is a disgrace, in my view, to this country.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022 data-id=\u0022d9ebaaec0542471eb7283fc9bbece985\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000527\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d9ebaaec0542471eb7283fc9bbece985\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment):\u003C/span\u003E I want to make a number of important points in commending Gerry Brownlee on this Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill, but I will not let pass the lectures from the Labour Party on climate change. The only things New Zealand led in the 9 years of a Labour Government were increased emissions and deforestation. They are the only areas in which Labour, in 9 years of Government, was able to lead on climate change policy. I say to members opposite that before they get on their feet and start lecturing us, they should make some apologies for their appalling record. I am advised by officials that the figures we will report to the United Nations next year and the year after that will be the legacy of the previous Government\u2019s appalling record around deforestation and the increase in emissions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000528\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe second point I make is that the Leader of the Opposition, in opening this session of Parliament, said he would hold the Government to account for its promises. What did the National Party promise on biofuels? It promised that it would repeal this stupid compulsion and replace it with a tax incentive. Why is it that now that we are trying to fulfil our promises, we get these sorts of arguments from members opposite?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000529\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe fundamental difference between members opposite and those on the Government side of the House is that Labour members believe in compulsion. They believe in the nanny State. Members on this side of the House believe in incentives, and let me go through the reasons why such incentives make very good sense. Firstly, I will deal with sustainability issues. I am yet to hear any Labour member provide some logic as to why the compulsory obligation for biofuels came into effect on 1 October even though the sustainability standard is at least 12 months away. What a loopy policy! Fancy saying to people: \u201CYou\u2019ve got to have biofuels, but we haven\u2019t worked out what the rules are about sustainability.\u201D How can people make sensible decisions about investment when they do not know what the rules are? It was a classic case of putting the cart before the horse, and that is why we need to repeal the legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000530\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe second thing I want to raise is that members opposite have claimed that with this legislation there is no sustainability standard for importing biofuels. The honest truth is that if someone wants to import ethanol made from palm oil from Brazil or Indonesia, there is absolutely nothing to stop him or her from doing so under the old legislation that was passed by the previous Government. I say to members opposite that they are misleading the House in saying otherwise. It is true that the compulsory requirement is not met, but it is not true to say that any control at all is imposed on the importation of sustainable biofuels.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000531\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI come to the next really important point. The median range estimate on the cost of this biofuel obligation is 4c per litre. Officials say that each cent per litre represents $60 million. In other words, the biofuel obligation amounts to a cost obligation of $240 million per year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000532\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002223f257c7221846bd91221fdb5a5a3ea0\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: They did not tell us that it was 4c per litre. That is not what the officials said.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000533\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dd8975f0b66c47b29d16597204b002bf\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: I ask Ms Mackey how many members in this House believe that we have proportionality correct when the cost obligation is $240 million on biofuels, despite all of the questions asked internationally about their advocacy, and when we are spending $4 million a year on the greenhouse gas consortium looking at agricultural emissions. I think members of Parliament instinctively know that those proportions were all wrong.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000534\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThen we hear the ultimate in economic lunacy from those members. They claimed that the biofuels bill was actually going to save 5c a litre. Well, hang on a moment\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000535\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ed2d10c1-43b7-41d9-9f5c-0c313f70e625\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002269c038a3ce8e40c982470ade4fbbbc7b\u0022\u003ENikki Kaye\u003C/span\u003E: Yeah, right!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000536\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002243fb532746b24dc29b1092e2393c4eb5\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Exactly. Would we need to have compulsion if the legislation was actually going to cost less than existing fuels? Not on your Nelly! I say to those dreamers on the other side of the House that they should connect with the economic reality. The only reason for compulsion was that the cost was greater.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000537\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThat is why the approach of the new Government makes such good sense. We are giving a kick-start to biofuel technology. Let us provide a consistent tax advantage of an exemption from excise as currently applies to ethanol. It is far better, as we face this challenge of climate change, not to go in the nanny State direction where we compel people to do things, but rather to provide a financial incentive\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000538\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002244eece8ca8c0499e974a733abc4c4b1c\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, dear.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000539\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228c4b2564611147168b220b274939b679\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Well, I am not surprised that Dr Cullen likes compulsion. He spent 9 years on the Government benches telling ordinary New Zealanders how to live every part of their lives\u2014how much water they could have in a shower, what sort of light bulbs they could use, and how much biofuel to use. I ask the House what the wisdom is in believing we can define, down to the narrow part of a percentage point, the exact, perfect amount of biofuel that should be used.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000540\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EPete Hodgson is wrong. He claimed that the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment supports a retention of a compulsory obligation on biofuels. That is wrong. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment said, and this is absolutely right, that if we narrowly define the criteria for what sustainable biofuels are\u2014and we do not know what they are yet, because it has not been worked out\u2014and we then use compulsion, we provide a wonderful cash cow for those in the biofuel industry. It is all very well for members opposite to talk about the odd job that might be created as a cash cow when there is compulsion, but what about the number of jobs that will be lost by the cost imposition of $240 million a year across the economy? Of course if I was a biofuel manufacturer I would want this law to stay as it is. It is a cash cow, but the real question for this Parliament is whether that approach is sensible. In the Government\u2019s view, a financial incentive that is provided by way of the excise is a more sensible way to go.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000541\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI commend the Minister for dealing with this issue prior to Christmas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000542\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a56639332f9a467291bce7e74fd55ba4\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: Why is it not going to select committee?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000543\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002259c3f31256a740cc8a6595a3483fa59d\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: That is a very good question, and I will tell the member why that is. It is because the previous Government\u2019s policy has oil companies floundering around right now as they try to work out how to meet this obligation. Those companies do not know whether Brazilian ethanol will qualify. They are scrambling around, and that industry needs certainty. I say that this Parliament needs to move quickly. It needs to deal with the absolute mess that the previous Government\u2019s biofuel policy was in, and that was a compulsory standard with no biofuel standard in place.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000544\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI hope the next speaker might possibly explain to the House why we should ignore the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who has made a plea for Governments not to introduce mandatory biofuels obligations. Have members opposite not read the House of Commons\u2019 report in the United Kingdom that makes absolutely plain that such mandatory obligations are both economic and environmental lunacy? Have members opposite not read the report of the OECD that makes plain that these biofuels obligations are doing more harm in the world than good?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000545\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI say to members opposite that a tax incentive is the right way forward, and I will tell the House why that is the case. The truth is that we do not know how much biofuels will cost. My view is that if they are relatively inexpensive, to provide a tax incentive may see them go to 10 or 15 percent. I do not have, and this Government does not have, some magical number. But we say that a financial incentive will put pressure on the biofuels industry to make its products as cost-competitive as possible, rather than providing the blank cheque of compulsion.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000546\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EMy very last point is that, yes, this bill does philosophically divide the House, because members on this side take an approach of having financial incentives in respect of supporting biofuels, as opposed to the nanny-State politicians who have been thrown out of Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022 data-id=\u002232e9cde76a5c48d993c6e1bc3154b8f3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000547\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002232e9cde76a5c48d993c6e1bc3154b8f3\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E If that member opposite, the Hon Nick Smith, keeps mentioning the words \u201Cnanny State\u201D long enough, he convinces himself that he has some kind of argument in these matters. I can only assume that some of the people opposite must have had nannies when they were young whom they did not like, so somehow the word \u201Cnanny\u201D keeps them going in some kind of big way. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000548\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002234130d2ef72d4b0ebef92afef39f71c1\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Tell us about the showers, Michael.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000549\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002292bb65208f8e4bdb9197da3bb81d0cd0\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: I wish the member would have a cold shower from time to time, and I am happy for him to have a 100-litre-a-second cold shower whenever he wants one. This is a man who gave a speech about economic lunacy. He talked about half of that in his speech, actually, because that was lunacy more than economic lunacy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000550\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003ELet me just take him through the illogicality of his argument. He claims to want to see biofuels used; I think he said that. I think the Bluegreen manifesto said National wanted biofuels. He claims he wants to see certainty for those in the industry, and then he says he does not have a clue how much biofuels there may be if we go to a tax-incentive system. Where is the certainty and where is the guarantee that we will move to biofuels? He says that he wants to make sure that biofuels come from renewable sources. So do we all. That is why the legislation, as revised by the select committee, provides a process to ensure that sustainability. The member is still attacking the Biofuel Bill as it was introduced. He did not even read the legislation that came out of the select committee. We have certainty for the companies, which consists of basically saying \u201CWe do not care what you do. We do not care if you have any biofuels.\u201D So what message will they take from that? They will take the message \u201CDon\u2019t have any biofuels.\u201D What about those companies that have already started putting in tanks to cope with the higher proportion than the present 0.5 percent? Where has their certainty gone? Where has their return on investment gone? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000551\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003ELet me take the member through the economic arguments. He somehow seems to think that if we have a tax incentive, then that will solve the problem. Actually, it is not really a tax incentive. It is not taxing biofuels; it is continuing the regime where biofuels have no excise duty on them. Has that produced a rash of investment in biofuels? The regime that the National Government is suggesting is the regime before the biofuel legislation came into force, minus the requirements in the legislation for some kind of sustainability, certification, and reporting. That is what Gerry Brownlee\u2019s bill actually states: it removes the requirement, it removes the provisions around sustainability. That is where we have been for years and we do not have any significant usage of biofuels in New Zealand. The member wants that, but he is not going to get it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000552\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EBut if we have no tax on biofuels, then what does that do? Firstly, it reduces the Government\u2019s revenue from road usage. We have hypothecation now on road-user taxes so if there is a reduction in revenue the Greens and I will not see more money for public transport, and the National Government and I will not see more money for roads. We will have less investment in roading, and less investment in public transport\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000553\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022deb5af4416b74c4ea39d603d386cff68\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Rubbish!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000554\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221b9a89a3c3124e1090e0a7da958af60c\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014unless\u2014wait for it\u2014there is a further transfer out of the Crown account into the land transport account, which must come from one of three sources. It must come, first, from increased taxation elsewhere, such as personal taxes, company taxes, or GST; secondly, from cutting spending on services elsewhere; or, thirdly, from borrowing, which means for future generations, firstly, higher personal taxes or GST; secondly, a reduction in services; or, thirdly, more borrowing for their grandchildren, which will lead to even bigger personal taxes, or cuts in services. There is no free lunch in fiscal policy. The member has been there long enough now to have learnt that very, very simple fact. He is asking for the Government to be able to tax elsewhere or to be able to cut social services. We have had a voluntary regime up until the passage of this Act and it has done nothing to produce biofuel usage in New Zealand. You see, what the member is arguing is basically the big old Dick Cheney position. He is kind of the Dick Cheney of the National Party these days\u2014he wants to do what big oil companies tell us to do. He does not want to do what some poor little New Zealander with only a few million dollars to invest has been trying to do to help this country, because that person does not count. When it comes to the interests of Shell, BP, Mobil Oil, and all the rest of them, that poor little New Zealander does not count as far as National is concerned. National members get up in this House and make speech after speech, with tears pouring down their faces, as they talk about small business and all the rest of it. What is this bill about? It is about the interests of major international corporations versus the interests of New Zealand and New Zealand business. That is what this bill is about. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000555\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EGoodness me, the main criticism that can be made of the current Act is not that it is the nanny State; it is basically leaving the kids at home with directions about where to find the food in the fridge. I think people could say that the problem with the current legislation is that it does not go far enough, not that it goes too far. I hope that Ms Fitzsimons does not criticise us too much for that when she gets up and speaks, because I think we are probably basically of one mind in that respect. There were jobs in this for New Zealand, there was certainty moving forward as higher levels of biofuels began to be phased in, there was a regime around sustainability\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000556\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a207ac83477240619282a038b496ebee\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: What about the cost?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000557\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fddc5fc11f7f46158ef40c3c63196858\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: The cost, as the member well knows, depends upon what the future cost of oil is. Ah, suddenly there is silence. The penny drops. Oil, at the moment, is under US$50 a barrel. Less than a year ago\u20146 or 7 months ago\u2014it was US$153 a barrel. If any member in this House thinks seriously that he or she knows what the cost of oil will be in 5 years\u2019 time, I would tell them: \u201CDo not waste your time in here, mate. Go out and make yourself a few billion dollars on the international market.\u201D, because if a member has that knowledge, it is knowledge that nobody else in the world has. It is very precious and it is worth vast amounts of money. Why would one spend one\u2019s time in Parliament beating one\u2019s gums about the nanny State if one knows what the future price of oil will be? The member does not know that. None of us know that. We know\u2014and I occasionally chip at the Green Party about this\u2014that it will go up and down. We know there is huge volatility about oil prices, but we also know one simple thing: the long-term trend of oil prices will be up. The trend may have been downwards recently over the last few months, but it will be up over the long term. Why? Because at the end of the day it has to be a shrinking resource in relation to demand. If we really want to see people in the Third World increasing their living standards, then whatever we do, the chances are that it will increase their demand for fossil fuels such as oil\u2014a pity, but it is true. However much we manage to do in the next 10 years that is almost a certainty in that regard. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000558\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003ESo there will be pressure upon a finite resource. We do not know how big that finite resource is because we do not know what has yet to be discovered, but one thing we do know, utterly, logically, completely, and obviously, is that at some point the resource is finite and, therefore, it will cost more to extract. Therefore, it will be demanded more and it will cost more. The cost argument is actually a particularly weak argument in this respect. What of the cost on the other side? The less we use biofuels the greater the liability under the Kyoto Protocol, or under any likely subsequent agreement, in terms of a charge to the Government because, in the first instance, that is a charge upon the Government, it becomes a liability on the Government accounts, and, therefore, it has to be met in some form or another. Again, there is no free lunch here. This can be met in effect by saying to the public that we are sending price signals that are designed to encourage them to use more efficient vehicles, and to drive their cars more carefully in terms of how they accelerate, etc., all of which have very significant impacts upon fuel consumption and can save people far more money than the impact of 4c a litre, or whatever it was the member was claiming in that regard. We have seen petrol prices at the pump vary by something like 70-odd cents a litre within the last year or so, and the member\u2019s heart bleeds\u2014bleeds\u2014for 4c a litre when that is a tiny fraction of almost day-to-day trends. We have seen petrol prices go up or down by 5c a litre in a day as a consequence of market movements over the last year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000559\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003ESo the member has to get with the programme in that regard. He simply does not seem to grasp the point that this denial, this endless series of moves to deny, to put off the emissions trading scheme, to cancel the biofuels obligation, to try to set up new thermal power stations for no particular reason, to add to baseload capacity when there is a huge amount of potential renewable capacity for baseload generation\u2014all of that suggests that in National we have a party that stupidly opposes what the previous Government did for the sake of opposing it, and is now stuck with the stupidity of its position. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022 data-id=\u002240a50f39cc7a4b85998461d56d6aff41\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000560\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002240a50f39cc7a4b85998461d56d6aff41\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader\u2014Green):\u003C/span\u003E This tragic little Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill, which is being rushed through all its stages under urgency by a Minister of Energy and Resources who is ignorant of most aspects of his portfolio\u2014apart from perhaps sexy coal\u2014will do exactly the opposite of what the Minister says it will do. It will replace a potentially sustainable local industry\u2014stable, secure, and well known\u2014with intermittent imports of biofuels from unknown sources, which are likely to include palm oil from South-east Asia grown where the tropical forests, the last refuge of the orang-utan, used to grow, and corn ethanol with a higher carbon footprint than petroleum, subsidised by the US Government. That is what this bill will do. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000561\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003ELet me tell members about who is already investing, or is poised to invest, in biofuels in New Zealand. Although there are many companies doing little bits, there are three major companies involved. The company that people have heard most about is BioDiesel Oils (NZ) Ltd. Its managing director is Tom McNicholl, and it has a plant already operating in East T\u0101maki that makes small quantities of bio-diesel from tallow, as well as a large plant under construction in Waharoa to make 60 million litres a year. That plant has now been mothballed because there will be no market for the fuel under this plan\u2014and I will tell members why that is so in a minute\u2014and that has caused the loss of 46 jobs. The point Mr McNicholl makes is that unless the oil companies are required to set up blending facilities, there will be no possibility of selling biofuels for blending, but only the possibility of selling it for use in 100 percent biofuel vehicles, which is a much more difficult market. In his letter to me, Mr McNicholl states \u201CExempting excise and road-user charges from biofuels act only as a subsidy to fuel consumers. They do not compel the use of biodiesel, unlike the biofuel obligation.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000562\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003ESecondly, there is Ecodiesel Ltd in South Auckland, which is producing small quantities of bio-diesel from tallow. It was planning an expansion of its production to 40 million litres, but that has been delayed for at least 6 months because of the uncertainty created by this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000563\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThirdly, there is Biodiesel New Zealand Ltd, which uses rapeseed oil grown as a rotational crop with other food crops, so that the green material is ploughed back in as a green soil conditioner. The oil is extracted from the seeds, and the seed cake is used as an animal feed. That is a sustainable biofuel, and that company was planning to produce 70 million litres, but that is now under review. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000564\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThat is what this bill has done. Those are three significant entrepreneurial companies in New Zealand that want to do the right thing by sustainability, and that are all undoubtedly sustainable by any definition of the term, but now their investment is seriously under threat.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000565\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002253ce988037314f8d91cfd5c6eb8516df\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Why?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000566\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a2eb39efe85449bd9cce01c77184e7b9\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS\u003C/span\u003E: Perhaps if the member listens, he will find out why. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000567\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe intention of the bill is to set up a stable local market. It would have actually been better for sustainability to say that we will not allow the import of any biofuels, and that we will have them made only in New Zealand, so that we know where they come from and that they are sustainable. The Greens could have supported that, but unfortunately people got nervous about the World Trade Organization and so forth, and did not think that was an option. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000568\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EMr Brownlee says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment recommended against the passing of the Biofuel Bill, and that is true. She came to the Local Government and Environment Committee when the bill was in its form as introduced to the House, and she said \u201Cthe bill currently before Parliament should not proceed in its current form\u201D. That bill was not proceeded with in the form it had then, because that was before the Green Party negotiated with the Government a sustainability provision. We made it clear that without that sustainability provision we would not support the bill at all. That provision was drafted\u2014and I had a large hand in that\u2014it went through the select committee, and it was adopted. As far as I can make out, that sustainability provision is the most stringent sustainability provision in the world, yet it is being abolished by the Government today. It says that to be sustainable a fuel has to reduce by at least 35 percent the carbon it produces relative to petroleum, it must not be grown on land suitable for food production\u2014it must not compete with food\u2014and it must not be grown on land of high conservation or biodiversity value. Those are the three criteria\u2014they are in section 34H(3) of the principal Act\u2014and those have now gone. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000569\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EMembers opposite have been making a big feature of the fact that the regulations to give effect to that section are not yet drafted. They are partly drafted. The Minister and I met with the officials and said the idea that they could not do that until 2011 was rubbish. We asked whether they could do it by the middle of 2009. They said yes, so they were directed to do that by the middle of 2009. The amount of biofuel that is required under the legislation to be used in New Zealand by the middle of 2009 is so infinitesimally minute that there was no reason not to proceed without the regulations. But the fact is that because the section is in the Act, there is still a conceptual standard against which to measure biofuels that come into the country. It was always the intention that there would be a reporting obligation for those biofuels. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EIn her advice to the committee, the parliamentary commissioner provided a table of carbon emissions for a wide range of different biofuels around the world, showing that some of them\u2014like the US corn-to-ethanol programme\u2014have higher carbon emissions on a life cycle basis than petroleum, and others, particularly those made from wastes like tallow, have very low carbon emissions. Not all biofuels are equal. That is the thing the National Party has never been able to grasp. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000571\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Minister said that the work on drafting the regulations will continue. Well, I ask what he will do with those regulations, because now there will be no primary legislation under which they can exist. We cannot have regulations that just hang in the air. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000572\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Minister also says biofuels will cost up to 8c a litre more than petrol. That figure comes from the oil companies. I remember back to the days when we had a big campaign to get lead out of petrol, because it poisoned children\u2019s brains. The oil companies told us repeatedly that petrol would be massively more expensive\u2014I think they said 10c a litre more expensive at the time\u2014if the lead was taken out. Eventually we forced them to take the lead out, and nobody even noticed any change to the price. The oil companies are absolutely the last people we should trust if we want to know what biofuels will cost. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000573\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe fact is that whether biofuels cost more or less than petrol will depend on the price of petroleum. The Ministry of Economic Development gave advice that whether biofuels would increase fuel prices will depend, firstly, on the amount of infrastructure investment required by oil companies. Currently, that is estimated to add 0.2c to 0.4c per litre to the price. Secondly, it will depend on what the price of petroleum is at the time. When oil actually reached $157 a barrel, biofuels were cheaper than petroleum. But it cannot be left just to the market, because if we do not have the infrastructure, if we do not have the industry, all that the market will do is to produce a fluctuating import\u2014or not\u2014of fuels, depending on what the price is. So we will get the worst stuff going. We will have no stability in the market, we will have no blending, and we will have no New Zealand industry. All we will have is ad hoc imports from wherever biofuels might be available in order to make up the difference. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000574\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Minister says he wants to give a tax subsidy instead of a mandatory obligation. I will pick that issue up in my second reading speech. There is plenty more to say.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022 data-id=\u002246942df959fa418bb61ceae30d9e7530\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000575\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002246942df959fa418bb61ceae30d9e7530\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT (ACT):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to support the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill, which is no big surprise, I suppose. But what might be a bit of a surprise is that I agree with much of what has been said, both on the Labour side of the House and amongst the Greens. No one can argue that there is a decreasing supply of petroleum. No one can argue that at some point it will become very scarce and very expensive, and will eventually run out. We should not actually use petroleum as a transport fuel if we can avoid it, for one very good reason, which is that it is a unique substance with many unique properties that allow it to be used for many other far more important things. So I agree with members on the other side of the House that the idea would be that we use 100 percent biofuel\u2014tomorrow. The problem is that, like lots of ideas, it is great in theory. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000576\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EIn my view, this whole case is an example of the folly of going into things as the world leader, as we were going to be on climate change\u2014or, as some still say, we should be. The theory regarding the need to use biofuels is great, but let us look at what has happened. The United Nations, which is not known for Draconian pronouncements, has said that biofuels are a crime against humanity. That point was completely ignored by members on the other side of the House. We should not use them for at least 5 years, said the World Food Programme, an agency of the United Nations. Why? The reason is that the whole idea is flawed. Although sustainability, the buzzword of recent years, sounds good, biofuel production has led to side effects, unintended consequences if you like, such as deforestation in Brazil and increasing the price of food for poor people, who would have eaten rapeseed that is now being made into biofuel. It has increased the price of food because land that would have been used for food is now being used to grow crops. The use of biofuel is just not a good idea, because we have launched into it too soon. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000577\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EThe speaker from the Greens said the biofuel would have to be produced locally, so we know where it is grown. Well, the problem with that is that in order to meet the target set by the outgoing Government, we do not have enough land here. We do not have enough available land on which to grow biofuel crops. The European Union target for biofuel uptake\u2014one that is not dissimilar from ours\u2014would involve the use of up to one-quarter of the agricultural land. So the European Union will have to import it, too. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000578\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EAs I have said, biofuel crops have increased the price of food, distorted land use, and led to the UN food agency calling them a crime against humanity. Not a great idea! The European Union apparently would require 14 percent of the world\u2019s oilseed production just for itself. Leaving aside the food-price distortions and the other problems, that 14 percent of the world\u2019s oilseed production is double what is grown in the European Union now. Where will all that biofuel come from? As my colleague the Hon Heather Roy said in this House during the passage of the legislation, Brazil is currently the second-largest biofuel producer in the world. That is great, one might say, except that when we scratch beneath the surface we see that Brazil has embarked on a massive deforestation campaign and is turning grasslands into sugar cane production areas for biofuel. Increased demand for biofuels would put further pressure on those areas, leading to the slash-and-burn clearing of rainforests. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000579\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003ESo if the Green Party is serious about its environmentalist credentials, and if it is serious about saving the planet\u2014it is a bit like the nuclear argument, which it goes very quiet about; the Europeans say nuclear power the way to go and is the cleanest fuel, although I do not know whether I agree with that\u2014then it should support this bill and vote against the use of unsustainably produced biofuels.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022 data-id=\u002240e8a28693df428db36e55bd8ac2cf16\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000580\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002240e8a28693df428db36e55bd8ac2cf16\u0022\u003ERAHUI KATENE (M\u0101ori Party\u2014Te Tai Tonga):\u003C/span\u003E I am proud to come to this House to share the excellent news from Te Tai Tonga about the global success emerging from Blenheim. The Marlborough biofuel company, Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation, has created bio-diesel, which has been saluted as the eleventh best invention in the world for 2008 by none other than Time magazine. The bio-diesel, formed from wild algae at Blenheim\u2019s waste treatment oxidation ponds, is branded as green crude. The international profile is not just great for business; it also demonstrates to the world that Aotearoa is serious about its commitment to reduce the rate of carbon emissions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000581\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EOur entrepreneurial enterprise in advancing alternative sources of energy is well-known. One of my own iwi, Ng\u0101ti K\u014Data, is currently in the process of establishing a biofuel plant to supply users of static machinery such as school boilers. This particular initiative was going to focus on tallow, but we were also investigating other sources to ensure we had a guaranteed supply. The ultimate example of home-grown, New Zealand - made industry was the McDonald\u2019s vege car\u2014a car powered 100 percent by used vegetable oil. The McDonald family drove from Cape Reinga to Bluff, gathering support from mayors, who blessed the bonnet with their signatures. Today, this Parliament is voting to overturn the decision made in the 48th Parliament to implement a biofuels sale obligation policy. What, then, do we tell local mayors who were prepared to sign up to the concept of biofuels, and who welcomed any initiatives to promote sustainability, security of energy supply, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions? How, then, does the bill on the Order Paper for today affect our international reputation with regard to our capacity to contribute to climate change initiatives? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000582\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EThe Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright, told the select committee last year that there are two key issues we must uphold when considering biofuel legislation. We need to be able to assess how well the biofuel initiative will reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and we need to be able to ensure that we can increase the security of our supply of transport energy. These are critical issues for any discussion on sustainable biofuels.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000583\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EBut other issues are at play. We need to be able to determine the energy return on energy invested. This is the concept of a life-cycle assessment of emissions determining the nature of the cultivation and processing of material inter-fuel. Although biofuels are carbon neutral when burnt, we need to be clear about the carbon emissions released in the process of production. We need to be able to identify the ecological effects of biofuel production. Effects such as soil depletion, or the reduction of indigenous biodiversity adversely affecting land with high conservation values, have to be weighed up to ensure that sustainability remains of the highest order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000584\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EAnother priority is to determine the effects on the food supply. This was a key issue for the Local Government and Environment Committee when the debate around biofuels proceeded last year. The committee recommended that biofuels must not compete with food production or be produced using land of high value for food production. We must also be able to assess objectively what difference the legislation will make to small producers versus agri-business. The situation for those fledging industries that have gone full steam ahead into producing sustainable biofuels is particularly precarious. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the case of BioDiesel Oils New Zealand. This company has invested some $10 million in research and development in the construction of a processing plant in East T\u0101maki and in the process of building a 60-million litre facility in Waharoa.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EBut it is not just money we are talking about; it is about meaningful work\u2014real jobs. The strategic plan for BioDiesel Oils is to employ 22 staff on three shifts at the Waharoa plant, and 24 staff on three shifts at East T\u0101maki. All in all, that will be a total of 46 full-time jobs when both plants are in full production. And it is about time. Tom McNicholl, the managing director of BioDiesel Oils, has invested 9 years of his life into developing bio-diesel from the most difficult raw material available\u2014tallow. This company took up the challenge of converting tallow as part of the commitment to increase renewable energy through the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000586\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EThe Minister of Energy and Resources earlier today raised some of the difficulties that we, too, have been concerned about\u2014in particular, the impacts that biofuel production contributes to deforestation, or the way in which biofuel production competes with food production. But the point that we cannot ignore is the fact that so many of these concerns made it through to the select committee stage and were treated with due responsibility. Those issues included taking into account the social, economic, and environmental impacts of biofuel production alongside investment in standards of qualifying biofuels. It was because of the thorough and comprehensive way in which the biofuel debate was managed that the M\u0101ori Party determined that it would support the Biofuel Bill to introduce the biofuels sales obligation policy. We heeded the warning from Dr Wright about the need for caution before rushing into the biofuel industry, and I want to distinguish here between the relative effects of biofuels derived from waste as opposed to biofuels made from ethanol from corn. The former emits up to 80 percent less carbon dioxide than fossil fuels, while ethanol from corn emits about the same amount as diesel.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000587\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EThe M\u0101ori Party has always spoken about the need for sustainable, environmental management. It has promoted the concept of a genuine progress index. We must aspire to make the economy great but not at the expense of the environment. The commitment to renewable energy resources, including geothermal, hydro, wave, wind, and solar resources, is a commitment that we look to support through every avenue we can. We must pull out all the stops to protect and preserve limited resources such as oil, gas, and coal. We must create incentives to promote the use of biofuels and have a mandatory obligation as a key part of this. We know that many groups, including iwi, have invested in the manufacturing infrastructure of biofuels. We believe that this bill will disadvantage us and, indeed, detract from the promise of prosperity and innovation that the blossoming biofuel industry has demonstrated. We cannot support this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022 data-id=\u0022e44169bc0f4b4640b3d41ce7c6bcef11\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000588\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e44169bc0f4b4640b3d41ce7c6bcef11\u0022\u003EHon PANSY WONG (Associate Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E I do not intend to repeat all the arguments stated by the Minister of Energy and Resources, the Hon Gerry Brownlee. I intend to take a short call, because the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill is very focused, concise legislation. It is a very good demonstration of why Labour ended up on the Opposition benches and will remain there for a very, very long time. We are once again repealing a piece of mandatory, compulsory, \u201CGovernment knows best and does not trust the public to make choices\u201D regulation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000589\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003ENot only did the Minister make a sensible move to fulfil one of the promises that National has campaigned on but he has also included the viable alternative of introducing tax incentives. That, I think, is a sensible way to embrace the biofuel sector, because a lot of the science, research, and standards are still in the process of being developed. How can anybody in New Zealand embrace the concept of requiring, by 1 October 2008, a mandatory level of biofuel to be sold through the petrol pump, when the standards to test whether biofuels are sustainably sourced are still being drafted? How can one reasonably stand in this House to defend a requirement before the standards have been drafted and put out there? How do we know that those biofuels would not repeat the previous mistakes? We have seen some members jump right into wanting to lead the world, only to then see the first wave of biofuels cause problems with regard to food shortages and deforestation. Why should we continue to repeat those mistakes? The European Union, after 2 years, has not developed the standards to ensure that biofuels are, in fact, obtained from sustainable sources. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000590\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EI think the Minister, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, should be congratulated on putting a stop to the mandatory, compulsory requirement, while at the same time bringing in a very sensible scheme of introducing tax incentives. I think that will send a better pricing signal that a mandatory, \u201CGovernment knows best\u201D signal would. The Minister also sensibly pointed out that there is a need to develop a process for proving the sustainability of biofuel production. This National-led Government believes that New Zealanders understand and care about the environment. New Zealanders are being given the right information and tax incentives in order to actually make the right choices under this biofuels regime. While I am on my feet I also want to congratulate the Minister on being consistent in showing our belief in New Zealanders. He has also put a ban on the regulations brought in by the previous Labour Government to try to tell people how long they can take hot showers for and what sorts of light bulbs they are allowed to use. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000591\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EIt is a real pleasure to stand up and support sensible legislation that shows our confidence in those New Zealanders who got rid of the Labour Government, which used to tell people how to run their lives.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022 data-id=\u0022d892a8987d6549edb603a2849d7d58f3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000592\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d892a8987d6549edb603a2849d7d58f3\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E After that speech by Ms Pansy Wong, it is hard to know where to start. As someone who said she wants to listen to New Zealanders, maybe Ms Pansy Wong might want to explain why the only quotes the National Party has used have been from the chief executives of big oil companies, none of whom are New Zealanders, none of whom are going to support small businesses here that create biofuel. For all the talk about New Zealanders, it is New Zealanders who are going to suffer because of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000593\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI also want to challenge what the Hon Pansy Wong said\u2014that we should not have mandatory requirements because we do not know what the standards are. Apparently that did not apply when it forced through an education amendment bill last week that gave the Minister of Education complete power to do whatever she wants\u2014a blank cheque saying that she is going to develop what will be gazetted, but without telling the House. It is not one law for all with this new National-led Government; it uses an argument when it suits it, and when it does not it will completely abandon it. I would also like to know how the Hon Pansy Wong reconciles her position on this bill with the fact that that education amendment bill passed last week is a bill about compulsion. It is about forcing the education sector to do something that it is horribly opposed to, was opposed to during the election campaign, and which, despite being watered down, is going to force our schools to merely replicate what they are already doing just so that the National Government can save face, because without that bill it has no education policy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000594\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThis is yet another huge environmental backtrack from this new Government, which has been in place only a week. Within a week we have gone from a country that people admired to a country that people can now ridicule for the position that we have taken on the emissions trading scheme\u2014with a select committee to revisit the science of climate change. That is humiliating on the global scale, especially for a country that campaigns on being clean and green, and relies on being clean and green as a marketing advantage and also for tourism. I am getting a sense that the argument we will get on every piece of legislation dealing with the environment is that because some biofuels are bad, we should do nothing. Because carbon dioxide is a gas that has a useful purpose in the atmosphere, apparently we should do nothing, despite the fact that in excessive amounts it severely alters our climate. The argument we are getting is that unless we can be convinced that every single biofuel ever produced in the world never does any environmental damage, we will never do anything about it. If that is the position that this Government takes, we will never do anything. Of course some biofuels are worse than others\u2014we know that. That is why the Labour-led Government changed the bill and put in sustainability principles. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000595\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003ELet us not forget that the National Party declared its hand on this bill very early in the select committee process. In fact, very early in the select committee process, before submissions had finished being heard, before the bill had been changed, National members declared that they would oppose it on principle. I think that needs to be put into the mix. This bill\u2014like every bill last week\u2014is not going to a select committee. This is another bill that is being rammed through, despite the fact that this bill means people will lose jobs. We have already heard the case of a gentleman from Waharoa who has invested $10 million in two biofuel plants because of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Act, and now he is going to lose that money.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000596\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228e2bf82b3ec243708862050c76c20fbd\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Rubbish!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000597\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022efc20925249c48d6810cd886cd51f474\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Brownlee says \u201CRubbish!\u201D. Do members know whom I am going to listen to? It is to the man who spent $10 million investing in biofuel, rather than to the Minister who is embarrassed about the fact that we are going into a global recession and who has cut research and development tax credits for our innovative companies. He is now cutting out the biofuels obligations, which also provide research and development opportunities and jobs. This is at a time when we would expect our Government might be trying to create jobs and to save jobs. No, Mr Brownlee has decided that because apparently he has something against compulsion, those jobs should be lost and that $10 million invested by that company should be gone. I think that is shameful. At the very least this bill should have gone to a select committee so that that small-businessman\u2014and those members talk a lot about small business when it suits them, but they have been very quiet tonight\u2014could have come to the select committee and told us exactly what the bill meant and what he needed to stay in place so that his business could keep going. I do not think that is too much to ask, given that that is the normal practice of this House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000598\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThe Act was incredibly important because it supported the development of the domestic biofuel industry. Many of the concerns that we all have about sustainability could be eliminated largely by having a domestic industry, which means we would not have to import a lot of the biofuels that we all have a number of questions about. That was what the Act wanted to achieve. It was very reasonable and it was very modest in that respect. But the other thing it did was provide certainty to the sector. Everyone who came along, including representatives from the oil companies, said: \u201CWe just want to know what you\u2019re going to do. Just tell us. If there\u2019s going to be principles, try to spell them out as simply and as clearly as you possibly can so that we can see the path you are going to go down, so that we get the best idea possible.\u201D The select committee worked incredibly hard. The officials worked incredibly hard on getting the principles in the legislation, so that even though they are not legally binding at the moment, the legislation is very clear.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000599\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI have worked for an oil company. I know that oil companies do not make short-term investment decisions. They make long-term investment decisions. They looked at what we put in the legislation, and saw a very clear steer that there was no point going to a long-term contract for biofuel production to import into New Zealand from a company that would eventually be ruled out when the sustainability criteria were put into place, because they would lose money. Those contracts are long term; they are not short term. They wanted to know, up front, what they could import and what they could not import, so that they could make business decisions based on that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000600\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EDr Smith, who was on the select committee\u2014but from his speech one would never guess because he obviously did not listen to a single thing that was said there\u2014wanted to know why we passed the bill before the principles came into force. I think Jeanette Fitzsimons has largely answered that question. We did it because we wanted to provide certainty to the sector, we wanted to provide a clear steer on sustainability, and because the biofuel sales obligation for oil companies in the first year is 0.5 percent. This is about getting a sustainable biofuels domestic industry in New Zealand. We are not demanding 30 percent in the first year. It is 0.5 percent and going up half a percent every year. That can be done from our biofuels now. Dr Smith also wanted to know whether we had read\u2014[Interruption] Yes, I do. I have read the officials reports, I say to Mr Brownlee, and he obviously has not. Dr Smith wanted to know whether we read the UK, the UN, and the OECD reports. Of course we did. That is why we changed the legislation. It was on steer from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and those reports that made us realise we could not simply put through a bill that had no sustainability steer whatsoever. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000601\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EDr Smith, remarkably, also made the argument that we do not need to do anything because the market will provide this. The market has been fantastic for the environment so far. What an absolute success the free market has been for the environment. The fact is, as Jeanette Fitzsimons pointed out, these biofuel companies are going to rely on the oil companies to provide the blending capacity for biofuel. Does anyone really think they will do that voluntarily? Think back to when we had new players coming into the oil industry. I remember reading all the reports in the newspapers about how the existing oil companies were trying to shut the new players out. They were using the power that they had as the incumbents. These are companies in direct competition to oil. They are providing a product that makes the oil companies\u2019 product less valuable. Does anyone think the blending facilities will be provided voluntarily when there is no compulsion under the law to do so? Dr Smith said that we were living in dreamland. I have to say I think the opposite is true. From working in that industry I can say that unless there is an obligation in the law, I do not believe the cooperation will occur to allow that supply to happen. Dr Smith said that of course biofuel producers will say that, because they have a vested interest. But he does not extend that same argument to the oil companies that he extensively quoted throughout his entire speech. Of course the oil companies have a vested interest, so do the biofuel producers. The select committee weighed all this up, considered all the submissions from all of them, and moved forward on a bill that we thought met the needs of most, as far as we possibly could. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000602\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI want to talk a bit about the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment\u2019s report on the original bill that was introduced to Parliament. It was presented before the select committee had reported back, so significant changes were made to the bill. I read the report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, and I think she did a good job. She extensively used a paper that was published in Science: \u201CUse of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land-Use Change\u201D; she relied heavily on that. But what has not been said is that a week later Science had to publish a critique from the company that had developed the model that was used extensively in that scientific research, saying that it had not been used properly. The study is called the Searchinger study, because it has become quite infamous. A lot of people who oppose biofuels quote this study extensively and I think it is time to put on record that there is a lot uncertainty about it. The critique came from the folks at the Argonne National Laboratory, which developed the model used in that research. They said that the research does not stack up and that the model was not used correctly. There is a good scientific principle that people might want to remember when they read research, which is \u201Cgarbage in, garbage out\u201D. We have to be very careful. I would be interested in seeing a critique of the bill done using that model correctly. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000603\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThe biofuel sales obligation was going to be 3.4 percent by 2012 in the original bill. The select committee reduced it to 2.5 percent, because we had a look at what the capacity out in the sector would be.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022 data-id=\u002251ee33f5cae54bf2a3d305d2c1b109b1\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002251ee33f5cae54bf2a3d305d2c1b109b1\u0022\u003EHon PETER DUNNE (Leader\u2014United Future):\u003C/span\u003E As I have sat here listening to the debate this evening I have been struck by a remarkable sense of d\u00E9j\u00E0 vu. In September we debated a biofuels bill, and many of the arguments that have been run this evening were put back and forward across the House at that time. As I listen to the debate this evening, I think that nothing much seems to have moved on from that point. Those who favoured the bill in September continue to favour its retention. Those who opposed that legislation then, continue to oppose it tonight by supporting the repeal. I was one who supported the bill in September and I do not support its repeal tonight, for the reasons that I will state.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000605\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EI think it is important to put this whole issue into some sense of perspective. Whatever happens in the short term at least, there is not going to be a major biofuels industry in New Zealand. We are talking about a fledgling move. We are talking about meeting a need that will develop when we start to think about how we are going to use tallow, for instance. We have three or four market players who are interested in developing an industry. They need some certainty, and they need a framework within which they can make the investment decisions they will require to make their industry a viable one long term. When we think about it, we know that that was all the original legislation sought to do. It was to set up the framework for the development of a domestic industry. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000606\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EAlong the way, some issues were given thorough consideration. There was the question of the source of the biofuel itself, and there was the legitimate concern raised about using product that might be available for food development but instead might be used for fuel development. The original select committee dealt with that issue by putting in a sustainability clause. There was the debate we have heard a lot of reference to this evening\u2014about the position of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment\u2014but, again, the original select committee in its report back dealt with the concerns that the parliamentary commissioner had been expressing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000607\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003ESo I suppose we come back to the one unresolved issue, as it were, that has featured prominently in tonight\u2019s debate\u2014that is, the question about whether the Government imposes, by legislation, a requirement or adopts an incentive-based approach through a tax adjustment. The reason why the original proposition was developed was, as the previous speaker so correctly said, to give a fledging industry a sense of certainty, so it could commit to the investment that was going to be needed to develop what might become a larger industry in due course. It was as simple and straightforward as that, and when members talk about \u201Cthe market should decide\u201D, they should remember that ultimately, whatever system is put in place, the market will decide, and it will decide by virtue of consumers determining what it is they are going to purchase. So I do not have a great deal of sympathy with the argument that says that by imposing a requirement, we are in effect removing an element of market choice, an element that would be preserved if we were to go down a tax incentive path. I do not think we are talking about an industry at this stage that is in any shape or form to be so determined.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000608\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003ESo we end up with a bill this evening that overturns what was an essential first step in the development of an industry. I think there is a red herring about the time that the legislation was to take effect and the time that the standards were being developed, because, again, that is part of the ongoing work in progress. The negotiation and the discussion that would occur between those industry players and the regulators in terms of the development of those standards are part and parcel of the normal process. By going back to square one tonight, we are effectively saying to those who have an interest in developing a domestic biofuels industry \u201CNot yet. Go away.\u201D And we know that giving that signal means most of them will go away. So when the time comes that we decide that maybe it is right that we should now start to make a much greater emphasis on the use of biofuels domestically, those potential investors and those technologies will not be available to us. I think that is the big loss here. It is not as though we have got ourselves into a situation where the changes that were made just 3 short months ago have proved unworkable; they have not even had a chance yet to be proven that they are going to be able to work. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000609\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EIt is not as though we had a rushed piece of legislation originally. I cannot recall how long the bill was at the select committee, but it was a considerable period of time. I recall having a number of discussions with the then Minister about some of the issues that have been canvassed in the debate this evening, and I do recall a sense emerging at the end of that process that many of the issues that have been raised were satisfactorily addressed in the original legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000610\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003ESo I have some difficulty this evening when I see a bill put forward to repeal a piece of legislation that was very much in its infancy. I think that is a mistake. I think that is something we will regret. I do not buy entirely into the argument that the whole world is watching and will see this as a retrograde step on New Zealand\u2019s part. There is an element of that, but I think that is being over-exaggerated. I just think that in terms of an opportunity that was available to New Zealand to start to give some credibility to those who wanted to develop a domestic industry to use a product effectively that we had available here as a by-product of our agricultural production, this legislation stymies that opportunity. I think that is a sad mistake, and for that reason United Future will not be supporting this bill through its passage tonight.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00227df975cd-93d2-4f55-9bc5-d2790e28e043\u0022 data-id=\u0022dfb6b621315844fdb4ff1839c5e7d2fb\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000611\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227df975cd-93d2-4f55-9bc5-d2790e28e043\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022dfb6b621315844fdb4ff1839c5e7d2fb\u0022\u003EHon MARYAN STREET (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E As this is my first speech in this forty-ninth Parliament, I would like to congratulate you, Mr Assistant Speaker, on your elevation to that position and your colleagues likewise.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000612\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227df975cd-93d2-4f55-9bc5-d2790e28e043\u0022\u003EWhat the Luddites were to the industrial revolution, the New Zealand National Party is to this sustainability revolution. The Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill is nonsense. To repeal a biofuel obligation in legislation that has not yet had a chance to work is nonsense. The National Government will go down in history as the Luddites of sustainability, because sustainability has taken off in a revolutionary way internationally, and it would seem that the New Zealand National Government is the only Government on the planet that will not accept that truth. I wonder whether this is what the fine crop of new National MPs knew they were signing up to. It seems to me that this legislation is a fast step backwards.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000613\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227df975cd-93d2-4f55-9bc5-d2790e28e043\u0022\u003EI want to put this bill into context. First of all, the National Government has done a number of things in the very short time that it has been in power. Dr Nick Smith frequently likes to refer to the blue-green credentials of the New Zealand National Party. I have to say, in respect of this measure and several others, which I will enumerate in a moment, that those blue-green credentials are completely in tatters. The National Government went into a confidence and supply agreement with the only climate change deniers in New Zealand, and that is enough, on its own, to turn us from being a leader into a laughing stock, internationally.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000614\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227df975cd-93d2-4f55-9bc5-d2790e28e043\u0022\u003ESecond, the Government removed the research and development tax credit, which has an immediate impact on biofuel industry development. More than that, the research and development tax credit completely stymies innovation and business development, particularly where we need it most, and where we need it most is in all of the industries that can capitalise on and progress sustainable initiatives, whether it is sustainable food production, sustainable fuel production, or alternative fuel production.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000615\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227df975cd-93d2-4f55-9bc5-d2790e28e043\u0022\u003EThird, this National-led Government slowed down the emissions trading scheme and turned us from a leader in this area to what it likes to call \u201Ca fast follower\u201D. The previous speaker from United Future, Peter Dunne, said he did not quite go along with all the rhetoric around the damage being done to New Zealand\u2019s reputation. I advise this House that I have been to an Asia-Pacific conference on climate change and the effects on population development. Having just got back from that conference today, I can report, in quite fresh and stark terms, that it was simply embarrassing to say that we were from New Zealand and that the New Zealand Government and its confidence and supply partner ACT had been reviewing and questioning the science around climate change. When one hears the stories from the countries\u2014developed and developing\u2014around the Asia-Pacific region, and the impact that climate change is having already, not only on their food security but on health and the struggles against poverty, then it seems absolutely clear that this National Government is in a Luddite frame of mind.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000616\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227df975cd-93d2-4f55-9bc5-d2790e28e043\u0022\u003EThe fourth thing National has done, which contextualises this legislation, is lift the ban on thermal generation. So the answer to all our electricity generation difficulties and constraints, in National\u2019s view, is that we need to build more thermal generation plants, and pollute the atmosphere even more in the course of doing so. There are no aspirations from this National-led Government for renewable energy. There are no aspirations for developing renewable energy sources, and for promoting those things and developing the kinds of energy supply that we are good at\u2014in particular, geothermal energy. A new plant has just come on stream to demonstrate that capacity most starkly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000617\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227df975cd-93d2-4f55-9bc5-d2790e28e043\u0022\u003EThe fifth thing is that this National-led Government has moved away from, and will not consider, any standards for energy-efficient households in order to enable people to save money on their energy usage and to become energy conservation - conscious. The sixth thing, in this complete litany of damnation in respect of the National-led Government\u2019s proposals, is the scrapping of the home insulation scheme. That in itself is something this Government needs to be ashamed of, because the absolute pay-off in that fund and that scheme will come back to haunt it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000618\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227df975cd-93d2-4f55-9bc5-d2790e28e043\u0022\u003EWe have heard already, but it bears repeating, that this Government, which purports to be business-friendly, has already with this measure, plus the rescinding of the research and development tax credit, brought development in this essential area of biofuels to a halt. The Waharoa example is but one example. Of course, there has been anxiety\u2014and it was widely canvassed at the select committee\u2014about the production of biofuels from food crops. For that very reason the sustainability principles were written into the legislation. From this National-led Government we have a backwards step\u2014something that will not only damage New Zealand\u2019s reputation but, as if that were not enough, absolutely damage our capacity to produce alternative biofuels.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000619\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227df975cd-93d2-4f55-9bc5-d2790e28e043\u0022\u003EIn the first 2 weeks of its existence in this House, this National-led Government has brought in legislation under urgency, so that there can be no debate, no referral to a select committee, and no re-examination of issues. I will not go into the other pieces of legislation that do not immediately relate to this bill\u2014about which the same things can be said\u2014but I will say that the Government\u2019s approach absolutely demonstrates a completely disrespectful attitude to the processes that this Parliament is meant to uphold. I cannot believe that this new intake of the new generation of National MPs are feeling very happy about this kind of legislation and these kinds of hallmarks, which are going to live with this National-led Government for some time to come. Those members will regret not having been able to discuss these things more fully within their own caucus.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000620\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227df975cd-93d2-4f55-9bc5-d2790e28e043\u0022\u003EOne of the purposes of the mandatory biofuels obligation was to encourage oil companies to develop the infrastructure needed to deliver sustainable biofuels. It was simply an initial step, but an essential one, in order to create the backdrop required in order for a sustainable biofuels industry to be able to work in New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022 data-id=\u002276a9582513914e84a48b806956101e96\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000621\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002276a9582513914e84a48b806956101e96\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National\u2014West Coast-Tasman):\u003C/span\u003E Like previous speakers, as this is the first occasion on which I have had to speak during this term, I take the opportunity to congratulate the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, your colleague Eric Roy as Assistant Speaker and yourself, Mr Assistant Speaker Barker, on your elevation to the position of Speaker. I think it is appropriate to say the people of R\u016Bnanga, where I understand, Mr Assistant Speaker, you were brought up as a boy, particularly with your grandparents, are very proud of the occasion. Although your ascension is from the West Coast and I now represent the coast, I do not expect any special privilege to be afforded to me while you are in the Chair. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000622\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EI can understand the disappointment in the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill of some people who have an intense feeling over carbon emissions; I can understand their initial disappointment in the bill. But the fact is that the more serious that people are about that subject, the better pleased they should be that this bill is being brought in. If this bill had not been introduced, there would be a very real risk that New Zealand would be contributing to the global food crisis. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000623\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002289e6cf6e496f4df7af718e41fe733737\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, for God\u2019s sake\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000624\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022add44d6f37004785a020f13f58cfb863\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: There are those, like the member opposite, Moana Mackey, who will frown, scrunch up their faces, and say our requirements are so small they could not possibly affect the world food crisis. But the argument is like that with regard to carbon production: the production is very small, but nonetheless it has an impact\u2014the same thing applies. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000625\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EI well remember that when I first came into Parliament, I was appointed as associate spokesperson on energy. That entitled me to one of the great things about being in Parliament, which is access to people from all walks of life and from all sorts of industries. We had the opportunity to speak with a large oil company executive\u2014he was a large gentleman, but it was a large oil company\u2014and he was talking about his company\u2019s move into the use of biofuels. He made it very plain the purpose was to make money; it was not to save the planet. Indeed, he did say in conversation that the production of biofuels, in the way that his company was doing it, would in fact create more carbon than it would save. Reducing carbon was not the issue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002243a8cd507f8d4ec994334635e182d076\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000627\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222f901e48ef994a4aa86a848320bca5e6\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: I thank the Minister of Energy and Resources for remembering that occasion. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000628\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EThe oil company executive spoke about the displacement of food crops\u2014the corn wars in Mexico, where suddenly corn for tortillas and those sorts of things was going into biofuel and not into food, with the consequence that Mexico\u2019s natural foodstuff, which was generally a lower-cost foodstuff, was going up in price to a point where it could not be afforded. He spoke about the benefits of using equatorial lands and sub-equatorial lands. He thought, from the point of view of ensuring that crops were used to maximum advantage, that perhaps genetically modified crops would be the best way to go. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000629\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EFar more has to be done in terms of ensuring we have standards for sustainable production of biofuels before we move too quickly into this area. A quick calculation shows we would need 60 million - plus litres per year. We have heard people speak about enterprises that were planning to have those sorts of figures; they certainly would not have them straight away. There would be a need to import biofuel, and there would be no guarantee at all that the products we imported would be sustainably produced. Naturally, many first-generation products like those made from soy, rapeseed, and sugar compete for food production, and I am amazed to hear people say \u201CNo, we wouldn\u2019t grow it where you could grow food.\u201D Well, how can we have that classification\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022243647a5fcbd48d89a62d55a861e2ab3\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: We\u2019d just get it from overseas; don\u2019t worry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000631\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224a5783fb694545b5b25cd6fb125ce324\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: Say it again?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000632\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002266c5b29d4ada4b2792451fcc0080a3f0\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: Jacqui Dean\u2014we\u2019d just get it from overseas. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000633\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bc5f608123d744eb820926064fac2eab\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: But how could we have that classification\u2014that it will not be grown where food could be grown? If a biomass can be grown to produce biofuel, I presume from that that unless it is on land that is vertical or overhanging, the same land could be used for food production. It is incontestable that the sudden rush into biofuels is causing a huge destruction of rainforests. That is hardly going for growth and benefits in terms of the world biosecurity situation. The cost of production and the amount of carbon released nullifies the potential benefits of biofuel. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000634\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EWe have heard the speeches this evening; they have been very intense and they have been very sincere from members from all sides of the House who have spoken. I was particularly taken with the points made by Rahui Katene, albeit that she voted against the bill; I thought she argued the situation very well. Peter Dunne also brought up good points. But the reality is that there was going to be a cost obligation of $240 million per year; we heard that from Dr Smith. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000635\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EWe use a sustainability standard, we need a sustainability standard, and we need to know that the biofuels that are produced are measured against that standard before there can be any compulsion in their use, or a mandatory obligation. It is the mandatory obligation here that is the problem.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000636\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002268a76914b37e40cfa3cbd28a81adcdc9\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: Aha!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000637\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022605246a387774fea8699dbb595442cd6\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, it is! This is a Government of commitment, not of regulating blindly for the sake of regulating. This bill is a good instance of a commitment to sensible and well-reasoned legislation. Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022ca5f4dc81c4844ef949511b17516010c\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill be now read a first time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 59\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EBill read a first time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000638\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00222501876d4c974ba8a580ddf0afe62a42\u0022\u003ESecond Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u00223a61e211974f4c619a6f945c1f15450e\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000639\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223a61e211974f4c619a6f945c1f15450e\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Energy and Resources): \u003C/span\u003EI move, That the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill be now read a second time. During the first reading debate a number of points were brought up by people who think that this is the worst thing that could ever happen to the biofuel industry in New Zealand. But I have a few questions for them. They will be aware that there are about 20 million litres a year of biofuel produced in New Zealand right now. So the first question is: where is that being sold? Or are those people out there producing the stuff and somehow stockpiling it in hope of the day their captive clients, by way of the obligation, who need the stuff will come along to buy it off them? Of course they are not: they are selling it now; it is being used now. Since the obligation came in on 1 October, have there been any purchases by some of the major oil producers or oil sales\u2014or should we say motor fuel sales\u2014outlets in New Zealand? No. So those companies like BioDiesel Oils (NZ) that are saying \u201CIt\u2019s all over, we\u2019re out of here, we are gone.\u201D are not being straight up and down with the real current situation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000640\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI had one of my office staff phone that company\u2019s representative to ask whether we could talk about its situation so that I could know more about it, because I had noted that that particular company had had significant business development grants through Government agencies. I thought: \u201CWhy don\u2019t I go along and see what they\u2019ve done with that money and what is now at stake?\u201D. The response was: \u201CDon\u2019t bother.\u201D The representative said: \u201CDon\u2019t bother. They\u2019re going out of business.\u201D But if a company is producing 11 million litres of biofuel right now, why would it go out of business? The problem, you see, is that the previous Government created an expectation that industries could be built off the back of compulsorily acquired customers. But that is simply unreasonable\u2014quite unreasonable. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000641\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EMy colleague Mr Auchinvole has just explained that to meet the obligation in the current year, this country would need some 60 million litres - plus of biofuel. If we look at the list of what is being produced, even if these organisations geared up, there is no guarantee that domestic production would be aggregated, purchased, and blended by the oil companies here. The easy way around it is simply to import the lot, and there we have the simple problem. There are no standards in place, no measure against the sustainable production of that particular biofuel, and there would be the strong possibility that New Zealand could be importing someone else\u2019s problem. There would be no mark against us, no measure against us, but the world\u2019s carbon dioxide emissions would rise as a consequence. The Greens sit there saying: \u201CWe must develop the local industry and if we do not have compulsory acquisition of product, then it won\u2019t happen.\u201D The bill we are repealing did not make the compulsory acquisitions that their argument relies on. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000642\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI want to make a couple of strong predictions for the future of biofuels in New Zealand. Here we are in 2008, a country that produces about 22 million litres of bio-diesel. I bet that in 2 or 3 years\u2019 time, we will be producing much, much more.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000643\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220d0f2adb757947aaa3f25faa8106a295\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: How much?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000644\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226561802c0e1740d184c6a55cd6b103e5\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I will put a figure on it. I say it will double in 3 years\u2014there is no question about that. I have faith that the investments made by these organisations will see them able to sell their product in this country. I point to some extraordinarily exciting things like the deal that Solid Energy has done with the Stark fishing fleet in Nelson. Fishing boats out there are 100 percent fuelled by bio-diesel. That is marvellous; if they have a spill, it is fish food. Do they have stinky diesel on the boat and the crew? No, they do not. That sort of use is going to develop in this country and it is going to expand in this country. That is why we are going to persevere with the development of sustainable production standards for biofuels. That is why we will continue on our exercise of equalising tax treatment for bio-diesel, bio-ethanol, and other biofuel products. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000645\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI ask those who are so downhearted about the future of the industry in this country whether\u2014since, if we were to go ahead with the obligation as it is in place currently, by 2012 we would need some 300 million litres of biofuel a year\u2014there would be any chance that we would get from 22 million litres a year now to 300 million in a couple of years\u2019 time, bearing in mind that Mr Hughes over there thought it was a huge joke for me to suggest that the capacity would double, let alone go right up to 300 million.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000646\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cbc49f96aac04dd1b87e51151feb960e\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: The member\u2019s capacity could easily double.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000647\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f83e91032a2b49b6bd59556c509dd5cc\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Yes it could. That is right. It would certainly not go from 30 million, 20 million, or 60 million, or whatever it is, to 300 million\u2014absolutely not. It will not go up tenfold inside 3 years, and the former Minister knows that. We were always in a position where this country would be heavily reliant on imported product and cannot guarantee where that product comes from. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000648\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI do not need to recite to people here what the UN says about biofuels. It is amazing that members on the other side of the House always talk about how wonderful the UN is until they disagree with it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000649\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI want to make one other point: that the current law we are repealing made provision for those who are obligated by the law to come to the Minister of Energy and Resources and say \u201CWe can\u2019t meet our obligation this year. Can we defer it?\u201D. The answer to the House\u2014before the question is asked\u2014is that it is highly likely. In fact, it was obvious to us that all of the major sales outlets were going to ask for that deferral. All we are doing is saying: let us get some standards in place, let us continue to put the incentive\u2014and significant Government money has gone into this industry\u2014into developing the local biofuels industry, and then have a look at how much we might see going into our daily vehicle fleet. I make the point again that 20 million litres - plus is produced in this country right now\u2014all being sold.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u002202e2c7022b354ffbbfe37732cf6b896a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000650\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002202e2c7022b354ffbbfe37732cf6b896a\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E This legislation remains a mistake. It remains a muddle. It has no logic in it that would withstand even a cursory examination\u2014it is a crock. The Minister Gerry Brownlee, who has just resumed his seat, has shown again with the tantalising illogic of his contribution that he does not believe even half of the things that he is saying. This legislation puts ideology ahead of common sense. It puts low-grade politics ahead of any progress. It makes our economy dumber. It makes our economy more vulnerable, and it is a part of a package of environmental regression that we have seen over the past week or two that is staggering in its extent. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000651\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe point is that even if we forget about climate change\u2014let us play that game ever so briefly\u2014oil is running out. It is a finite resource. When we have used it once it is gone, it does not come back, it is not available to be used time and time again. Oil is non-renewable. And if this speech is sounding like something resembling a Norwegian parrot sketch, then it is because I think that point needs to be made time and time again to a Government that appears to believe, unlike any other Western Government in this world, that oil can somehow go on forever\u2014it cannot. It cannot, so oil will be substituted one way or another, sooner or later, around the world. As the price goes up the substitution will begin, and as the price goes up higher the substitution will quicken, and so on. Electricity will be part of that substitution, inevitably, but so will biofuels. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000652\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe difference between biofuels and oil is twofold. The first feature is that biofuels will be a range of products, not one product\u2014not just crude oil. It will be a range of products. It will be this, that, or the other feedstock used to produce some sort of alcohol, and this, that, or the other feedstock used to produce some sort of lipid. We will have a range of technologies in the same way, for example, that electricity around the world is produced country to country by using a different set of technologies or a different mix of technologies. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000653\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe second feature about biofuels that we know\u2014this is not guesswork; this is known\u2014is that the production of biofuels will be quite highly distributed. It will not be centralised. It will not focus on the small number of high oil - producing nations. Again, like electricity, it will be widely distributed across a nation or across the world, just like agriculture is distributed across many nations across the world. Nearly every nation\u2014I can think of one or two that may not\u2014will be involved in the production of biofuels in my lifetime, and most of them are now. Most of them are just starting off. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000654\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EBut there are some impediments to biofuels. The biggest impediment, the underlying reason for the sales obligation, is that if the capital invested is to have certainty then investors need to know that it will be sold, and because the person who produces the biofuels is not an oil company, then they need to know that the oil company will step up to sell it. That means that oil companies will have to invest in this, that, or the other bit of kit in order to do that, and oil companies do not like doing that sort of thing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000655\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EAs Jeanette Fitzsimons pointed out, oil companies did not like it when we told them that we needed to take lead out of oil because it was addling our kids\u2019 brains. Oil companies did not like it when we asked them to take some sulphur out of our petrol because the sulphur content is now so high that some new cars cannot run on it. Those cars have been designed for a much, much lower sulphur content. The oil companies said that they could not do that. A negotiation was entered into, and finally the capital investment at Marsden Point was made. Sulphur was reduced from 5,000 parts per million to 500 parts per million, and then to 50 parts per million, and it is on its way to 15 parts per million\u2014so-called zero sulphur. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000656\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EIt was the same for benzene when the benzene level in this country rose to the point where the ambient benzene levels were known to be a cause of myeloid leukaemia, where the link between the amount of benzene inhaled and the advent of that particular cancer is a straight line graph. It is one of the closest causes and effects in any cancer research that one could ever find. When we said that our benzene levels in New Zealand were too high and that they would cause a known amount of cancer, the oil companies said that they could not help, but now they have. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000657\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ESo too with biofuels. The oil companies came to the select committee and said that it was 7c or 8c. The Minister in his first reading speech delivered that as evidence. It was wrong. It was wrong, just like the oil companies always make their estimates wrong, because it is in their interests to do so. The are behaving rationally when they go for a high level in their figures. The oil companies have made their point and the new Government has swallowed it, hook, line, and sinker. In doing so, it has delayed the inevitable. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000658\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWhat is more, when we find the situation arising where we are in a position where we need to produce some serious biofuels, we will not be starting from level 1 or level 2, but we will be starting from scratch. We know that the legislation that is about to be repealed is modest enough. We know that by 2012 we would have got ourselves all the way up to 2.5 percent and that we would still be 97.5 percent dependent on fossil fuels, but we would have begun to have some kit in place, and we would have had some companies that were doing OK and, if you will, refining their production because of their research and development and their learning by doing. We knew that would be the case. We knew that there would be a competitive market. Therefore, we can forget about any arguments about compulsion somehow raising the ability of a non-competitive approach, because there would have been an international biofuels market. Whether or not the Greens preferred that, it would be that way. That issue was not going to arise. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000659\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe one issue that did arise was that none of the oil companies except Gull Petroleum wanted it. The oil companies did not say so because they knew they would be unpopular, and they are already unpopular enough because they are making very substantial profits. They would prefer that their profits around the world continued. They would prefer to do biofuels themselves when their own product, mineral oil, became woefully unaffordable. That would be their preference when people stopped buying their product, to then start making their own. But, you see, the future of biofuels will not necessary involve oil companies, and they know it. They know it. In the same way that supermarkets are not particularly involved in agriculture, so too would oil companies not be particularly involved in biofuels. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000660\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThen there is another issue. In New Zealand the future of biofuels almost certainly will not be substantially around tallow and it will not be substantially around bio-diesel produced from algae, although those will be important technologies. A still more important one will be biofuels produced from our woody biomass, our trees, and there we bring in a very interesting new dimension, which is the patient capital of M\u0101oridom. That seems to me to be a potential future\u2014in fact, it is more than a potential future\u2014as the science is moving enormously quickly on that. I toured it in North America just about 4 months ago. For example, on the issue of enzymes, there is progress beyond belief. It is astonishing. The smart money of Silicon Valley has gone out of biotechnology and into biofuels, just as this Government is heading in the opposite direction. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000661\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWe now have a Government in this country that is putting our country\u2014inadvertently, perhaps, but doing so none the less\u2014into reverse. This is regression. This is not progress. This is a dumb future, not a smart future, and this is very, very dumb legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022 data-id=\u0022b88dee04f1324234b6abd91767292497\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000662\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b88dee04f1324234b6abd91767292497\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment):\u003C/span\u003E I find it somewhat galling that that was the Minister who convened a group on climate change for 6 years under the previous Government. Let me remind the House of his record. This is the member who went around New Zealand promising a $500 million cheque from Kyoto, but do members know what we have? We have a $500 million liability. This is the member who talks renewable energy, yet during his period as Minister we saw a trebling in the amount of electricity produced from coal. If there is any member in this House who should be ashamed to show his head and to lecture the new Government about climate change, it is Pete Hodgson.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000663\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI also want to draw to the attention of members opposite their record of emissions over 9 years. The only thing the Labour-Green Government led on, in respect of emissions, was increases. Let me read the figures for the record that was reported by the United Nations. The increase in emissions from New Zealand in the course of the last Government was 18 percent. The record of John Howard\u2019s Government was an 8 percent increase. The record of George W Bush was a 6 percent increase. So let us get the record straight: in Government, Labour had a record that was twice as bad as John Howard\u2019s, and 3 times as bad as that of George W Bush. So for Parliament to have a lecture from the Labour Party about successful climate change policy is like being given a lecture by Dracula on domestic safety and anti-violence. You see, Labour\u2019s record on climate change is about as bad as it can get, and one of the reasons we need this biofuels bill is that it is another chapter in that party\u2019s botched policy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000664\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003ELet me systematically go through and point out the botched aspects of that biofuel policy. The first thing we heard from members opposite was standards for sustainability of biofuels. I have a simple question for members opposite: having been in Government for 9 years, where is their sustainability standard? We on this side of the House searched under the ministerial desks, and we looked in every nook and cranny of our ministerial offices, because we were sure that somewhere there would be a sustainability standard after 9 years of rhetoric. We looked under the chairs, under the desks, and in the corners of our offices; it was nowhere to be found. After 9 years, there was no sustainability standard.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000665\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022546232a3eea04e3b8377db3bb4df825c\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Keep screaming.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000666\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022be795f651d5047d9baaeb534171665f6\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: I ask Mr Hughes why he would compel the use of compulsory biofuels when there is no standard. When the United Nations, the OECD, and every reputable international organisation were expressing real concern about biofuels, the previous Government compelled their use without a sustainability standard. I say to Mr Hughes that that is bad policy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000667\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002278850b489b954ae9a103ecc88756e3ce\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: One-half of 1 percent!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000668\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ab69870ed13a41f7a6a7aca7ca3be499\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: He says it is only half of 1 percent, but half of 1 percent without a sustainability standard has the risk of being some sort of politically correct policy that might make him feel good in his conscience but that does absolutely nothing for climate change, and actually risks doing real damage to the environment and real damage in terms of the starving in the world who are competing for food along that way.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000669\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI have to say that the most extraordinary contribution I have heard in this debate was from the previous Minister of Finance, Michael Cullen. Let me go through the logic of Dr Cullen\u2019s argument. He said that if we go down the road of providing an excise exemption for biofuels, as we do already for ethanol, there is a cost to that, but that\u2014listen to this\u2014a compulsion has no cost. How many members of this House really believe there will be no cost to the consumer as a consequence of compelling the use of biofuels? I say to Dr Cullen that if there were not a cost, why do we need compulsion? The members opposite are silent. The only reason they are compelling the use of biofuels is that biofuels are uneconomic. There are lots of other good things we do not compel for.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000670\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI heard another wonderful argument from Dr Cullen, who said that the price of fuel has gone up and down by 70-odd cents a litre, so who is worried about 3c or 4c extra cost? I say to the member opposite that each cent on a litre of gas costs New Zealand consumers $60 million. That is $60 million for every cent. In the middle of a financial crisis, when households are finding it harder than ever to meet their budgets and when businesses are under a real squeeze, we on this side of the House are concerned about every single cent of costs that we will be imposing on consumers. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000671\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003ELabour\u2019s real flaw in the bill was that it was flim-flam. The real problem for Labour members was that they were going into the election campaign and campaigning on that carbon-neutral, world-leader, grandiose argument when their record was appalling\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000672\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002295798813ccf34aa08ee07a1feb50ad0c\u0022\u003EHon Lianne Dalziel\u003C/span\u003E: You\u2019ve gone from fast follower to rapid reverse.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000673\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229c83f892f1104ae88471e5370b9ac0aa\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: The member should somehow explain how she reconciles the previous Prime Minister\u2019s rhetoric of New Zealand being a world leader, and the first carbon-neutral country in the world, with the United Nations\u2019 official figures that show that the previous Labour Government had the worst record\u2014the worst record\u2014of any country that we would want to be associated with in terms of actual increased emissions. I accept that the rhetoric of members opposite was bolder than anyone else\u2019s on the planet\u2014yes, it was\u2014but their record was awful and, frankly, on the issue of climate change the facts are more important than the rhetoric. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000674\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EMembers opposite cry crocodile tears about jobs. If I was a biofuels manufacturer and I could persuade the Government to compel everybody to buy my product, I would be in there like a robber\u2019s dog. I would love to be able to pass a law to say that people had to buy my homebrew beer; I think it is good stuff, and I think I could make good dosh by selling it. But is that good law? No, it is not.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000675\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI do not think that any member of this House can honestly say that the answer is electric cars, biofuels, or hydrogen cars. We need to provide sensible incentives in order for new technologies to come on stream. The sort of compulsory mentality of the previous Government is a flawed approach. The United Nations Secretary-General has urged Governments around the world not to proceed with mandatory requirements for biofuels. I am yet to hear any explanation from members opposite as to why they are ignoring that advice. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000676\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe last word has to be with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment said that this law was a real risk to New Zealand\u2019s clean, green image. That is why members on this side of the House say that it is a botched policy, and the sooner we get it off the law books of New Zealand the sooner we can move on with some climate change policies that make sense and that will work for both our economy and our environment. That is the agenda of the new Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022 data-id=\u00221801d025faf34c7b97f2f9dce4886c8c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000677\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221801d025faf34c7b97f2f9dce4886c8c\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E Goodness gracious me! It is hard to believe that the member who has just resumed his seat was a member of the Local Government and Environment Committee, which worked on the Biofuel Bill. To be fair to the member, he did turn up to meetings. Unfortunately, because he had declared his hand as being opposed to the bill very early on in the select committee process, I do not necessarily believe his contribution was nearly as constructive as it could have been. If he had left himself open to the possibility that he did not know everything and that the submitters who came along and told us that they wanted this legislation might have had a point, then maybe he could have worked with us and with the Greens to come up with the standards and principles that came out of the select committee. I certainly will not say the member failed to turn up to the select committee, because he did attend meetings, but he clearly did not listen to a lot of what was being said there. It is astonishing how much of the information that was given to us by officials has been twisted. In that speech, coming as it did from someone who claims that climate change debates and environmental debates should be about fact, there was not a lot of fact from the former select committee member. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000678\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EWe are at the second reading of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. We had the first reading half an hour ago, and it is always slightly odd to give a second reading speech half an hour after giving one\u2019s first reading speech. But, because we are under urgency, this is where we pretend that the bill has been to a select committee. This is where we pretend that Mr McNicholl, who is losing $10 million worth of investment in a Waharoa biofuel plant\u2014the company\u2019s plant is on two sites\u2014has had the opportunity to come to a select committee and tell members of this House exactly how much money he will lose from the repeal of an Act that gave him some certainty in his business. This is where Mr McNicholl would have been able to come to a select committee and tell members how many jobs will be lost in his industry because of the repeal of Part 3A of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Act 1989, and he would have been able to tell the select committee how damaging the repeal of the legislation will be for our environmental performance and, more important, for the development of a domestic biofuel industry in New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000679\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EBut this bill is being rammed through under urgency. Mr Gerry Brownlee, as Leader of the House, now has a 100-percent record of bills in this House going through all stages and with none of them going to a select committee\u2014100 percent of the bills passed so far by this new Government have not gone to a select committee. They have been rammed through, and the public of New Zealand have not had a single opportunity to come to a select committee and take part in a process that we in New Zealand are very proud of. We know that sometimes there are reasons why bills might not go to a select committee, but that is certainly the exception rather than the rule. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000680\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThis is important legislation. The Biofuel Bill was with the select committee for a long time because we wanted to get it right, because we wanted to work really hard on getting the sustainability principles in place, and because, unlike National, we did not believe in just throwing up our hands and saying that because the oil companies had come to the select committee and put up a few arguments, we would scream that the issue was too hard to address and do nothing. We decided that doing nothing was not an option. We listened to the numerous submitters who came along to the select committee. Of course, biofuel producers have as much of a vested interest in this issue as oil companies, and we took that into account. We are certainly not naive in that regard. But we listened to the submitters, and we came up with a bill that we felt balanced the need for a domestic biofuel obligation, the need to create a domestic biofuel industry, and the need also to not put too much compulsion on the people who are doing that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000681\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EIt occurs to me that perhaps the Minister in charge of this bill does not actually know what the principal Act does, because the Act is actually extremely flexible. We were at pains to make sure that the level of compulsion in the legislation was limited only to the percentage of biofuel that is required to be sold. I will reiterate: in the first year it is 0.5 percent\u20140.5 percent\u2014going up by 0.5 percent every year. The original bill had a final obligation of 3.4 percent. Again, that is not exactly out of this world, but from listening to the Government members speak, one would think we had placed a biofuel obligation of 80 percent or 90 percent on the industry. We had an original obligation of 3.4 percent. But we listened to submitters and we listened to the oil companies. We got official advice that told us, yes, that an ethanol plant they had expected to be developed in New Zealand would not come on stream now, and that they thought that perhaps the obligation should be dropped to 2.5 percent in order to reflect that. And we did that\u2014we did that. We listened and we responded to the concerns of those in the oil industry that they would not be able to access enough biofuel in New Zealand to be able to meet their mandatory obligations. Of course, that is what select committee processes are for, if one is a member of a Government that believes in having them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000682\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI will talk about the biofuel obligation, because a number of Government members have got up and talked about this issue being all about what is sold at the pump. In fact, nothing in the Act states biofuel has to be sold through the pump. I am not sure whether the Minister is aware of that. A number of direct sales of 100 percent biofuel have already been done. We must remember there is a limit at the pump on the level of blend that can go through: a maximum of 10 percent ethanol and 5 percent bio-diesel. But companies can sell higher blends than that, of up to 100 percent, direct to customers if they want to, and it does not even have to go through the pump. We did not tell the oil companies that they had to sell biofuel across the whole country, and we did not tell them that they had to do so only in Auckland or Wellington. It was left up to them to decide how they implemented their obligation, according to whom their clients were and what their existing infrastructure was. Let us not forget that a number of oil companies already import ethanol, because they sell it. The oil company I worked for sold ethanol. Any claim that there is no infrastructure for the selling of solvents and for blending fuels is not true, because oil companies currently sell ethanol as a solvent. Some oil companies already have the infrastructure there, although others may have to develop it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000683\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EBut one of the advantages of bio-diesel, and one of the reasons why we wanted to create legislation that would support the development of a local biofuel industry that would be predominantly bio-diesel, is that there are not the storage requirement issues that one has with regard to ethanol. Ethanol is more dangerous than bio-diesel and requires a lot higher safety standards\u2014a lot more double-skinned tanks and things like that. Those things are not required for bio-diesel, which uses the same systems as diesel. Another advantage of the Act was in trying to create a local biofuel industry that we knew would be predominantly bio-diesel. It would mean that the obligation could be met from domestic production, and that would, as I said before, eliminate a number of the concerns about sustainability. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000684\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EWhen we think about compulsion, we need to remember that the Act is very, very flexible. It allows the oil companies to implement their obligation how they best see fit, and where they determine it needs to be implemented. The oil companies told us during the select committee process that they simply could not access enough biofuel to meet the original obligation of 3.4 percent. However, when we looked into that using the oil companies\u2019 own figures, which they had provided to the select committee, we found that with all the development that was in progress they could meet the original target of 3.4 percent. To say they could not meet the target when we had dropped the obligation in the Act down to 2.5 percent seems slightly ridiculous. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000685\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EMr Brownlee likes to talk in terms of litres. Of course, the obligation uses units of energy, not of volume. To meet the 2.5 percent obligation requires 5.5 petajoules of biofuel; for the 3.4 percent obligation it was 8 petajoules. We were told that the potential for domestic production over the period to 2012 was for up to 4 petajoules of bio-diesel from tallow, 2 petajoules of bio-diesel from rapeseed oil, and 0.3 petajoules of biofuel from ethanol. That is enough to meet the original obligation of 3.4 percent in the bill, but because the legislation was designed to provide certainty and to provide the basis for a domestic biofuel industry, we did not feel the need to push that target, and we took the officials\u2019 advice. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000686\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EWe have heard a lot about the impact of the biofuel obligation on the price of fuel. Dr Smith is choosing simply to quote the oil companies, and not the official advice that we received at the select committee. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000687\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022428de146bc6748339317ee3b3d993681\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: What\u2019s your figure?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000688\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022699f4f72bc3342869c8ea0d517a457b6\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: Of course, one of the difficulties about saying how much this measure will cost is that we need to take into account the price of oil, the price of biofuels, the exchange rate in relation to imports, and also how the obligation will be implemented. If the oil companies chose to sell 100 percent biofuel direct to customers and none of it through the pump, there would not be any impact on the price of fuel at the pump. Every week at the select committee Dr Smith would ask the officials to go away and do some more crystal ball - gazing, and every time they came back with advice he would say it was not good enough, because they could not accurately predict the figures. As Dr Smith knows\u2014and I hate to think of all the grey hairs he gave the very young officials from the Ministry of Economic Development we had at that time\u2014the officials came up with a group of tables that took into consideration a number of scenarios. Those tables said that for petrol it could possibly be a negative number, which meant it would be cheaper\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000689\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cf6e723a66c44cc5a1f39666e9a9586c\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: If it\u2019s cheaper, why do you need compulsion?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000690\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227fbfc331c1304b9db8be0a2a7e23ad97\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, my Lord! The tables also said that for Gull Petroleum, which currently sells biofuels more cheaply than the other oil companies sell their regular petrol, with bio-diesel the price could possibly go up by 1c to 3c per litre. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022 data-id=\u00221716863f423846c9ac362c779032c9d2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000691\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221716863f423846c9ac362c779032c9d2\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader\u2014Green):\u003C/span\u003E Well, it seems that all National\u2019s friends have deserted it except ACT. The M\u0101ori Party is not voting for this silly Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill, and Peter Dunne is not voting for this silly bill. It is not a popular bill and it is squeaking through with a narrow majority. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000692\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThis is a second reading debate. Normally we would be debating what happened at the select committee and talking about all the people who came to talk about the effects of this legislation on them, but we cannot do that, so it is sounding like a very repetitive debate. I will talk just a little bit wider and look at where this bill sits, because it is not just about biofuels. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000693\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThis bill is part of an extreme ideological position that says regulation is always wrong. Whether it is about energy efficiency standards for lights and hot water, about a renewable electricity preference, or about biofuels, regulation\u2014according to this Government\u2014is always wrong. In fact, this Government has actually abdicated its power to govern in favour of a Mr Smith, and I do not mean the Dr Smith sitting opposite. We have two Smiths already in National, but that is not enough. National has co-opted Mr Adam Smith as well to run the Government for it, and the mantra is freedom, choice, and the market. Of course, we all support freedom, choice, and the market, but markets do not necessarily deliver the outcomes we want. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000694\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EPublic policy usually aims to serve a purpose. Otherwise, we would not bother having any. It has a goal. The goals of the biofuel legislation were two: firstly, to reduce by a little bit our carbon dioxide emissions in order to start meeting climate change obligations and, secondly, to start preparing in a small way for the day when oil becomes unaffordable and then unavailable. That is about energy security, which is a term I seem to have heard an awful lot about from the present Minister of Energy and Resources, Gerry Brownlee, but with this bill he is actually moving in the opposite direction. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000695\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EI hope Gerry Brownlee is around the next time an oil tanker headed for New Zealand turns round in mid-ocean and goes somewhere else. Some members may remember, as I do, when that happened in 1979. During the false oil crisis, if you like, that happened in the 1970s, an oil tanker simply did not turn up at Marsden Point, and that led to all kinds of restrictions in New Zealand. That was a very temporary situation, because of an action taken by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. When it happens next time, it will be part of a permanent situation of oil being very expensive and, ultimately, very much less available. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000696\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EI hope Gerry Brownlee is around to see that when it happens, and I hope I am around to see his face when he realises that it would have been possible, if he had left the law as it was, for New Zealand to have a small local industry making sustainable diesel so that we could still run our emergency services and get food to the supermarket\u2014because we will not be able to do that with electric cars. If we do not build an industry in New Zealand, we can forget the idea that when oil becomes too expensive overseas we will be able to just import biofuel. If we cannot import oil, then we will not be able to import biofuel. This is about energy security, and the Government is opposed to it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000697\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EMany countries overseas use sales obligations to meet goals of energy efficiency. They put sales obligations on the power companies to invest in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and biofuels. This is not rocket science. A myth is being perpetuated that regulation and mandatory standards are somehow mutually exclusive. That is almost never the case. Biofuel producers will still have to compete to supply the obligation. The oil companies will still have choice as to whom they buy from, and if people try to price racket, they simply will not have a market for their product. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000698\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EMandatory standards have a number of other advantages. The first one is that it creates some certainty, and business likes nothing better than it likes certainty when it is looking at where to invest its money. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002256c433521c394715b14eaf904905606e\u0022\u003EHon Judith Collins\u003C/span\u003E: It really likes the National Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000700\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aa06599e9f1b4103af25b8703501b0ab\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS\u003C/span\u003E: The National Government is creating anything but certainty, and we are already seeing business go down the drain because of that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000701\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EIf we are looking at setting up a biofuel industry in New Zealand we are going to ask whether the market will be a stable market or a stop-go market. Producers would still have to be competitive to access that market, but they need to know it will be there. If we want innovation, investment, and good science, if we want biofuels produced from algae to flourish in the future when the science is ready, and if we want ethanol produced from wood wastes in New Zealand\u2014all totally sustainable and all made from New Zealand resources\u2014then we need certainty for investment, and this bill is taking that away. Mr Brownlee says that because Fonterra sends 22 million litres of ethanol now to Gull Petroleum, it proves that there is a market now and that it can be increased many times over with no market certainty. Well, I do not know where that comes from, but clearly the fact that one contract exists does not mean there is an unlimited ability to expand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000702\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe next point is that if we want choice, we can have it only if we have information. How are consumers to know whether they are buying biofuel or petroleum, or, if they are buying biofuel, where it comes from and whether it is sustainable? How can consumers possibly exercise choice in this situation? Even the energy star labels on appliances are read only by the committed, and that is why we needed minimum energy performance standards. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000703\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EConsumers\u2019 day-to-day choices simply cannot meet long-term strategic goals. We need investment in infrastructure to meet long-term strategic goals, and we do not get investment in infrastructure with a stop-go market and the daily fluctuating choices of consumers. How can consumers choose renewable electricity? They pretty much cannot, and that is why we put an obligation on the power companies to build something that is renewable. How can consumers choose the best-performing lights, when the best-performing lights are not even imported into New Zealand? Our market is dominated by junk light bulbs because it is not big enough for the good ones, and they simply do not come in. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000704\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EPricing and subsidies are often much more expensive than standards. In this case, a tax exemption for biofuels will cost the taxpayers, not the fuel users. I think that is an interesting distinction. A mandatory standard, if it costs at all, costs the fuel users in proportion to the amount of fuel they use. A tax exemption has the taxpayers subsidising the fuel users. I want to know why the cyclist, the public transport user, and the person with a small car should subsidise those with gas guzzlers, because that is what this repeal bill does. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000705\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003ENational has a very inconsistent approach to subsidies. National, subsidies? I thought National was not in favour of subsidies, but it is proposing to remove a mandatory standard and replace it with subsidies. Phil Heatley said in the Herald on Sunday that National was cancelling the green homes insulation fund because it would not tax people to pay for their neighbour\u2019s insulation. Yet it is quite happy to tax people to pay for their neighbour\u2019s health care when they have more severe asthma attacks because the home is uninsulated. Where are the logic and the consistency in that? Now we find that National is prepared to tax people to pay for their neighbour\u2019s fuel. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000706\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe principle seems to be that subsidies are OK when they go to big business, but they are not OK when they go to ordinary people. The end point of this ideology is that we would abolish the building code, because people can choose whether they want their houses to stand up or to fall down and whether they want them to be energy efficient. We would abolish driving on the left, because people can choose whether they want to run into people. We would abolish regulations for hazardous substances, for food safety, for seatbelts, for fishing quotas, and for the Standing Orders in the House, because on all of those matters the consumers could actually choose to run things the way they want to and we could get rid of mandatory things.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00226c1d5df8-ac1d-4ce1-a778-202845cfc69f\u0022 data-id=\u00224e38a80329554aa7a09fa67b85ff50cc\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000707\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226c1d5df8-ac1d-4ce1-a778-202845cfc69f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00224e38a80329554aa7a09fa67b85ff50cc\u0022\u003EHon HEATHER ROY (Deputy Leader\u2014ACT):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to speak to the second reading of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. ACT, of course, is supporting this bill and nobody should be surprised that we are debating it today because well before the election the National Party made it very clear that it did not consider it appropriate to incentivise the uptake of biofuels through a mandatory obligation, and ACT stood in this House and supported that very stance when that legislation was rushed through under urgency shortly before the election. It made no sense then and it certainly makes no sense now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000708\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022acd1b0b87cd94b6092675f97cf33c72b\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: It had gone to select committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000709\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226c1d5df8-ac1d-4ce1-a778-202845cfc69f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227ba8fd68b8b44eac900311c00d4d7742\u0022\u003EHon HEATHER ROY\u003C/span\u003E: The select committee discussion was held, that is quite right, so why do it again this quickly? It is interesting that Labour members are suddenly very worried about sending everything to a select committee. They certainly were not during their 9 years in Government. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000710\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226c1d5df8-ac1d-4ce1-a778-202845cfc69f\u0022\u003EAnyway here we are, and there are very good reasons to repeal this legislation. Many of them have already been discussed and I just want to briefly mention those again. Firstly, there are very legitimate concerns around the claimed environmental benefits of biofuels. The booming biofuels industry is driving the deforestation of millions of hectares in rain forests in countries such as Brazil and Indonesia.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000711\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022304a9eadf18f4a358c647f97b81d5ec5\u0022\u003EHon Pete Hodgson\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s nonsense.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000712\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226c1d5df8-ac1d-4ce1-a778-202845cfc69f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225f7b5fdd462e4c7f8ded9d4313061d00\u0022\u003EHon HEATHER ROY\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Hodgson is chipping in over there, but the evidence is pretty clear. Many other countries are now exhibiting very serious lessons that we should be paying some attention to. In the United States the leading source of biofuels is corn or maize. Nobel Prize - winning atmospheric chemist, Paul Crutzen, a man not known for his climate change scepticism, found in 2007 that biofuels made from corn and rapeseed\u2014something that Jeanette Fitzsimons stood in this House and propounded the benefits of\u2014contributed more to global warming than fossil fuels. If we are prepared to stand up in this House and ignore the evidence from other countries, then we are not very clever are we. Biofuels made from corn and rapeseed contribute more to global warming than fossil fuels and there certainly is a lesson here that should be learnt. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000713\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226c1d5df8-ac1d-4ce1-a778-202845cfc69f\u0022\u003EBack to Brazil; it is the second largest producer of biofuels in the world, but we will not hear that from the other side\u2014the second largest producer. How has it achieved this honour? It has been through having a large-scale slash and burn of the country\u2019s native rainforest. Given the stance that the Greens have made about rainforests for I do not know how long\u2014about the last decade\u2014I do not think that we should be ignoring that. As if the rainforest was not diminishing at a rapid enough rate as it is, Brazil has now embarked on an unprecedented campaign of cutting down rainforest to plant sugar cane for biofuel production. That is something that I did think the Greens, and possibly some of the more conservative members of the Labour Party, might have thought was important enough to consider during this debate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000714\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226c1d5df8-ac1d-4ce1-a778-202845cfc69f\u0022\u003EThe loss of Brazil\u2019s rainforest though is potentially not the worst impact of biofuels. The worst impacts may well be seen in Africa. In May 2008 Olivier de Schutter, the United States food adviser, stated: \u201CThe ambitious goals for biofuel production set by the United States and the European Union are irresponsible. I am calling for a freeze on all investment in this sector.\u201D So why did he call for that? The reasons are twofold. Firstly, food that was once used for its intended purpose is now being turned into biofuels. The very poor in the world are now starving because they can no longer afford what was very cheap food that made them sustainable. It actually kept them alive. Again, the Greens and Labour once upon a time believed in helping out the poor of the world. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000715\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226c1d5df8-ac1d-4ce1-a778-202845cfc69f\u0022\u003ESecondly, land once used for intensive food production is now being converted to biofuel production. The cause is the latest fascination of the West and the victims are those in poverty in Asia and in Africa. Sadly, those who are in poverty in New Zealand will now have more costs imposed upon them. Pushing food prices up will hurt most those who are least able to afford it. Legislation that diverts food supply into fuel for those least able to afford it is very dopey legislation and we in this House tonight are doing absolutely the right thing in repealing this legislation. The ACT Party fully supports this initiative by the National Party. It is the right and proper thing to do, and we support it with pride. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022 data-id=\u00228f733118d02a45b48c6cf335efa783a4\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000716\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228f733118d02a45b48c6cf335efa783a4\u0022\u003EHon PANSY WONG (Associate Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E We have not heard any new arguments from the Labour Opposition against the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. Even the Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons has run out of new arguments: she extended the debate into the so-called bigger picture. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000717\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EI want to emphasise once again that biofuel, according to even one of the Labour Party members, is actually on sale. It was available before the mandatory requirement was introduced by the passing of the biofuel legislation in the last parliamentary term. Biofuel is available, and New Zealanders who choose to use biofuel can get it. It makes one wonder why the Labour Opposition is so hell-bent on making it a mandatory requirement. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000718\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EThe Opposition is calling for a mandatory requirement in the face of two major deficiencies. The first is the lack of a standard for sustainable biofuels. My diligent, hard-working, honourable Minister, Dr Nick Smith, looks everywhere for one! For 9 years the previous Labour Government never made any effort to develop standards to ensure that the biofuel industry could grow. For 9 years it did nothing, and now it is too late. The previous Labour Government was lazy, and that explains why its members are on the Opposition benches. For 9 years it did nothing, and the Labour Government in its dying days decided once again to try to mandate the bringing in of a compulsory requirement for biofuel to be sold. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000719\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EI am so glad to be able to take a call to support our sensible and credible Minister of Energy and Resources, the Hon Gerry Brownlee. First of all, he has repealed the compulsion part of the legislation. Even more sensibly, he is creating a process to develop standards of sustainability so that the biofuel industry can prosper. More than that, instead of compulsion, the Minister is introducing a tax incentive. On this side of the House we believe that the growth of the biofuels industry is a desirable development, and we want to see it happen. But we do not believe that compulsion is necessary, because people already have access to and can choose to use biofuels. Tax incentives, however, make sure that the biofuel sector can grow. That is a good thing. I think the energy Minister, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, has made a fantastic compromise. He has put a lot of thought into it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000720\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EWe trust New Zealanders\u2014our people are intelligent. When they are asked to make an informed choice, they can make that judgment for themselves. There has never been any need for compulsion. When the last Labour Government tried to bring in compulsion, it showed that it did not trust the people. What happened? On 8 November the people threw the Labour Government out.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000721\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EDebate interrupted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id200812169f5b9c9be1bb489a99e5ff099c2e03e0000722\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003ESitting suspended from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. (Wednesday)\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000001\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00225163db7c9fed446da3283841cce7b1eb\u0022\u003ETuesday, 16 December 2008\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000002\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002255af52d53aa0432789d264a60188386b\u0022\u003E(continued on Wednesday, 17 December 2008)\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000003\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002284e21af826b84299a32c34c89a74ee4e\u0022\u003EEnergy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000004\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00227b1afc455d994d508c96ea06a01cdc03\u0022\u003ESecond Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000005\u0022\u003EDebate resumed.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022 data-id=\u0022b7251964707f4a60b6f3e570b4a99a8f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000006\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b7251964707f4a60b6f3e570b4a99a8f\u0022\u003EHon PANSY WONG (Associate Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E Good morning to you, Mr Assistant Speaker Barker, and to my fellow parliamentarians; and good morning to all the listeners and viewers. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000007\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EI remind everybody that we are debating under urgency the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. This bill is a clear indication that John Key\u2019s National-led Government is fulfilling its election promises. During the lead-up to the election National campaigned on dumping the Labour Government\u2019s Biofuel Bill. We intend to apply a consistent tax incentive for sustainable biofuels, exempting ethanol and bio-diesel from excise and road-user charges in proportion to the blend. We are also committed to developing a process for approving the tax exemption of sustainable biofuel, taking into account the impact of the net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on biodiversity and food supply. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000008\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003ENational is committed to encouraging the development of the biofuel industry, but unlike the previous Labour Government we listen to and trust New Zealanders. We know that New Zealanders will make informed choices. We are not like the Labour Government, which believed in compulsion and did not place any trust in New Zealanders to make the right choices. Even before the introduction of compulsion in relation to the sale of biofuel, New Zealanders could purchase biofuel. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000009\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EWe all know the negative impact of rushing into new territory. We know that the first generation of biofuel sources had a devastating effect on many economies when people turned food crops into biofuel. We also understand and have seen the impact on deforestation of rushing headlong into pushing biofuels. We believe that in order to encourage development and place trust in New Zealanders to make those choices it is important to dump this last piece of compulsion. I congratulate the Hon Gerry Brownlee on diligently putting the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill before the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u00221db151c02d6b48078782d28217423331\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000010\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221db151c02d6b48078782d28217423331\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E There is a saying that it is an ill wind that blows no good. It gives me no pleasure to rise in this debate and reflect on what is going down in New Zealand at the moment under this National-led Government. I think it should send a chill down the spines of all New Zealanders that New Zealand is now backtracking on sustainability initiatives across the ambit of the environment, whether it is through changes to the Resource Management Act or measures to deal with climate change or water quality. We will see New Zealand\u2019s environment going backwards at a time when most of us accept that the world has serious environmental problems.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000011\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI have long had a strong environmental ethic, and I think that most New Zealanders do. About one-third of our country is in national parks. We are one of the first countries in the world to do something about truly trying to make our fishing sustainable in the deep seas and our inshore fisheries. I personally did a lot of work around water protection, and trying to stop the degradation of waterways over many years was part of my work. I was not one of the first in the world to come to the conclusion that climate change is a serious problem that must be addressed. Others in this House, like Pete Hodgson, Jeanette Fitzsimons, and Simon Upton, were ahead of me in that regard, but eventually I got there.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000012\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI became convinced\u2014like the National Government pretends to be\u2014by the scientists who overwhelmingly tell us that climate change is a real and pressing problem that could change the world as we know it. It is not an exaggeration to say that climate change could change the world as we know it, and this has been proven to such an extent that it is now the responsibility of politicians and Parliaments like ours to do something about it and to moderate emissions so as to not let climate change get as bad as it could get.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000013\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI personally see climate change as an indication of a wider ill. I am personally convinced that we on this planet are living in a way that is beyond the environmental means of our ecosystems to cope. Our planet is filling up with greenhouse gases in a way that is unsustainable. There is undue pressure on our waterways; there are dropping aquifers; there are collapsing fisheries; there are dying coral reefs; there is desertification, not just in Africa but also in Asia and in large parts of Australia; there is pressure on food production; and there are rising sea levels that are starting to threaten atolls. If there is even a metre of sea-level rise there will be 30 million people on the move in Bangladesh.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000014\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThese are serious problems. What worries most of us about what is happening is the truth that the world is living beyond its environmental means. More than that, an international response is required in order to do something about it. Underneath that international response, action by individual countries is required. It saddens me to realise that if New Zealand cannot get these problems under control, then the world is doomed to a future that is not as good as it could be.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000015\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIf we look at our country, with our wealth of natural resources, our environmental ethic and our wealth\u2014and we might not be as wealthy as our Australian cousins across the ditch, but, by God, we are very wealthy compared with the world average\u2014our low population density, our climatic advantages that we already have, and our richness in renewable energy, we see that it is probably one of the wealthiest countries in the world when it comes to renewable energy sources. If New Zealand cannot get this right, then the conclusion to draw is that the world will not. We really are, to that extent, the canary in the cage. We should reflect on this reality: if New Zealand does not get these issues right, then the world will not. That is a very, very sad conclusion to reach, because that will affect our children and their children. Millions and millions of desperately poor people in developing countries will be more affected than most, and it will make their futures even bleaker than they currently are. For people in developing countries who are poor, their future is already bleak.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000016\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EAgainst that background I think it is very, very sad\u2014and I am somewhat ashamed\u2014to be in a country that is turning its back on those problems when we can fix them, or our share of them, comparatively easily. That is where this bill fits in. To deal with climate change, we have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Half of our emissions come from agriculture. It is pretty hard in that space. Things can be done to reduce agricultural emissions\u2014I am not letting agriculture off free, because some things can be done\u2014but they cannot be reduced by a lot. The rest of our emissions come from the use of energy and from process emissions from things like smelters that use coal in the production of metals.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000017\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIf we cannot do much in the agricultural space, we have to do our fair share in the area of energy. Our energy emissions come from two main sources: electricity production and transport. Transport in New Zealand has a big share in that; we are already pretty green in our electricity production, and we are starting to do even better. However, in transport we can do only three things: first, improve the efficiency of vehicles; second, change the modes of transport to more efficient modes, such as more freight on rail and more freight on bigger trucks, which sometimes is a good idea; and third, substitute out the existing fossil fuels that we burn to produce greenhouse gases for new sources of fuel that are carbon neutral and do not produce greenhouse gas emissions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000018\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E The two most likely candidates in that field for New Zealand are electricity substitution and biofuels. This bill deals with biofuels. Other people have talked about the terrible injustices that have been done by this bill to Mr McNicholl and others\u2014the job losses and the multimillion dollar losses that have been caused to industry. I am not going to focus on those things in this contribution; I am going to focus on the environmental aspects.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000019\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EEvery country in the world has a problem with transport emissions; they are very hard to fix. But given that we pour billions and billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels for transport, we have to do something about it. If we do not do anything about it, we may as well give up on the ambition to reduce emissions, because it will not work. Transport emissions are such a big part of the problem, and that is where biofuels come in. They are not a universal panacea and they are not the answer to everything, but they are an important part of the solution. They are something we can use now, they make economic sense as well as environmental sense for the country, they are affordable, and they are achievable.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000020\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EWe have heard the Minister of Energy and Resources, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, saying in this House and on the radio that the Government is putting forward this legislation because of sustainability concerns. The Government is actually taking out of the legislation the sustainability controls that control the import of unsustainable biofuels. Already the legislation requires the oil companies to now report the source of their biofuels. So if they are importing unsustainable biofuels they get dinged now, because the public sees that and the companies will not want to risk their brand value by doing something silly during this short intervening period while more detailed and prescriptive standards are worked out.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000021\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EOn top of that, the Act\u2014which this bill repeals the relevant part of\u2014already includes more than the normal amount of detail seen in primary legislation concerning sustainability principles. It sets out three principles relating to greenhouse gas reductions on a life-cycle basis, including competition with food\u2014because, of course, we do not want to put up the price of tortillas in Mexico City by turning corn into ethanol\u2014and it addresses biodiversity concerns so that people cannot knock over rainforests and orang-utan habitats in Indonesia, for example, to produce palm oil for New Zealand biofuels. That is not allowed under New Zealand legislation. The Minister is stripping out those environmental protections by the repeal of this part of the Act. I think that might be a mistake on his part, and he does not realise it. I will be promoting amendments at the Committee stage to fix that particular omission in this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EMore fundamentally, the Minister knows\u2014and the National Government knows\u2014that the biofuels that are starting to be produced in New Zealand from tallow are the most sustainable sources of biofuel in the world according to the United Nations, and he is killing that industry. Not only do we have the loss of jobs and the loss of money for those people who have invested their life fortune and done the right thing\u2014and I feel very sorry for those people\u2014we see that the Minister is ruining the environment, and that should be on his conscience. It is the wrong thing to do and it sends a chill down my back.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022 data-id=\u0022f9be0e0a4e2b44feb121508512a9c9f2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000023\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f9be0e0a4e2b44feb121508512a9c9f2\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National\u2014West Coast-Tasman):\u003C/span\u003E This is just a brief call. I was most interested to hear the previous speaker because he covered a range of discussion that probably we should have started this debate with, because it includes very important features. I suggest, though, that the weak part of the Opposition\u2019s argument is the compulsive nature of the regulation; that is the bit that is being changed. The previous speaker ended on the subject of tallow and how efficient it is at making biofuels. Tallow is a by-product in many cases, but I wonder what happens to those products that would normally be made of tallow. We cannot introduce\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000024\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c15bd594b2084d249b6f267fb70c2f8d\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s not a serious point!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000025\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002234521c8024f14a299a7879c906826c3c\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: It is a serious point. It is just as serious as biofuel\u2019s taking away food production from Mexicans is a serious point. For those who use tallow, the matter of tallow production is a serious point if suddenly those people do not have that base product any more. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000026\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EHowever, the previous speaker concentrated on the sustainability aspect and the standards that are being torn out by this bill going through. The reality is that they are not: the standards will continue to be developed, they will be developed by the officials, and that will be done in exactly the same time frame as, or even sooner than, would have been possible through the legislation that is now being changed. Therefore, the central objection to this bill is void, because the standards will be made, they will be achieved, and, furthermore, they will be produced by people who actually want to produce them. The whole business will not be based on the compulsive, negative aspect, and it will benefit from the change.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022 data-id=\u002264c9f8082a0844e3914501b51123f4cc\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000027\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002264c9f8082a0844e3914501b51123f4cc\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E This bill, the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill, is in its second reading before the House. It is a very sad bill from a sad Government on this very important topic of climate change. Our country, as the Hon David Parker has said, has to take some pretty firm measures in response to climate change, because we have so little influence over the profile of our greenhouse gas emissions. That means that every measure we take has to be thoughtful, has to be resolute, and has to actually mean something and do something. But this repeal bill takes away the real chance for New Zealand to be able to do something constructive with regard to climate change, and it is a huge shame and a wasted opportunity that this Government has brought this bill before Parliament for debate today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000028\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EIt makes one wonder what the Government now says New Zealand is doing, at all, with regard to climate change. For a while, after a movie called An Inconvenient Truth came out, the National Party decided that climate change was a popular topic, and so there was a bit of a flurry of activity. That led to a very brief period of time when Dr Nick Smith thought he was relevant again, and he was allowed to put out a Bluegreens discussion document.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000029\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d17755e40c78423ba2529293dcb4d0da\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: And where did that go?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000030\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002201f51a1faacc4594a9f374398e451f59\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: Actually, just about the only thing that National stands for in terms of recycling was putting every copy of the Bluegreens vision document into the green wheelie bins around Parliament. That is the only thing those members have done in terms of the environment since the general election. We know that that document now is out of vogue and out of step, because the National Party has moved on to something else. The new buzzword is that everything must be \u201Cbalanced\u201D. We must have balance with everything. So if one does nothing on the one hand, one ought to do nothing on the other. That is the new, balanced approach that National is bringing to New Zealand\u2019s response on climate change. National has decided that it is no longer a sexy topic, but the problem for National is that the science has not gone away. Of course, there is a question mark over that because the whole world now waits, with bated breath, for the New Zealand select committee of Parliament\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000031\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c6f474751e344a3797e8658c4a15f051\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: High-level.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000032\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ed88294ec3004363bb9fe1149e4cafe3\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014which was elevated yesterday to a high-level select committee, of course. I mean, how anything can be high-level without the Hon Gerry Brownlee\u2019s intellectual firepower on it is beyond me! In fact, at the General Assembly of the United Nations they must be standing around the espresso machine saying that it is good of New Zealanders to decide for them what is happening about the science of climate change, but that it is a pity that Mr Brownlee is not involved. That is what they are saying while they wait for the high-level committee to report back on the balanced approach of how one can do nothing on the one hand and less on the other. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000033\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EWe will now have a ridiculous situation. People used to look at a little country like New Zealand\u20144 million people at the bottom of the earth\u2014and see it as a bit of an honest broker. We have always punched above our weight on foreign policy; people have looked at what we have done and said that we have had a principled stand on things. They have said that we have always had good examples to back up our rhetoric on things. We have not just gone along and given the flash speeches heard at some international forums, where countries with dubious records on things have got up and lectured everyone else. New Zealand has always been one of those countries that have been able to get up and say, hand on heart, that \u201CThis is the stand we are taking, this is the reason for it, and this is what we are actually going to do about it in our country to give effect to what we are saying.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000034\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EEverything National has done since the election takes away from all of that. I can now see why it was so dismissive of, and derisive towards, the previous Labour Government\u2019s ambitious goal of carbon neutrality for our country, which was a vision statement of where we could actually try to go. National poured scorn on that\u2014I thought it was just for political reasons. I thought it was just attacking the Labour Government of the day, which is a fair cop in politics. Actually, though, it goes to something deeper than that. National does not want to do a blind thing about climate change, and this biofuels repeal bill is a classic example of that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000035\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EThe problem is that this bill is not only bad for our response to climate change but it is also bad for jobs. This bill actually costs jobs in our economy at the very time the economy is in recession and job security is one of the things New Zealanders are worried about, first and foremost.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000036\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d991836d61fb4702b8989809c8b0c0c3\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: Who\u2019s the member for Waharoa?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000037\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f47fe46a34564bf7ad644c8000fd59b5\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: My colleague Trevor Mallard makes the point: who represents the people of Waharoa in Parliament? Do National members know? Does the Minister know who the local MP for Waharoa is? There is a lot of silence. The Minister would not have a clue, of course. I want to hear from the local member of Parliament about what he will do to stick up for jobs in his electorate, because that is such a critical thing at this time. The National Government not only is weakening New Zealand\u2019s reputation, and taking us down a path that is very disappointing in terms of what we are able to do on climate change, but also is stopping and cutting the feet from under New Zealand - based industry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000038\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EWe know that this Minister loves to cut the base from under New Zealand industry, because one of his first bold moves was to cancel the Buy Kiwi Made Campaign, which is one of the small things we tried to do to give New Zealand manufacturers a chance to say there was something decent about what they did. There are jobs for hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders in that sector, and we wanted to show our support for it. The campaign cost very little for the good it did for New Zealand manufacturers, but the Minister has got rid of it. Now he is bringing this bill to the House. We know that Mr Tom McNicholl has put $10 million of his money behind the biofuels industry. He wanted to create jobs\u201447 jobs, I think, as a start. If that industry had got under way, there would have been more and more jobs, but the Government\u2019s very clear message is that it sees no future for biofuels. That is what this bill is about. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000039\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bd4a2d2d0dcd437abea958ac8b638610\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Rubbish!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000040\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022af3a1d39a90b4597aba2e4acab2ff7cd\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister says \u201CRubbish!\u201D, but where are his details on tax incentives? [Interruption] That was not the question. Gerry Brownlee is barking away over there. That was not the question he was asked. I asked him why he does not have any details on tax incentives, if he is genuinely in favour of biofuels. Where is that information? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000041\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a0947d86208044cc892ccf576a1006e5\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Just wait!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000042\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002243bbf772bac1419c8d3e185abb457289\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: The point is that that is the Government\u2019s policy on climate change\u2014\u201CJust wait!\u201D. The point about climate change is that we cannot wait. We cannot have that luxury of laziness, that conservative attitude of \u201CShe\u2019ll be right; don\u2019t worry about it. We\u2019ll wait until Labour gets back in and fixes it up\u201D. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000043\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EThis is bigger than being just a New Zealand problem; this is a world problem that requires leadership from the Government. The only leadership that the Government has given is to say, first and foremost, let us cancel everything that was put there by the previous Government, and let us talk about nothing that replaces it. The emissions trading scheme has been suspended, even though the Prime Minister could not tell the House yesterday exactly what part is suspended. The biofuel legislation is now being repealed, which will ruin any chance of a biofuels industry for New Zealand; it will ruin not only the jobs in that industry but also the chance for that industry to make a positive contribution to our economy in a clean and green way.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000044\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EOf course, there is National\u2019s disgraceful treatment of the forestry sector. We remember Dr Nick Smith coming into Parliament, question time after question time, screaming and ranting\u2014that was just during the parliamentary prayer, actually\u2014as he does, about the forestry sector and about his concerns about forestry. Yet National\u2019s first thing here has meant that the new Labour Opposition\u2019s first lobbyist friend is Dr Roger Dickie from the Kyoto Forestry Association. He is not somebody who normally sought meetings with Labour when we were in Government, but he has been knocking on the door to ask us what on earth National is doing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000045\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EIn this climate change space the Government is very, very disappointing; its getting rid of the biofuel legislation that is currently on the books is such a wasted opportunity for our country. I cannot understand why more members of the National Party are not motivated to ask Cabinet Ministers and the leaders of their party exactly what they will do now. When Labour was in Government its members wanted to be leaders in climate change. We were out there, boldly saying that Labour thought New Zealand had a real role to be a leader in that area. The National Party disagreed with that because it never likes leading on anything. Those members said that they want to be fast followers. It was not actually their line; they waited for the New Zealand Institute to say that, and then they decided that it was their slogan. They wanted us to turbo-charge our way to a balanced approach by being fast followers. It turns out that the engine on the turbo has been turned off completely and we now will not be fast followers; we will be people who just trot along. What will happen is that New Zealand will be completely overtaken in the climate change debate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000046\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EWe are a country whose economy is hugely dependent on primary industry and we require a stable climate in order to run this economy\u2014not that we heard about agriculture, science, or exporting in the Speech from the Throne. National might like to work out that agriculture is the basis of the New Zealand economy; so much comes from it. We should be acting on climate change for selfish reasons. We should say that as an agriculture-dependent economy we should selfishly be worried about climate change, because our economy is one of the ones that has the most at risk if we do not get it right\u2014not only in agriculture but in horticulture, in viticulture, and in all the areas of our economy that rely so strongly on a stable climate. The world\u2019s planet is so important to the basis of our economy that we should be acting selfishly, if that is to be the only motivation. If that is the only way we can connect emotionally with National, we should plead for it to act selfishly: \u201CPlease act selfishly on climate change.\u201D That kind of language might get those members to do something about it. We were always motivated by saying not only that New Zealand had a role to play in the world that was bigger than just our own interests, which were huge, but also that we were able to lead in this field. This is just another example of National needlessly taking us backwards.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000047\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022603ae58e-47c4-46f9-bfc8-8355a48988ad\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a71748281bcb4ae6bf79d32645cbda5b\u0022\u003EHon Dr Jonathan Coleman\u003C/span\u003E: Talk about the food crisis.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000048\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cbe8ab59b27e4654b1c3b80051afef02\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister of Immigration mentions the food crisis, and I am very interested that he does so. With the obligation on the books right now, New Zealand has the ability to be self-sustaining in this area. We could now already use all the tallow that is generated in New Zealand and we could meet our obligations today from that. If the Minister does not know that, then it shows that not only has he not read the bill that is before the House but also he clearly did not pay any attention during the Cabinet committee or the Cabinet process.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000049\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022603ae58e-47c4-46f9-bfc8-8355a48988ad\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fc258fd089a647579eb10aad8a5c52d2\u0022\u003EHon Dr Jonathan Coleman\u003C/span\u003E: What about the deforestation in Brazil?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000050\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220f8bfd738cd743bea99412d87c6be22d\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: The member asked about Brazil. I am glad he has asked about the Brazilians, because National has not always been known for its open-minded foreign policy. If the Minister had read the legislation he would know that all of the concerns he is now yelling across the Chamber are covered by the legislation. Jacqui Dean shakes her head, but in terms of her worrying about the resources of the planet I say that that was kind of put in the box when she said she wanted water to be banned and that she is the leading light of the National Party in that particular regard. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000051\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EThis is a bad bill. The Labour Opposition strongly opposes it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022 data-id=\u0022ab6b299106294e0bbf4c3a4e52ec6ede\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000052\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ab6b299106294e0bbf4c3a4e52ec6ede\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour\u2014Hutt South):\u003C/span\u003E The Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill is probably the saddest thing that has occurred here, and we have seen the National Party approach to it in the way its members are concerned about it: they are not even prepared to get up on their feet to take a call in order to be involved in the debate. What is very, very clear to me is that National members have not spent their time getting their heads around this issue. They got themselves into a position, probably cajoled by the oil companies\u2019 position of a couple of years ago, and lined up by Nick Smith trying to be pragmatic, but in the end they have not logically reasoned through what is necessary in this particular area. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000053\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EPeople should think very carefully about the comments that David Parker made. I absolutely agree with him. We have a spectacular advantage in being a small, isolated country and a country in which experiments can occur. We can be a leader, and some of those experiments will be successful; we have to accept that some of them will not be successful. What has been made very, very clear is that in the area of tallow the research work has been done, the plant development work has been done, and we will be in a position to meet the obligations under this bill from July, given what had occurred. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000054\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EI am very surprised that I have not yet heard Lindsay Tisch take a call in this debate. I think he needs to get up on his feet to say whether he thinks that jobs in his electorate are important. I know that if his opponent in the Waikato electorate Jacinda Ardern, who made a brilliant maiden speech yesterday, was the member for Waikato then she would be making some comments and she would be standing up for Waharoa. It is not a place where there are thousands of easy jobs to get. It is a rural area and a place where clearly there is quite a lot of dairy still going on, but there is not a factory and not a lot of jobs in the area.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000055\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221c818ce2-6ca3-4c4a-9e6a-2e3a67d070e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229627f578679344eeb89befe0c279e7e1\u0022\u003EShane Ardern\u003C/span\u003E: Open Country Cheese is there.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000056\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223004d603f67540baa213f8e938f552b4\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: Waharoa? OK, I apologise. I have my little towns out in the east Waikato mixed up. But the point that I am making is\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000057\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022603ae58e-47c4-46f9-bfc8-8355a48988ad\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022acb2f887ac4143ed9f6699b9e8c094a6\u0022\u003EHon Dr Jonathan Coleman\u003C/span\u003E: You probably closed a school there.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000058\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d7b8598b1a0c43d39679dd082c6ea9fc\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: No, I did not. I tell the member what I did: I had more guts than any National Party Minister. If I was closing a school, I went there and I knew exactly where it was. I do apologise; I lived in Hamilton and I went through Waharoa occasionally. The point is that if I was the local member, then I would have the backbone to stand up in this House and defend Waharoa against Gerry Brownlee, who is stripping it of jobs. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThe decision of Gerry Brownlee and the National Party is to say that jobs in Waharoa do not matter. That is what he is saying. He is also saying to Tom McNicholl that he does not care that he is 75 years old. He does not care that he has put 10 years of investment into this project, that he has lined it up following the international signals, following the signals from Government, and following the signals of what is possible. Tom McNicholl has done the right thing, and National is to take $10 million from him. National members are going to cause him to mothball his $10 million investment\u2014the $10 million investment that can make an enormous difference to New Zealand\u2019s reputation. I just ask how, the next time John Key meets Gordon Brown, if it ever happens again, he will be able to look him in the eye and say that he\u2014Mr Key\u2014not only is a climate change denier but also wants Mr Brown to take off his tax on people travelling to New Zealand. Not only is Mr Key denying climate change but also he is closing down plants that could make a difference. John Key is closing down a plant that could make a real difference to climate change in New Zealand\u2014a $10 million plant; one that will employ over 40 people. It will make an enormous difference\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000060\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022707688b5f8a94f6faed9706b9b81d277\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I bet it\u2019s still there this time next year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000061\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002215dd479b08a74f52bc6fddc7be75f9a2\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: I bet it will still be there, and it will be mothballed. It will not happen. I believe Sue Wood. I do not believe Gerry Brownlee; I believe Sue Wood.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000062\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223ad313b213d844dbaa213faebc225437\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Where are they selling the stuff now?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000063\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223771b497a16f4d698df4b87d2a8e2850\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: They are selling it raw to China for methane-producing chickens. It goes to methane-producing chickens now, or it could be used to cut fuel emissions in New Zealand. That is the choice.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000064\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bd14d65339c84be2a4d0c0b3a5c2428a\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s the same outcome.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000065\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dcc13aad6bda44adbe7b2143b677bf6c\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: Gerry Brownlee says that eating a chicken is the same as driving a car. He probably does both. He probably has a chicken from KFC on the seat beside him. He probably cannot drive without that on the seat beside him. He looks like he cannot go anywhere without it. I tell members that it is a major pity that the member does not live in Wainui\u014Dmata. The Wainui\u014Dmata KFC has just closed. If Gerry Brownlee lived in Wainui\u014Dmata, I am sure that not only would we be driving decent fuel but also KFC would have survived because it\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000066\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220c0b216bab9a4eb18f7d3389b7cb4c22\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: What came first\u2014the chicken or the Gerry?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000067\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002225a1935023504b9e97c7c8d9188d3179\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: We will not even get a \u201CGerry-can\u201D of biofuel as a result of this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000068\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EI go back to the point that I was making. How can New Zealand hold up its head internationally? How can we argue against the outrageous things that\u2014I agree\u2014the Brits are planning to do? I do not think it is on for John Key to call Gordon Brown a hypocrite, as he did in the House yesterday. I think that is not conducive to good diplomatic relations. It is not conducive to good diplomatic relations to call the British Prime Minister a hypocrite. It will not help John Key as Minister of Tourism to get the next meeting in an attempt to wind back\u2014and I agree with our Prime Minister\u2014Mr Brown\u2019s misguided approach in the tourism area. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000069\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003ENational says that it cares about jobs. We are expecting later this week an enormous package from National; an enormous job stimulus package. I would just ask what those members are doing, when in this area their policy is costing jobs in the forestry sector, when their policy of throwing the emissions trading scheme to the wolves is costing jobs in the carbon market, and now they are taking out jobs in the biofuel industry. I cannot think of anything much better than the existing legislation. It is a win-win. It means jobs for Kiwis and less money spent overseas on importing fuels, which helps the balance of payments. It reduces our emissions and helps us with our Kyoto liabilities. I ask Government members what is wrong with any of that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000070\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002226f46fd4c8284449a6f239e3c10de3e1\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: I don\u2019t think it was a donation from Shell.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000071\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002276255f523c884633b47a70714e47c574\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: Well, I think it does get to that in the end. However, I say to Dr Cullen that I have driven up and down the North Island a couple of times in recent months and stopped at Bulls, where there is now 10 percent biofuel in the higher octane petrol at the Mobil service station. I do not know where else it is happening around the country. It is not happening in my local area yet, but I to say to members opposite that it is already happening. It is a good thing. It is a bit like a golden egg. Why kill the goose? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022 data-id=\u002201b360606fb1464f9355c4474d95a531\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000072\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002201b360606fb1464f9355c4474d95a531\u0022\u003EAARON GILMORE (National): \u003C/span\u003EI rise to support the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill and, unlike the previous speaker, I will not talk about \u201Cour enormous package\u201D. I know a little bit about the biofuels and bio-gas industry. I have been a director and entrepreneur in this industry for a number of years. I have sat here for the last day or so listening to some of the ridicule from members opposite, who have been talking about how National is dead against jobs in this industry and dead against issues that would prevent people going out of business. In fact, that is entirely incorrect. We are dead against the obligations that exist under the current Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Act. My own experience is that there has been a gold rush of businesses seeking tallow and other fuels to use for biofuel and bio-gas in New Zealand. A lot of work has been done on the so-called standards that were in the existing Act. When we look at them, we see that there are a lot of problems with those standards and that they are essentially unworkable. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000073\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EI come from a perspective as a former entrepreneur in the sector in talking about some of those things. My own experience is that it has been possible to be successful in setting up bio-gas or biofuel businesses\u2014these things are largely interchangeable because vehicles can run on liquefied petroleum gas that has come from bio-gas or from bio-diesel. We have done that with no help from the Government, no obligations, and no subsidies\u2014and it works. Equally, the international evidence from organisations like the Royal Society is such that\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000074\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002254eb8881d19248e2ba297db82cb6eea1\u0022\u003EMetiria Turei\u003C/span\u003E: Why the subsidies for big companies, then? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000075\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002294ea77db25fd452984a2368c4750cb24\u0022\u003EAARON GILMORE\u003C/span\u003E: Well, the member would know that, as I just mentioned, the companies I am involved with have no subsidies at all. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000076\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022815fe77d5df94c5ea3311ae4ffed958f\u0022\u003EMetiria Turei\u003C/span\u003E: Why the subsidies for the big companies, then? That\u2019s your policy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000077\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002230185dc5a9f642c497e8b51928660142\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s exactly what was in the law! That\u2019s what the obligations are all about. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000078\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b35833cf26fc421795df4dbcbf9555a0\u0022\u003EAARON GILMORE\u003C/span\u003E: That is exactly what I am saying. That is what the obligations are all about\u2014absolutely. The Royal Society in Britain has talked a lot about the issue of biofuels and the fact that many biofuels may actually cause an increase in climate change. That work has been released by the learned Royal Society of the UK. The use of specific percentages in the short run will only move to increase imports of biofuels from some of these places that we have talked about previously. Yes, there is a very good opportunity to create a biofuel and bio-gas industry here in New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000079\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f0f2cb422d7b4c87a843ed08b2ae1bd8\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Does this bill help? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000080\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228a3defed5907480c9cb20ea626374323\u0022\u003EAARON GILMORE\u003C/span\u003E: Well, the current Act does not help at all. That is for sure. All we can say is that there are many smarter ways to deliver what both sides want. We do want to deliver a biofuel or bio-gas industry in New Zealand. It does provide sustainable fuels, but what is quite clear is that the current Act with its obligations does not and will not deliver that in time. As I say, the current standards are unworkable and we need to make a change by introducing this bill to allow smaller companies with innovative technologies to not be obligated to operate under a system that is unworkable under the existing Act. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022b4a463e1ed8c4d9ab787dce2029a958b\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill be now read a second time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 59\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EBill read a second time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000081\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022797283df675d406f86e8458beaad373b\u0022\u003EIn Committee\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000082\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00222f3fc8be347d4ac097a63adbb59ad489\u0022\u003EPart 1  Repeal of biofuel obligation\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u0022c49719628dc343f3a15a23b31fbd0015\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000083\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c49719628dc343f3a15a23b31fbd0015\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E This is the most important and worst part of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligations Repeal Bill. It repeals the biofuels mandatory obligation, an obligation that was put in place to cause oil companies to start with modest levels of biofuels being blended into the fuel they sell\u20140.5 percent of the fuel by calorific value had to be biofuel this year, rising to 2.5 percent by 2012. These were not large quantities, but enough to cause the oil industry to develop the blending infrastructure and to take product from those who were willing sellers of the product in order that we start to bring forward biofuels to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIt has a number of other benefits, including slowly weaning us off our oil dependency. New Zealand\u2019s biggest import cost is oil products. We spend literally billions of dollars every year on oil imports, and this was a start towards substitution of some of that oil product, primarily for environmental reasons but with economic benefits. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000085\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe Minister in the chair, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, has been on national radio and in all of the media claiming that his justification for doing this was sustainability issues. He claimed he was repealing the biofuels legislation because he had concerns about the importation of unsustainably sourced biofuels. It is somewhat ironic that in doing that, his legislation is so ham-fisted, so ill-considered, that he strips out of the law the only protection in law\u2014in any law\u2014against the importation of unsustainably produced biofuels. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000086\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThere was a view a couple of years ago\u2014a view that I never held\u2014that all biofuels were good. It was arrant nonsense. There are some biofuels that are bad. Some cause the cutting down of rainforests, the loss of habitats for endangered species, degradation of water, and loss of whole ecosystems. We do not want those biofuels. The legislation we currently have in New Zealand creates standards that prevent that outcome. Other biofuels\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221835fd81c3ea4b199592027f2b9095af\u0022\u003EJacqui Dean\u003C/span\u003E: But no sustainability standards. That\u2019s the problem.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e8d3b985cc384a46a47bd7edb4f83616\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: The legislation includes three sustainability principles that are detailed to a greater degree of specificity than is normally found in primary legislation. And I have to thank the Hon Nick Smith for his involvement in this in the select committee; he made a credible contribution to some of the drafting of that. He seems to be involved in the killing of the whole thing now, but he actually made a credible effort in the select committee, and I thank him for that. Metiria Turei from the Greens made a fundamental contribution to it, and Moana Mackey from Labour was also influential. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000089\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EAs a consequence, we had three sustainability principles in the legislation. The first was the protection against loss of biodiversity because of the logging of rainforests, and that sort of thing. The second was the competition with food production. We do not want to put up the cost of food because of producing a petrol or diesel alternative that competes with food production. So that principle is enshrined in there, as well. The third was that there had to be a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The minimum reduction was 35 percent, from memory.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000090\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226a157283b1c347cfb37e086383c2a677\u0022\u003EMetiria Turei\u003C/span\u003E: It was.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000091\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f6f02cdb7d834a2cbf3945ef988108c9\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I thank the member for confirming that. Those principles can be articulated only in regulation. The whole detail cannot be put in the Act. So the principles were set out in detail, but the fine detail that sits behind it is in regulation. That regulation was to be promulgated by the middle of next year, and would have been. I know that that was achievable, because I was the relevant Minister at the time, and officials assured me that it could be done. It was a lot of work to do in that time, but it could have been done. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000092\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIn the meantime, all sellers of biofuels\u2014that is, the major oil companies meeting their mandatory obligation\u2014had to report their source of biofuels. They were not going to put at risk their brand with accusations that they were going to be selling biofuels produced by knocking over rainforests in Indonesia. Of course, they were not going to do that. More important, though, the myth about sustainability is exposed by the fact that those sustainability criteria that sit in the Act, and will still be needed even if one does not have a mandatory biofuel sales obligation, get ditched from the legislation by this one clause in this part of the bill, which takes out all the relevant sections that impose sustainability criteria. So rather than making the problem better, if Mr Brownlee and his Government were really concerned about sustainability issues, it makes it worse. According to what we have heard from some of the interjections from Jacqui Dean, they need more sustainability provisions. By repealing the provisions, they do not have more; they are taking them out and leaving it worse, not making it better. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000093\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI have amendments that I will be proposing during the Committee stage, because that can be fixed. One can remove the mandatory sales obligation and still keep protections against the importation of unsustainable sources of biofuels, but this bill does not do it currently, so I am proposing amendments, which I hope the Committee will support, that do achieve that. I would encourage ACT to read those, because I am really trying to convince the Committee that that particular amendment does not run against the provision that repeals the mandatory obligation, but it does keep the sustainability criteria for imports of biofuels. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000094\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe second issue that Mr Brownlee says he was worried about during the election was that there was an \u201Cun-level playing field\u201D, I think was the phrase used\u2014one of those hackneyed phrases now\u2014to say that somehow because there was a tax break for ethanol and no tax break for bio-diesel it was wrong. Well, the advice was that we needed both bio-diesel and ethanol, and that was the view of the then Government\u2014we wanted a bit of ethanol so that oil companies started updating petrol infrastructure, and bio-diesel so that they update diesel infrastructure; we needed a bit of both. In order to bring ethanol on we actually needed to have that subsidy, but we did not need the subsidy for bio-diesel, because the mandatory obligation would be enough. So why have a subsidy when one does not need it? It seems nonsense that we are now going to talk about a subsidy for bio-diesel. But be that as it may\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000095\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e2bca0f0570e4d2db84b2fd97295346d\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: No we\u2019re not.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000096\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022527626c37da84399b5fd05d2dacb652f\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Government is now not going to give a subsidy for bio-diesel?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000097\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229ac7a97c32464187a8d588158b40bff3\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: No, tax equalisation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000098\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225f0a84ca2537432f81e1d511c1a19639\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Tax equalisation is what? A subsidy for bio-diesel, the same tax break that ethanol currently gets; is that effectively what the Minister wants?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000099\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002291cfdde00ac0446c8d3d1dba7d0884d9\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s what is likely to be\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000100\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002234e4a0a146374341804f968805a8c670\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Well, this legislation does not do it. So the Government wants to protect the biofuels industry by giving it that same tax treatment that ethanol gets, but the bill does not do it. Now, I am promoting another Supplementary Order Paper that goes some way to doing that, because I am really worried for those people who have lost their life fortune in appropriate investments in what is the world\u2019s most sustainable source of biofuel, which is tallow. I am worried for the workers who are going to lose their jobs\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000101\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002251dfea20-2244-4fc7-bd7d-ebf7a98580e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c284c069556147278fc29b4f41a7aac1\u0022\u003EHon Tau Henare\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, whatever!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000102\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cdd10c5244b248489c187032cefde6ed\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Tau Henare does not care about unemployment. This will be a continuing theme from this Opposition, because the Government is already causing rising unemployment not just in the biofuels industry but also in forests.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000103\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002251dfea20-2244-4fc7-bd7d-ebf7a98580e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222adf86aafa264bd4b40255577672d920\u0022\u003EHon Tau Henare\u003C/span\u003E: Rubbish.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000104\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002285374416677b468f95a7957b70597d4e\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I have a letter that I am going to table from the former president of the National Party complaining about the injustice that the Government is causing to Mr McNicholl, who is losing his life fortune\u2014more than 46 full-time jobs will be lost from one employer alone, to say nothing of the rest, and Tau Henare and the rest of the National Party say \u201Cwhatever\u201D. That is absolutely outrageous. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000105\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E Not only is this bill environmental vandalism but it is economic lunacy, and it is doing an injustice. If the Government wanted to do away with the mandatory obligation and replace it with other policy, it could do so, but it should do it through a select committee. It should not ride roughshod over the rights of people and do this under urgency. It should bring forward the whole of its new policy, not just the dirty little bit that cuts off the mandatory obligation and kills business. It should say what it will do in its place to support biofuels. But the Government is not doing that. This bill is part of an outrageous array of policy that is to the detriment of the environment, to the detriment of our economy, and to the detriment of our reputation of being a good people. That reputation is something that is valuable to me. I do not do these things just for money; money is important and I am not saying we should do silly things in a money sense. This bill certainly is not just about money, but the ethics of it should be brought to head, too. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000106\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI seek leave to table a letter from the former president of the National Party, Sue Wood.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000107\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022083f54694de8479f8a64c66c8481a049\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought to table the letter. Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There is none. Leave is granted. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000108\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022 data-id=\u0022c43db2f723b847bea1cd5311748a3305\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000109\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c43db2f723b847bea1cd5311748a3305\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour\u2014Hutt South):\u003C/span\u003E Part 1 is the more important part of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill and is a part about which my colleague David Parker has asked serious questions of the Minister in the chair, the Hon Gerry Brownlee. I acknowledge that the Minister attempted to reply by way of interjection, but it is getting close to the time when he should take a call in order to put the National Party\u2019s view on the record. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000110\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EA couple of major points have been made. The first regards the timing of this bill versus the timing of the introduction of the tax incentive or subsidy and the extension of the tax exemption from ethanol to biofuels, and what happens in the dead period in between. I accept the Minister\u2019s word that he intends to move in the direction of tax incentives; that could well be a logical move. That approach could well make a difference or, at least, neutralise the situation. What I do not accept is the chilling effect in the interim whereby a biofuel factory that is nearly built will be mothballed. The appropriate approach is to make the two changes together\u2014to put in place the replacement provisions and then take the current provisions out\u2014if that is in fact the direction that people want to go. I do not think that that is good policy by the Government or that it is the right approach, but if the Government is heading down the path of, effectively, a taxpayer subsidy of biofuels for a taxation equalisation scheme, then that is the approach that should be taken. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000111\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThe second point regards whether the Minister is deliberately taking the sustainability principles out of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Act. Every now and again Ministers make mistakes, especially when legislation is slightly rushed, as this legislation is. I can see no reason whatsoever to remove the principles, unless it is in order to fulfil the Government\u2019s obligation to the oil companies\u2014or whatever we are doing at the moment. The Government probably has an obligation to the oil companies as a result of commitments made maybe a year or two ago. I am making the point that there is no need, whatsoever, to take the sustainability principles out of the Act in order to fulfil the policy intent of this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000112\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThe principles were not in the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Amendment Act 2008 when it originally came before the House as a bill from the Labour Government. An enormous amount of multipartisan work was done to get the principles agreed to, and I acknowledge that Dr Nick Smith took a role in that work. I know that members of the Green Party and Moana Mackey were actively involved in it, as well. It was quite a good example of members of Parliament working together positively in a select committee. When that occurs it is good for New Zealand\u2019s international reputation; it was logical and coherent. Even if we go back to the old Ruth Richardson approach, we should still ask what mischief we are trying to fix here. The mischief that we are trying to fix is not the sustainability principles. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000113\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThe National Party has a different view as to the proper approach to this issue and as to whether there should be regulation as far as quantities of biofuels are concerned. I think it is fair to say that it is not part of a secret agenda. National members were clear about that before the election\u2014they were wrong, but they were clear. They won the election and they have the right to bring in legislation in order to fulfil their election commitments. But as they are doing that, we have to keep considering what the best way of doing it is that does the least harm. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000114\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EIt is becoming increasingly clear that the approach National is taking is not well reasoned. I point to the ACT Party and in particular to Rodney Hide, who has responsibility for regulatory matters. Rodney Hide has responsibility for regulatory impact statements; this bill does not even have a poor excuse for one. There are a couple of explanations for that. One is that it was so rushed that even a vague attempt at an unsatisfactory report could not be made. Last week a couple of bills before the House included very poor regulatory impact statements. They stated that a narrow group of Government departments had been consulted. In a couple of cases they gave their views\u2014I think only where it suited the Government. I think that the Ministry of Economic Development stated that the 90-day legislation did not go far enough; that was included in the regulatory impact statement of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000115\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EWhy is there not a regulatory impact statement in this bill? It is because if there were such a statement, then the National Party would have to put on record in the bill the effect of the legislation on Mr McNicholl. A clear effect of this legislation is the confiscation of Mr McNicholl\u2019s investment. The Government is saying to Mr McNicholl, in a way that is pretty unusual for the National Party, that although he has made a big private investment and he has put a lot of his family money\u2014the vast majority of his family money, I understand\u2014into this investment, it does not care. The Government is saying that that is not important, that it does not respect private investment, and that it does not believe in the principles of regulatory certainty. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000116\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EI think the New Zealand Parliament has got a lot better at regulatory certainty over the years. There was a period of time with Sir Robert Muldoon\u2014and probably, to be fair, Sir Roger Douglas\u2014when there was not a lot of regulatory certainty. They went off in different directions with their regulation\u2014or lack thereof\u2014but both of them destroyed a lot of wealth in New Zealand as a result of their lack of commitment to regulatory certainty. This bill takes away certainty for people who have made a very big investment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000117\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThis bill will do us enormous harm internationally. The suspension of the emissions trading scheme is just an embarrassment. Maybe it is fair to set up the Emissions Trading Scheme Review Committee\u2014a committee that at least some people claim will go into the science of whether climate change exists\u2014because John Key has had two positions: believer and non-believer. Maybe he really does want a committee to tell us whether climate changes exists and whether global warming is important. If that is the case, why can he not be honest about it? If he is really still a doubter about climate change\u2014if the Prime Minister of New Zealand is standing almost alone amongst world leaders in doubting climate change\u2014why can he not front up and say that that is the case? That would be a better explanation for this legislation and for National\u2019s pandering to ACT in the setting up of the Emissions Trading Scheme Review Committee. The Prime Minister says it is a high-level select committee. Is that not embarrassing for every other select committee in Parliament? It is not a high-level committee at all; it is a committee of members of Parliament nominated by their parties in a very normal way. I do not think there is an excess\u2014other than from the Labour and Greens side\u2014of intellectual power on that particular committee. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000118\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThe point I am trying to make is that that select committee, along with this bill and along with the suspension of the emissions trading scheme, makes New Zealand look like a country that is absolutely in reverse on its climate change policy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000119\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002268cf0e58d2824f12bb7a476deb8835a4\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: And forestry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000120\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f236f5d00d11481c998e01ef67fc805d\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: The forestry area is another area. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000121\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EWe had the potential to lead the carbon markets in the world, but John Key has stuffed that. This bill is a sad bill, and we will suffer for it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022 data-id=\u00227d6107fe8b714ca7a36b1a6b1b56e617\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000122\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227d6107fe8b714ca7a36b1a6b1b56e617\u0022\u003EMETIRIA TUREI (Green):\u003C/span\u003E I was on the Local Government and Environment Committee, which considered these provisions and worked very closely with Moana Mackey\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000123\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dbe997be547a40e5b1808c14f31fae16\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: And Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000124\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d269b2ea582b44c29975df58226b86ff\u0022\u003EMETIRIA TUREI\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, and Nick Smith. He was very engaged in the discussion and the debate, particularly on the sustainability clauses. In fact, the Green Party is the architect of the sustainability clauses. There was some provision for them in the original Biofuel Bill, but we redefined those clauses and the sustainability principles significantly in order to meet the growing concerns about the impact of unsustainably grown biofuels, not just in terms of greenhouse gas emissions but in terms of their impacts on indigenous biodiversity, indigenous communities, and starvation around the world. It is certainly true that very large corporations, particularly oil companies and others, are looking at buying up millions and millions of hectares of land in places like Africa, South America, and the Pacific, whether it is indigenous forest cover or other land that is used for food production, in order to grow biofuels to feed the increasing market for alternatives to petrol and oil fuels. Western countries, in particular, are desperate to find ways to fill their gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles, as opposed to developing countries, which are desperate to fill the starving bellies of their people. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000125\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThe first principle that we fought for, and which was included in the legislation, was around the fact that a sustainable biofuel must emit significantly less greenhouse gas over its life cycle than obligation engine fuel emits. We were very clear to put in a principle that identified both the production of that biofuel as well as a percentage limit. It was a hard-fought-for discussion in the select committee. Many hours were spent on debating the wording of the principles, to make sure that they were practical, achievable, and set an extremely high standard so that New Zealand would not contribute to starvation, would not continue to contribute to greenhouse gas emissions where it was possible to avoid doing that, and would not contribute to the elimination of indigenous biodiversity. So we were very pleased to see that we had a very strong principle around emitting fewer greenhouse gas emissions. There was no problem with that; the committee was OK with that. I do not remember Nick Smith having a big problem with it; maybe he did have one. It certainly seems very odd that he wants to get rid of that principle now. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000126\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThe second principle was very important to us. It was around food production: that sustainable biofuels should not compete with food production and should not be grown on land of high value for food production. That principle was put in place specifically to meet the concerns that Nick Smith expressed. He had very deeply held concerns about the destruction of indigenous rainforest in Brazil, and he talked a lot at the select committee about how those communities were using food-growing land to make biofuels and then cutting down indigenous forests to feed themselves. He said it was terrible that poor people had to do that in order to sustain themselves in Brazil, when it meant the destruction of the rainforest and that all of the really good food-producing land would be used for biofuels instead of food. I am sure he had a genuinely held concern that that should not happen. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000127\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EI was happy, and the Green Party was happy, to work through those issues and to find wording that would meet Nick Smith\u2019s deeply held beliefs and concerns about Brazilian rainforests. So we came up with the words stating that the sustainable biofuels were not to \u201Ccompete with food production\u201D and would not be \u201Cgrown on land of high value for food production\u201D. That was specifically put in there to address the really deeply held concerns that Nick Smith had about biofuels. In the end the result was a very good one, actually; it turned out that the standard is a very high one. We are talking about very poor communities in those countries. We are talking about indigenous communities in those countries, and often about people who, for example, have the lowest incomes, the highest rates of child mortality, the highest rates of poverty, and the highest rates of homelessness. The communities of those countries really are struggling, and we wanted to make sure that we provided the best protection we could in New Zealand, as far away as we are from them, to make sure we did not contribute to those problems for them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000128\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003ESo that is what we did; we put in the sustainability clause on food production specifically for the sake of Nick Smith. We did that so he would know, when he was driving his car around with a biofuel blend\u2014and I do not know what kind of car he drives\u2014that he was not starving a poor Brazilian child, and that he would know a poor Brazilian family was not having their home and livelihood wiped out because the land on which they were growing food to feed the family for the next 6 months or the next year was now to grow the biofuels that would feed his car while he travelled with his family around the country, perhaps on their Christmas holiday, a nice family trip, or maybe even just a Sunday drive. Nick Smith could then therefore feel secure that he was not contributing to the poverty and the starvation of those poor people. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000129\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EBut it turns out that an ideological gap of some kind, some ideological lacuna in Nick Smith, has driven him to argue\u2014and he must have argued this in Cabinet\u2014that the sustainability clause that he so wanted to see in the legislation, and that he worked so hard to make sure was in it, is now being taken out. His concerns about poor Brazilian children and poor indigenous communities\u2014that they might starve as a result of land being used for biofuel production, and that the indigenous forests from which they might gather their food or take their medicines, or that they might have their cultural expression or engagement with, would be destroyed in an effort to grow the food previously grown on the land now taken to grow biofuels\u2014have all gone now. For some strange ideological reason Nick Smith has decided that when he drives his car around the country, takes his family for a Sunday afternoon drive, or maybe goes away for a weekend or perhaps even for his Christmas holidays, he does not mind if his car is being fuelled by\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223169c40bfc224a59acb0b8d17c2805dd\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: What changed?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000131\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c14ea281f02b464e8f7cd15bc97209b8\u0022\u003EMETIRIA TUREI\u003C/span\u003E: If Nick Smith does not now mind that unsustainable biofuels may be fuelling his car, if he does not mind that a Brazilian child may perhaps starve to death because the land from which that child would otherwise have had food is now being used to grow biofuels, and if he does not now mind that a poor Brazilian family may have lost their home, lost their land, and lost their forest to the large multinational corporations that will buy up indigenous forest and destroy it to grow biofuels on, what did change? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000132\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EWhat happened to poor Nick Smith that meant he could feel so strongly about those people in one instance and then completely desert them in the next, just as a result of the election? It is a disgraceful and very sad demise of the principles of Nick Smith that he could change his position so much and actually be, in the end, responsible for public subsidies going to the very international corporations that will buy up food-growing land for biofuel production, and that will buy indigenous forest cover and destroy it\u2014knock it down\u2014in order to either grow more biofuels or provide food sources for those communities, even though they were perfectly fine beforehand. The public subsidies will go towards impoverishing indigenous communities. The public subsidies will go towards destroying indigenous forest, eliminating the habitat of precious, rare, indigenous species, and even destroying the New Zealand industry in biofuels. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000133\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EI do not know how Nick Smith or even Gerry Brownlee could have possibly thought that it is a good idea to have a sustainable New Zealand biofuel industry taken out and jobs lost right at the time when we are most concerned in this Parliament about the economic insecurity of the community, and when we are most concerned about increasing job losses. There have been massive job losses in the last year or two, just as a result of the slowing down of the economy. Right at the very time when the local industry had a foot in the door and was able to compete with the multinational companies, National now wants to subsidise and pump money into those multinational companies. Just at the time when the local industry had the opportunity to grow and to provide jobs for New Zealand workers, and to support New Zealand families and their children, Nick Smith has decided to take all that away, and to provide public subsidies to cut New Zealand jobs, destroy a New Zealand industry, starve and impoverish indigenous communities, and destroy indigenous forest. This is being done by the National Government, which supposedly has such a commitment to sustainability and environmental principles.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000134\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002257ca811f4e354d9e8c8faaf43dda201e\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s right!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000135\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e45b06d8a9d94be384865121a89f608b\u0022\u003EMETIRIA TUREI\u003C/span\u003E: Yeah, that is right. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u0022f88b84874f94439ea38332e48323f016\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000136\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f88b84874f94439ea38332e48323f016\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E We have had the first and second readings of this legislation and, now, the Committee stage. The second reading was a bit of a repeat of the first reading because, of course, there was no select committee in the interregnum. There was no report back from the select committee because there was no select committee. So we had a somewhat repetitive debate in the first two readings of this legislation, which was characterised by a great deal of sophistry\u2014by a great deal of pretence from the Government speakers. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000137\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EHowever, through that pretence or sophistry a couple of threads emerged\u2014for me, anyway. One of them was that the technique of a mandatory sales obligation did not fit with the ideology of the new Government. That is a fair enough position\u2014it is entitled to its ideology even if it does not make sense\u2014but ideology it is. The second was to do with the fact that the Government was concerned\u2014I think those concerns were manufactured\u2014by the fact that there was no regulation in place to secure the sustainability aspects of biofuels. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000138\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ELet us take a look at these two issues. The first is the Government\u2019s ideological resistance to a sales target. The sales target, or a mandatory sales obligation, is one tool that is used broadly to promote energy change. In the free market of the United States\u2014in that great home of the greatest economy that the world has ever seen\u2014mandatory sales obligations in energy are very widespread; they occur in many, many states. It may even be that they occur in most states; I simply do not know enough detail. But it is common indeed for state Governments in the US to require mandatory sales for this or that\u2014most particularly in renewable energy for the electricity sector. So there is nothing particularly ideologically blinkered about this or that American state, but none the less we find that this Government has decided, all by its little self, that a mandatory sales obligation is somehow an ideologically impure act. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000139\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe whole idea of a mandatory sales obligation is to ensure that the wholesalers\u2014that is to say, the oil companies\u2014put in the infrastructure that they need where they want to, in the parts of New Zealand they want to, to begin to build a distribution system that we know this country will need sooner or later. That is what a mandatory sales obligation does; that is its function. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000140\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EBut it is the second issue I want to concentrate on in this contribution. We are in Part 1 of the Committee stage and many speakers before me have pointed out that the Government cried crocodile tears over the fact that we are not fully paid up in terms of getting our regulation written for sustainability\u2014that is correct; it is not due until 30 June next year\u2014and that, therefore, we cannot do anything now. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000141\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThere are two different ways of approaching that and I would like to invite the Minister in the chair, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, to take a look at these two different ways. The first is to simply delay the legislation by, say, 6 or 12 months. A thing to do would be to come up to this Chamber with an amendment that said that because we do not have lock, stock, and barrel in respect of the sustainability regulations\u2014even though we have more legislation in law than any other country in the world, and even though we have mandatory transparency regulations making oil companies tell us where they get their biofuels from\u2014because the door is still slightly ajar, we could simply delay this legislation by, say, 6 or 12 months until that regulation is promulgated. The Minister may want to take a call and indicate why his Government is going for abolition instead of delay. The second thing, however, is this: the Minister\u2019s position, as I understand it\u2014and again, I would be grateful if he would clarify his position\u2014is that the Government is of a view to promulgate sustainability regulations for the future in respect of biofuels, anyway. I wonder whether the Minister could give some sort of body language indication as to whether that is the case.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000142\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c43aa7c454ce4809a0f58a313e40f9d5\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: A wee wobble.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000143\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228e292d293e5d4d77b52cab8b974f030c\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: A wee wobble. No, we have wobbling going in all sorts of directions. Why do I not just repeat the question? My understanding is that the Government is of the view that this country will, at some point, need sustainability regulations as they affect biofuels\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000144\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ec3c5c4298784ff392164069cd497870\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: In the fullness of time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000145\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222953374e85f64ba8a814229560746bdf\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014in the fullness of time. I ask the Minister whether my understanding is correct. I have an affirmative, ladies and gentlemen. I have an affirmative from the Minister and I thank him for that. That piece of body language tells me that the Government will promulgate sustainability regulations as they affect biofuels. It raises an interesting question: to which part of which primary legislation might these regulations attach? You see, we have before us in Part 3 of the legislation that is being abolished the most advanced progress on defining sustainability for biofuels in Western legislation. And we are about to ditch it. What is sensible about that?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000146\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220c1b5e804bce4685bb1c61a5bff7d6fe\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: We did it\u2014that\u2019s why.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000147\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a68bc4f03c3a4239811c01a3a023aa36\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, it is because the previous Government did it\u2014the naughty old Labour nanny State Government! Is that right? The legislation being abolished is really good. It is legislation that is particularly good, and we know that because it was argued by none other than Nick Smith in the select committee. We know it is multiparty; we know the Greens were deeply involved; we know the National Party had its role to play; we know people like Moana Mackey from the Labour Party were actively involved; but it was all done during the time of the dirty, rotten, stinking Labour Government. I ask the Minister whether that might be the reason why we have to ditch this legislation. Oh, we have a negatory response! We have a negatory response from Mr Minister. I am grateful for his forward communication, but I want him to take the stand, if he will, and please give us some indication of when we might be getting some better-than-before regulation concerning the sustainability of biofuels, and to which part of which primary legislation we will attach these regulations when we have them, or whether we have to come back to the House and put back in that which we are today seeking to abolish. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000148\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWe have a negatory response there, too. I am confused; I am bewildered! I need the assistance of the Minister. I need the assistance of the uber-Minister and the intellectual rigour that he can present to the Committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000149\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226b111cf2433e41b38815c9742c9bcfb2\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Read the bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000150\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002208f06669db8847f0a478263fff9f7746\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: I am being told to read the bill. The bill says: \u201CLet\u2019s get rid of what we\u2019ve got. Yours sincerely.\u201D That is what the bill says. That is the beginning and end of it, so one does not need such a long time to read the bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000151\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EI ask these questions seriously. First of all, if the issue is that we have not locked and shuttered all of the regulations, that officials have not got themselves to June 2009, and that therefore we have some sort of chink in the armour, why not go for, say, a 6 or 12-month delay? Secondly, if the Government\u2019s intention is\u2014and I am assured by the Minister\u2019s body language that it is\u2014to come up with very good sustainability regulations for biofuels, then where will those very good sustainability regulations for biofuels sit in the architecture of the statute of the land? I ask whether the Minister would care to take a call and answer either or both of those questions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022 data-id=\u0022e89b83dae08f4e78b16887dbe1ea30c4\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000152\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e89b83dae08f4e78b16887dbe1ea30c4\u0022\u003ECHRIS TREMAIN (Junior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022 data-id=\u0022d71cfa9336b848dd8281d75b8a13485d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000153\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d71cfa9336b848dd8281d75b8a13485d\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I point out to the member who just moved a closure motion, Chris Tremain, that Part 1 is the part of the bill that repeals the mandatory obligation for oil companies to provide biofuels. It repeals the sustainability standards. I think it shows the contempt in which National holds this Committee that it would move a closure motion so early on in the Committee stage.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000154\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022054a96139ee544dca8cbd440d21b27ee\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Before the energetic Minister even had a chance.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000155\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022730986a0a1ab496c8966892b1efd8744\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: Before the Minister of Energy and Resources, who is in the chair, has even had a chance to get to his feet. I know he wants to respond; he has been itching to get up, and I look forward to his contribution.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000156\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI start by thanking the officials who worked on the original biofuels legislation. They worked incredibly hard to provide the select committee with advice under very tight time frames. I apologise to them that we are back in the Chamber undoing a lot of the good work they were involved in.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000157\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI would like Mr Brownlee to take a call because he made a very interesting comment in either his first reading speech or his second reading speech\u2014they were about half an hour apart, so it is hard to differentiate between the two\u2014that all the oil companies would come to him to ask to defer their first year\u2019s obligation. I think that claim needs to be explored in the Committee. He did not, of course, mention that there is a 5 percent penalty for any oil company that wants to defer\u2014it would have to add 5 percent on to the following year\u2019s obligation. I genuinely would like the Minister to take a call to explain why he said that all the oil companies would ask to defer their first year\u2019s obligation, because I think that comment, which he made in the House last night, was important.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000158\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThis bill has not been to a select committee. Many members have made that point, and it is important to make it again. The Minister in the chair does not seem to care about Mr McNicholl, the jobs at that plant that will go, and the loss of the $10 million investment. Mr Tau Henare said \u201CSo what?\u201D, I believe, when that was raised.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000159\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022842f5112f02c44468ee31cd541051270\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: He said \u201CWhatever!\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000160\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d0045b4793ca41a2b20cc9b06dc4b910\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, \u201CWhatever!\u201D. I am sorry; I would hate to misquote the member.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000161\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227c568b6356214af7ae58366f17b3fe11\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: He\u2019s cool.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000162\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228c461013a74143e0ae8c6394fcadc23f\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: Quite. I think it is important that the Minister, who did not allow this legislation to go to a select committee, takes some calls in the Committee stage. National should appreciate that the Committee stage is very important when a bill has not been to a select committee, because it is the only opportunity that members on this side of the Chamber\u2014and, through us, members of the public\u2014get to question the Government on what is, in this case, a terrible piece of legislation. I would urge National to think seriously about this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000163\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI congratulate the Leader of the House, Gerry Brownlee, on his 100 percent success rate so far in not having bills go to a select committee under his watch\u2014100 percent of bills have gone straight through the House with no select committee process and no public accountability. I am sure Mr Brownlee is very proud of that record. I note that even in the current urgency motion the only bills that he is sending to a select committee are the previous Labour Government\u2019s bills that have been carried over from the previous Parliament. All the bright new ideas that National members have come up with themselves are just being forced through. I think they are a little bit scared of what the public might say if they got to have their say at a select committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000164\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003ELabour members of the Local Government and Environment Committee worked very hard on Part 3A of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Act\u2014the part that is now being repealed. It was at about the time that a lot of information was coming out from the United Nations, from the OECD, and from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment about the dangers of biofuel. We took all that on board, which is why Part 3A as enacted is considerably different from what was in the bill that was referred to the select committee. Members of the select committee worked incredibly hard to develop the sustainability standards that we now find in the legislation. One of the submitters told the select committee that that submitter had joined the United States federation of biofuel producers\u2014or whatever it was called\u2014which is predominantly made up of the oil companies, and in the time that the submitter had been in that group it had spent US$118 million on discrediting biofuels. In comparison, a much smaller amount had been spent by the groups that were trying to promote biofuels. That was something we as a select committee had to consider when we were looking at the information being put before us.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000165\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThere will always be reasons for not passing environmental legislation. It does not take a brainiac to sit down and work out an argument against doing something. That is the easy part. The harder part is to say we will not throw up our hands and say it is too hard; to say we will work to develop sustainability principles that are more advanced than those anywhere else in the world, and then we will send our Minister away to do some work on those standards. One of the important parts of the part that is being repealed is the obligation for the Minister to go away and develop proper standards and regulations. Repealing Part 3A means that Mr Brownlee can do nothing. Under the current Act, by the middle of next year he would need to report back to Parliament with details on those regulations, or reasons why they had not been developed in the time frame set for developing them. By repealing this part of the Act, the National Government is washing its hands of there being any requirement in law for it to do anything about sustainability standards. We simply have to take those members\u2019 word that that is something they want to do.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000166\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EWell, I say to members of this House that we should look at their record so far in their first 1.5 weeks in Government. Let us see how much we can trust National members to do what they say they will do on sustainability standards. We have seen a stalling of the emissions trading scheme\u2014although we are not quite sure any more whether it is a stalling.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022156462c1b49b4dd58d0d0c92e9c42bfd\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000167\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022156462c1b49b4dd58d0d0c92e9c42bfd\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Energy and Resources): \u003C/span\u003EIt would be great if those opposing this Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill actually knew what we were talking about, because quite clearly there is some confusion about the principal Act that this Labour Opposition believes we are dealing with. I will make it very, very clear. Nothing in the bill that we are debating today will prevent the development and promulgation of sustainability standards. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000168\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EMr Hodgson asked what will be the principal Act against which those regulations are set. It remains, as it always has, the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Act 1989. Part 4 provides for a number of things. Section 35(1)(c) provides that sustainability standards for all fuels sold in New Zealand should be published. All I can say is that this section is not being repealed, so the obligation, in the sense of sustainability standards, remains in place.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000169\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a51b44a50e1f4584967d3cd6871ec7f3\u0022\u003EHon Members\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s not an obligation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000170\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bb621a259678487788444f2a603c5da8\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Well it is, actually. We think it is an obligation. We, as the Government, believe we are obligated to provide sustainability standards for those who want to sell biofuel in New Zealand, and we will do that. The officials have started the work. They have indicated that under the previous Government\u2019s work plan it might have taken them 3 or 4 years to get there. We have said that we want it much, much sooner than that. We do appreciate, though, that no country in the world has developed those standards yet. The European Union has been at it for some 13 years and has not got there yet. But the National-led Government will make it, sometime during next year. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000171\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe other thing I would say to Moana Mackey is that section 35(1)(d) of the principal Act provides that there should be a statement at the pump regarding the sustainability of the fuel being sold. That section is also not being repealed today. What we have is simply a bill that takes out the obligation that says biofuel must be sold in New Zealand, at particular percentages, by the fuel companies\u2014the ones that are selling fuel. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000172\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EIt is the compulsion aspect that will kill sustainability in New Zealand: the short showers that New Zealanders were almost restricted to, the types of light bulbs that people have to buy, and also now the blend of fuel that people must put inside their fuel tanks. That is what was wrong with the approach of the previous Government, and that is what is being changed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000173\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI will say it again. At the moment, 20 million - plus litres of biofuel are produced in New Zealand each year. It is being sold somewhere, and the development of further plant to produce biofuels will see those sales increase.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022 data-id=\u0022d1ee33d0609c413fa13f247d4dc636f8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000174\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d1ee33d0609c413fa13f247d4dc636f8\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E Well, that was the best that the Minister could do, saying that the Government has the power, under old Labour Government legislation from 1989, to make rules about sustainability. The problem with that argument is that the rules are not specific. They are not according to particular criteria, as they are under sections 34G and 34H of the current Act\u2014the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Act\u2014which is why my colleague Mr Parker has put forward an amendment to retain sections 34G and 34H. I suggest that the Minister look carefully at that, because it will help him in the future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000175\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EIn section 34H there are particular principles around biofuels emitting less greenhouse gas, biofuels not competing with food production or being grown on land of high value for food production, and biodiversity and land with high conservation values being preserved. These are important issues. Under what the Minister is proposing to use, he will not have those kinds of criteria, necessarily, at all, but a very simple statement at the pump, which will be just about as useful as most statements of a commercial variety telling people what is happening in terms of those kinds of things. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000176\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EThe fact is that the real reason the National Government is repealing this legislation is that it is Labour Government legislation from the last year or two and, therefore, it must be wrong. It is a \u201CYah boo sucks\u2014I get to play with the marbles!\u201D kind of approach to sensible legislation. The legislation we are repealing was extremely carefully thought through, with very considerable output from a wide range of experts who came before the select committee. What we are replacing it with is nothing of the same order of size or quality in that regard, and there can be no reliance upon that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000177\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EWe then come to this extraordinary argument about the nanny State and this compulsion, which is that if we are somehow compelled to have biofuels, then we will have less biofuels than if we are not compelled to have biofuels. It is a very strange, inverted logic. This is because the Government says it will have a tax incentive, and that is a tax incentive where there will be no excise duty on biofuels. Well, there is no excise duty now on ethanol, the mix for petrol. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000178\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EIndeed, as the Minister knows\u2014and let us not have one of these \u201COh my God, is that what Labour\u2019s secret plan was?\u201D reactions, because it was all publicly announced\u2014the Labour Government was going to increase the excise duty on the petrol portion to keep the excise duty on the total litre of fuel at the same level. The gap between the duty on petrol and the duty on ethanol would have actually increased under what the Labour Government was going to do. So if there was an incentive, then the incentive would have been bigger under the previous regime than it will be under this regime. There was not only a mandated minimum but also a larger incentive to go higher than that mandated minimum. The real problem is that because the National Government of the 1990s repealed excise duty on diesel, there is no excise duty to give relief from for bio-diesel, so what this Government is presumably planning is to give some kind of rebate to bio-diesel producers. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000179\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c1de0a7adfd74231852ceffab1a6b05f\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: But they\u2019re not doing it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000180\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228e03a42e67aa49b68c7e792f07c36131\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: The Government is not planning to do that, according to what we can find out so far. There are no specifics around that. And if it does that kind of thing, then it has to be paid for from somewhere else in the system. There is no free lunch. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000181\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EIndeed, Dr Smith\u2019s extraordinary argument, which was so economically illiterate, was that if instead of charging people the full price we give them a subsidy out of taxation, this somehow lowers the cost to them. It lowers only the cost that people see at the petrol pump; it does not lower the cost to them. They are paying the cost somewhere else within the system; they just do not see that specifically. It is just a complete smoke and mirrors trick and it is bad economics, because it gets all the signals in the wrong place. The nanny State is replaced by this kind of au pair State, which is what the National Party wants to have instead in that regard. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000182\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EIn terms of the cost, the argument is that it will cost more, but the cost is only a few cents in any case. Either National wants to have biofuels or it does not. If it does, then biofuels at low oil prices will cost more than oil. Those members cannot have it both ways. They cannot say: \u201CIt may cost more and we still want to do it, but because it might have cost more under Labour, that is bad. But if it costs more under National, then somehow that is good, and it will still happen in any case.\u201D The illogicality of the arguments being put forward in this debate is appalling \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022 data-id=\u0022f4ff42c3f79f4fdf9b19cf62a05b6f92\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000183\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f4ff42c3f79f4fdf9b19cf62a05b6f92\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader\u2014Green):\u003C/span\u003E I would like to celebrate that this Committee is having a huge debate around sustainability, and that the key issue exercising people on both sides of the Chamber is how we can get the most sustainable biofuels in New Zealand and make sure that our fuel-purchasing policy does not contribute to world hunger, does not destroy the rainforests of South-east Asia, and does seriously reduce carbon emissions. But I am afraid that that is only the appearance of what is happening. What has actually happened is that very early on in the debate on biofuels, the National Party found a line of attack, because the bill as introduced did not say anything about sustainability, and the information that was coming out internationally at that stage was about the serious effect that some biofuels were having on food supply and on biodiversity. Having latched on to this line of attack, National members are determined to hold on to it regardless of the fact that the strongest sustainability clause in the world has been drafted by the Greens and the previous Minister, and put in the legislation, but National members are trying to pretend that it is not there.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000184\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EIn fact, what is happening here is that in order to ensure that we have sustainable biofuels, the Government is proposing to remove the quite specific clause that indicates what sustainability standards have to achieve. There is nothing in the old Act the Government is planning to use to indicate what sustainability is or should be. The Minister\u2019s press release that said there was going to be sustainability standards mentioned carbon reduction only; it did not even mention the problems with food security and biodiversity. So the Government is going to take away the quite clear direction that the regulations currently have to meet\u2014that the sustainability standard will ensure that it does not compromise food security and biodiversity, and does reduce carbon\u2014and replace it with nothing but the word \u201Csustainability\u201D. Nobody who sees that could believe that National has any interest, whatsoever, in the sustainability of biofuels; it is simply a convenient line of attack on the previous Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000185\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Government is actually doing this because of the ideology that nothing that is mandatory can possibly be good, and that the way to meet policy goals is to always give people choice and freedom but not compulsion. The previous National Government tried that with building standards, with the building code and with the verification that houses were built to spec, but what did we end up with? We ended up with leaky buildings precisely because it did not believe in having mandatory, enforceable standards. So we got a whole lot of greedy developers, poor design, poor construction, and poor local authority oversight, which led to a massive headache that the previous Government never managed to solve, and I suspect that this one will not, either. It will be hanging around members\u2019 necks for quite a while.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000186\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Government says that we cannot write sustainability regulations because the rest of the world has not quite done it yet. Well, I want to know whether the Minister has called in the two very good officials who have been working on the regulations, and whom David Parker and I talked to about just what could and could not be done. When we gave them a bit of a shove, they agreed that, yes, of course they could do it by the middle of next year; it would not be 2011 but it would just have to come up their priority list a bit. They were quite enthusiastic and exercised about how to write those standards, and I was really looking forward to them coming out. Has the Minister called them in and asked them whether they really can do this job, whether they are worried they do not have a lot of international precedents to follow, and how they are getting on with it? I do not believe he has. I think he is just saying that New Zealand bureaucrats are no good, that New Zealand officials cannot do it, and that we are not going to have standards in time. I think that shows a terrible lack of confidence in the people who are advising him.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000187\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224ea0e1e256bb42589c6c6a8969271994\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: What rubbish!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000188\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022555b1659310e4069a38722a50d73bc02\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS\u003C/span\u003E: Well, I really hope the Minister is going to take a call and say \u201CFitzsimons, you are totally wrong. I did call those officials in and here is what they said.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022 data-id=\u0022201e2c214b774729bd8bb60370ee7a6c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000189\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022201e2c214b774729bd8bb60370ee7a6c\u0022\u003EJACQUI DEAN (National\u2014Waitaki):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022c6525f810b85421e83eea4fd7a5b40ef\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 59\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000190\u0022\u003EThe question was put that the following amendment in the name of the Hon David Parker to clause 4 be agreed to: \u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000191\u0022\u003Eto omit \u201CPart 3A is repealed\u201D, and substitute \u201CSections 34B to 34F, and 34I to 34ZA of Part 3A are repealed\u201D.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022929bfbb452fd4d62b4fb8bdaeed65fac\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the amendment be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAmendment not agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u002225ad83950a2d494fabbbd37aef7c5595\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That Part 1 be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 59\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EPart 1 agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00224f75b6186f774ff78e9a3c931bc304fe\u0022\u003EPart 2  Consequential amendments to principal Act\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u00228b6d8acdcb7a43dbb9143b373fb58d14\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000193\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228b6d8acdcb7a43dbb9143b373fb58d14\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I have proposed an amendment to this part of the bill to give the tax break or the subsidy that National has said it wants to give to the bio-diesel industry in order to give it competitive neutrality with ethanol so as to bring forward bio-diesel, but that National has not included in the bill. National finds it easy to draft a clause that completely ruins the biofuels industry in New Zealand, a fledgling industry, at the cost of scores of jobs. We know of one factory alone that will, as a consequence of this legislation, lose current jobs and jobs that are about to be created. It will lose at least 46 full-time jobs, plus, no doubt, some part-timers and millions of dollars of capital investment. That is, I emphasise, but one biofuel producer, and maybe, just maybe, a tax break on bio-diesel would be enough to save that company. I somehow doubt whether it will be enough to do that, because the fundamental problem is that the oil companies do not want the bother of selling biofuels. They have their existing product streams that they buy. They import product from offshore, and they do not want the hassle of having to blend in 0.5 percent of biofuels in the first year. It is easier for them not to do that, so without compulsion they probably will not do it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000194\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EBut there is a chance that the oil companies might do so if the subsidy for bio-diesel\u2014which National campaigned on and said was its policy\u2014was put into place now. That might save those jobs. That might save the family fortune of Mr McNicholl. It might not do so, but it might, and National would at least be honouring its pre-election commitment that it would give a tax break equivalent to the tax break that ethanol gets. Ethanol gets a tax break of 42.524c per litre. That is the excise duty on petrol. Road-user charges are paid for diesel, and it is not as easy to give a break on that, but we can give the equivalent of the excise duty as a tax break to bio-diesel sellers\u2014and National has been proposing that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000195\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThat is what my amendment does in its proposed new clause 16. It takes only three lines to meet that promise. It states that the sellers of fuel will get a credit against the levies they have to pay under the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Act \u201Cequivalent to 42.524 cents per litre of biodiesel sold by the levy payer.\u201D It is very simple; why has National not done it? I am proposing an amendment that might protect the jobs I spoke about. It is less ideal than the mandatory sales obligation, which is simpler, gives some certainty to the producer, and has a better environmental outcome as a consequence of that, but as a second-line alternative, that amendment is pretty good. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000196\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI ask the Minister in the chair, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, whether the National-led Government will vote in favour of that amendment. It does only what he said the Government would do, which is to give an effective tax incentive to bio-diesel, equivalent to 42.524c per litre of bio-diesel that is sold. It does that by way of having a credit against the levies that would otherwise be paid by the sellers of ordinary fuel. It is very simple to understand. It might protect the jobs that I spoke about or it might not, but it is more likely to do so than the current regime that is being pushed through under urgency by this National-led Government without any select committee process. I urge the Minister to consider that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000197\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe alternative is that the National Government will do to the biofuels market what it has already done to forestry. It has cost that industry over $300 million, and probably $400 million, of inward direct investment. It has killed scores of jobs in the forestry industry through the suspension of the emissions trading scheme and the uncertainty around it. This Government has killed jobs in the service sector. We had some of the largest companies in the world that trade in carbon rights coming to New Zealand to set up business. They were to open their New Zealand offices in the week that the National Government said it would suspend the emissions trading scheme. Those businesses cancelled that, with the cost of jobs. The \u201CGreat White Trader\u201D, John Key\u2014we are told that he was a trader to the world and has wonderful commercial skills\u2014has killed the carbon market.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022 data-id=\u0022df74abf1660946d2a8812a1046ed67e5\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000198\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022df74abf1660946d2a8812a1046ed67e5\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY (Labour): \u003C/span\u003EFirst of all, I will just mention how disappointed I am in the member Jacqui Dean, who sought to shut down this debate so quickly. This Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill has not been to a select committee. This is the only chance we are getting even to try to question the Government on why it is doing this, and on parts of this bill. The Minister in the chair, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, seems particularly reticent to stand up and answer any of our questions. He has answered only the questions he has wanted to answer, and then he has answered some questions we did not even ask. Well, that is not particularly useful, and I point out to the Minister, once again, that he is ramming this bill through under urgency.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000199\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThis bill should have gone to a select committee, so that Mr McNicholl and other people who are adversely affected by the repeal of the mandatory biofuel obligation could have had the chance to have told us why. National members, who believe that Mr McNicholl is lying and is just saying what he is saying for some competitive advantage, would have had the opportunity to put those questions to him, I say to Mr Brownlee, and to challenge him at a select committee, rather than to stand up in this Chamber, where Mr McNicholl has no right of reply and no ability to defend himself, and just call him a liar and a scaremonger. I do not think that that is good for the Parliament of New Zealand. I do not think that that is good enough for this Parliament. I think that if that is the way this National Government is to continue, with 100 percent of bills so far being rammed through under urgency in this House with no select committee process, then it will be a very long 3 years for the people of New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000200\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EJacqui Dean is probably worried about compulsion. She is the member who wanted to ban water, so I find that concern slightly difficult to take, from her. But I will support the amendment of the member David Parker. The relative tax treatment of different fuel types was something that the select committee did consider quite carefully. As the Minister will know, in the explanatory note that accompanied the Biofuel Bill that came back from the Local Government and Environment Committee, we recommended that a total review be made by 2010 in order to consider all fuel types. The review was to consider not just vehicles using biofuel and engine fuel but also electric vehicles\u2014which, we were told during the select committee process, had to drive around with a sticker on them stating \u201Cdiesel\u201D, I think, because that was the category they fitted into most easily as current rules did not allow for them\u2014and to consider LPG as well. Perhaps it is time to review the way in which we tax vehicles, and to apply an environmental eye to that, and not just to apply road-user charges and excise duty.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000201\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EWhen Gull Petroleum first wanted to blend ethanol into its fuel it wanted to know what the relative tax treatment of ethanol would be. Currently ethanol is brought into New Zealand for two reasons: as drinking alcohol or for use as a chemical. Ethanol as a chemical attracts no excise; ethanol as a drink, obviously, attracts alcohol excise duty. A decision was made at that time to allow the excise treatment of ethanol as a fuel to be treated as ethanol as a chemical, which meant that it would attract no excise. The company was given a commitment that until 2012 that would be the case, and that the decision would not be reviewed. We took that very seriously at the select committee. Gull Petroleum had made all this investment in its infrastructure and in bringing in blends, and it had gone into a contract with Fonterra until 2012 to take ethanol from whey to blend into its fuels, so we did not want to say to Gull Petroleum that we would take that away at that time, through a select committee process that had been looking primarily at a mandatory biofuels obligation and not at the relative tax treatment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000202\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EBut the point was that we were putting in place a mandatory biofuels obligation that addressed a number of those issues; with that being taken away, suddenly this becomes a far more pressing issue. That is why I urge the Minister in the chair, Gerry Brownlee, to support this amendment. It does what he has already said in this Chamber that he wants to do, so I do not see any issue with that. But it provides some kind of incentive, which he will be taking away with the repeal of this part of the existing legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000203\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003ECertainly, a number of the bio-diesel producers who came before the select committee were concerned about the relative tax treatment. We know that the way in which we treat the excise on ethanol is an issue of great concern. We have seen the impact that the subsidies on ethanol in the United States have had on the world biofuel market. It has made it extraordinarily difficult, and the \u201Csplash and dash\u201D ethanol that we have seen produced out of the United States has distorted that market. It has made it a lot harder for our producers here to be able to compete.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000204\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EWe believe that this is an issue that needs wider treatment than just being about ethanol and bio-diesel versus engine fuel; it needs to go beyond that. I would like the Minister in the chair to take a call on this part, because it seems to me that we are entering a real no man\u2019s land here, and we are in real danger of ending up with absolutely nothing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002267aa5137-7503-4a8f-bde1-1811615598e2\u0022 data-id=\u00228f9aecc668a6423c8921700e82fa0159\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000205\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267aa5137-7503-4a8f-bde1-1811615598e2\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228f9aecc668a6423c8921700e82fa0159\u0022\u003EBRENDON BURNS (Labour\u2014Christchurch Central):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to speak to Part 2 of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill, and to support the amendments in the name of my colleague the Hon David Parker to insert a new clause 5A and a new clause 16.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000206\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267aa5137-7503-4a8f-bde1-1811615598e2\u0022\u003EI ask the Minister in the chair, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, why this Government is determined not to listen to the very many strong voices on this issue, and to push through this legislation under urgency. Only the National and ACT parties are supporting the bill in this House\u2014it might be called the \u201CBio-fools Bill\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000207\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267aa5137-7503-4a8f-bde1-1811615598e2\u0022\u003EThe bill is contrary, in fact, to past actions by a National Government. I acknowledge the courage that a previous National Government showed on alternative fuels in the 1980s. I think all of us can remember the installation of compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) facilities around the country. LPG is still there; CNG, sadly, has gone. But that was the courage that a National Government showed, in spite of some opposition from the oil industry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000208\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267aa5137-7503-4a8f-bde1-1811615598e2\u0022\u003EI also acknowledge the comments from the Hon Peter Dunne in expressing his disappointment that National is revisiting this legislation. When the Biofuel Bill came into Parliament earlier this year he expressed some concerns about the issue of sustainability\u2014which the Government is promoting as it introduces this legislation\u2014but he noted that, as that bill progressed, amendments were made to it that gave him satisfaction in terms of the final shape of it. He is now saying that this legislation will bury a tallow-based biofuel industry here in New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000209\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267aa5137-7503-4a8f-bde1-1811615598e2\u0022\u003EI also note that a couple of years ago the National list member Nicky Wagner issued a press statement saying that the biggest potential sources of bio-diesel in New Zealand were tallow and animal fat by-product. Yet it is already on the public record that the $10 million invested by Tom McNicholl, whose firm, Biodiesel Oils, is the biggest producer of tallow-based bio-diesel, is going down the drain as a consequence of this legislation. I ask where Maurice Williamson and Pansy Wong are. They represent seats adjoining Biodiesel Oils\u2019 East T\u0101maki plant. I ask whether they are speaking out on this issue in support of their constituents whose jobs will be lost. Indeed, I ask where the member for Waikato is, because Biodiesel Oils\u2019 Waharoa plant is being mothballed as a consequence of this legislation. That tallow-based bio-diesel industry will be going down the gurgler.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000210\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267aa5137-7503-4a8f-bde1-1811615598e2\u0022\u003EI also note that the Government has made considerable reference to the issue of biofuels perhaps pushing up the price. In fact, that is not the view of a former icon of the National Party, one Barry Leay, the secretary-general of the National Party for many years. He is a director of the Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation, which is making fuel from algae growing in sewage works in Marlborough. In response to comments made by the Hon Nick Smith, who said that biofuels would push up the price by perhaps 5c to 7c a litre, Mr Leay said that people who were saying that were \u201Cmaking comments without a clue about what\u2019s [actually] happening in the biofuel industry.\u201D, and that that sort of speculation was really just scare tactics by the National Party. That is an interesting commentary from somebody so closely associated with the National Party.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000211\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267aa5137-7503-4a8f-bde1-1811615598e2\u0022\u003EOf course, Sue Wood, a representative of Biodiesel Oils, has made commentary on behalf of her client Mr McNicholl as to the devastation this bill will mean to him. His $10 million investment in biofuels will be rendered absolutely useless, if I may use that expression, by this legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000212\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267aa5137-7503-4a8f-bde1-1811615598e2\u0022\u003EI also note commentary on the Labour Government\u2019s biofuels legislation when it was brought in earlier this year. It was referred to as being a significant step forward in the task of reducing New Zealand\u2019s reliance on imported fuels, and as comprehensive and forward-thinking legislation. That commentary came from another producer of biofuels, a company based in Canterbury that was not in support of the mandatory minimum biofuel requirement but, in fact, wanted no limit on blends. However, it made very, very clear that it thought the biofuels legislation was comprehensive, forward-thinking legislation that therefore needed to be retained. I ask members opposite from Canterbury what they are doing to support that industry, which I am sure will also be affected by this legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u002264ebab1b98994943bc9a67b87d5c68ff\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000213\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002264ebab1b98994943bc9a67b87d5c68ff\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E I draw the attention of the Committee to two amendments, both in the name of the Hon David Parker. The first of them is straightforwardly the new Government\u2019s policy. It is the Government\u2019s stated policy, which is that there needs to be an equivalence between ethanol and bio-diesel in financial terms. That is the amendment that says \u201C(5) A credit shall be allowed against the levies otherwise payable pursuant under this section\u201D\u2014section 24 of the principal Act\u2014\u201Cequivalent to 42.524 cents per litre of biodiesel sold by the levy payer.\u201D Clearly, we would support such an amendment. It is not our preferred option. Our preferred option is that the entire Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill not proceed, but if it is to proceed, I say let us amend it to see whether we can save the people who are already involved in bio-diesel production by implementing stated Government policy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000214\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EDoes that mean that when the amendments are put, the Government will vote against its own policy? I ask whether that will be the case, or whether the Government may take a bit of advice to satisfy itself that the Hon David Parker\u2019s wording is correct, and decide on the floor of the Chamber that when its own policy is promoted by Her Majesty\u2019s loyal Opposition, it will support it. Those seem to me to be the two options: either a Government goes with its own policy when the Opposition has written it for the Government, or it votes against its own policy because the Opposition has written it. Those seem to me to be the two propositions for the Government to decide between. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000215\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe second amendment, also in the name of the Hon David Parker, is very straightforward. It simply requires the Minister of Energy and Resources, by June of next year, to table in Parliament a report on the financial and unemployment effects resulting from the enactment of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. We remind ourselves that this Government came to office saying that it wanted to do some regulation-busting. It wanted to make sure that the steps taken by this new, better-than-before Government would be ones that helped economic growth and put economic growth \u201Cfront and centre\u201D. That is what the Government said in the Speech from the Throne. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000216\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EBut, unfortunately, because a decision was taken to pass this legislation in urgency, there was no regulatory impact statement. There was none. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000217\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002232fa4f075ebb4612be9e65315f9c2204\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: And ACT voted for it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000218\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224baefaff68134ef29658a755cc687b78\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: ACT\u2019s leader, \u201CMr Regulation-buster\u201D, voted for this legislation to proceed, when the regulatory effects are known to be deleterious. They are known to be deleterious, yet ACT will vote for it. It is one of only two parties that are doing that, mind you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000219\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227c26c12eaa6943258d553dbdcfed92ac\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: And it controls the votes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000220\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ee8674c67b1d4a56bd80754b6abb05fb\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Indeed, it does control the votes. ACT is the swing party on this particular legislation. The National Party is going for it. National stated its policy, and it stated it before the election. It won the election; it has the mandate. So that is what we would expect from National, but not from the ACT Party. The ACT Party is going to vote for legislation that it knows will be deleterious in an economic sense. It knows that. The regulatory impact statement, if it had been produced, would have shown that. That is why we have regulatory impact statements. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000221\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe amendment in the name of the Hon David Parker suggests that because there was not time to do a regulatory impact statement\u2014the legislation having to go through in urgency\u2014then we had better make time to do one afterwards. That is not unreasonable. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000222\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EBut I ask members to wait; there is more. The Minister asserts that his decision to repeal this legislation\u2014and I think it is sophistry\u2014will not be damaging. He says the use of bio-diesel and biofuels in general will double over the next few years, and there will not be a loss of jobs. He keeps on asserting that. He keeps on asserting that by way of interjection, and he says that in his speeches. Let us just test that. If the Minister is so pleased with his assertions that he will not be doing any damage, then he will not mind reporting to Parliament to prove that, will he? So let us have the Minister support this amendment, so that he can come to Parliament\u2014[Interruption] The Minister is shaking his head. We have had another bit of body language. The Minister was shaking his head. He is asserting that there will be no damage. When invited to report to Parliament to prove there has been no damage, he declines to do so. I wonder whether the Minister is as sure of his facts as he asserts, or whether he is telling little white thingies.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u0022c09dd9ee087347d989dee438f2ec064a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000223\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c09dd9ee087347d989dee438f2ec064a\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I want to take up the issue about what the effects will be on the biofuel industry and the broader effects of this legislation. Tallow is a low-value by-product of the livestock processing industry. Someone once quipped to me that New Zealand has the highest tallow-to-population ratio in the world. That is true, because for a small country we raise a lot of livestock. We are rich in tallow resource\u2014the cheapest, most environmentally sustainable source of biofuels in the world.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000224\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b3979140d78649a5afcc6a5d35ddbcc8\u0022\u003EChris Tremain\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. The member has risen to his feet to speak on Part 2, which is a reasonably tight part, but he said quite clearly that he wants to speak to the broader effects of the legislation. I think he needs to be brought back into line in that regard.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000225\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022818e0689aec44686ab7104258165639e\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Speaking to the point of order, Mr Chairperson, I say that the effect of this part is to revoke the mandatory percentages that are set out in the schedule of the Act. What I am talking about is completely within the realms of this part of the Act. If the member does not understand that, he should read the bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000226\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c17b879b2ce6431e9cfc31aa1361376d\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223086a537b6314172bb26c3e94423560b\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: The effect of this legislation is to take out the mandatory obligation for biofuels, so there will no demand for tallow to be turned into bio-diesel. That surprises me. Tallow is a low-value by-product of the livestock processing industry in New Zealand, and the National Government is stopping value being added to that by-product for the benefit of New Zealand farmers and the New Zealand economy\u2014value that would have been added in New Zealand. It would also substitute for expensive oil that we import. Every year in New Zealand we spend billions of dollars on imported oil, and some of that expenditure would be avoided, because biofuels would be turned into bio-diesel that would be used instead.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000228\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI have submitted two amendments to this part. The first is to give the tax break to bio-diesel producers, and I have already talked about that. I have just tabled, for your information, Mr Chairperson, and for that of your Clerk at the Table, another version of the first amendment. This version takes out the word \u201Cpursuant\u201D, because there was a redundancy in the use of that word. It stated \u201Cpursuant under\u201D. Both of those words are not needed, so I have taken out the word \u201Cpursuant\u201D, leaving just the word \u201Cunder\u201D. Under this amendment bio-diesel producers would get a tax break of 42.524c per litre, which is the excise duty relief we have already given to ethanol, and that meets the policy objective of the National Government. National stands for that but did not include it in its own bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000229\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIn respect of the second amendment, we have not had a regulatory impact statement, and I think it is absolutely scurrilous that the votes of the ACT Party will pass this legislation. This is the party that says it stands for regulatory impact assessments of all bills that pass through this House. There is no regulatory impact assessment for this legislation. We have seen the letter from Sue Wood, former president of the National Party, on behalf of Tom McNicholl, and he provided his own information to the Government on 2 December. I will also table that particular bit of information in a moment. It is known to the Government that this legislation will cause job losses and multimillion-dollar financial losses to the biofuel industry, yet there is no regulatory impact statement.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000230\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EMy other amendment requires the Minister to table in this House by the middle of next year a statement, or an assessment, of what the effects of this legislation are. It is not as good as having a regulatory impact statement available to the House before we determine whether legislation is passed, but it is better than nothing. So I suggest that the Committee, and particularly ACT, should vote for that. If ACT votes for that amendment it will go through, because except for National the other parties in this Chamber support it. If the ACT Party does not vote for the amendment, then it will not proceed, despite the fact that it does exactly the thing the ACT Party says is most important to it, which is that we should be looking at the effect on business of changes to the law not just on business but also on unemployment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000231\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe ditching of this mandatory sales obligation will cause financial losses and injustice. I do not like this new Government causing injustice to anyone, and there is clearly a multimillion-dollar injustice being caused to at least one biofuel producer, and no doubt to many others, as well. The banks of these producers may well walk in tomorrow\u2014we do not know what level of indebtedness the producers have. I am not suggesting that the banks will walk in, but they could do so if the producers are in debt in respect of these facilities. If it is not one biofuel producer in New Zealand that has levels of indebtedness it will not be able to service because of people not buying its product, it will be another one. There will be insolvencies, jobs lost, and injustices caused to people who lose their family fortune. On top of all of that, we will have an environment that is going backwards because of this legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022 data-id=\u0022d589840a6f694dcd83ee82c286ebe746\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000232\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d589840a6f694dcd83ee82c286ebe746\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I am happy to take another call on this part in support of the amendments proposed by my colleague the Hon David Parker. I urge the Minister to take a call and tell us his thoughts on these amendments. We are trying very hard to work with the Government to come up with a compromise. We appreciate that this is a policy that the National Party campaigned on during the election campaign and that that is why this bill is now before the House. We are trying to be constructive and bring forward amendments that minimise the damage this bill will reap not only on the biofuel sector but also on jobs. I urge the Minister to take a call.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000233\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI reiterate that schedule 5 is important. The select committee did a lot of work on that year-by-year mandatory obligation. If I remember correctly, the original bill had a top point of 3.4 percent of total fuel sales by energy. Again, I reiterate that that is hardly an incredibly high, difficult-to-reach mandatory target. A target of 3.4 percent is not exactly going to break the back of those who work in this area. The legislation was about getting a domestic industry in place and supporting the development of that industry whilst at the same time doing important work to bring down greenhouse gas emissions in our transport sector, which is one of our largest areas of greenhouse gas emissions after agriculture.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000234\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThe amendments the Hon David Parker has proposed will help an industry that has been starting up, while being assisted by the mandatory biofuels obligation introduced by the previous Government. It gave the industry certainty, and allowed it to know what the obligations were going to be and what kinds of sustainability standards were eventually to be put in place. It also allowed the industry to make long-term investment decisions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000235\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E I reiterate once again how important this Committee stage of the whole House is. This bill has been rammed through with no select committee process and no opportunity for those who will be disadvantaged by this legislation to come and put their case. There is no opportunity for the National Government members who disagree with them to challenge them in public to their face rather than in this Committee, where they have no right of reply and no right to correct some of the misinformation that has been spread about their position.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000236\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EWhen the select committee members originally looked at schedule 5 and at how the mandatory biofuel obligation was going to be implemented, they saw there was a steep incline in that graph after the first few years. That was because we were expecting a large ethanol plant to come online. We had been told how much ethanol it was going to be able to produce to feed into the local domestic market, and we made those obligation points accordingly along that line. During the course of the select committee process\u2014and again this shows just how important these select committee processes are in responding to the reality of what is out there, which might be quite different from the reality of the time at which the bill was drafted\u2014it became clear that perhaps that information in schedule 5 did not take into account the reality, which was that this large ethanol plant we had been expecting to come online was not now going to happen.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000237\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EIf that points to anything, it points to the need for certainty in that sector. One of the reasons given for the plant not coming online was that the company had not been given certainty early enough that it was actually going to be able to produce this product. As well, as I pointed out before, the subsidy in the United States market had led to a lot of uncertainty here at home with the \u201Csplash and dash\u201D ethanol that was being produced out of the United States. It really did distort the market and make it more difficult for ethanol producers here at home.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000238\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThe select committee listened throughout that process and we changed the schedule. We reduced the top target from 3.4 percent to 2.5 percent. We asked officials to go away and do some work on what biofuel was already available in New Zealand and what was due to come online. They came back and told us that a 2.5 percent mandatory obligation required, I think, 5.5 petajoules of biofuel\u2014the original 3.4 percent would have required 8 petajoules\u2014and that already in New Zealand we had the capacity for 4 petajoules of tallow bio-diesel, I think 2 petajoules of rape seed and other bio-diesel, and I think 0.3 petajoules of ethanol. I do not know whether I have those figures exactly right, but they are from memory at a select committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000239\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EDuring this process we were told at the select committee that people were making those investments because this bill was before the House and because they knew the mandatory obligation was coming on. We were told by one of the oil companies\u2014which already had infrastructure for dealing with ethanol because the company sold it\u2014that it was looking at bringing in the obligation earlier, because that was a market advantage and as the company was going to have to do it anyway, why not get the jump on the rest of them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022 data-id=\u00221f4f3b97df54405b9f1a3b9700f7b481\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000240\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221f4f3b97df54405b9f1a3b9700f7b481\u0022\u003ECHRIS TREMAIN (Junior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022 data-id=\u00224685dc4dbb8f4ae79b9e87c7ae7310c1\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000241\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00224685dc4dbb8f4ae79b9e87c7ae7310c1\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour\u2014Hutt South):\u003C/span\u003E I stand to do two things; one is to support my colleague David Parker and his two amendments to Part 2 of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. I note that we are yet to get a response from the Minister in charge of the bill, the Hon Gerry Brownlee. We have not had the Minister on his feet in this part. It is really just a matter of politeness and tradition in Parliament that relatively early in each part\u2014we are not saying that the Minister has to reply to every speech or to all points that are made\u2014especially when there are amendments, the Minister indicates whether the Government is going to support them and the reasons. It is not onerous; they are relatively simple matters and he has had advice from his advisers in case he was not sure of their effect. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000242\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThese are relatively simple amendments. One of them requires the Minister to report on the financial and unemployment effects of this bill on New Zealand\u2019s tallow to biofuel industry. It is just a matter of coming back to the House before the end of June to report on how many jobs have been lost as a result, and what the financial effects are on individuals. It might be called the honesty clause, I think. If, in fact, the National Party does what it says it is going to do, and does what it is going to be asked to do by way of the next amendment, the Minister will be able to report positive effects\u2014that jobs have grown within New Zealand and people have made money. That would be a good thing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000243\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThe other amendment, I think, goes more directly to Government policy. I know generally Government is responsible for its own policy and implementing it, but every now and again it needs a hand in turning it around. We from the Opposition are here to help as far as the Government is concerned. This amendment, inserting new section 24(5) to the principal Act, makes it clear that: \u201CA credit shall be allowed against the levies otherwise payable pursuant under this section equivalent to 42.524 cents per litre of biodiesel sold by the levy payer.\u201D This extends to bio-diesel the exemption from excise duty that is currently enjoyed by bio-ethanol. It is a levelling of the playing field. The Government says it is its policy, and I think it is a matter of getting that implemented. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000244\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThe other question I want to ask, and I will take a point of order at the end of my speech to table a letter, is whether the Minister read the letter of 2 December from BioDiesel Oils (NZ) Ltd addressed to Joe Connell within the Energy and Communications Branch\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000245\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221a7b00781bef4ced8edc1ec2909fe0a9\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: No.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000246\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d78299ab003d4593a05d9dd3a56145af\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: No he didn\u2019t.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000247\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022de03d01a5eaf4e9ab2fc17ba06126a70\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: It was never given to me.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000248\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002216752f2ba1904cbd8cc633b193329dfd\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: That is an outrage. It is an absolute outrage that the letter from the person who has spent $10 million on biofuel was not given to the Minister. I do not want to criticise officials, but I think the nicest thing I could say is that it is waiting in the pending tray within the Minister\u2019s office. But he has not seen it. We have a letter here to a person who was a policy analyst in the fuels and Crown resources part of the branch outlining the job losses that will occur, including 22 staff in Waharoa, and 24 staff in East T\u0101maki. The letter is from Tom McNicholl\u2014I will make it clear that I do not have a signed copy of the letter, but I am informed by a past-president of the National Party Sue Wood that this is a letter\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000249\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227f456c088a294deb869dce1dfdfcef5a\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: Sue Wood had it?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000250\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b32a5edec2cf4f29af92bed6cc5ad0a6\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: Sue Wood is the person who supplied this letter. She says it is a copy of a letter to the Ministry of Economic Development outlining the case for this plant, and the Minister tells us that he has not read it. That is almost unbelievable. It is an outrage that we have in this Committee a Minister who is too damn lazy to read the mail to his ministry on this. I am very rarely almost speechless in this Chamber, and I am getting very close to saying that it beggars belief that a Minister could be so lazy, so indolent, that he does not read the file on this bill. It is a very short file. It is a file that\u2014because the consultation was so restricted\u2014is tiny. The idea that this Minister can come into this Committee with legislation that wrecks a family and wrecks an industry and tell us he has not even read their letter\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000251\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022132870e628a145b8b70c7e9a9617c3a6\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I haven\u2019t received the letter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000252\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225e6127d29dad43a19e092d1976fd7884\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: If the Minister has not looked in his pending file could I make a suggestion. I suggest to the Minister that we take leave to move on to the next bill and come back again to this to give him time to read the letter so that he understands the implications. Is the Minister prepared to do that? No, he is not. He is not prepared to do that. I am not saying we should delay the passing of this bill; I am just saying we should deal with it later on today, or tomorrow, to give the Minister time to be fully informed. I could give him a copy of the letter, which I know is sitting in his pending tray, but he has not got off his big chuff, wandered over to the tray to pick up the files that are sitting there, and read them. If Helen Clark was Prime Minister, he would be in her office by now explaining, because that is a sign of absolute incompetence. The very first thing that Ministers do before they take a Cabinet committee paper on a bill to Cabinet, especially when it does not have a regulatory impact report, is ask\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000253\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002282172c4efc9347538b34c7a12a9bc146\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: What\u2019s the date on the letter?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000254\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229410489b7732404882273f84a3472e13\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: 2 December.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000255\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229b301975643746b3acd9c6eb8567a62e\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Why didn\u2019t they send it to me?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000256\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022585b439811a0434d81579fc6dd9e5d3b\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: The person who asked for it was one of that Minister\u2019s officials. That is the way things are done. Officials send out for the information, it comes back, and the Minister reads it. This Minister should read it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000257\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d9838ccdd37c41bd83b20f54c7c908e0\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: We were never given it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000258\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fce7decece5f4171af7b356404f48076\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister did not go to his file and read the letter. If he had asked, like any decent Minister would ask, for the file on this bill, he would have read it. I do not know that particular official but I know that group of officials. They worked for me on, I think, three separate occasions: twice when I was Acting Minister for a period and once when I was Minister of Energy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000259\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c2316522abbc4cb9804db8de9cf3d1ca\u0022\u003EHon Pete Hodgson\u003C/span\u003E: Good officials.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000260\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ca5cdbc9e3ba40aab854d6f0c56c8508\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: They are competent officials. That is a well-run section of the ministry. I wager they would have a file that indicates\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000261\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022feed7197f1a8431db6818c1ebd652881\u0022\u003EChris Tremain\u003C/span\u003E: That is nothing to do with Part 2 of the bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000262\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022790c64c0685749c8b13fd524195bed3b\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: The letter relates absolutely to Part 2. This letter refers to the factory in Waharoa; Part 2 wrecks that factory. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000263\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThe Minister of Energy and Resources has told us he has not had the energy to get off his backside and read the letter. If there is one letter that he should have read, it is this letter. In the Cabinet committee discussing this bill, John Key would have asked: \u201CWhat do the people affected by this say?\u201D. That is a standard question asked by Prime Ministers and chairs of policy committees. They asked that in my presence during the previous Labour Government\u2014when Helen Clark was Prime Minister. They always asked those questions\u2014and Gerry Brownlee would have had to answer. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000264\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EI seek leave to table the letter of 2 December from Tom McNicholl to the Ministry of Economic Development.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000265\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e7ecb11a1af04c20a67480c69e982f01\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There is no objection. The letter can be tabled.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000266\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022 data-id=\u0022cddfdc7cdec84c8691d026dfe4f61fec\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000267\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022cddfdc7cdec84c8691d026dfe4f61fec\u0022\u003ECHESTER BORROWS (National\u2014Whanganui):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022 data-id=\u00226875cd12a36845b9beb43545f8f4491f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000268\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226875cd12a36845b9beb43545f8f4491f\u0022\u003EGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour\u2014Wellington Central):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to speak on Part 2 and to support the Hon David Parker\u2019s amendments, because although Opposition members would much rather we were not even debating this silly, short-sighted bill, we are here trying to improve it. In particular, we are trying to help National keep one of its promises. That is quite a remarkable thing for Opposition members to do but we are here to help. We have all heard a lot about promises in the last couple of weeks. That is the main reason, apparently, that we are in urgency ramming through bill after bill, because National claims it needs to keep its promises. In reality, of course, we know that National members are doing this because they do not want to hear from the public of New Zealand about some of the legislation that National is putting through. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000269\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EIn particular, they do not seem to want to hear about the impact of this bill on people such as Tom McNicholl, who are making a concerted effort to build a new industry in this country. We would be able to help them do that, if we kept in place the legislation that the previous Labour Government led through the House before the election. But, no, the National Government wants to take that legislation away. The Hon David Parker has put forward an amendment that will allow bio-diesel to be extended the same tax relief as bio-ethanol. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000270\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EYesterday, the Minister of Energy and Resources, Mr Brownlee, told the Committee that we would be hearing about tax relief, about incentives to allow the industry to continue. We have seen nothing of that today. The industry will be in a vacuum when this legislation passes\u2014a vacuum of Mr Brownlee\u2019s making. But Labour can fill that vacuum by offering the opportunity to put in place a system whereby bio-diesel will have the same exemptions that bio-ethanol does. This is an opportunity for the Minister in the chair, Mr Brownlee, to take a call and let us know whether he is prepared to do something to honour National\u2019s election promises. We say: honour the promise to keep this industry going. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000271\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EMr Parker\u2019s amendment to Part 2 gives the Minister that chance. It gives him a chance to help save the 46 families who will be affected, if and when Mr McNicholl\u2019s business is closed. That is the reality and that is what we have heard. If the Minister had received the correspondence from his ministry, he would know that that is what Tom McNicholl is saying and that is what Sue Wood is saying. They are saying that the legislation the Minister is bringing to the House will affect those 46 families in East Tamaki and Waharoa. One would have thought National would be concerned about those areas. Mr Chairperson, you might be concerned about them as well. We need to know whether the Minister is prepared to support this very good amendment from David Parker, which will actually help secure that industry. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000272\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EMembers on this side of the Chamber know that the mandatory obligations that Labour put in place are a far better way of ensuring that this industry continues to grow, but there is now an opportunity for the Government to stand up, and for the Minister in the chair to take a call and say that he will accept the amendment. There is also an opportunity for ACT Party members: we know that they believe in regulatory impact statements; they believe in making sure that things go through with proper scrutiny. They could vote for this amendment, too. They could vote down the whole bill and send it away to a select committee so that we have a proper process\u2014and, goodness, a regulatory impact statement! Would that not be novel, to have a regulatory impact statement on a bill that is fundamentally changing an industry in this country\u2014indeed, a growing industry\u2014and fundamentally compromising the lives of 46 families that were going to be employed, and also other families in the future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000273\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002217f5d69ec26e4f4f8ce95264604df3f9\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: One would think it would go to a select committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000274\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022688ef25bc68d4d26b44d38f2ae6865a1\u0022\u003EGRANT ROBERTSON\u003C/span\u003E: One would think it would go to a select committee; but, no, this Government wants to ram this bill through under urgency. The Government, it seems, does not even want to take the opportunity to honour one of its own election promises. This opportunity was there for the Government to do that. Mr Brownlee has not taken a call on Part 2, and I urge him to take a call and let us know what he thinks about this amendment. This amendment would actually save his hide in the long run. He may not think that, right now, but that is what this amendment does. But, much more important, this amendment ensures that the industry has some kind of future. At the moment we have a vacuum in place, because the Government has no plan to ensure that the bio-diesel industry can continue. It is an outrage to push this bill through the Parliament in a way whereby nobody who is affected out there in the community is getting an opportunity to comment on it. Part 2 is about putting in place everything that is required to repeal the very things that are needed to keep that industry going. It is an outrage.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022 data-id=\u002217174e5963714ff89ee17aef920f6c36\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000275\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002217174e5963714ff89ee17aef920f6c36\u0022\u003ECHRIS TREMAIN (Junior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u0022c6b52ee9210c4ac99a1db47cb7a229bb\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c6b52ee9210c4ac99a1db47cb7a229bb\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North): \u003C/span\u003EThe revelation that the Minister has indicated that he has not seen the letter of 2 December raises two questions. The first of them goes to the Minister\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000277\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cd8e031ef2664462b562c4bbac6e802d\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I want to make clear that my responses to the Hon Trevor Mallard were about what I thought was a new letter that was being provided to him. I have, in fact, received that letter referred to. A response to Mr McDonald is being prepared.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000278\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224b82ad7d87e5442cb488be4d51ed9587\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: That cannot possibly be true, because I indicated to the member that the letter was dated 2 December. It cannot be a new letter. The member cannot have told the truth to the Committee. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000279\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022496bfa7ff80340c0902557beaee35441\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: The member cannot make allegations about missing letters. We wish to move on\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000280\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226501053b32764473b32d546d836058f4\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Chairperson\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000281\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222ed428a256464734b58b5e35473ad369\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister has made a statement that he has received a letter. He has acknowledged that to the Committee. We wish to move on.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000282\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002249d6c44d366d44fa8b4460e9459111cd\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I think there are two points. One is whether you are right to allow the Minister in the chair, Gerry Brownlee, to correct that statement by way of point of order. He should have taken a call. The other point is that the name he said was McDonald. The letter is from McNicholl. The letter that he did not read was a letter from McNicholl, not McDonald. For the Minister to say that he has a letter from McDonald now does not help at all. It was clearly stated in the Committee before that it is a letter dated 2 December from McNicholl. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000283\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f1a547d4ff044de3a7671b0020a5a6b5\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: There is a mistake in the naming of the person who wrote the letter. Mr Mallard has made the point very clear\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000284\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022283d952218c046fda1c21e37fc60c8db\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: Point of order\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000285\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002232d8904b95af4e03aa9fec83a4abf17c\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: I am ruling at the moment. The points have been well made. The Minister has acknowledged that there is a letter. He has identified that and acknowledged it to the Committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000286\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e191610cad094efa88e3f3c162009cf7\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I am absolutely bemused as to how you know that a mistake was made by the Minister, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, because he has not taken a call to correct it. There is a proper procedure in this Chamber to be followed. It is not for members to cosy up to the Chairman, particularly a Chairman who is in a difficult position as you are on this issue, coming from the area in which this factory is located.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000287\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224193a79c1aa54df8a02dc22495ff9747\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Parker, you know that you cannot bring the Chair into this. The Minister said he has received a letter. He has acknowledged that to the Committee; he has explained it, and we wish to move on. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000288\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229b318827dfc0462fa8452e2154a5c54a\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. The Minister may have acknowledged a mistake privately to you. That is not on the record of the Committee and you cannot, as the Chair, put it on the record of the Committee. You especially cannot enter this debate when you, Mr Chairperson, should not be in the Chair anyway.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000289\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aa4174dbb9a04e91a85e0c82ee532819\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister has not made a private comment to me about this matter. He has acknowledged it to the Committee. He said so, and that is where the matter lies. These are debating points\u2014they can be brought up in debate. I wish to move on.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000290\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002298200c31d5c045e8a2ee069e3aa1fd2d\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000291\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229fbcf02562374e9991a1b84a29fa997c\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Is this a new point of order, Mr Mallard?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000292\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002236ae049b4c754529b52dd06a068c1524\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: It is, Mr Chairperson. It relates to what you said. You indicated to the Committee that the Minister had made a correction to the Committee. He could not possibly have corrected the name \u201CMcDonald\u201D to \u201CMcNicholl\u201D, because he did not get to his feet. It is not possible that he made a correction to the Committee, and for you to say that he did is just wrong. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022619911bd889f470381ecc4b8dc88c986\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister made an interjection to that effect and that is what is before the Committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000294\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002266d5e3b5104a4f599b13717e7e516e7c\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I have been paying particular attention to this debate and particular attention to this error, which I heard and pointed out to my colleague Mr Mallard. I heard no such interjection from Mr Brownlee. He has not been on his feet since he made that error. He is able to take a call at any time to correct that position. This mistake is very important given that scores of jobs are at stake and millions of dollars. It is in an area close to Matamata\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000295\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226d122a3d47574c0797edce3115054619\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: These are debating points.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000296\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022603ae58e-47c4-46f9-bfc8-8355a48988ad\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227d4c1769f9e6417598d42d1c7d973fa8\u0022\u003EHon Dr Jonathan Coleman\u003C/span\u003E: I note, Mr Chairperson, that your authority is being consistently challenged by members opposite, and it has included members making allegations about your unfitness to sit in the Chair. I do not think that adds anything to the debate or to the perception of the Chamber. I ask you to assert your authority, Mr Chairperson, because you have ruled. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000297\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022776234db68e442af80393de232721d4a\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000298\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fca8c9e868fd48b190dae7130017bd08\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Is this a new point of order?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000299\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022819c1a3e15054445b7b27de808b58a73\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, it is a new point of order. You indicated to the Committee in your last ruling that Mr Brownlee had corrected his position by way of interjection. He could not have done that in a parliamentary manner, because for the entire period that we have been considering this we have been dealing with points of order. He cannot interject during a point of order, and, if he had interjected during a point of order, I am sure that you as Chairperson would have reprimanded him for doing that and made him withdraw and apologise to the Committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000300\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002203fad36709414dbaadfaa440855ca345\u0022\u003EChris Tremain\u003C/span\u003E: Point of order\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000301\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022baeaf96b63e74a398089e1e42b55eb00\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I am still going. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000302\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022890b4a6c0a5340438ac3db94ce8a5ae3\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: There is a point of order in progress. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000303\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022081bcd9452264551b00c3d3ce4cef337\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I am saying that despite the fact that I have indicated there is a conflict here, I have confidence in you as the Chair and I know that you would not have let Mr Brownlee interject during a point of order. If he had done that you would have ruled him out of order and made him withdraw and apologise, and that interjection would not be on the record of the Committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000304\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224fecd30b916b4fb09831563b56bc2743\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you, Mr Mallard. The Minister is prepared to take a call. We are just waiting for the letter. The Hon Pete Hodgson has the call at the moment. We are just waiting for the letter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000305\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ac1b86eca1d34c0a80de1e5bdb2f7bba\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I have tabled the letter, Mr Chairperson.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000306\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225ba08fac9c5445da8b8b591669c4360f\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, we are just getting it now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000307\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e1bd0cf2afe046eb98f70448e7a38ee8\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. We have reached an unfortunate position in this debate. My recollection of events is that the Hon Trevor Mallard, in his contributions to the debate, got a series of responses from the Minister that were not on the record of the Committee because they were by way of interjection. The interjections were that the Minister had not received the letter that Mr Mallard was referring to. In the course of the interjections the Minister then asked what the date of the letter was, and a number of us gave the Minister the date of the letter, which was 2 December of this year. After that date was given, the Minister continued to assert, by way of interjection or by way of body language, that he had not been in receipt of it. If it is OK for him to correct a person\u2019s name by way of interjection to you, Mr Chairperson, then it is also OK for this Committee to say that it has been misled by the Minister, who said that he had not received the letter, when he knew the date, but who then changed his mind when he raised a point of order as I got up to speak. I am saying to you, Mr Chairperson, that you have to make a decision as to whether the Minister in the chair misled the Committee. My assertion is that he has. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000308\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221ddc5dcb734d4c33bb472174a695380c\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Two letters are involved. I have a letter here dated 12 December. We are waiting for the letter of 2 December, which apparently was tabled. The Minister is prepared to take a call. We hope that that will clarify the matter. The member made a point about the Minister making a correction by way of interjection. He made a mistake about the name. He knew that he made a mistake and he will take a call. Hopefully that will clarify the matter. I would like the member to resume his speech. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000309\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c2b8ac1aaa51408baf36e81a9a88b313\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. The letter of 12 December to which you refer is a complete irrelevance. It is from neither a Mr McDonald nor a Mr McNicholl; it is from the former president of the National Party, Sue Wood. That letter is an irrelevance. I cannot see the relevance of it to your ruling.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000310\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eaf01ff7657845a1a5c07b6ced477e7b\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: We are just waiting for a copy of the letter of 2 December. We do not have that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000311\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a7ac99f467c94f7481f78fdcb93fd1bf\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s on the Table.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000312\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022074e24d8bdde4641b43305cc495588f6\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: It is not on the Table here and that is why I have only one letter, Mr Mallard. So that is where we are at. In the meantime while we are waiting for the letter, and for the Minister, Gerry Brownlee, to return I ask the Hon Pete Hodgson to continue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000313\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222982c6c97ca84253b82fc9ed3ed746e4\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. In order to be helpful I would like to table the letter of 2 December.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000314\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223334e366436e4d668d78ea22bc9639f9\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: It has already been tabled so we do not need to proceed with that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000315\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225d28ccd0a834470dbb80207dc46baafc\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I have raised with you a point of order regarding your view as to whether the Minister misled the Committee. I am asserting that the Minister to your right has misled the Committee, and I am asserting that he has done so by way of interjection. I have asked you to tell me whether you agree with that assertion, and you have not told me. If you do not agree with that assertion, I ask why you do not agree with it. As it stands at the moment, if an interjection is to be part of a correction or a part of the debate\u2014as a result of your earlier remarks\u2014I point out that these interjections were made after the Minister knew that the letter in question, which he denied receipt of, was dated 2 December; then, having worked out that he was wrong, he raised a point of order to correct himself. Therefore, the question that I have for you, Mr Chairperson, which you have not yet answered, is whether the Minister has misled the Committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000316\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bb402ade91db450f9186e7c050987b52\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: It is not my understanding that the Minister has misled the House. The Minister will be taking a call to clarify matters. That is my ruling; I wish to proceed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000317\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221e0be344e7c14f5786f0dcc9a5b31bba\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you for your ruling. I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. When you were giving me the call not so long ago, I think you said I had 3 minutes and 28 seconds left\u2014that is from a 5-minute call. The words used in my contribution so far have been these: \u201CThe revelation that the Minister has indicated that he has not seen the letter of 2 December raises two questions.\u201D That is as far as I got.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000318\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220bb5ed0ce1aa4e0db1325a3fad70c9b1\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Is this still a point of order?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000319\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222fd4a0ada9d145b0ab396d44ef50fcbd\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, it is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000320\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220e8dae6e0d2a4b6a9da979912300e027\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: I did stop the clock when you were bringing forward the point of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000321\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f08cb76102ab4913a91d47d7c9a126cb\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Well, I am just asserting, rather obviously, by way of quoting verbatim, that what I just said does not take 90 seconds to say; it takes about 10. I wonder whether you could recalibrate your clock, Mr Chairperson.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000322\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227180da6770dc44d69fecad15225bc44e\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, you did speak before you sought a point of order, so we assumed that was part of your speech. But\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000323\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bf22ee5ebc5b4c4a818d4050a05bf4e6\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Chairperson, I did not seek a point of order. The Minister called a point of order when I was one sentence into my contribution, and that does not take 90 seconds.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000324\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222b96269e85fd46fc8ac0a0791c67e987\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: I am happy that we start the call again as a 5-minute call.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000325\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022893ca7b4eb1444e298ba1ed4e626993b\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: That is very generous, Mr Chairperson. The fact that the Minster has\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000326\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002252ebb4db86a94630a8369d8b2333c97d\u0022\u003ENathan Guy\u003C/span\u003E: Make it good!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000327\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002283ac0a13883543c69037ed6710e2c8fb\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: It will be good, all right. The Minister\u2019s point that he had not received the letter, which he made when Mr Mallard questioned him about whether he had received it, has now been reversed by the Minister, who raised the point of order to say that he did receive the letter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000328\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a2e5f3aa48b24886afeec57709cbfaad\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I think it would be good to raise a point of order now to clarify this matter, as people fire dates all over the show. The first point I make is that the letter of 2 December\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000329\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221b0d6524c03c4e86b5392b1534a19480\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: No, that is a debating point.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000330\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223bf1816480fa4a7bb24ae5d1ae80b17b\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Well, most of what the member is about to say is totally irrelevant.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000331\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e657931332ca4d5f8dcd05c7729818db\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: We are not getting into points of order that become debating points. The Minister may take a call following the Hon Pete Hodgson\u2019s call.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000332\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229446301229e849c89e68f21cf0813764\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: We of course look forward to the Minister\u2019s explanation, but the facts as they stand at the moment are these. The Hon Trevor Mallard pointed out that a letter had been set to Ministry of Economic Development officials. The Minister indicated by way of a shake of the head that he had not received it. Mr Mallard responded in dismay, as one might expect, because the letter says that this man\u2019s business is going down the gurgler as a result of this legislation. Repeatedly, as Mr Mallard tested whether the Minister had received the letter, we were told, by way of an interjection and a shake of the head\u2014or whatever\u2014that he had not. That caused some concern on this side of the Chamber, as one might understand. The letter has been around the news media because it has been followed by another letter from none other than an earlier president of the National Party, yet the Minister sat there and denied knowledge of it. It was beyond belief. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000333\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThat was the situation that we were in, and repeatedly the Minister gave one point of view. He is about to change that point of view, but it does beg the question as to how he could ever be in denial of the knowledge of that letter. None of the rest of us had any misgivings about whether we knew about it; it was all around the country. The Minister has, in short, misled the House, and that is serious. It is not a minor thing. Not only did he mislead the House but he did so even though he was under some focused attention from the Hon Trevor Mallard. I do not think that that is tolerable. I think the Minister has to say to the House that he is sorry. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000334\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EHe has to apologise to the House for misleading us, and then he has to answer another question: did he show the letter to the ACT Party, because the ACT Party stands for economic growth, and it stands for getting Government out of the lives of business? This legislation is taking down that man\u2019s business. Mr McNicholl\u2019s business is going to the wall, and his letter, in very moderate, moderating language\u2014it is a very, very moderate letter\u2014spells it out. I want to know whether the swing party in this debate was aware of that letter. If it was, that is fine and dandy\u2014we know how to value the ACT Party accordingly\u2014but if it was not made aware of that, and the Minister himself has denied knowledge of it for long enough, then it raises some pretty interesting questions about whether the ACT Party is making an informed choice in this debate. I think the Minister has some questions to answer, and he can begin by saying he is sorry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022a72b764e46ff4575b50e6c64f3b22165\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000335\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022a72b764e46ff4575b50e6c64f3b22165\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E I will clear this matter up by going through a bit of an order of what happened. Firstly, on 2 December, BioDiesel Oils wrote to the Ministry of Economic Development, to a Mr Joe Connell.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000336\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002268c45f49ef8d487d8ace97d5f152f296\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: Don\u2019t mention the name.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000337\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228dacb5ea63f942339d8e7db8e5e607dd\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I mentioned his name because the member did. Mr Connell was engaged\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000338\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cec81737d4774a599dfd31664a0a7c3e\u0022\u003EHon Members\u003C/span\u003E: He did not!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222fdc4a5aa46547e3955c0d8a96b9b57d\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: He did, actually.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000340\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223f16ee3ba8f241979120fe08a098a35c\u0022\u003EHon Pete Hodgson\u003C/span\u003E: I did not mention his name.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000341\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226f6ce8568e3f435e9a8c22d682494a87\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Members should not be silly; the Hansard record will show that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000342\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221de023961ef84c1583302eea5a690d01\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I think I did mention it the first time; it was a mistake.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000343\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d0d03066e35c45129f1703c68f088ece\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you. Subsequent to that, on 4 December, BioDiesel Oils wrote to me. That letter was written by a Mr Tom McNicholl, and I am now informed that he attached to that letter the letter that had been sent some days before to the Ministry of Economic Development. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000344\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EOn 11 December, following our announcement, I received a further letter from Tom McNicholl, via Sue Wood. That letter will be responded to, of course, in due course, but in the interim I asked my office to make contact with Mrs Wood in order that we might have a meeting with Mr McNicholl. That meeting and that offer were rejected.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022 data-id=\u002256391b920b674b3787459481e28b89c0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000345\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002256391b920b674b3787459481e28b89c0\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour\u2014Hutt South):\u003C/span\u003E Is this not just a classic? Within the first fortnight of Parliament since the election we already have the first Minister who is at risk. What is absolutely clear now is that despite getting a letter twice\u2014once via his officials, and once appended to a letter to himself\u2014he did not read it. He made it clear to the House earlier that he did not read that letter. The letter was sent to his office twice, and he did not read it. [Interruption] The Minister might have looked at the letter later on, when Sue Wood sent it, but he had not read it when he took it to the Cabinet committee. He did not give it to John Key, and he did not brief him on the effects of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill on this business. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000346\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EI ask John Key what he is doing having a Minister who is so lazy that he did not read the correspondence and show it to him, or who deliberately deceived the Prime Minister by not giving him the full facts at the Cabinet committee when this legislation was being debated. It is absolutely intolerable to have a Minister who is either so lazy that he did not read the material or so thick that he did not understand it, or who has deceived the Prime Minister by not tabling that letter\u2014or at least a synopsis of it\u2014at the Cabinet committee, especially in the absence of a regulatory impact report. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000347\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThere is no regulatory impact report on this bill, and therefore the Minister in charge of it has extra responsibilities. He must be even clearer than he would normally be, not that there is any excuse for not being clear anyway in a Cabinet committee when seeking permission to have legislation go into the House. There is an extra obligation on this Minister as a result of the lack of a regulatory impact report. And what have we heard? We have heard that he did not read the letter. That is what he told the House\u2014that he read neither the 2 December version nor the 2 December version that was appended to the 4 December version. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000348\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EWhat can we say about that? We can ask the ACT Party\u2014and I know the answer to this, because if the Minister did not show the letter to the Prime Minister, I bet my bottom dollar that he did not show it to the ACT Party\u2014what it is doing supporting legislation that does not have a regulatory impact report. That is a very bad reflection on Rodney Hide. Even a skimpy little one\u2014a quarter of one\u2014like those we had on the bills last week would have been a start.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000349\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E I ask the Minister whether it was deliberate. Did he deliberately not have a regulatory impact statement, because of this issue? I do not think it was deliberate; I do not think he knew the issue existed. I do not think he knew the issue existed, because he told us he did not read the letter. He told us he did not read the letters of 2 and 4 December. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000350\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThis matter goes to a question of the competence of a Minister. When the Minister brings his first legislation to the House\u2014the very first legislation\u2014if he is not sure what to do, there are a lot of very good people in the Cabinet Office to ask. There are a lot of people there\u2014good public servants\u2014who will give him advice, if he asks for it, about other things he should consider. There was no regulatory impact report, so checking that the legislation does not affect people would have been the first bit of advice. Checking that it does not affect people would have been the first bit of advice that he got from the Cabinet Office. I ask the Minister whether he asked the Cabinet Office for advice. No, he did not. He did not ask the Cabinet Office for advice on this measure. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000351\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003ESo there was no regulatory impact report, and an uncertain new Minister who did not know what to do. The Prime Minister was clearly deceived\u2014we are told it was accidental\u2014and I believe the Minister when he said it was an accident. He did not mean to deceive the Prime Minister on the effects of this bill, but nevertheless he did deceive the Prime Minister on its effects by not reading the correspondence and sharing it with the Prime Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022dc6c0f88-e781-476d-bca1-d1bf9b69302b\u0022 data-id=\u00222f8cb509e0244d759faaaca12de34991\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000352\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022dc6c0f88-e781-476d-bca1-d1bf9b69302b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222f8cb509e0244d759faaaca12de34991\u0022\u003EAMY ADAMS (National\u2014Selwyn):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u0022f90bcf57620a47529fcd2901a78ade38\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000353\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f90bcf57620a47529fcd2901a78ade38\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour): \u003C/span\u003EI want to follow up on the Hon Trevor Mallard\u2019s comments here. We have heard various versions from Mr Brownlee, all of which\u2014all of which\u2014conclude that he did not read the letter\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000354\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224972761ca944418dba41af9f73be54a0\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: The letter he got twice.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000355\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022173c33aef3c04e05becd45f14b9b45b0\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: It was probably three times, because it was then attached to a letter from Sue Wood.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000356\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EFurther, in Mr Brownlee\u2019s last contribution, when he finally got to his feet and took a call on this legislation\u2014which kills a whole industry\u2014he said that he had offered to meet with Sue Wood and Tom McNicholl but that they had declined. That is on the record. I find that very, very hard to believe. I have had numerous conversations with Sue Wood. She tells me that she has been brushed off by the Minister\u2019s office, that she has been trying to get through to the Minister\u2014[Interruption]\u2014No, I do not mislead the Chamber, I say to Mr Brownlee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000357\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f3dd93b00a2d409891b31ad25b98bad6\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, you do.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000358\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b44608eeddef4f3995263a52cb553aac\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I do not. She has told me that within the last week she has again been on to his office and that she has been brushed off by his office. So the idea that the Minister has offered to meet with Mr McNicholl and with Sue Wood, the former president of the National Party, is something that I invite Mr McNicholl and Sue Wood to call him on, because if that is wrong, then the member has egregiously misrepresented the position to this Chamber and he ought to be judged for it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000359\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe letter that he has not read needs to be read out to him now. There are very important passages in this letter. My call will not allow me to read all of them, so I hope other members will make some of the other points, but I will read a paragraph from about the third page of this letter, which is very detailed: \u201CThe undersigned\u201D\u2014Mr McNicholl\u2014\u201Cwho owns BDO has during the last 8 years invested over $10 million in research and development and plant and equipment including the purchase of sites.\u201D He further writes: \u201CRepealing the mandate will also halt all on-going work and efforts in new technological innovation and development. The future value of this advancement will be completely wiped off for the investors\u201D\u2014that is $10 million of investment\u2014\u201Cand shareholders as well as place New Zealand in a disadvantaged position worldwide in terms of engineering and process technology export to the rest of the world.\u201D So there are export consequences as well as the loss of investment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000360\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe letter elsewhere says that the East T\u0101maki plant, which has already been built, is having \u201Ctechnological advancements currently being undertaken in our 10,000,000 litres plan at East Tamaki. The production volume will be drastically reduced (already it is at a very negligible level due to the minimal off-take by the oil companies) \u2026 The company will have no second thoughts to mothball its operation at East Tamaki and stop construction of building and site works on its new 60,000,000 litres plant at Waharoa to avoid any further loss.\u201D It goes on to say: \u201CWe plan to employ 22 staff on three shifts at the Waharoa plant and 24 staff on three shifts at East Tamaki; a total of 46 full-time jobs when both plants are in full production to meet the mandate.\u201D That would have been at the start of next year, but that investment is being lost\u2014those jobs are being lost. This is just one of many biofuel producers.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000361\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe Minister got this letter but did not read it, and we have no regulatory impact statement, and we have no reference to a select committee. I invite ACT members\u2014even at this late stage, having now been provided with that letter by Labour members because they did not get it from National members\u2014to read that letter, to consider the effects of this on business, and to consider whether they ought to be voting to slow down this egregious legislation rather than voting for the injustice they are about to cause Mr McNicholl, a 75-year-old man. He is no highfalutin businessman; he is a very down-to-earth man. This is his life savings, I expect. I do not know details of his financial position but I expect that his life savings are tied up in this investment and he is about to lose them as a consequence.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000362\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThis has all been spelt out to the Minister, and it has all been spelt out to the Ministry of Economic Development. The ministry, quite responsibly, has made contact with this business. It is clear from Mr McNicholl\u2019s letter of 2 December that it was written in response to a query from the ministry. The ministry was acting on behalf of the Minister. This letter no doubt went to the Minister\u2019s office, but he has not read it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022ffff330f-1757-41d6-9973-25244f0fdada\u0022 data-id=\u00226994fa3e7eea4f66930d571f01cbef22\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000363\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ffff330f-1757-41d6-9973-25244f0fdada\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226994fa3e7eea4f66930d571f01cbef22\u0022\u003ECOLIN KING (National\u2014Kaik\u014Dura):\u003C/span\u003EI move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022a3ce8853cdbd4fc0902386a4fd8fa6d5\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 59\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the amendment be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAmendment not agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000364\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000365\u0022\u003EThe question was put that the following amendment in the name of the Hon David Parker to Part 2 be agreed to: \u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000366\u0022\u003Eto insert the following new clause:\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000367\u0022\u003E5A\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000368\u0022\u003EThe Minister will on or before 30 June 2009 table in Parliament a report on the financial and unemployment effects of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill on New Zealand\u2019s tallow to biodiesel industry.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000369\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002289aa375e2e3b49c3ac3e3ec008916de7\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: The second amendment in the name of the Hon David\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000370\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222d45ae8628584727aa7d17ac22ab0f3e\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. In respect of this amendment there are two just about identical forms of the amendment, the only difference between them being the omission of the word \u201Cpursuant\u201D, which is redundant. I seek leave of the Committee to withdraw the amendment that has the word \u201Cpursuant\u201D in it, leaving the other one that does not have the word \u201Cpursuant\u201D in it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000371\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e98726e93f354b46947a0cbe19f11247\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? Leave is granted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000372\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003EThe question was put that the following amendment in the name of the Hon David Parker to Part 2 be agreed to: \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000373\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003Eto add the following clause:\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000374\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E16\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000375\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003ESection 24 of the principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (4):\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000376\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u201C(5) \tA credit shall be allowed against the levies otherwise payable under this section equivalent to 42.524 cents per litre of biodiesel sold by the levy payer.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00222fbec5a893c243fbba3b8d425fefb14e\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the amendment be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAmendment not agreed to. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u002212635b907f0f4b4095da837f5cfd0705\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That Part 2 be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EPart 2 agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000377\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022f7db03e4e2de4a498aa140c7261c7011\u0022\u003EClauses 1 to 3\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u00220215c769e74a4f6c88424efb055dbee5\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000378\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220215c769e74a4f6c88424efb055dbee5\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I am promoting an amendment, which is about to be tabled, to this part of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill, because I thought a very good suggestion was made by Mr Burns earlier in this debate that this legislation should be renamed the \u201CBio-fools Bill\u201D. It is absolutely nonsensical legislation, and it should be called what it is: it is foolish legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000379\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThis legislation causes egregious injustices, but the thing that concerns me most of all is that the Minister in the chair, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, has not read the most pertinent piece of correspondence that has come to his office concerning the effects of this legislation. Recalling that there is no regulatory impact statement and no select committee process, it is important that he reads or learns of information about the adverse effects of this legislation on people, on jobs, on investment, and on employers. So I will start reading this letter, and I think it is so important that this be on the record that I expect other members of this Committee might want to read the parts of the letter that I do not get to in my contribution. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000380\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThis is a letter dated 2 December 2008 from BioDiesel Oils (NZ) Ltd. It is addressed to the energy and communications branch of the Ministry of Economic Development, and it states: \u201CDear\u201D\u2014whoever\u2014\u201CWe have received your email of 2 December, 2008 in regards to the \u2018state of play\u2019 of the New Zealand biofuel industry in the context of a National party pre-election indication of its intention to repeal the biofuel obligation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000381\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EWe have considered the implications this will have on our existing operations thoroughly and append our response below. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000382\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E1. Biodiesel Oils NZ Ltd (BDO) was until 1998 a major solvent recycling and collector of used cooking oil. It was exporting UCO which was also referred to as tallow.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000383\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIn 1999 the company commenced research and development in the manufacture of biodiesel with UCO and later progressed to using animal fats in particular, tallow.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000384\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe company continued investing heavily in improving its production and chemical technology for converting tallow as a result of the government\u2019s indication to promote greater use of renewable energy across the economy as part of the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (NEECS).\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000385\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EAround August 2005 when the company became aware that the government had in principle agreed to a Biofuel Sales Obligation it took further steps to invest in ramping up production output of its R\u0026amp;D plant in East Tamaki to 10,000,000 litres a year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000386\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EWhen it became evident that the government was going to legislate the compulsory use of biofuel the company went ahead with its plans to construct a new 60,000,000 litres plant at Waharoa which is well underway.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000387\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe company only uses locally sourced tallow that is now being exported for other purposes as its feedstock. This raw material complies with sustainable standards. With the combined capacities of both plants (East Tamaki and Waharoa) BDO is well positioned to satisfy the biofuels obligation for at least the next two years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000388\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EBDO was very conscious and still is that the biofuel obligation introduced on 1st October, 2008 is the single most important driver to sustain biodiesel production, demand and consumer use. Without this the business case for BDO would have been extremely weak right from the start and investments decisions in R\u0026amp;D and production facilities would not have won approval from the shareholders and Board of Directors.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000389\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIt is therefore pertinent for the government to realise that our investments in biodiesel was primarily in response to legislating the biofuel obligation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000390\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E2. Any change to the biofuel obligation will result in an immediate order to \u2018stop work\u2019 on all technological advancements currently being undertaken in our 10,000,000 litres plan at East Tamaki.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000391\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe production volume will be drastically reduced (already it is at a very negligible level due to the minimal off-take by the oil companies) or ceased since BDO supplies its biodiesel only to Shell and BP. The company will have no second thoughts to mothball its operation at East Tamaki and stop construction of building and site works on its new 60,000,000 litres plant at Waharoa to avoid any further loss.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u002284612bd46a92483585d8189ab104b673\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000392\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002284612bd46a92483585d8189ab104b673\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E I will continue to read the letter: \u201CStop work will also be issued to the various supply partners to whom BDO has outsourced the fabrication of tanks, vessels, and process equipment for the new plant. This will invite cancellation fees from our supply partners and their material suppliers which could be detrimental to the bottom line in this troubled time. The company will also have to lay off two full time stainless steel tradesmen employed at the East Tamaki site.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000393\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWe plan to employ 22 staff on three shifts at the Waharoa plant and 24 staff on three shifts at East Tamaki; a total of 46 full-time jobs when both plants are in full production to meet the mandate.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000394\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E3. It must be noted that oil companies (BP and Shell NZ) are vital partners in the upstream supply chain of biofuels as they possess the expertise and facilities for blending and control the infrastructure for distribution and retail to the market.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000395\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EIt is however our contention that the oil companies are against retailing both biodiesel and ethanol as this will have direct implications on their sales volume of mineral diesel and gasoline and monopoly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000396\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ESome two and a half years ago we wrote to the oil companies pointing out that preparations be made for blending biodiesel with mineral diesel at their terminals. This suggestion was ignored to the extent that the oil companies have now requested us to undertake the blending at our site. This has imposed an additional $20,000 on us to install a storage tank for mineral diesel at our East Tamaki site. We complied with this request as we realised that we were at the oil companies\u2019 mercy to ensure the continued sales of our biodiesel. This proves our point that the oil companies had never been serious in retailing biofuels.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000397\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe government must take notice of the consumers\u2019 mindset in that they would not buy a new product such as blended biodiesel or ethanol unless there are cost savings compared to conventional fuels. In this regards the biofuel obligation would be a valuable aid to change the behaviour.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000398\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E4. The undersigned who owns BDO has during the last 8 years invested over $10 million in research and development and plant and equipment including the purchase of sites.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000399\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E He firmly believes that any change contrary to the current biofuel obligation will see the instant demise of the biodiesel and biofuel industry in New Zealand. Apart from that it will destroy every dollar that has been invested in this sector by private individuals and companies like ours who believed in the government\u2019s policies and goals for securing a better future and economy for her people and the country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ETo achieve the desired outcomes in reducing the rate of carbon emission the government has to see that sufficient volumes of biofuels are consumed. And to facilitate this demand huge capital costs and cash flow is required to build and operate biodiesel plants. It will therefore be stupid for BDO to build production facilities if it is unable to recover its investment due to the lack of volume off-take. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000401\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EExempting excise tax and road user charges from biofuels act only as subsidies to fuel consumers. They do not compel the use of biodiesel unlike the biofuel obligation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000402\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ERepealing the mandate will also halt all on-going work and efforts in new technological innovation and development. The future value of this advancement will be completely wiped off for the investors and shareholders as well as place New Zealand in a disadvantaged position worldwide in terms of engineering and process technology export to the rest of the world.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000403\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWe would urge you to recommend the retention of the mandate as laid out in the Biofuel Act. There is no sustainability issue regarding the product we produce which meets all standards. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000404\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EYours sincerely, \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000405\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ETom McNicholl\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000406\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EManaging Director\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EI say to the Minister in the chair, Gerry Brownlee, that this is the letter that he did not read. This is the letter that he said he had not seen. This is the letter that goes to the heart of what he is seeking in this legislation to undo. I say to the Minister that this letter could not put it more clearly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022 data-id=\u00221c590fa1fe254281a69cdadecfe4ab3c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000408\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221c590fa1fe254281a69cdadecfe4ab3c\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour\u2014Hutt South):\u003C/span\u003E I am waiting now for the Minister in the chair, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, to get on his feet, because he has left us with the very, very distinct impression that he is absolutely incompetent. What he has done is tell the House that he does not read his correspondence. One letter would have gone via the ministry, and it would have been part of the file on the bill. Another one went directly to his office on 4 December, and it was attached to another letter. What he has told us is that he did not read it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000409\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EWhat has also become clear is that that Minister, having not read the letter and having not understood the effects of this legislation on a New Zealand business, did not indicate to the Prime Minister in the Cabinet committee that this plant would be mothballed. He did not indicate to the Prime Minister in the Cabinet committee that 46 people would not have jobs as a result of this legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000410\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EIt is pretty rare for me to be caught short of something to say in the House, but on this occasion it just beggars belief that a Minister in charge of this legislation would not tell the Prime Minister that the direct result of it would be that an individual would lose a $10 million investment, and 46 people would not have jobs. There are a few other issues as well, such as the fact that New Zealand\u2019s international reputation will be going backwards, not to mention the effect on the environment as a result of this legislation\u2014and we have tended not to focus on that issue quite as much since the Minister made his startling admission that he does not read his correspondence.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000411\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EWhat is becoming clear to the House is that this is not the sort of bill that should be passed under urgency. Clearly, urgency in this House has meant that the ACT Party has not been able to properly consider its position. To be fair to that party, it was probably misled by the Minister, as well. It is a very, very serious matter. I ask Mr Garrett whether that letter was shown to the ACT caucus before it agreed to support the bill. I say to the member that he does not have to take a call; he can just interrupt. Let me put it this way: we are assuming that the letter was not shown to the ACT caucus. If we are wrong, then it is incumbent on the member to tell us. Are we wrong? The member is not telling us, so we will take it that as well as the Cabinet committee not seeing the letter, the ACT caucus did not see the letter. The vital bit of business-wrecking information was not shown to the ACT caucus.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000412\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EI ask the ACT Party whether this situation makes any difference about how it feels about the legislation now. ACT is the party that is making the difference here. I ask whether the ACT Party, as one of its first real choices in this Parliament, wants to go down in the history of Parliament as being the party that supported the incompetent Minister. Clearly Rodney Hide, the leader of a party that was not responsible enough to do a regulatory impact statement on this bill before it was introduced, should have been asking Gerry Brownlee questions at the Cabinet committee about the effect of this legislation, and about the lack of a regulatory impact statement\u2014I understand that Rodney Hide is on the policy committee through which this legislation would have had to be passed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000413\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003ENot only should John Key have been asking the questions\u2014certainly the previous Prime Minister would have been asking questions in respect of this particular matter\u2014but answers should have been offered by Gerry Brownlee anyway. But he could not offer the answers because he did not read the mail. That is a sign of absolute incompetence from a lazy Tory.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022 data-id=\u0022d4fd26594ecf465d8a6fa87a088ceed9\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000414\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d4fd26594ecf465d8a6fa87a088ceed9\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E The Committee finds itself in an extraordinary position, with a Minister in the chair who has not read critical pieces of evidence regarding the repeal of legislation when that will severely damage New Zealand\u2019s economy and the investment of hard-working small-business people whom National claims to care about\u2014both small and medium sized businesses. A gentleman who has invested $10 million wrote to Mr Brownlee, asking him to please reconsider this legislation, as he had invested $10 million of his own money\u2014as he says in the letter, if the Minister had bothered to read it\u2014because of the biofuel obligation that had been brought in. He clearly outlined the case for why we need such an obligation, and why it is very important for that obligation to continue. What did the Minister do? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000415\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022509524cf1a144acd8e8775e1bdd7343e\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: He ignored it!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000416\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eae576feb74d4ba0ae9b241e273eba6f\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: He did not even read the letter. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000417\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThe first paragraph of the letter is a response to an official from the Ministry of Economic Development. It says: \u201CWe have received your email of 2 December, 2008 in regards to the \u2018state of play\u2019 of the New Zealand biofuel industry in the context of a National party pre-election indication of its intention to repeal the biofuel obligation.\u201D I was on the Local Government and Environment Committee, which considered the Biofuel Bill, and the officials from that ministry were very good; I found those officials to be extremely knowledgable in this area. But it seems to me that, perhaps, the official had been asked by Mr Brownlee to send an email out to people. I find it hard to believe that of his or her own volition the official decided to send an email out to people in the industry\u2014good on the official if he or she did\u2014asking them to explain the \u201C \u2018state of play\u2019 of the New Zealand biofuel industry in the context of a National party pre-election indication\u201D. To me, clearly, that direction came from somewhere. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000418\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI wonder whether the Minister will take a call and indicate whether that direction came from him. If it did not come from him, I ask why, because it seems a sensible thing to go out and ask the industry where it is at and whether the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill will have an impact on the industry, especially given that this bill has no regulatory impact statement attached to it. If the Minister did put that direction in and ask his officials to find out the state of play, why did he ignore the information that came back from Mr McNicholl of BioDiesel Oils (NZ)? It seems astonishing to me that an email would go out, presumably from the Minister, asking about the state of play, and then he would ignore all the information that came back in. Perhaps we could call the bill the \u201CBiofuel (Ignorance is Bliss, Head in the Sand) Bill\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000419\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222af93412270d4a8e90ab5986596169f3\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s arrogant.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000420\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220212b0e65a0d4ef4906749b725ce420e\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: It is arrogant, because this bill is not going to a select committee. Mr McNicholl had no opportunity to come a select committee and explain the kind of impact the repeal of the mandatory biofuel obligation will have on his company and on his workers. At a time when one would think that the Government of New Zealand would be wanting to create jobs and support innovative businesses like BioDiesel Oils (NZ) Ltd, Mr Brownlee comes down here to the Chamber\u2014after bills last week that ripped the guts out of research and development\u2014and has more legislation that will damage the very companies, industries, and entrepreneurs that we need at this time in order to bring us through the recession, given what is happening overseas at the moment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000421\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI ask Mr Brownlee to take a call and indicate to the Committee whether he gave a direction for his officials to contact industry players and ask them where they were at. If he did, I would like to know why he ignored that very crucial letter, which he said he had not seen but now says he received and did not bother to read. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000422\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI tell the ACT Party members to read that letter, as clearly they have yet to see it. In all genuineness, I ask them to read the letter and see the kind of impact this bill is going to have. At the very least, the bill should have gone to a select committee. For a party that campaigned on having a regulatory impact statement attached to every single piece of legislation, I tell Mr Garrett that this is a very, very poor way to start. How much legislation has so far had what the ACT Party promised would be attached to every single bill, and what is ACT\u2019s leader now the Minister of? It is those members\u2019 votes that will pass this legislation. It will not go unnoticed out there in the New Zealand public that a party that campaigned on the basis of the need to know what the impact of this legislation would be, before it was passed, is supporting this bill being rammed through the House with no select committee process and no regulatory impact statement. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000423\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThe Minister in charge of the bill has not even read the very information that he asked for. It was a smoke and mirrors request to make the sector feel that it was being consulted, when clearly the Minister\u2019s intention was to ignore every single word it said.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022 data-id=\u00223292bcc2ed5b421bbbed422fcac28374\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000424\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223292bcc2ed5b421bbbed422fcac28374\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this bill, but it is with some shame that I do so, and that shame is based on the subject matter we are discussing today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000425\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI have listened with some considerable interest and deep concern to the debate on the floor of the Chamber, because this debate is all we have to go on. This is it. There is no select committee process and there is no regulatory impact statement. What we hear from members today is all we have. That is why I have listened with considerable interest to the discussion on this side of the Chamber, because I believe that it is the only side of the Chamber that is taking into account the interests of our communities, the interests of the players in this industry, the interests of the people who might have been employed in this industry, and the interests of the environment\u2014and that is a big one.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000426\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EWe are discussing the title of this bill. I have some suggestions for the Minister, Gerry Brownlee, and I would like to throw one out there to begin with. Based on what I have heard, I propose that the title be the \u201CNational May or May Not Believe in Climate Change for Political Expediency But Will Do Nothing About It Bill\u201D. I know that it is not too snappy, but neither is National\u2019s policy on environmental issues.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000427\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EWhat have we seen in the first month of this National Government? Let me give members a little refresher course. As soon as the Prime Minister made his first visit abroad, what did we have? We had the Prime Minister of the UK, Gordon Brown, throwing a tax upon us.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000428\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225faef2d75d994682aa133cfc2b76c3f7\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I hesitate to interrupt the member, but it is impermissible for the Minister to be in the Chamber and not be sitting in the Chair. I would request that the Chairperson bring the Chamber to order\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000429\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a4436037592f48bbbdbe012297746953\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: The member is correct. The Minister who is responsible for the bill has to be in the Chair or he has to leave the Chamber. If the Minister wishes to make a phone call, he should excuse himself.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000430\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022343a975e8ece416dacbb2383c164ce93\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN\u003C/span\u003E: I am happy to provide a copy of the Hansard of my speech to the Minister for him to read when he has finished his all-important phone call. I hope he is speaking with the managing director of BioDiesel Oils. That would be a worthwhile conversation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000431\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI again reflect on what we have seen from the National Government on environmental issues. We have had the airport tax. We would hope that when a Government thrusts something like that upon us, one of the things that we would see was a robust debate about all the things that the Government is doing in response to environmental issues that might allow for some bartering, that might allow for a little bit of negotiation. What did we have? We have a select committee to question climate change, I say to Mr Brownlee. That is what we have got. We have got the repeal of the biofuels obligation. And there is the emissions trading scheme. We cannot discuss what the Government is doing with the emissions trading scheme, because I do not know whether the Government knows what it is doing\u2014but we will come back to that. Those were our chips; that was what we had. If indeed the National Government believes in climate change, what is it going to do about it? Repeal is not the answer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000432\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI propose another title for the bill: the \u201CGutting the Biofuels Industry Bill\u201D. Aside from the environmental issues, that is the other argument that we on this side have had to put, because the National Government has not put it. The National Minister has not taken many calls on this part, so I thought I would take the liberty of sharing some of his views on the impact this bill will have on the biofuel industry. His statement to the National Business Review was: \u201CWe think that the growth of the biofuel industry will continue. A large number of biofuel companies in New Zealand, who are currently producing \u2026 have been quite positive about where we are heading\u201D. So positive, in fact, that the first thing they do is shut up shop. The first thing one of our major players in the industry does is shut down.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000433\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EFor the edification of the members in this Chamber, and because there is no regulatory impact statement, I would like to share with them a little information about one of the communities that will be impacted. Waharoa is a small, rural community in the Waikato. At the last census, the unemployment rate was 23 percent. Given that we do not have a regulatory impact statement, I would like to share with the Minister the unemployment rate in that small town. For a community that does not number more than a thousand, what a boost 46 job placements would have been\u2014massive.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000434\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ddb850368076407983d77bbf9a04e352\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: 22 jobs.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000435\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cd82a5da2d4d4753aefbe3d4a768af3d\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN\u003C/span\u003E: Rather, there would have been 22 job placements, which would have impacted on a number of families. What have we seen in the Waikato electorate alone since the National Government has come in? We have seen a loss of job opportunities in Waharoa. We are already facing 160 job losses in Morrinsville.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00226984d661-9f65-4ed6-b29c-3285b598582d\u0022 data-id=\u00226daac746203046759bb00759ddbb2aee\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000436\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226984d661-9f65-4ed6-b29c-3285b598582d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226daac746203046759bb00759ddbb2aee\u0022\u003EHon JOHN CARTER (Minister of Civil Defence):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022 data-id=\u002294e6a7b4bf884b3bb8964e31e8385760\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000437\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002294e6a7b4bf884b3bb8964e31e8385760\u0022\u003EGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour\u2014Wellington Central):\u003C/span\u003E I particularly want to make reference to the Hon David Parker\u2019s two amendments that are on the Table. The first of them was the excellent idea that he picked up from my colleague Brendan Burns to rename this bill the \u201CBio-fools Bill\u201D, because that is a very accurate representation of what the National Party is actually doing here today. Its members are making fools not only of themselves but also of New Zealand as a country on the world stage. I know in my time as a representative of New Zealand overseas that we were often proud to stand up\u2014including, I might add, under a National Government with Simon Upton\u2014to talk about New Zealand\u2019s record on the environment and how we led the way. Unfortunately, under this \u201CBio-fools Bill\u201D, along with the other measures that have already been brought in by the National Party in this short term in Government, we are not able to say that. It is not only that; it is the importance to our overall economy and to new industries that are growing here. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000438\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EDavid Parker\u2019s amendment to omit clause 2 is to substitute it with the following: \u201CThis Act shall not be submitted for Royal Assent until 30 days after a regulatory impact assessment and the report on the financial and unemployment effects on New Zealand\u2019s tallow to biodiesel industry have been presented to Parliament.\u201D That is a very, very good amendment, because at this time we are rushing through this bill without the opportunity to understand the regulatory impact, or the impact on employment or the finances and economy of New Zealand. As we have just heard, this is going to have a major impact not only on the small community of Waharoa, but also on the people of east T\u0101maki. The bio-diesel industry was an industry that was growing and taking off, and this bill is gutting it. As my colleague said, we could call this the \u201CGutting of the Bio-diesel Industry Bill\u201D, because that is what the bill does. I urge the Minister Gerry Brownlee to take a call and tell us whether he agrees with the Hon David Parker\u2019s amendment. It would be an opportunity to take some time over this bill and assess its impacts on the industry. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000439\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EWe have already heard today, in quite a startling development, that the Minister in charge of this bill, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, did not even read the information that came to him from the industry that would be most affected by it. That is an unbelievable situation when there is no select committee process for the bill. We have a situation where the Minister in charge of the bill is also the Leader of the House and he has a 100 percent record of putting bills through this Parliament that have not been to a select committee and have been taken under urgency. Here we have an industry that will go down the gurgler on this Government\u2019s watch\u2014an unbelievable situation. I urge Government members to at least take a call and tell us what they think of the Hon David Parker\u2019s amendment. I think it is an excellent amendment. It will give us the opportunity to understand the true impact of this law on the economy of New Zealand and on its industries. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000440\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EI also say that at an international level, this has been a week of shame for this country in terms of its environmental record, and this bill represents that. We have been proud of that record, rightly, but it is also important to our economy. We know that, internationally, buyers for supermarkets overseas and consumers who are thinking of coming to New Zealand as tourists all look to New Zealand to see us as a sustainable country. Yet we have seen, over the last 2 weeks, the Government take steps to suspend the emissions trading scheme\u2014we think; we are not sure about that\u2014to get rid of the biofuels obligation, and to get rid of insulation for homes. If we had those things, then we would be able to stand up on the world stage and say proudly that New Zealand is a country that takes sustainability seriously. We could get over the tyranny of distance by saying that we are a truly clean, green country. Yet we come here today to debate a bill that will repeal the biofuels obligation and remove the opportunity not only to create an industry in this area but also to continue to show that New Zealand is a country that is serious about addressing climate change. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000441\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EThis bill shows that National is not serious about addressing climate change, and it is certainly not serious about listening to the concerns of the industries affected by the bill. We can read the letter from Tom McNicholl, which Mr Brownlee decided not to read, and we can also hear from Sue Wood, talking about Tom McNicholl. It is perhaps hard for Mr McNicholl to talk about how he feels about this bill, but Sue Wood has very clearly stated that her client is devastated. The person she is working for is devastated. Yet Mr Brownlee was not even prepared to read the letter, to find out what was going on behind the scenes in this industry, and to make sure that someone like Mr McNicholl could contribute to New Zealand in the way he wants to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022 data-id=\u0022999ac84eeb1c44cda744116e534d45b6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022999ac84eeb1c44cda744116e534d45b6\u0022\u003ENATHAN GUY (Senior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022 data-id=\u00228ad810c84bf34d2584200a9624845857\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000443\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228ad810c84bf34d2584200a9624845857\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS (Labour\u2014Rimutaka):\u003C/span\u003E We could call this bill the \u201CClimate Change Denial Bill\u201D, as some of my colleagues have suggested, because, fundamentally, this bill comes down to a question of whether we believe in human-induced climate change. But, of course, Government members are taking a balanced view on these things these days, a very balanced view! One day they think it is a hoax, and the next day they believe in it. It is a balanced view. Tomorrow they will be back to thinking it is a hoax again, or maybe that is where they are today, because this bill, effectively, is Government members standing up and saying they still think that climate change is a hoax, they still do not believe in it, and they still do not think they need to do anything about it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000444\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EOr Government members could start talking about whether they believe in the development of alternative fuel sources. Do those members believe in doing that? We have not heard very much from the Minister in the chair, the Hon Gerry Brownlee. I wondered whether the Minister wants to step out of the House again and have Mr Williamson resume the chair, because I think we were getting a bit more engagement from him when he was sitting in the chair. [Interruption] That is right; we are getting a lot more engagement from Mr Williamson over on the backbenches. He is a Minister who believes in free speech, and I am sure he wanted this bill to go to the select committee so that he could have a say on it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000445\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022adcc7864ae3449a9b9b96b87e5808c4c\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: But Maurice doesn\u2019t believe in climate change.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000446\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c5c4380d640f4b26810303d375296e28\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, that is right. I am sure that Minister would like to have the opportunity, through the select committee process, to stand up and share with us his views on climate change. I think he would like to stand up and give us his views on climate change, because this is a very important bill. This is a very important issue for New Zealand; in fact, it is a defining issue for New Zealand. This bill is about whether we want to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Do we want to reduce our dependence on foreign oil? It appears that this Government does not. Do we believe that New Zealand\u2019s clean, green image is something worth protecting? It appears that this Government does not. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000447\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220143b81a540e4b47b92c369c0ca1b03a\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: Well, we do.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000448\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002294d045a6dec340c29e4c56fb5ac64955\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: It appears that this Government does not believe in New Zealand\u2019s clean, green image, but we do\u2014that is absolutely right. We in the Labour Party do; we think it is worth protecting. We will not enhance our environmentally friendly image by being fast followers. It appears that not only were we following but also we have turned around and we are going the other way. We are not turbocharging fast forward to the future, but we have hit the reverse button and we are going backwards. This bill severely undermines New Zealand\u2019s credibility on climate change. In fact, there are members of the Government who think it is a bad idea, as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000449\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWe are into inclusive government, so I thought I would share some of the views of members of the Government\u2014in fact, those of Peter Dunne, who stated: \u201CI am particularly disappointed for the domestic biofuel industry, which has for a long time signalled to me that unless Parliament enforced stiff regulatory legislation there would be no capacity to develop a domestically based tallow industry.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000450\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E That is from Peter Dunne, a member of the Government. It is quite a good statement, and I will share with members a little bit more: \u201CAs a result of National\u2019s repeal domestic suppliers will find themselves undercut by cheap, unsustainable imports, which will eventually force them out of the industry. The environmentally conscious biofuel consumer will be faced with an imported product with all of the source sustainability uncertainties that we are all actively trying to avoid. The repeal of this legislation means there is nothing to stop the importation of biofuel from cleared South-East Asian rainforests, from land that used to grow food for the poor people of the third world or from the United States\u2019 carbon-intensive ethanol market. While National claims its repeal is due to concerns about environmental protection and world food shortages, it is about to do the very thing that will potentially bury a 100 percent sustainable tallow-based biofuel industry right here in New Zealand.\u201D That was from Peter Dunne, a member of the Minister\u2019s Government. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000451\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWhy does the Minister in the chair, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, not stand up and explain to us why National wants to do that? The Minister is reading his papers very intently now. Perhaps he is reading the letter, at long last. Perhaps he will stand up, take the next call, and share with us his views on the letter, which he now appears to be reading. I very much look forward to hearing from that Minister. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000452\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003ELet us talk about some of the other things. This bill has not gone to a select committee, so I will share with the Committee some of the other people\u2019s views. They would like to have their voices heard. Brian Cox, the executive officer of the Bioenergy Association, stated: \u201CNew Zealand\u2019s ability to seize the opportunity to become self-sufficient in liquid biofuels for transport will be slowed if the biofuels obligation in current legislation is removed\u201D. He went on to state: \u201CInvestor confidence is key\u201D. I thought investor confidence was something National believed in.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000453\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225274acf6659247ee819578409bd9a3a9\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: No, only in theory.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000454\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eed4d9f3ee544e31a5bcc9dda581aeae\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, that is right; those members believe in it only in theory. Or is it another one of those things they believe in until they get into Government, and then they can change their minds on things? They can believe in all those lofty things about being pro-business when they are in Opposition, but when they get into Government they say: \u201COh, well, we will just change our minds; we will just do whatever we like, anyway.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000455\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022235cca9d7bda45ccae6d7047ddcbb01b\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: Some are all right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000456\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b2569cab71194e5987a3900f44f4e744\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Some are all right; that is right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022dc6c0f88-e781-476d-bca1-d1bf9b69302b\u0022 data-id=\u002232f43cbe88b64412afeed6bdf506fa49\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000457\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022dc6c0f88-e781-476d-bca1-d1bf9b69302b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002232f43cbe88b64412afeed6bdf506fa49\u0022\u003EAMY ADAMS (National\u2014Selwyn):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00228f3e469cb3d442468e73afaf64977163\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 59\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022 data-id=\u00223840c2d21f454be7b77516e6fe7b8cbe\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000458\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223840c2d21f454be7b77516e6fe7b8cbe\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: There is an amendment to clause 1 in the name of the Hon David Parker, which is ruled out of order as it is regarded as not being a serious amendment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022e8a15d3e51714a33a39b44456a9c4314\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That clause 1 be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 59\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EClause 1 agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022 data-id=\u00226f597fa395c64daaa9a829de33cacda3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000459\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226f597fa395c64daaa9a829de33cacda3\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: We now come to clause 2, and there is an amendment in the name of David Parker that seeks to change the commencement date. There are some concerns about it not setting a precise date, but on balance I think we will let the Committee decide the question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000460\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003EThe question was put that the following amendment in the name of the Hon David Parker to clause 2 be agreed to: \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000461\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003Eto omit this clause and substitute the following clause:\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000462\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003EThis Act shall not be submitted for Royal Assent until 30 days after a regulatory impact assessment and the report on the financial and unemployment effects on New Zealand\u2019s tallow to biodiesel industry have been presented to Parliament. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u002278f8d545c40c4f4890783711d8750ab8\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the amendment be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAmendment not agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u002208a0ec4dc8c048ce9594e2dbba293831\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That clause 2 be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 59\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EClause 2 agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u002286d8f49af6b145bea4975aad1f86c132\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That clause 3 be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 59\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EClause 3 agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u0022a0a3cf791cb844e6b295c72a72d86f3c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000463\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022a0a3cf791cb844e6b295c72a72d86f3c\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I bring to your notice that in the brace of votes we have just had, United Future\u2019s party vote was consistently recorded by one of the Government whips. In an earlier phase of the Committee of the whole House stage, the United Future vote was not recorded by the Government whip. That leads to two possibilities: the first is that United Future had a view that it wanted to vote only in the latter stages of the Committee of the whole House, and the second is that United Future\u2019s vote was not recorded even though the National Party whip was under instruction to record it. It seems to me that the latter of those two explanations is the more likely. Therefore, some of the votes recorded earlier in the Committee of the whole House stage may need to be adjusted. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022 data-id=\u00220c256d179e7e4d12a1898c069c0e9451\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000464\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220c256d179e7e4d12a1898c069c0e9451\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: That is not a point of order. The votes are matters for the whips, and it has always been the acceptance of this House that the whips are accurately recording the votes and casting the votes in accordance with a party\u2019s wishes. What those wishes may or may not be at that time is for that party to determine, not for the House. The record stands unless the whips come back and say that they have made a mistake, and that is not the case at this point. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000465\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003EHouse resumed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000466\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003EBill reported without amendment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022 data-id=\u0022fc4eea88b5a540879055f53f403c56f9\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000467\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022fc4eea88b5a540879055f53f403c56f9\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: I move, That the report be adopted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00221caeb6e9683f493499bf50f394a1a417\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the report be adopted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 59\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EReport adopted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000468\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00222151c0f503c641b7998280adc98f9975\u0022\u003EThird Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u00223b794ad80be44e0ba5c148ed1d9350ee\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000469\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223b794ad80be44e0ba5c148ed1d9350ee\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill be now read a third time. Hearing this debate, one would think that this bill was about shutting down the biofuels industry in New Zealand. That has to be the most hysterical reaction to this particular bill that I could possibly imagine. I am staggered at the claim that the 20,000 litres of biofuel produced in New Zealand right now will not, apparently, be produced the moment that this bill passes its third reading. I do not believe that. I think that, in fact, the biofuels industry in New Zealand has a very bright future indeed. What I, my party, and others who support this bill do not accept is that the only way New Zealanders will embrace biofuels is if the Government insists they become the compulsory customers of certain companies inside New Zealand. That is not a reasonable way to progress a move that is designed to improve New Zealand\u2019s carbon footprint.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000470\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EIn the Committee stage the Opposition kept on talking about the prospect of biofuels reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Well, there is a prospect that that might happen, but let us be very clear: to meet even the one-half percentage obligation would require some 60 million litres of bio-diesel. To get up to the full extent of the obligation in 4 years\u2019 time would take over 300 million litres of bio-diesel. At the moment, this country produces 20 million litres, so it would be decades\u2014decades\u2014before we reached the position that would see us, through biofuel, non-dependent on foreign oil. Of course, oil discovery in New Zealand may advance that position much more quickly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000471\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EWhat we need is a programme in this country that encourages the development of biofuels, and that ensures that the development of that industry is met by a market willing to take that fuel, and I am confident we can have that situation in New Zealand. Interestingly, we have it now, but I think we could expand it quite considerably.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000472\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe Opposition has also said that we are doing away with the option of producing standards for the sustainable production of biofuels. That is simply a total red herring. In fact, the principal Act, the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Act 1989, requires that those sustainable standards are put in place.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000473\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b44cff3c2702436884be15ec06306c9a\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: No, it does not.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000474\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c132fc3436354861b607aa5014c36b6c\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Parker, I am reliably informed, is a guy who has always had his own view on these things.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000475\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EIt also means that the work now being done by New Zealand Government officials to develop those standards will continue, and those standards will be promulgated as soon as they are available. That has got to be a good thing, because it will mean that New Zealanders can be sure that when they are pouring this new fuel into their tanks they are doing something to reduce the nation\u2019s carbon footprint.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000476\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThere is a huge amount of international condemnation of biofuel produced in other parts of the world. As I said before, we would need 60 million litres in the current year to meet the obligation put on the oil companies. We cannot do it from inside this country.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000477\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002260fc525ef2f944a49ccfc847f7400285\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: Read the letter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000478\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002248c73a8b1b1745c281b9792906240b11\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: There are those who say we can do it; well, where is the production now? It is no good saying that if the provision goes ahead we can do it, because the obligation is there right now. It has been there from 1 October 2008.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000479\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022881652b152514905845b233397fc2c3d\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s 0.5 percent this year, 1 percent next year. And this guy is doing it, and you\u2019re putting him out of business.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000480\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bd4656ee0c734067b07b4bd1674c5700\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: The member has made a lot of fun and games about the letter sent by the gentleman who has the plant in T\u0101maki and is proposing to build more plant. I have read that letter. He has put his case very succinctly, but from his perspective. I have made the offer, through Sue Wood, to talk to him. It has been rejected. I cannot do much more than that. I cannot be fairer than that. The fact is that the biofuel obligation cannot be met in New Zealand without the importation of biofuels. I know that under the current law the opportunity for the big oil companies to have their obligation pushed out exists, and that request would have come over my desk in no time at all.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000481\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EAlso, it is a little bit staggering that those in the industry who say that it is being destroyed, and that they could have produced enough biofuel inside New Zealand, actually did not have watertight, non-breakable contracts with the oil companies. If they could not get that sorted out in the period that the obligation has been in place, then what was the chance it might have been sorted out any time soon?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000482\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI have said that I think biofuels do have a big future. I quite like the idea that a cleaner fuel would be available for many of the activities in New Zealand that require the burning of diesel. I point to Solid Energy\u2019s approach. It has an experiment involving a fishing fleet in Wellington. That fishing fleet is 100 percent fuelled by bio-diesel, and that is a great use of that fuel. Those on the boats like it. The fuel has proved to be very, very reliable. If something goes wrong, if the tank leaks or the boat spills some of the fuel, then, because it is biofuel, it simply becomes fish food and does not do any environmental damage. That is a great use of it. Those sorts of things will develop.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000483\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI note also that the company that Mr Leay heads up has had a product tested by Boeing. It announced that in the market just recently. The fuel is an algal-based biofuel. Quite interestingly, a barrel of that particular biofuel has about a 33 percent jet-fuel capacity. That is fantastic, and I am sure that technology will develop as time goes on.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000484\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EOne can go through all of the biofuel companies, look at what they are doing, and see a clear picture of how they might progress their industry. But their coming to the Government and saying that they can make the progress they want to make only if Parliament chooses to give them customers by compulsion is not a particularly good way to go about it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000485\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThen there is the issue that has been advanced by our opponents that if this bill passes, the country will be flooded by unsustainably produced biofuels. Well, hang on, let us work that out. They are saying that without this bill there will be no biofuel industry, which would tend to mean there are no users, but they say that somehow the country will be flooded with imported biofuel. I do not accept that for one moment. Some of the arguments mounted on the other side of the House have been, to say the least, very, very inconsistent.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000486\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EWhat we will do is ensure that there is a sustainable standard for the import of biofuels to be used in the production of biofuels in New Zealand. And I will say this: when this bill passes later this afternoon, the 20 million litres a year of biofuel produced in this country right now will still have markets and will still be sold, and there will be more people looking for more of it as time goes by. We most certainly encourage that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u00223c53882b597d49df879b52101272a70a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000487\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223c53882b597d49df879b52101272a70a\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E The Minister of Energy and Resources, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, did not take one call of substance during the whole of the Committee stage of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. He was exposed this morning as not having read the very important correspondence from BioDiesel Oils (NZ) Ltd\u2014a company that this legislation may put out of business with the loss of 46 full-time jobs and the loss of $10 million of capital investment and research and development expenditure. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000488\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EAs he gave his third reading speech he made another error that really disturbed me. He said that the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Act already requires sustainability standards, even when the detailed sustainability provisions have been taken out of it by this bill. He is wrong\u2014he is just wrong, and he does not understand the legislation. An empowering provision in the Act allows sustainability regulations to be developed to ban the importation of unsustainable biofuels, but the provision is a power, not an obligation. The obligation arose in the provisions that will be taken out by this very bill, and it disturbs me that the Minister does not understand that fundamental point. This is Mr Brownlee, who has been on Radio New Zealand National saying that National\u2019s real reason for introducing this repeal legislation was that it did not want to see unsustainable biofuels imported into New Zealand. This bill makes a nonsense of that argument. He does not understand his legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000489\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI want to return to a higher level in this debate. I will not now traverse the issues of the terrible injustice that has been done to some biofuel producers in New Zealand, but I will restate the reality that if biofuels were going to happen by themselves, they would have happened by now. It is easier for oil companies not to incorporate biofuels in their fuel stream, and that is why they do not. They have ample capacity to deploy 100 percent mineral oil and mineral oil - based petrol and diesel. They do not need to include biofuels, and it is a bit of a hassle for them to do so. That is partly because they have to buy product from some other company. They like to have vertical integration of all parts of the supply chain and to have the profit stream that flows through to them as a consequence, so they will not deliver biofuels unless they have to. That is why the mandatory obligation was necessary. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000490\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe approach is similar to that taken in a lot of other countries. The approach being taken in New Zealand was a very moderate one\u20140.5 percent biofuel required in the first year. Again, Mr Brownlee has it quite wrong. He pretended only 20,000 litres of biofuel per annum would be available in New Zealand, yet evidence has been read into this Parliament\u2019s record that a factory in Auckland is already capable of producing 10 million litres per annum, and an additional factory under construction in Waharoa is capable of producing 60 million litres per annum of bio-diesel from tallow, which is the most environmentally prudent source of biofuel in the world according to the UN and most of the ecologists who follow these issues. Again, it is a misnomer to suggest that if the mandatory obligation had stayed in place unsustainable biofuels would have come into the country. They would not have. From now\u2014from 1 October this year\u2014companies have to report the source of their biofuels. No fuel company will put its reputation at risk by importing unsustainable biofuels in the short period prior to the implementation of the detailed regulations that were to be promoted under the sustainability provisions and that are already quite detailed in the legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000491\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EWhat was the import of the biofuels obligation? Most people in the world\u2014as well as the National Government\u2014say that they are convinced that human-induced climate change is real and that we need to reduce emissions. It is very hard for New Zealand to reduce emissions in agriculture. It can be done, but there are no substantial ground-breaking alternatives to cows that do not produce methane. We can reduce the rate of emission but we cannot avoid emissions altogether. Some substitutionary technologies in energy can avoid greenhouse gas emissions, and one of them is biofuels.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000492\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003ESitting suspended from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000493\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a10ff635a0754928bf87a7491f8aeba6\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Before lunchtime I briefly recounted how the Hon Gerry Brownlee is still mistaken as to the effect of this legislation, as shown in his third reading speech. He said that after the repeal of the sustainability clauses in the current legislation there will still be a requirement for biofuels coming into the country to meet sustainability standards, when that plainly is not the case. He further said that there will be a requirement for the new Government to develop sustainability standards. That is not the case, either. The legislation is permissive and allows standards to be developed, but there is no guarantee that there will be a requirement to do so, and there is no prohibition on unsustainable biofuels being imported in the meantime. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000494\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI also highlighted that the Minister, when sitting in the chair, acknowledged that he had not read the statements that came from one of the major producers of bio-diesel from tallow. Correspondence that had been sent to his ministry on 2 December was copied to his office on two further occasions, yet on no occasion did he read it. Indeed, it appeared obvious that until we provided him with a copy of it this morning he had not read the correspondence. The reason I highlight that is that I think it is tragic that the effects of this legislation on that industry are going completely over his head. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000495\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EHe did not read the important correspondence, which showed that as a consequence of this legislation the $10 million investment made by Mr McNicholl\u2019s company in production of bio-diesel from tallow is likely to fail, the plant will be mothballed, and the people who would be employed at the East T\u0101maki factory and the Waharoa factory will presumably be either laid off or not employed. A total of 46 full-time employees were intended to be in place by the early part of next year, to operate on a 24-hour basis this very large facility that was going to be producing, between the two sites, a total of 70 million litres per annum of bio-diesel from tallow\u2014a by-product of the livestock processing industry. The amount produced by that company alone during the first 2 years would have been more than enough to meet the mandatory prescription in the legislation. It was achievable. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000496\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EMr McNicholl\u2019s letter describes how giving biofuels a tax break equivalent to the tax break that we have given ethanol\u2014relieving ethanol from excise duty is equivalent to a 42c per litre tax advantage for ethanol\u2014is not the answer. We did not think it was necessary to bring the tax break forward for tallow if there was a mandatory obligation. But in the absence of a mandatory obligation, it is obvious that the oil companies will do just as much as they have in the past\u2014very little\u2014to introduce biofuels. Gull Petroleum has produced a little, but the major oil companies have not done much to incorporate it in their fuel streams. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000497\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EWe tried to pass an amendment that would have made good the National Party promise that it would give equivalent relief or assistance to the bio-diesel industry. I proposed an amendment to that effect. This very simple amendment gave to sellers of bio-diesel relief of 42c per litre of bio-diesel sold, and credited it against the levies that were payable under the Act. Again, both the National Party and the ACT Party opposed that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000498\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIt is interesting that this bill is opposed by Peter Dunne, by the M\u0101ori Party, by the Greens, and by the Labour Party. We all see the injustice that is being done, in addition to the environmental back step\u2014one of many that are being taken by the Government at the moment, be they on biofuels or on something else. For instance, the next piece of legislation to be considered, the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill, makes it easier to build coal-fired power plants, amends the Resource Management Act, and abandons efforts to hasten insulation and other improvements\u2014such as efficient light bulbs\u2014to energy efficiency in homes, which should be encouraged. This is to say nothing of the suspension of the emissions trading scheme and the job losses that have already occurred in the forestry industry and the carbon service industry as a consequence. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000499\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EHowever, those consequences stand small in comparison with the environmental damage that is being done. The economic consequences of this bill are bad enough, but I hang my head in despair that this Government is far from building on our fine traditions as a country of doing the right thing in respect of these issues and of taking sensible, but not costly, decisions that improve the environment and also create new jobs. The Government is ruining all that through the repeal of the biofuel obligation. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u002295f16f6da51246efb5ef168246bc63b4\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000500\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002295f16f6da51246efb5ef168246bc63b4\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E It seems to me that over the last 2 weeks the economic direction in this country has been set, and it has changed from where it was in previous years. Generally speaking, it seems to me that our approach to economic development and to progress as a nation is starting to regress. We are going backwards, not forwards. We are becoming dumber, not smarter. We are becoming unsustainable, not sustainable. We are becoming antagonistic to new technology instead of embracing new technology. We are in denial of the global mega-trends instead of mindful of them.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000501\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EIt is almost as though climate change is some sort of grand intellectual global plot that this Government feels it needs to pay some homage to, because it is a vote maximiser. Actually, to do as little as possible is the mindset that the Government is in. That appears to me to be what has happened in recent weeks. It started last week with the repeal of tax credits for all research and development in New Zealand. That in itself has set the scene for an economic direction that will be based on volume, not value, and based on making sure we are technology followers, not technology leaders. That is hard enough, and difficult enough, to swallow.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000502\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThen what happened was that the climate change policy of the new Government altered between election day and the formation of the Government, and it altered very substantially. It altered in the sense that the Government\u2019s position when it was trying to win an election was that it would amend the existing emissions trading scheme. Now we have this so-called high-level select committee that is taking us back to the drawing board to see whether we think climate change is of much consequence. This committee will look at what everyone else thinks about it, what the big global take on it is, what we think about the science, and whether we are to have a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme. As a result there has been a whole lot of lost investment in this country, and the economic consequences of that are measurable and have come to book.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EAs a result of the delay in emissions trading\u2014if we ever get emissions trading back under this Government\u2014we have also seen a delay in the retrofitting of all of our pre-1977 houses. This country is full of very, very cold dogboxes. It is a country in which the graphs for admissions to hospitals in the winter months for various bronchitic diseases are much, much more severe than they are in, say, Britain or Sweden, where there is not a seasonal rash of admissions or a seasonal death pattern. There is a seasonal death pattern that exists in New Zealand that does not exist in those parts of the northern hemisphere. Even though the climate in those areas is colder than ours, those countries none the less have much better building stock and pay much better attention to housing standards. We had an opportunity to fix that, and it has gone out the window. That is a very, very significant change indeed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000504\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWe have had some other changes, and one that we are debating right now is how we are going to put an end to biofuels. Right through the debate on the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill, the Minister of Energy and Resources, Gerry Brownlee, has clung tight to the sophistry that he is not doing biofuels in the eye and that they will be able to proceed, even though the requirement for a sales mandate is being abolished as a result of this legislation. Evidence has been adduced by the Opposition to show that the Minister is wrong. The evidence is really clear, and it comes from the industry itself. It comes in the form of letters, and one of those letters in particular has been read out in full during the Committee stage of this debate. It stated without any hesitation that the industry could not go ahead without this sales mandate.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000505\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe Government\u2019s reason for not proceeding with biofuels legislation that uses a sales mandate is that it is ideologically opposed to it. The Government is ideologically opposed to a sales mandate because it thinks it is coercive. Of course it is coercive. If we want to start something that has resistance from some of the largest multinationals in the world, then we have to put our foot down, just as we have to coerce oil companies to take sulphur out of petrol, too much benzene out of petrol, or lead out of petrol. We have to show them we mean it; if we do not, they will continue to colonise us. That is what will now happen: those companies will sell mineral oil in this country, pure and simple, for the foreseeable future. There will be no beginning of the switch to an alternative, even though we know that oil is a finite resource, that sooner or later it will run out, that before it runs out its price will go up, and that it will then go up in price again. These things are now being ignored, and newly so. I do not think I can recall a Western nation that has taken a step against biofuels. A number have failed to take any steps towards biofuels, but I cannot think of a Western nation that has got up and said: \u201CWe are going to axe progress on biofuels.\u201D I do not know of one, and that it is a shameful position for us to be in.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000506\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe real problem is that the Government\u2019s arguments against biofuels are so weak. They have no balance to them, they have no substance to them, they have no logic to them, and they hold together badly\u2014so much so that the Government was forced, in order to fill its speaking time, to come up with a bunch of stuff that were red herrings. The debate that we have had in the last day has shown them to be red herrings. I guess the one that comes to mind, and it will do as an example, is the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment\u2019s assertion that the Biofuel Bill, as introduced, was a bad bill. Well, at the end of the day, no one in the House disagreed with the commissioner. Certainly, no one on the Local Government and Environment Committee disagreed with the commissioner. As that bill went through the House there was awareness that the price of food and the price of oil ran the risk of becoming linked, and that that would be a bad thing because a person\u2019s Sunday drive would be responsible for someone else not eating. So the members of the select committee, and a few others who were advising from the outside, moved to address that and to put sustainability descriptions into our primary legislation that are the most advanced in the world. Underneath that primary legislation, further regulation was to be developed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000507\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe next bit of sophistry that came from the Minister was the claim that the regulations were too hard. Is it not interesting that official advice has apparently flip-flopped in the space of one general election campaign? We were in Government not so long ago, and when we were in Government the advice was: \u201CWe will be ready by July.\u201D Now, it seems, it will take far too long, so the country most advanced in putting in legislative policy involving biofuels for such a future is the one country that is about to back off and say: \u201CSquare one is good for us. Going back to the point of zero is where we want to be.\u201D So we now have a Government that has already started to show a pattern. The Government is only a few weeks old, but the pattern is to go back to the future. The pattern is to say: \u201CLet us find the reverse gear and depress the accelerator as far as we dare.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000508\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThis is dreadful legislation. It is dreadful because it does damage to this, that, or the other company; it is dreadful because of job losses; it is dreadful because it takes us backwards; and it is dreadful because it leaves us ill-prepared for the future.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000509\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EIf we think of the first charge on any Government, we know that it is to defend the realm. In this country we do not have big threats of marauding hordes coming from Indonesia. Our threats are the external shocks of climate change and oil depletion, and we have decided in this House today to see whether we can ignore those as possible threats. That is shameful\u2014it is shameful. The biofuels legislation that is about to be ditched was modest enough, but it was a start. It was a good start. There was an industrial development response to that start, and there was a capital investment response to that start, but now it is going up in smoke. It is going up in the smoke generated by mineral oil, and that is not the future; it is the past.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022 data-id=\u0022622a41627bca44e8bf0c35ff328f216b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000510\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022622a41627bca44e8bf0c35ff328f216b\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment):\u003C/span\u003E It amazed me that the member Pete Hodgson talked about shameful policy. I will begin my contribution on this biofuels bill by reciting for members opposite their actual record on climate change. When they came to Government in 1999 New Zealand\u2019s emissions were 68 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. In 2000 that figure went up by 1.9 million tonnes. If we go a further few years forward, we see that in 2003 that figure went up by 2.5 million tonnes. If we look in terms of the most recent data, we see that the figure went up by 2.9 million tonnes. For all the talk of members opposite about carbon neutrality, their climate change record was one not just of increasing emissions but also of an increasing rate of an increase in emissions. In fact, during the previous Labour Government\u2019s period in office of 9 years the rate of growth of greenhouse gas emissions was almost double what it had been in the preceding 9 years under a National administration. So when I hear a former climate change Minister like Pete Hodgson saying that we, who have been in Government for not yet 5 weeks, should be ashamed, I say that he should reflect on his own record. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000511\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThis biofuels amendment bill does exactly what National went to the electorate on in the 2008 election and said we would do. We have a mandate for this change, and I tell the House that it is appropriate we pass this bill under urgency because there is the real risk of a waste of public money being invested in infrastructure, which will not apply if we get on and get the law straight in respect of biofuels. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000512\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe first point that is critical in any debate around biofuels is whether it will do good. I could quote Time magazine, the United Nations, the OECD, and the world food organisation, which this year have all expressed real concern that biofuels are doing more harm than good.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000513\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228d97edded78b4af0a670409d79555592\u0022\u003EHon Pete Hodgson\u003C/span\u003E: What is the world food organisation? Where is its headquarters?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000514\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002241a7804e97294bef94d1d14d9b343301\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Well, the member opposite wants to quibble about what those organisations are. Let me go through them again. The United Nations Secretary-General has urged member countries not to impose mandatory requirements for biofuels. Our very own Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has said that a compulsory biofuels requirement will do harm to New Zealand\u2019s clean and green reputation, and members on this side of the House agree with that caution. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000515\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI also want to pop the balloon that has been put forward that says that somehow the previous Government provided for a sustainability standard. It did no such thing. The select committee was asked to develop a sustainability standard, and when the officials said that it was pretty difficult and that the European Community had been trying to do this for 5 years and it could not get there, do members know what the Government members decided to do?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000516\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022328a115a58104b1a8e058f309615546f\u0022\u003EChris Auchinvole\u003C/span\u003E: What did they do?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000517\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223d3f02a1e91a4e1b86ebf2a0ec2e8f4a\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: They said: \u201CLet us kick it to the officials. Let us get the officials to sort it out. It is too hard.\u201D, and the officials came up with some highbrow principles. I say to this Parliament that it is so easy to have highbrow principles, but what is needed is the pragmatic ability to have regulations that work. They do not exist, and it is an indictment on the previous Government that it introduced a compulsion for biofuels without actually having a sustainability standard in place. It was one of those classic examples of putting the cart before the horse. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000518\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EMembers opposite have said the problem is that some biofuel companies would like the compulsory requirement. I bet they would! I would love it if this Parliament were to pass a bill to compel people to use my particular product. I brew a drop of home brew and it is an excellent organic drop. I would love it if this Parliament were to pass a bill to deal to those big corporate beer companies and require them to include a blend of 0.5 percent of \u201CNick Smith\u2019s Home Brew Beer\u201D. I would love to see such a bill passed. I could justify it, because my beer is particularly good, and I think it should be better valued by Parliament. But does Parliament really think that such a law would be good law? It would be a nonsense. For members opposite to simply say that because some biofuel company would like a compulsion to buy its product and that that somehow is good law, is a very pathetic advance. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000519\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe real difference in approach around the issue of biofuels is this. The first thing is that this Government is open about the fact that this House of Representatives will not be the one that finds the answer to the challenge around climate change and new fuels. I honestly do not know whether the answer will be hydrogen vehicles, electric vehicles, biofuels, or some other technology that has not yet been invented. I do say to this Parliament that when we try to pre-guess what that answer is, we are pretending we have a level of knowledge that we do not have. We should not try to pick winners\u2014like biofuels. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000520\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI would love it if the next speaker explained why we would compel biofuels but not electric cars. I personally believe that electric cars will be a bigger part of the future than biofuels. I think that Parliament should say that we have a transition to make to new renewable technologies and that we need to provide a kick-start and some incentives for them. The answer is not to compel any one of those technologies but to provide a consistent financial incentive to move to them. The idea that Parliament could prescribe that the exact answer is for New Zealand to have 2.5 percent biofuels by 2012, in my view, was quite ridiculous. The proposal from the Minister to look at an excise tax advantage that would then allow that to flow through does make a lot more sense. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000521\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe second point I will deal with is the issue of cost. Officials have made a prediction, but nobody knows the proper price. It depends on the sustainability standard, but we do not know what it is yet. If the sustainability standard is very narrow and tight, then the price will be quite high. If the sustainability standard is very loose and very open, then the price will be quite inexpensive. But if we take a moderate view of it, it is about 4c a litre. Each cent on a litre of gas costs $60 million, so we are talking about a $240 million cost being put on to consumers for this biofuels incentive of a teeny-weeny little percentage. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000522\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EAs the Minister responsible for Climate Change Issues, I put it to this House that the biggest contribution New Zealand can make to this huge challenge of climate change is around the technology to reduce the methane from agricultural emissions. Do members know that we are spending just $4 million on research and technology to solve that problem? How many members in this House can put hand on heart and say that putting a cost of $240 million on to the economy for biofuels, while we spend just $4 million on agricultural emissions from farm animals\u2014the real elephant in the room around climate change\u2014is a sensible programme? In my view it is completely disproportionate and out of order with what is logical. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000523\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe last challenge I would have for members opposite is simply to go back to their record on climate change. Can any member opposite name for me a country that has had a larger increase in emissions than New Zealand has had over the last 9 years? Can they name any country\u2014any? The reality is that the previous Government had the very worst record, and the few countries that may have had a worse record most of us have never heard of. I think it is about time that members opposite made some apologies for their appalling record on climate change, before they lecture this Government about its sensible programme.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022 data-id=\u0022039ec834f14d48a29bb1fd0387438261\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000524\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022039ec834f14d48a29bb1fd0387438261\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader\u2014Green):\u003C/span\u003E I have to begin with that last point from Dr Nick Smith. As he well knows, New Zealand\u2019s greenhouse emissions rose fast under the National Government of the 1990s and they rose faster under the Labour Government of the 2000s, for one simple reason\u2014that is, the economy grew faster under Labour than it did under National. I make no excuses on the grounds of economic growth; the climate does not care how fast the economy grows. And it did take the Labour Government a long time to realise it had to take some action. But finally the Labour Government took some action. It put in place some provisions to reduce our greenhouse emissions\u2014very late, nevertheless it did it. But what is the first thing the National Government has done? It has repealed the lot of them. Well, maybe that is a lesson to Labour\u2014that a Government has to do things early in the term if it wants them to stick. But the fact is that we did get some good policy, and now it has gone.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000525\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EI begin my third reading speech on the bill to abolish the biofuel obligation by reading a little bit from the briefing to the incoming Minister of Transport. This is what the Minister was told by the Ministry of Transport: \u201CReliance on fossil fuels to power transport leaves New Zealand exposed to the expected rises in oil prices due to increased demand, and a supply that many forecasts suggest will peak between 2010 and 2020.\u201D The Ministry of Transport has finally got on board with peak oil! \u201CTo help our society and economy adjust to the true cost of using oil and emitting carbon dioxide, the transport sector must improve energy efficiency and shift to energy sources and modes of transport that are more sustainable and over which we have more control. New Zealand is relatively well placed to generate electricity from renewable sources, has good sources of first-generation biofuels in limited volumes, and is developing sources of environmentally friendly second-generation biofuels. Making the most of our opportunities will be an important focus of the ministry\u2019s activity over the coming decade.\u201D Well, it looks as though the ministry will not have that opportunity.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000526\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EI note that despite that briefing from officials, the new Minister of Transport has not spoken once in this debate. Would we not think that an incoming Minister of Transport would be interested in a debate about what vehicles in New Zealand will be running on in the future? But he has not contributed one thing to this debate, and I find that sad. No one in Government, in fact, has spoken up for our need to reduce dependence on imported oil. No one has spoken up on our need for fuel security at least in an emergency\u2014to have enough fuel to get food to the supermarkets and to maintain emergency services. I have to say to Dr Smith that electric cars will not do that. No one from the Government has spoken up on the need to encourage science, innovation, and entrepreneurship, which will lead to second-generation sustainable biofuels in New Zealand. That is an area where New Zealand has a big competitive advantage. Nobody over there has recognised the importance to business confidence of being able to rely on a law. Those issues have been left to the Greens.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000527\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EBiofuels are not the saviour of the world. They are not the whole answer to climate change, and nobody has ever pretended that they are, but they are part of it. New Zealand is particularly well placed because of our large land area and good growing climate, and because of the wastes that occur from our agricultural industry. There are good biofuels and bad biofuels, and the way to distinguish them is with a sustainability standard, but the Government is repealing detailed instructions for writing that sustainability standard. Nick Smith, in all his speeches, and the Minister as well, insists on conflating the United Nations\u2019 concern about the effects of ethanol grown from subsidised corn in the US with the effects of bio-diesel made from tallow in New Zealand, but they are as different as chalk and cheese. To be for one does not mean that one is for the other.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000528\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Government position is based on an aversion to mandatory means, but we already mandate the composition of motor fuel. We already mandate sulphur levels, the lack of lead, and a whole lot of specifications around volatility and combustibility. What is so different in mandating 2.5 percent of renewable composition? Nick Smith again knowingly misrepresented the situation by saying that it was equivalent to compelling oil companies to buy Tom McNicholl\u2019s product. Well, he knows that is not true. It is equivalent to requiring oil companies to buy some renewable fuel. Tom McNicholl has to compete with everybody else on whether his product is the one that makes it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000529\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EI thought that one benefit of this debate was that the Minister, Gerry Brownlee, was learning some stuff from all the contributions in the House. But I heard his third reading speech and I am afraid I was wrong, because he still does not grasp the most important point of this whole debate. He is taking an economics 101 approach that says if the demand is there, the market will provide. If we are talking baked beans or shoes, that is correct, but in this case the market will not provide, and here is why. First of all, oil companies will never demand biofuels. Why should they? They have their own product. They are not the consumer. As oil prices rise, they will just put up the price of what they sell. So there will never be demand from oil companies for biofuels until oil wells are physically incapable of delivering enough oil.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000530\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EMembers should remember that the briefing to the incoming Minister of Transport\u2014and a very conservative briefing at that\u2014says that that time will be from 2010 to 2020. If it is 2010, we need to have infrastructure in place now, but we are not going to have that. As well, when oil wells are incapable of delivering enough oil it will be very hard to import biofuels, because everyone will want them. We may not even have our own tallow at that stage in order to set up an industry, because it may well be under long-term contracts for export to China, where the Chinese will be making biofuels out of it for their people, because tallow will be a valuable ingredient. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000531\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee thinks that because Fonterra and Gull Petroleum have a contract to sell 22,000 litres of ethanol, that shows that it can be done. Well, they had a bit of surplus feedstock, they were already making ethanol, and Gull Petroleum was expecting a legal obligation, so it got in first. It was a marketing strategy; it was a one-off, drop in the bucket, little bit of ethanol blended with petrol, and it will be the last of that kind because the company did it expecting an obligation. If a company is building a biofuels plant, will it invest under the law as the law is going to be in a few minutes? Well, it will not if it is making ethanol, because ethanol cannot be sold here as a fuel unless it is blended, and oil companies will not be providing blending facilities. Most vehicles cannot run on pure ethanol, so companies will not be proceeding with trying to make ethanol from waste wood for the same reason, and that research will go overseas. If a company is making bio-diesel, it may focus on whether it can make direct sales, such as to the fishing fleet we have heard a lot about. When oil is $150 a barrel, companies will get orders, and when oil is $49 a barrel, as it is now, they will not get orders, and nobody will build a plant when there is a stop-go market that depends on the fluctuation of international oil prices. So when oil hits $200 a barrel, there will be no industry, and maybe no feed stocks.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000532\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Minister even says that oil discovery in New Zealand may reduce our dependence on foreign oil faster. Well, I am sorry, but I tell him that oil discovered in New Zealand will not belong to us. It will not necessarily be refined here, and it will be sold on the world market. We will have as much ability to buy it here as we have to buy any other oil in the world. It is frightening that as we get so close to peak oil we have a Minister of Energy and Resources who does not know that. He says we cannot meet our obligations within New Zealand without imports, so let us look at the arithmetic. The first company has 10 million litres now, with 60 million litres under construction, making 70 million litres in all. If we add eco-diesel, we have 20 million litres now, with 20 million litres coming online next year. When we add BioDiesel Oils (NZ), 70 million litres are planned and under way. I tell Mr Brownlee that a total of 280 million litres a year by 2010 is already in the pipeline, and that is almost the 300 million litres the Minister said we would need in 2012. That is without any wood or any algal biofuels. Clearly we can do it within New Zealand. The quantities in the Act are designed to keep pace with what we can do in New Zealand, but all of that careful thought to give just enough encouragement to a New Zealand industry is being wiped away by this legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022 data-id=\u00223971e1a65925429a904aebc0ae1796f3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000533\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223971e1a65925429a904aebc0ae1796f3\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT (ACT):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to speak on the third reading of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. As members of the House clearly know, ACT is committed to supporting National\u2019s first 100-day plan as laid out in the document My key commitments to you. The caucus and I intend to honour that pledge. Having said that, I say I have listened to the contributions from the Opposition members with interest. As a new member of the House I was not involved in the debate surrounding biofuels last year. During the debate over this last day, I have personally come to see some considerable sense in what has been said by members on the opposite side of the House. I stress that that is my personal position and view, and that the ACT Party is committed to supporting the Government. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000534\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EI am glad to hear that Labour members recognise that some biofuels would dramatically increase fuel prices worldwide, particularly hurting the 1 billion people who survive on less than $1 a day. I hear Ms Fitzsimons\u2019 distinction\u2014and I hear it loud and clear\u2014between various biofuels, and I hear her point that not all biofuels are alike. I am pleased to hear that both Labour and the Greens recognise the negative impacts of some biofuels\u2014in particular, those produced from corn and rapeseed, which have been shown to contribute higher levels of greenhouse gases than fossil fuels. Certainly from my personal perspective, bio-diesel produced from tallow in New Zealand appears to provide a number of benefits over the use of fossil fuels or fuels produced from what were once food crops. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000535\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EIt is clear to me from listening to the debate that biofuels warrant further investigation, and my hope is that over the next 3 years the Government, with help from its support partners, my party and the M\u0101ori Party, can come up with a common-sense approach to this issue: a common-sense approach that will allow the development of biofuels that contribute to lower levels of pollutants in our environment but do not cause unintended consequences. It should be an approach that will allow the development of biofuels that will not lead to further price rises being imposed on those who can least afford that, and, most important, an approach that will allow the development of a biofuels industry in New Zealand based on good science and good economic sense. That, I am afraid, is where I and my colleagues opposite diverge. Their feeling, and it seems to be shared wholeheartedly by the Greens, is that biofuels, in order to be viable, require regulation and compulsion. ACT agrees with the Government view that using compulsion to create a captive pool of customers is a bad idea. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000536\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EWith regard to the letter from Mr McNicholl, I read it with considerable interest and I noticed a couple of things. I think that maybe it was not very well expressed. He says that without the biofuel obligation, the business case for BioDiesel Oils (NZ) would have been weak from the start. But BioDiesel Oils (NZ) appears to have been set up in 1998, so I assume he means the project to produce bio-diesel from tallow. The other point is that Mr McNicholl\u2014understandably\u2014has some concerns. He has relied on a captive market being delivered to him, which is now going to be removed. Well, I am afraid that is business. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000537\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EMr Brownlee has made the point very well that the bio-diesel that is produced now is being sold somewhere, and that it has been sold for some time. And we are not talking about a couple of truckloads; 10 million litres is a huge amount. ACT does not agree that mandatory limits need to be put in place. One point that has not been made is that if bio-diesel is a sustainable product at a good price, all the supporters of the Green Party will flock to buy it. They have sincerely held philosophical beliefs in sustainability, so if bio-diesel is available they will buy it. I am prepared to admit that I have learnt something and have refined my knowledge, which was limited, in this area. I would hope that the members opposite might learn something and see that mandatory levels are not a particularly good way to go. Clearly there is merit in tallow-based biofuels, and that is an option that New Zealand companies should be taking seriously. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000538\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EOne point that Ms Fitzsimons made, your Honour\u2014I am sorry, Mr Assistant Speaker; it is a long habit and is hard to break\u2014was that oil companies will not develop this industry because they do not need to. In the short term that is right, of course; they have a vested interest in protecting their mineral oil market. But one crucial thing is that oil companies are not stupid. I heard Ms Mackey say she had worked for one. Well, I worked for 10 years of my life in the oil industry, and I think she would probably agree with me that the one thing the oil companies are not, is stupid. They all know that we will eventually run short of oil. It is becoming more and more expensive. Peak oil is not going to happen in 2010 or 2020, but it will happen. And if the oil companies do not go down the route of supplying biofuels, their competitors will. We have already seen\u2014and it is a minor marketing point perhaps\u2014that BP changed its identity some years ago from British Petroleum to Beyond Petroleum. All right, that is a marketing ploy, but it illustrates that the company recognises that diversity will have to happen and it will have to source liquid fuels from sources other than 10,000 feet below the ground. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000539\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EHaving said all of that, as I said, my personal view is that work needs to be done on biofuels. I think much of merit has been said by members on the other side of the House, but ACT remains in support of this bill. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022 data-id=\u00221cd19ed74de944468e947f507856540a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000540\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221cd19ed74de944468e947f507856540a\u0022\u003EHon PANSY WONG (Associate Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E I am pleased to take a call in the third reading of this Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. The bill is intended to repeal the compulsion part of the biofuel legislation that was passed by the previous Labour Government, which continued to show its distrust of New Zealanders\u2019 ability to make an informed choice. We all know that biofuels are already available for sale. National has made the point that we support the development of the biofuel industry, but we also trust New Zealanders to be able to make an informed choice. Instead of making it mandatory to force the various distribution chains to sell \u201Cx\u201D quantity of biofuel, our approach is to implement viable alternatives such as tax incentives and, at the same time\u2014which is most important\u2014to develop a sustainable standard. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000541\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EThe Hon David Parker sat there and did nothing for 9 years and then, in the last minute of a dying Labour Government, those members brought in legislation that talked of compulsion and mandatory actions. I think that those members should have got the message from the New Zealand public that they have been voted out of office. On this side of the House, the Government side, we show that we have confidence in New Zealanders. Before anybody thinks about mandating anything, a credible standard has to be developed to judge what a sustainable biofuel standard is. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000542\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EI ask members to think about this. It is incredible to think that the previous Labour Government\u2014and this is why it lost office\u2014would mandate an action without even developing some standards. What is a sustainable biofuel? We have all learnt now, on looking back, that the first wave of biofuel was disastrous for food crops and that the second wave led to deforestation. Now, once again, with the technology still in development, some people want to rush headlong into mandating something. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000543\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EI am very, very proud to be on the Government side. We are able to provide a viable alternative of tax incentives for the development of the biofuel industry and, at the same time, we are able to show our confidence in letting our people\u2014New Zealanders\u2014make those informed choices.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022 data-id=\u00225b550f96cd2a42a8b25330ab3d6c8b09\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000544\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225b550f96cd2a42a8b25330ab3d6c8b09\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour\u2014Hutt South):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to speak to the third reading of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and references) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. It is one of the few times I regret I have only 10 minutes to speak on the third reading. There are some points that I think are important to make.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000545\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThe first is that I welcome the comment made by Mr Garrett from the ACT Party that he had a personal view that was not consistent with the ACT position\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000546\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227bb3617c21bb482eaf463c2a8dc86935\u0022\u003EDavid Garrett\u003C/span\u003E: I didn\u2019t say that\u2014\u201Cdiffered slightly from\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000547\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022695dddd7a16b4e5bb72677a07b61ea6f\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014was slightly different from the ACT position\u2014after listening to the arguments from the Opposition. I welcome his frankness in saying that\u2014and saying it even before, I understand, he has had his maiden speech in the House. It is good to hear that someone was listening to the debate, and some of the points were well made.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000548\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EI also want to say to Nick Smith that his work in the select committee\u2014it was relatively unusual\u2014on the development of the legislation now being repealed was valued by members from the Green Party and the Labour Party. It was good. What I think he fails to understand\u2014maybe he did not look carefully at the detail of this bill\u2014is that the very sustainability requirements in that legislation are being repealed by this bill. He seemed to indicate that the work would continue anyway, but, of course, it will not be required by legislation, because those standards are being repealed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000549\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EI want to make some general comments about climate change. As a relatively small country New Zealand has the possibility of doing some pretty wonderful things. We are over-reliant on motor vehicles compared with the majority of OECD countries, we have a poor public transport system, and, therefore, having a go at transport fuels is a very good way for us to reduce emissions. I agree with Nick Smith: I think that in the longer term it is likely that battery-powered cars will make progress.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000550\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227db09753ef7a4737951715f8c7225ee6\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: The Government\u2019s ambition.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000551\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d64844c81e8e4bdb8056b3c55cf7e525\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: That was the ambition of David Parker, and a lot of work has gone on\u2014including by State-owned enterprises\u2014in this particular area in order to make sure we stay at the front of the world. But that is a longer-term situation, and it may well be that some electric cars will have to be dual-fuel, and that we will still have to rely on a normal combustion engine type of arrangement, at least for some of the longer routes. Therefore, we have to think about the use of fossil fuels, the use of ethanol, bio-ethanol, and bio-diesel. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000552\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E I was lucky as Minister of Energy and Minister for Economic Development to see quite a few projects around the country. People have been looking at making fuel from gas from the smokestacks at New Zealand Steel\u2014Stephen Tindall and his team have been working in that area. People have been looking at using algae, and they are likely to make progress. But we have only one world-leading biofuel technology in New Zealand that is ready to go now, and that is fuel from tallow. It has been 10 years in the making, a lot of very good research has gone into it, and its economic viability is essentially proven. Most important, it competes really well against international biofuels, most of which are not sustainable. So it is win-win: we have something sustainable\u2014it uses what is pretty close to a waste product in New Zealand; something we have a very high proportion of per head compared with most countries\u2014and it works price-wise vis-\u00E0-vis international prices for biofuels.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000553\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EBut there is a problem, and that is that the oil companies do not like it. They do not like the investment in mixing that they have to do to ensure that it can be used, and if there is not an element of regulation or compulsion, they will not do it. They are big economic organisations and they make decisions in their interests as individual companies. It is right that they should do that. That is the way it goes and we accept that that is the way the world works. Over the years, we have made lots of decisions that have hurt oil companies. They fought like hell when we took lead out of petrol. They hated it\u2014they absolutely hated the idea of it being taken out. A whole pile of standards have been set, and I think none of us would now want to go backwards. This situation is similar. This is about the setting of a standard that is important for the planet. Shifting towards biofuels is an important part of that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000554\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EWe are really lucky in New Zealand that a man\u2014a pioneer and, I understand, a 75-year-old\u2014Mr McNicholl\u2014has decided essentially to shift the emphasis of his company, which had been involved in recycling in a number of areas; over the last 10 years his major focus and his major investment have been on research and development on, and then the building of, what is essentially a pilot plant, and then on the building of a major plant in Waharoa for the conversion of tallow to bio-diesel. I compliment him. He was a long way ahead of the pack and he got some endorsement internationally\u2014the product is proven. He got some support. It was not that anyone was told that Mr McNicholl\u2019s bio-diesel had to be used rather than the imported stuff; no one said that. No one said that people at the moment have to use sustainable stuff\u2014although people have to declare if they are not, which is quite an incentive to use it. But there was no compulsion to use Mr McNicholl\u2019s product; it would compete with the overseas products.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000555\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EMr Assistant Speaker Roy, I regret to inform you that during the Committee stage of the bill we had an admission and an interchange that I would describe as unseemly at best. It became very, very clear that Gerry Brownlee, who is only 5 or 6 weeks into his term as Minister of Energy and Resources, is behind in his correspondence. In fact, that became clear 2 weeks ago, so 3 weeks into his time as Minister he was behind in his correspondence. Mr McNicholl, through the Ministry of Economic Development on the 2nd, and directly to Mr Brownlee on the 4th, sent a letter that outlined the issues for that company, and the fact that this bill would result in the mothballing of his plants. It was again sent to his office on the 12th by Sue Wood, a former president of the National Party. Unfortunately, Mr Brownlee did not read that letter until 17 December\u2014today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000556\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b0c7fef763824bafaabfd70e3e7cf207\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Rubbish!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000557\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a43660d8923e40f2af0a5895f1e954be\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: No, he made it absolutely clear in the Chamber that he had not read that letter until today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000558\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ac2eddf2279b424d90207ce5ac0b99a6\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: Ask him directly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000559\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002263fa589d4fdb418da8a6b98546874218\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: I ask the Minister whether he had read it before. Again he refuses to deny it. But he made it clear in the Committee stage that he had not read that letter until today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000560\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EHe made some other comments. He said that his office had offered Mr McNicholl a meeting. As of Friday last week that was being vehemently denied by Sue Wood, a former president of the National Party, who said that his office gave her the brush-off when she tried to set up a meeting. It may be that, as this legislation was falling down around his ears, he offered a meeting after the fact.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000561\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EBut the point is that Gerry Brownlee, by not reading his correspondence, misled the Cabinet committee that approved this bill. It is absolutely incumbent on a Minister, especially one proposing to take to the House legislation without a regulatory impact statement\u2014such as this bill\u2014to brief his Cabinet colleagues on the effects. He has told us that he did not tell either the Cabinet committee or Cabinet that a company in which $10 million had been invested would be mothballed and 46 jobs would not be available. This is from a Government that says it cares about jobs and cares about investment. He has told us that despite having the letter in his office, he did not tell his Cabinet colleagues about it. Well, if that occurred two or three times under a Labour Government, the Minister would get the sack. If it occurred once, the Minister would get a very serious reprimand. I want to know from the Prime Minister what he is going to do about his incompetent, lazy, behind-in-his-correspondence Minister, Gerry Brownlee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022 data-id=\u00228f96c347f2514bdeab3712d9df737ea0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000562\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228f96c347f2514bdeab3712d9df737ea0\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I am happy to take a call in the third reading of this very, very bad and damaging bill\u2014the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. I note, once again, that this bill did not go to a select committee. Those affected by this terrible legislation were given no chance to come and have their say. Those National members who say that Mr McNicholl is lying when he says that he will lose his business if the Act is repealed\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000563\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a90ad154df454e0d96b83e55f6266c7e\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: No one said that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000564\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f9e8c1610f6d45e2a16f44afe5e9a749\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: So is he telling the truth in his letter when he says that his plant will go under?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000565\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f4ffe27b5c324484a81d50563b91a90f\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: He doesn\u2019t know. Even that\u2019s a very bad admission.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000566\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aeb54c5002f64db1b1290d1c90b60ec7\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: That is right. He does not know, because he read the letter only just before the lunch break. The National members who say that Mr McNicholl was not telling the truth in his letter when he said that his plant will go out of business if this bill is passed would have had the opportunity at select committee to have that discussion with Mr McNicholl face to face. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000567\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229fea8881d98249f7be4140f4a1658a32\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: And Sue Wood from \u014Ctaki knows that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000568\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229e708891a0854451a7a348841bc40102\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: That is right\u2014Sue Wood, from \u014Ctaki, the former president of the National Party, knows that. The least the people of New Zealand should expect is that when their Government plans to pass legislation that is not only environmentally damaging but economically damaging, legislation affecting someone who has invested $10 million of his own hard-earned money and employed 22 people in Waharoa, which, as my colleague Jacinda Ardern\u2014who campaigned very hard in that electorate told us\u2014had over\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000569\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d8a74fb8ab2e4af18e5bf828985f5d2c\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: 23 percent unemployment in 2006.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d2033df1bfa8402ea3c4d3e1da869350\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014over 23 percent unemployment, plus another 20 people in East T\u0101maki, that person has at the very least the right to come along to a select committee and put his case. He has the right to have National members, who are like lions in the House today, actually face up to this person who will be put out of business and tell him why they are passing the legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000571\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThere is no good reason for this repeal bill other than revenge on the Labour Government\u2014National does not like it because we put it into place. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000572\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002239a002fa65ba43cf9ba52fbd6e12d672\u0022\u003EChris Auchinvole\u003C/span\u003E: Oh!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000573\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bdfc4fecfa2342edb0cf5a3555df066d\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: I am sure Mr Auchinvole\u2019s call will elaborate on this in great detail, but we also know that Mr Brownlee tried to claim in the Chamber today\u2014I do not know whether it is true\u2014that he was trying to get a meeting with Mr McNicholl to talk about the issue with him. According to Sue Wood, as of Friday last week that was not the case. Again, I come back to the fact that we would not need to be having this discussion if this bill had gone to a select committee, and Sue Wood and Mr McNicholl had had the opportunity\u2014which most in this country would think would be their right\u2014to come along to a select committee and face up to those who are planning to put them out of business with this legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000574\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022488187158f14409799c8a9ca9addc30f\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Sue Wood was campaigning for the Nats at the election.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000575\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226a1903a89ae94d04af43938fbfff7152\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: That is right. She campaigned for the Nats at the election. The National Party campaigned on this policy. What it did not say is that the bill would be rammed through under urgency in the first 2 weeks of Parliament with no select committee process for the public of New Zealand to have their say.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000576\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E Mr Brownlee has talked a lot about how unhappy he is about compulsion. This is a very fundamental philosophical opposition on his part, so I went back and had a look at his first reading speech on the Biofuel Bill. I know that National supported this bill to select committee, but Mr Brownlee raised a number of issues and concerns that he had about the bill as it stood going to select committee. He seemed to actually know a little bit about it. I read through his first reading speech; there was not a single mention of compulsion at all. I remind members that at the time the bill went through its first reading the mandatory target obligation was 3.4 percent, not 2.5 percent as it came out of the select committee. At the first reading Mr Brownlee, apparently, had no problem with compulsion. In fact, he went on to say: \u201Cwe support the bill\u2014with considerable goodwill\u2014going to a select committee, recognising the importance of all of this for New Zealand\u2019s future. It has to be said that as an agricultural producing country with a huge emission problem from our agriculture sector, and not wanting to penalise ourselves unduly in the future, getting this part of the emissions profile in better shape is in all of our interests.\u201D I do not know what has changed between now and then\u2014who knows? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000577\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022714e4cba27064c0aaf87d529838d3575\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: The select committee led me to change my mind.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000578\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022affed46bda12417f86314986ad48c219\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: It is the select committee process that made the bill better. The select committee process that addressed every other issue he raised in his first reading speech apparently made it so that National could not support the legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000579\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EBut there was another very good first reading speech from a member of this House who is held in high regard, Mr Eric Roy. I would like to read from his speech because I think it also raised a number of issues that we agree with here. He pointed out that there were a number of complex issues when it came to biofuels, but that that they were part of the solution in terms of our response to the whole issue of climate change. He believed it was important that they formed part of the debate. He also said: \u201CI also believe that New Zealand has to be in there at developmental and experimental stages, because we will gain credibility in terms of the products we sell.\u201D I agree with this entirely. He said: \u201Cwe sit at 19.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per head of population, and the rest of the world is at 5.5 percent. I happen to believe that there is something immoral in First World countries saying yes, that the planet is in crisis, but they will hold just where they are, and everybody should hold where they are, which means that underdeveloped countries stay underdeveloped. So we need to look for solutions.\u201D I agree with that sentiment. He then explained the situation that we were in with the amount of fossil fuels that we were producing. He pointed out\u2014quite rightly\u2014that the transport sector was an enormous part of that area and that we needed to do it. He went on to say: \u201CBiofuels are actually something we can engage in almost immediately. Both our diesel engines and our internal combustion engines can get straight into utilising these fuels. So we have an advantage there, and while not neglecting other things,\u201D\u2014like electric cars\u2014\u201Cwe are off first base in terms of working with biofuel solutions.\u201D That just about says it all. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000580\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EOne of the issues that consistently came up at select committee was that of low-hanging fruit. New Zealand is very different from most other developed nations. We need only to look at our greenhouse gas emissions profile compared to other developed nations to see just how different we are. New Zealand\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions profile is nearly 50 percent agriculture, which more closely resembles the emissions profile of a developing country than a developed country. It means that when we come to look at solutions for climate change we have enormous amounts of waste by-product, from the production of meat and dairy, which can be used for the production of biofuels, and which other developed countries do not necessarily have in similar proportions at their disposal. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000581\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EWe are, for example, talking about tallow. The research on tallow has been world leading. There were times when the cold flow properties of tallow were in question, and people were worried. We saw a lot of evidence at select committee that this stuff is being used in Edinburgh. If bio-diesel from tallow can be used in Edinburgh at the temperatures it gets down to, then, certainly, bio-diesel can be used all over New Zealand\u2014otherwise, not sold in the parts of the country where it may be too cold to be used. There is also the production of whey from our dairy production using ethanol. Ethanol is also a high-energy option, and as we know, the legislation was about energy, not volume. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000582\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EOur dairy industry gives us huge advantages over other countries. It is not simply to say that we are the same as every other developed country\u2014we are not. We have low-hanging fruit at our disposal that we can use now. The only reason that this legislation will be repealed is that the National Party does not like it. Mr Brownlee asked people to trust him to develop sustainability standards according to the principles already in the law. The legislation he is repealing had a requirement to do that. We proposed an amendment to leave the sustainability standards in the requirement. If he was genuine in what he said about those standards he would have supported that amendment because the principles that we worked on very hard at select committee were a good guidance. We were told at select committee that people wanted a clear steer on what those sustainable principles would say\u2014what they could and could not do. These are long-term investments that both the producers and the oil companies are taking, and they do not want to enter into a contract to find that 1 year down the track they are in breach of that contract because they can no longer sell that biofuel in New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000583\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EIf Mr Brownlee was serious about sustainability standards he would have supported the Hon David Parker\u2019s amendment, which left the requirement for him to develop those standards in the law. I suspect that it will be a very, very long time before we see anything come out of this. A lot has been made of this obligation. It was an issue that we took seriously, but what has become clear in this debate and at select committee, and if we read the letter from Mr McNicholl, is that the obligation made a difference. Mr McNicholl stated as much in his letter. He said: \u201CAround August 2005 when the company became aware that the government had in principle agreed to a Biofuel Sales Obligation it took further steps to invest in ramping up production output of its R\u0026amp;D plant in East Tamaki.\u201D He goes on to say: \u201CWhen it became evident that the government was going to legislate the compulsory use of biofuel the company went ahead with its plans to construct a new 60,000,000 litres plant at Waharoa which is well under way.\u201D So to say that a biofuels obligation does nothing flies in the face of the evidence that has been presented to the select committee and, indeed, to this House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000584\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EIt is appalling that the Minister in charge of the bill did not bother to read Mr McNicholl\u2019s letter; he admitted as much in the House today. He finally read it when Labour members tabled it. I do not understand why this legislation needs to be rammed through under urgency. It provides no certainty as the Minister has just told us that he will go ahead and develop sustainability standards anyway. The sector out there is still wondering what the standards will say and do. At least if he had supported the Hon David Parker\u2019s amendment to keep the sustainability principles in the bill people in the sector would have had some kind of clear steer on what those standards would be. They are now in no man\u2019s land\u2014they do not know. They do not know whether there will be any kind of sustainability principles produced at all. If there are, people now have no idea what they might be because the Minister has taken them out of the legislation where they already were. This creates more uncertainty for the biofuels sector, more uncertainty for oil companies, and thoroughly dreadful legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022 data-id=\u0022c971305825594b7ab817381ea75afe88\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c971305825594b7ab817381ea75afe88\u0022\u003EMETIRIA TUREI (Green):\u003C/span\u003E I want to take a reasonably short call on the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill. My colleague Jeanette Fitzsimons has described in some detail the facts about this issue, the extent to which the Minister has got the issue completely wrong, and why this bill is such a bad thing for the National Government to pursue. I want to talk about the international concern about biofuels, and, particularly, unsustainable biofuels. There is a range of different kinds of unsustainable biofuels, and I want to describe some of them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000586\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EUnsustainable biofuels are those where the greenhouse gas emissions from the production of the biofuels are high. There is simply no means by which a biofuel is a viable alternative to the use of fossil fuels where, in the production of that biofuel, the greenhouse gas emissions are equivalent to those of fossil fuels themselves. It was very important in the setting of the sustainability standards that we made it very clear that a sustainable biofuel was only one that had a reduced level of greenhouse gas emissions over the life cycle of that fuel\u2014a 35 percent reduction as a minimum, so that it was a real reduction. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000587\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EBut now that the National Government is repealing that legislation, there will be absolutely no requirement in law that the biofuels used in this country emit less greenhouse gas than oil-based fuels. Taking that as one example, we will shortly have biofuels imported by large fuel companies and being used in this country\u2014mostly because the New Zealand industry is being slaughtered by this legislation\u2014that are likely to emit over their life cycle the same greenhouse gas emissions as, or possibly even more than, oil-based fuels. So the repeal of the legislation by the National Government is likely to maintain greenhouse gas emissions at the same rate as at present for transport fuels, or possibly even increase them. Certainly, it will make no contribution at all to New Zealand\u2019s obligation to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000588\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E The door will be open even further in terms of unsustainable biofuels, in that the biofuels that the National Government is allowing to be brought into the country are unsustainable in terms of food production. Biofuels will be imported that are produced on land that people would otherwise have used to produce food for themselves, their families, and their communities, or would have used in further trade around their communities to support themselves. A significant amount of writing has been done on this issue around the globe by people like Vandana Shiva. She has written a great deal about the impact of unsustainable biofuels on the poorest communities around the world, in terms of the displacement of people and the theft of land. There has been a significant theft of land managed or owned by very poor communities; it has been taken off them by large international corporations. Some people have reported having land taken off them at the point of a gun; they have been forced off their land by the employees of mining companies and palm oil companies, particularly in areas like the Solomon Islands. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000589\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EI have been to the Solomon Islands and visited with people there who were campaigning against unsustainable biofuels, particularly those produced from palm oil. Much of the land those communities were living on, and the forests those communities were living in, were being used as a food source. People were also using those resources to build their homes and care for their children, and they were using the forests as the source of medicines. Those communities were engaged in ancient knowledge, ancient cultures, and ancient traditions. Their lands were being stolen from them at the point of a gun because of the drive for unsustainable biofuels. International companies wanted the land in order to produce unsustainable biofuels that they could then sell on to Western countries like New Zealand, because there is a demand for biofuels here. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000590\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003ESo what did we just make sure of? The Green Party, along with Labour and even with a bit of agreement from Nick Smith, agreed that we should have sustainability standards in New Zealand law that would say a sustainable biofuel was one that was not produced in competition with food production, and was not grown on land that was used for food production, and that would not impact on indigenous biodiversity. That standard is currently in the law that is soon to be repealed by National. It would have made sure that no biofuels imported into this country came from the end of a gun, at the cost of indigenous communities losing their forests and watching their homes be bulldozed by international fuel companies who wanted their land to grow biofuels on. Under the existing law, we would have made sure that biofuels produced in such circumstances did not come into New Zealand. New Zealanders would have felt absolutely assured that\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000591\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d035f4c5ef4e4af0aec1a4f4d34555d9\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Where are the standards?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000592\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ab28108952b6431da48d691186dbcfa8\u0022\u003EMETIRIA TUREI\u003C/span\u003E: The standards are in the law. The Minister of Energy and Resources does not know where they are, because he has not bothered to read the legislation. He has no idea what he is talking about. He has not seen the standards, so obviously he has not looked at the legislation that is in place at this very moment, which he is repealing. He obviously does not even know what he is repealing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000593\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThose standards are in place right now, and New Zealanders would have been assured that they were not responsible for the destruction of homes, the theft of land, and the destruction of indigenous rainforests around the world, particularly in the Pacific. Those rainforests are very important, not only for biodiversity reasons but also as food sources and medical sources for the people who depend on them. The poorest people on this earth rely on those natural resources for their lives, but those resources are being taken off them by multinational corporations that want to grow biofuels to feed greedy Westerners who just want cheap and easy biofuels. The National Government is making sure it is possible now to import such biofuels into this country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000594\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EIt is also worthwhile to remember that not only is National opening the door for unsustainable biofuels to come into New Zealand but also it is providing public money to the companies that are part of the process of stealing land off poor people, threatening them with a gun, and destroying the indigenous forestry and rainforests. National is to give those companies subsidies to do all of those things. Not only will the subsidies go to those companies but also the same process of subsidising international companies will mean that our New Zealand domestic industry, involving sustainable biofuels made from waste products, will be killed off. The public purse is being used to fund the theft of land by multinational corporations, and the destruction of New Zealanders\u2019 jobs and New Zealand\u2019s domestic biofuels industry. That is the National Government\u2019s recipe for the economic\u2014I do not know what it is; it is certainly not economic growth or development\u2014degradation of this country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000595\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EIt is a tragedy for New Zealand to see that in just this one little piece of legislation, which is only a few clauses and a couple of pages long. This bill is just a tiny little thing, but inside it we can see the whole of the National Government\u2019s policy and programme for this country, which is to be as unsustainable as possible, in the interests of both greed and international companies, to destroy New Zealand industry, to encourage job losses rather than job growth, and to make it as hard as possible for the international community to look on us with anything but disgust and distaste. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000596\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThis legislation, along no doubt with other legislation that is to pass sometime in the future and certainly a bundle that passed last week, just goes to show the extent to which the National Government will drive this country into the dark ages. It will drive New Zealand back to a time when unsustainable growth and a very large pool of unemployed workers were created, to the benefit of wealthier companies, and particularly international companies; and back to a time when public money is funnelled either into private schools\u2014we see almost a doubling of funding for private schools by the National Government\u2014or into private companies, so that more and more money is taken out of the public purse and given to private, profit-making enterprises, all in the name of greed and the National Government. So much for a brighter future! Indeed, this National Government will drive New Zealand back into the dark ages, and we will be ashamed to face up to the international scrutiny that will no doubt come as a result of that. In the context of indigenous communities that have relied on Western countries, like our own country, to put their interests at least a little into our consideration, we might at least acknowledge the fact that their homes and livelihoods are to be destroyed. This National Government has no concern for them or for the interests of New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000597\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThis is a sad, sad day, and this bill is a disgraceful act on National\u2019s part.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022 data-id=\u0022698fb61259534f348a56438b2da51793\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000598\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022698fb61259534f348a56438b2da51793\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National\u2014West Coast-Tasman):\u003C/span\u003E This has been a very interesting debate to listen to, and I really have enjoyed the beginning of each speech that has come from the Opposition side of the House. Sadly, towards the end of all of those speeches we have heard a more partisan tone, and they have turned into diatribes against the National Government. We even had Mr Parker talking about energy-efficient light bulbs and saying they should be back in there. Actually, we have just had an election, and the people have indicated what they want. There has been such a waste of energy in the discussion of the details of this, but the thrust of the original discussions was good.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000599\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EI have a few questions to ask. Where is the mountain of surplus tallow at the moment? There cannot be a big surplus without displacing the production of other products by taking the tallow away. Opposition members say we will make more money out of tallow. Yes, but this is the whole argument about biofuels. Corn was a low-value product that the Mexicans used as a base food supply, and now it is beyond their reach.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000600\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f3371b7e69e14e1c8aad3a6a90a0e523\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: People don\u2019t eat tallow.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000601\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bf5800d2266a485eadcfdbf0d22ed298\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: Well, no, they do not, but they make a lot of things from tallow that keep them healthy and clean, and that they can afford. And Labour members talk about capturing it and legislating by compulsion so that it has to be used in biofuels.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000602\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EMr Parker talked about an environmental backwards step, and about the use of compulsion in order to introduce changes of that nature being the environmental backwards step. I was interested in what Mr Mallard said. We nearly got there, and I thought his speech was going to be good, because he was talking about the need to use new technology. The biofuel legislation restricts the use of new technology because it puts a ring-fence around a particular biofuel and says that people must use that one.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000603\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229d7aa855e63d434db12fa0dbd9284f54\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: No, it doesn\u2019t.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f03d59964d5f4137850af0eacaafcfcc\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: It does. It is not a mandate for change. Internationally, the United Nations and the New Zealand Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment both say that compulsion for biofuels is a disaster.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000605\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003ELike Moana Mackey, I shared an involvement in an oil company. We had a little oil company; there were about four of us in it. We used to import fuel.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000606\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002291d2f5b7fcc047199c10647f5e9f45db\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Just like the Clampetts!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000607\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228532534d9bfc4f2cbcb2c6b1b8bee2e7\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: Ha, ha! We changed it. It was a small business, but there was enough technical knowledge amongst the partners to know that New Zealand had never had much of a go with decent petrol. We have not talked about standards that are really good for the country. That is why we have been badly served.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000608\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f7278b08a98f4d60905330e8bb753933\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: So why didn\u2019t it go to a select committee, and all your questions would have been answered?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000609\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ddc6929707f14da2b4d4362a9d488a58\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: Well\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000610\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ce9b698f84704a1faa5f6a689889dfe5\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Moana went to forecourt school.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000611\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bf50cb42f82746568ffef1a6db7f44bd\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: There we go. But even forecourt school people know that New Zealand\u2019s petrol has never been the very best in the world. A lot of improvement can be made without having this sort of regulated procedure.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000612\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003ETo conclude, I say the biggest problem coming in the arguments from members on the other side of the House seems to concern the loss of the compulsory nature of the legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000613\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222004b5c6a34a42c4964211044ce87442\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister didn\u2019t care about the compulsory nature in his first reading speech. He didn\u2019t even mention it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000614\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022343d413937df41cebe34f48dac7cf7dd\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: But that is the only bit that seems to have objections to it. This is worthwhile legislation. It will set the clock straight. It will not stop the production of biofuels. It will not stop the encouragement of new technology. It will stop us walking into a backwater. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022 data-id=\u00221337a2cf0c4b46f2aa5b264fbfda3916\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000615\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221337a2cf0c4b46f2aa5b264fbfda3916\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E The Labour Party in Opposition joins with five other parties in opposing the third reading of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill in Parliament today, because we believe this is very bad law and we believe this is a backward step for New Zealand. We do not believe there is any upside for New Zealand in this bill going through. We do not believe there is any upside for the environment, we do not believe there is any upside for New Zealand industry, and we certainly do not believe there is any upside for New Zealand jobs, which will take an active step backwards when this bill receives its third reading, if indeed that is what happens at the end of this debate.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000616\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EI would have thought that the National Government would reflect on the fact that five of Parliament\u2019s seven parties are strongly opposed to this bill, including its support party the M\u0101ori Party, which is standing up for its beliefs and voting against this bill. We also heard from the ACT member who spoke, David Garrett, that he is against the bill, as well, but he will vote for it on the basis that it is part of the Government\u2019s programme. That is not the position, of course, of the other support party, the M\u0101ori Party, which is not doing that, but ACT has decided to support a bill that its individual members do not support. I acknowledge that United Future, the Progressive Party, the Labour Party, and the Green Party are also not supporting the bill. That leaves National with only 62 votes against 59. That is a majority. It is a simple majority\u2014a simple majority from a simple Minister. It means that the National Government will win on this, but it should show those members that people are very upset about this bill going through, because this is not good law for New Zealand. This is not a step forward for New Zealand industry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000617\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EThat fact is really compounded by the fact that this bill did not get a chance to go to a select committee. It is yet another bill, from the inclusive Government that John Key told us he would run, on which the public have not had a say. We heard from Mr Auchinvole that the reason the public did not get to have a say on this bill is that we had an election and there was a change of Government. I am sure that National\u2019s decision to repeal the biofuel legislation was what drove tens of thousands of New Zealanders to the ballot box on 8 November! It is as though somehow anything that was ever in the National Party manifesto need never go to a select committee again because it is National Party policy. There is an arrogance in that stance that I think National will live to regret, particularly when these bills cause long-term damage to our country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000618\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002205a15842d6294362b310802d6ad6d186\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: No, it doesn\u2019t.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000619\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224f93e007e07b459daa15296e002e0bff\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: This bill does, because this bill denies an opportunity. This bill is costing one man, who has been mentioned several times during the debate\u2014he has been the poster boy for it, in a way\u2014millions and millions of dollars in losses, as a direct result of the decision this Parliament will make in 10 minutes\u2019 time. That goes alongside other bills passed through their third readings that have also made an impact on people, right down through to last week\u2019s KiwiSaver changes, which change people\u2019s savings during their working lives. That makes a big change for people for ever. This bill makes a change that is negative, and its consequences are more far-reaching than I think the Government is prepared to give us credit for discussing, today in Parliament.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000620\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EMy colleague Moana Mackey quoted extensively from the Minister\u2019s speech that was given when he was the shadow Minister in this area, and, really, I felt he was hung, drawn and quartered on his own words with the bluster we have heard from him today, and yesterday, about why he feels the need to repeal this biofuel obligation. We know that his colleagues have not read a lot of the legislation that the Government has put before the House this week and last week; I suspect that they would not even have had a cursory debate on it in their caucus room. But what has been clear from a lot of the Government\u2019s speakers is their total lack of understanding and failure to appreciate the fact that the obligation we are talking about is a tiny obligation out of all the oil sales in New Zealand. National is acting as if the former Government had on the books a compulsory measure by which absolutely everything had to be fuelled by biofuels; we would not even be able to spark up the lawnmower this weekend without pouring biofuel into it, because the evil Labour Government, in that nanny State way, had insisted that only biofuel could be used.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000621\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d6adbbd5cd214606af7f45d6f9142f86\u0022\u003EPaul Quinn\u003C/span\u003E: You agree\u2014at last!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000622\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222ba70e3baddb49778ebcf4b73e1b0f73\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: I want to say to the Government that if this bill did not pass, then 99.5 percent of our oil would still be coming from the current sources we have\u201499.5 percent. In our law we had 0.5 percent as a target, in order to get an industry going for biofuels. I do not know what bright ideas Mr Quinn has about climate change; I suspect that his bright ideas do not stretch all that far past dawn. But for those of us who have been trying to think about what things New Zealand can do in order to make sure that we can respond to climate change, we can say we have not seen any ideas come from National. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000623\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EWhat has come from those members are things that have actively undermined New Zealand\u2019s response to climate change, and this bill has to be one of them. Gerry Brownlee has said that one of his first priorities as Minister of Energy and Resources in New Zealand is to take away choice from New Zealand consumers, because he is taking away the ability for us to develop a proper industry in this country. He is happy to cut across private property rights, and that relates to all those slogans and all that language that National members always use. But when those slogans do not suit National\u2019s argument, we never hear of them. National used to be the party of private property rights. I can see why ACT Party members privately have their views on these things, but they are tottering along behind National in this respect. National is going to cancel the private property rights of somebody who has put in millions and millions of dollars of his own money into that property\u2014his life savings.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000624\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dc5ab5636b4841b5ba343950936aebf7\u0022\u003EPaul Quinn\u003C/span\u003E: Like economic transformation, closing the gaps, knowledge wave? They\u2019re slogans.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000625\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223a53ed851735478d805c2222746d0e07\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Quinn in his rant yesterday told us that he would be behind the ordinary person in Parliament because he was a bloke\u2019s bloke, and that he would stand up for people, yet today he is putting his vote behind a measure that will destroy millions of dollars belonging to a 75-year-old man who wanted to take the entrepreneurship\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e6ef1434cabc44d6b99e2d77184c8f10\u0022\u003EPaul Quinn\u003C/span\u003E: Rubbish!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000627\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b08c381179d04c10ac1f005c1b724db8\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: Paul Quinn says \u201CRubbish!\u201D, but we know that he does not have a clue about it, because he started shouting out \u201CRubbish!\u201D only when Gerry Brownlee said \u201CRubbish!\u201D. If the member is taking his cue on research from Gerry Brownlee, then that would be a very strange way to spend his parliamentary career, because one of the things that came out in this debate\u2014for a bill that did not go to a select committee\u2014was the fact that Gerry Brownlee was so far behind on his paperwork that he had not even read a letter from Sue Wood, the former president of the National Party. I know that the National Party was very\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000628\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002257c7528927ef497699e255f75d39da1e\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000629\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223712ea6e357744a3a4ba104a22eb2c91\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: It is fine by me, Mr Deputy Speaker; if the man wants to make a fool of himself, then he can do it for 2 years, 10 months, and 3 weeks, and his little time in Parliament can be known for that. It is fine by me.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EBut Sue Wood, the former president of the National Party, was very active in the National Party campaign at the last election. She was busy helping Mr Guy in \u014Ctaki during that election, and she would have been thinking to herself that she would have a party in Government that would listen to what she had to say. I think she has put up some good arguments in her letter. But we now know that it is not her arguments that have been dismissed by the Government; it is her envelope that has been dismissed by the Government, because Gerry Brownlee has not even had the energy to do his paperwork or to read his correspondence. He now has staff who can open his envelopes for him. Of course, previously Gerry Brownlee used to go to any function that involved the opening of an envelope, but now he has people to do his envelopes for him and he cannot even do that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000631\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220c91692f6d6f411cad4d8b7d6282483a\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: What about a crusade on reading?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000632\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d42d22cf08ee43f7b5a7db2f9977bd4c\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: A crusade on literacy\u2014that is right. If Sue Wood is listening on the airwaves now I would say for her benefit that the problem with her letter, where she does deserve to have absolute criticism levelled at her, is that she wrote a 1\u00BD page letter to Gerry Brownlee. Everybody knows that one does not go over a page with Gerry Brownlee, if one wants to have one\u2019s views taken seriously. And if one really wants to convince Mr Brownlee, one should double-space the page, because the amount of biofuel he spits out when work comes over the desk could have actually met our sales obligations without our needing to pass this repeal bill, which is being rammed through the House under urgency by a Minister who is not on top of his portfolio. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000633\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022422614ad9d7543379bb68d61b20c631e\u0022\u003EHon Annette King\u003C/span\u003E: Or even under it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000634\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002253d14ba4f5e949a797222d14d1378fd6\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: Well, I do not want to pursue that line of inquiry all that far. But I say that the Labour Party is strongly opposed to this bill, first and foremost, because of its climate change measures. We are worried about that. We are worried about our country slipping from the position we have had as an honest broker on these matters, a position of being a country that is respected and listened to on a challenge that will not go away just because there was a change of Government in New Zealand on 8 November. I will tell members one other thing: that challenge will not go away just because the ACT Party has decided to have a high-level, parliamentary select committee inquiry into it. As loyal as we all are to New Zealand, if any member in this House honestly believes that the world is waiting for the entire debate on human-induced global warming to shift, all because our Parliament has a select committee hearing on it, then that member is more deluded than many who currently sit opposite.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000635\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003EThe other thing we are very concerned about is the fact that we are shutting the door on the opportunity to develop an industry here, which means that jobs will be lost as a result of the Government\u2019s measures. We are heading into a recession, when the Government will see lots of job losses. It is already promoting that as one of its policies; it will go back to its policy of 6 percent as the natural rate of unemployment. All the right-wing language is already coming through, in that respect. The Government is determined to close the door on jobs here, but I think that is a crying shame. At 0.5 percent, the existing legislation still left 99.5 percent for the Government\u2019s big oil company mates that got to National, as Sue Wood herself suggests. That is one of the issues here. National\u2019s links have not been able to be explored during this debate because we have not had submissions from the oil companies, but I can guarantee that had the oil companies made submissions, those submissions would have very closely reflected the Minister\u2019s arguments; I am sure. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000636\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d8ad94fb53df476c9b710851fbb9a59a\u0022\u003EHon Annette King\u003C/span\u003E: Have they been to your office, Gerry? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000637\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222cb2fad7bad24fd1bb9107f618cd1c87\u0022\u003EHon DARREN HUGHES\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister would have met with them before the election and made promises to them. He nods his head at that, because he has made big promises to big oil. That is absolutely fine\u2014that is what he has done. But even if the Government had left the requirement at 0.5 percent, it would not be wiping out the oil industry; it would be opening opportunities for jobs and the industry, and for making sure New Zealand was still playing a role in shifting our dependence away from non-renewable sources of oil, which members must agree is something we have to do.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000638\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003ESo, as always in these matters, National is showing all its imagination and flair. It is getting rid of legislation, yet has nothing to replace it with. This is a whole lot of hot air and bluster from the Minister in charge of the legislation. At the end, when Ministers have the privilege of representing New Zealand abroad, they will have a very sad and sorry story to tell.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022053241ec71bc4718b92eb8f2aad9f4f1\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill be now read a third time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 62\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 59\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EBill read a third time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000639\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022f7b4add445e14539942c60515c96fa9f\u0022\u003EElectricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000640\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022862df36108ba4d0e9d582ad9f345f5f6\u0022\u003EFirst Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u00228bd8e6cf288548ea8f7800782ace3350\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000641\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228bd8e6cf288548ea8f7800782ace3350\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill be now read a first time. The previous Government inserted Part 6A into the Electricity Act 1992, making the connection of new thermal generation plant above 10 megawatts for which an exemption has not been granted a criminal offence punishable by fine. The provision is known widely as the thermal ban. Eligibility criteria and matters dealing with the exemption application process were to be dealt with, but those regulations have not yet been made. This bill repeals Part 6A of the Electricity Act 1992.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000642\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003ELet me first outline the circumstances in which Part 6A was added to the Electricity Act. The previous Minister of Energy, the Hon David Parker, added the thermal ban provisions to the bill that introduced the emissions trading scheme at the very last minute. The provision had not been signalled in advance and the industry was taken completely by surprise. The justification for the ban was written hurriedly into the explanatory note of the bill, and was somewhat deficient. At the select committee, the ban came under heavy criticism. All of the major electricity generators said they were opposed to it. Major lobby groups like the Major Electricity Users Group and the Business Council for Sustainable Development said the thermal ban should be dropped. However, the previous Minister remained wedded to the policy, and it became law with the passing of the emissions trading scheme bill in September of this year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000643\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe current Government has listened to the experts, agrees with the criticism of the ban, and is now moving to repeal it. I will outline the specific reasons why the Government is repealing the thermal ban.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000644\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe first reason is that the ban was totally unnecessary as an intervention in the electricity market. National believes that investment decisions in the electricity sector should be made on the basis of sound economics, with environmental effects taken into account through a price on carbon, rather than through some decision being ruled out through the command and control style reflected by the ban. If a price is put on carbon, it will incentivise the uptake of renewable generation technology, because thermal generation will be subject to carbon charges while renewable generation will not. It therefore surprised us that the previous Government felt it necessary to advance the thermal ban. This raises two questions. The first is whether the previous Government ever had confidence in its emissions trading scheme, and I have to say that it looks to us that it did not. If the Government did have that confidence, that raises the second question, which is whether the ban is, in that case, just a bit of political symbolism. We think it is. Unfortunately, that symbolism has dangerous consequences.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000645\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThat brings me to the second reason why the Government is repealing the ban: it puts security of electricity supply at risk. New Zealand\u2019s electricity system relies on thermal generation. Coal and gas-fired plants generate about one-third of our electricity each year. Without those two fuels, the lights would not stay on. This was made clear to the whole country in this winter of 2008, as it has been in three winters since the year 2000. Gas and coal plant were at times supplying over 50 percent of New Zealand\u2019s electricity needs, due to low hydro lake levels. Thermal generation, then, underpins the security of our electricity system, and the ban creates an unnecessary hurdle for this vital resource. New gas plants like the e3p plant at Huntly are highly efficient and produce relatively low levels of carbon emissions. The last Government was so keen to see the e3p plant built that it chose to underwrite the gas contract to ensure that the plant had the fuel. More important, thermal plants like e3p can run round the clock and produce large amounts of electricity. It is, then, in our view, foolish for New Zealand to close off the option of more plants like the e3p plant, if gas is available and the electricity system needs bolstering. Further, the Government will leave investment in new generation plants up to the industry, which is best placed to weigh up the capital and operating costs of new plant, and the availability of fuel into the future. What we are not doing is ruling out carte blanche the types of plants that might be built.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000646\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI do want to make it clear now that the Government does not expect the repeal of the thermal ban to lead to new coal-fired power stations being built. That was not the situation before the ban came into force, nor will it be the situation after it is repealed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000647\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe third reason why the Government is repealing the ban is that it does not lead to environmentally sound outcomes. This is because the ban blocks investment in new generation that could displace more inefficient and more carbon-emitting existing generation. For example, the ban blocks the building of new, efficient gas turbines at the Huntly plant that could phase out the coal-fired turbines or return them to the reserve capacity for which they were originally built. So the ban, ironically, would have\u2014should it have survived\u2014ensured that for the foreseeable future Huntly\u2019s coal-fired boilers would be fired up each winter to belch out very intensive carbon dioxide emissions. That, to us, makes no sense whatsoever. Newer thermal plants are very efficient. A modern combined-cycle gas plant like e3p emits just under half the volume of carbon dioxide per megawatt of energy produced compared with the Huntly plant when it is running on coal, and about 20 percent less compared with the Huntly plant when it is running on gas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000648\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe fourth reason why the Government is repealing the ban is that it disincentivises oil and gas exploration in New Zealand. Already the ban, in the short time it has been in existence, is seeing some explorers and investors shy away from New Zealand. Under the current ban explorers have less opportunity to offset exploration risk and costs against potential gas sales. If New Zealand bans sales for new electricity generation, we are not likely to see the exploration that this country could do with. Repealing the ban removes the risks for the explorers.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000649\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EAs I said at the outset, the current Government has listened to the experts and agrees with the criticisms of the ban. This is why we are now moving to repeal it. To make it very, very clear exactly what our intentions are, let me say this: when we look at the emissions profile from electricity we see one glaring place where there is an extreme amount of emission, and that is the coal-fired plant at Huntly. We would note that there is a lot of renewable generation coming along. We are committed to the 90 percent renewable energy target, and we do want to see more of that renewable generation developed. The fact is that there are times when we do have low lake levels. There are times when the wind does not blow. At those times there is a heavy reliance placed on the thermal capacity that this country has. So our simple view of this is to ask why we would shut out a fuel like gas as a potential source for electricity generation in the future, when we know that even with much enhanced capacity in renewable generation there will be times when thermal generation is needed. During this winter it was about 50 percent of the time. It may drop during other winters, but I do not think anyone in this House would be comfortable about telling New Zealanders two things: first, that we are going to continue to burn coal at the rate we are, and, second, that should renewable generators have those little down patches, there is no thermal back-up for them.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000650\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe thermal ban was a piece of political symbolism and we are repealing it today. I commend the bill to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u00222c0cffdafcc242bfa8aa2c3324210bc3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000651\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222c0cffdafcc242bfa8aa2c3324210bc3\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to oppose Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. It is bad legislation. We have already seen a bill thrust through under urgency that reverses the mandatory sales obligation for oil companies to start to include a small proportion of renewable fuels in the fuels they sell through the pump.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000652\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225ec43423f63d4bedabb5e5bcaa9fed2c\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: Bad couple of weeks for the planet.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000653\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220816158d2fb04789b4d1ded8d0c2ae23\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: It has been a bad couple of weeks for the planet, as my colleague says. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000654\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI will reflect again on something I mentioned earlier when we were debating the last bill. Both National and Labour agree that human-induced climate change is real. We are not alone in that view; the Governments of the United States, China, Australia, and the whole of Europe have reached the same conclusion. Although it is true that some scientists disagree with that viewpoint, the vast majority of them think that human-induced climate change is a real and serious problem. We have freedom of speech. Sceptics will always be able to have their say, and they get more press coverage than they deserve because they are expressing a sometimes radical viewpoint in somewhat intemperate language and are willing to criticise other people who do not agree with their minority viewpoint as being dogmatic. None the less, they have freedom of speech. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000655\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIf this Government has reached the view\u2014as it says it has\u2014that climate change is real, then it is incumbent upon Governments like those I mentioned and the previous Labour-led Government to actually do something to reduce emissions. That is the only way to deal with climate change. We have to reduce emissions so that they do not get worse. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000656\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIn New Zealand\u2019s case, half of our emissions come from agriculture and are quite hard to reduce. There are some emission-reduction technologies that are already economic, like nitrification inhibitors and the various ways in which we can be more prudent in the use of nitrogenous fertiliser. There are various other things that those in dairying can do to reduce emissions, like using stand-off pads in winter, etc. But, by and large, it is true that ruminants will still produce some greenhouse gas emissions, so it is difficult for New Zealand to control and reduce its agricultural emissions compared with how easy it is to do in some other sectors. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000657\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EAs we have said, the way to reduce emissions resulting from transport is a combination of improved efficiency of vehicle fleets, a modal shift into more efficient modes of transport so that, again, the fuel used goes further\u2014for example, putting freight on to rail, using bigger trucks, or having more passenger transport, etc.\u2014and then there is fuel substitution, be it electricity or biofuels, both of which will be important. Biofuels, of course, have been set back by the legislation the House has just unwisely pushed through on the votes of National and ACT \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000658\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EOutside transport, the other area that is the main source of energy-related emissions is electricity production. As the Hon Gerry Brownlee rightly said, about one-third of our emissions come from thermal electricity, and, as the Hon Nick Smith will no doubt say when he stands, until recently thermal electricity emissions have been going up in New Zealand. That has been a problem. That problem needs to be reversed by stopping those emissions from growing and getting them going in a different direction. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000659\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EWe heard Gerry Brownlee talk about the existing provision in the legislation. It does not ban new thermal power stations; it restricts them. I will come back to that in a second. That was, again, his exaggeration. One would think that there were no exemptions for security of supply, but there are. One would think from listening to him that one could not retire the Huntly power station and replace it with more carbon-efficient gas-fired power plants. That can be done under the existing legislation. What he said, though, was that it was unnecessary because this would be controlled through emissions pricing. This is the Government that has thrown the carbon market into disarray because it has said\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000660\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fd58516156e842f6ad31b9f0d97452db\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: No, it hasn\u2019t.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000661\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022be3b25d8b75b43efa04e9423eda0853e\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Dr Smith says it has not. There has been a loss of $300 million to $400 million of inward investment in the forest industry, as reported widely\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000662\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226c0444b8f1dd44ee938de9d448554acc\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Dream on! Where\u2019s the proof?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000663\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223b5286d4a88c4c4c8c83b5240a9bc799\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: The proof is in the publications that have been put to the member by the investors, who said they were going to invest the money and are now not going to. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000664\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIn addition to that, the carbon service industry, one of the world\u2019s biggest players, was about to open an office in New Zealand\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000665\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002238eaa4c4404344afa45cce3eaf5cb4b4\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Yeah, right!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000666\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221e3123249b7b415b96e835f2ca340ac7\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: It was; people from the industry were here to open it. They had come to New Zealand, then when National came out and said that it would suspend the operation of the emissions trading scheme, they packed their bags, left New Zealand, and did not do it. That too is on the record. The member might like to deny it, but it is true. The carbon market that the Government is saying will control the building of new gas-fired and coal-fired power stations does not yet exist. It is in disarray because of what that Government has already done. The Business Roundtable is out there saying that it wants a carbon tax. The National-led Government has said that it will look at that in the select committee. The Business Roundtable wanted the price of carbon at $5 a tonne\u2014it would not make one iota of difference to that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000667\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EAnother reason why a price on carbon itself will not cut the mustard is that gas in the ground is not worth anything to people. It has to be burnt to be of value. The price of gas in recent years has more than doubled. The gas companies could prune back the price of gas a little bit\u2014it would not drop the price of electricity, because we know our renewable generators are already competitive with it\u2014but they could undercut the costs of those renewable generators very easily, build a couple of gas-fired power stations, and close out the future of our renewable generation. They would close out the future of renewable generation in New Zealand, the country that has the most cost-competitive renewable electricity choices in the world\u2014in the world! \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000668\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003ENew Zealand is turning its back on making that a reality. It leaves open the possibility that gas companies will come along\u2014these guys have very big pockets\u2014and decide to build their own gas-fired power station as quickly as we could blink. They can make the decision to do it as quickly as we can blink, because they have the money to do it, if they are allowed to. They could drop the price of gas so that it comes in at just under the cost of new renewable generation, and they would close out those renewable generators. Those renewable generators are already cost competitive. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000669\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIn terms of the renewable projects that are consented to, again, Mr Brownlee is right. There is a big build going on in renewable generation at the moment. We have more than 5 years\u2019 forward supply already consented to under the Resource Management Act. Geothermal generation capacity is being built. Geothermal is the most reliable source of baseload in New Zealand. It runs at higher reliability factors than gas, coal, or any other source of generation. It is more reliable than hydro because, of course, we do not have the water inflow risk. It is less susceptible to breakdown and there are fewer outages for maintenance than there are with gas and coal-fired power stations. Do not pretend we are doing this for security of supply reasons. We do not need to do it for those reasons. If we did, the legislation already allows us to get an exemption to the restrictions on new geothermal generation, and we can build it anyway. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000670\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThis is another example of where the National Government is turning its back on doing the right thing. The idea that New Zealand will not have the demand for gas just because it is not burnt for electricity is another nonsense. We know that the biggest consumer of gas in New Zealand is now Methanex. Methanex uses it for producing methanol. It has reopened two of its very large methanol production facilities in New Zealand, and, as a consequence, demand for gas in New Zealand is going up already, because of Methanex. Do not tell me that a growing market for gas somehow will not cause exploration for gas. The market of yesteryear was smaller and gas companies still explored for more gas. The market this year is bigger than it was in those prior years, and I am being told that despite the fact that the market is growing, there will not be any exploration for gas in New Zealand. That is just another nonsensical argument. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000671\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe reality is that the world has very serious environmental problems, of which the most serious at the moment is climate change. If a country as wealthy as New Zealand, with our environmental ethic, with our richness in renewable resources, and with our system of democratic government, cannot do the right thing and reduce emissions, then the reality is that the world will not. It is a sad reality, but it is a truth. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000672\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIf New Zealand, with all of those attributes that I spoke about, does not reduce its energy-related emissions, then the reality is that the world will not. It is a very, very sad thing to conclude, and it is something that the previous Labour-led Government was not willing to accept. We were not willing to accept that future for our children, for our grandchildren, and for the hundreds of millions\u2014and it is literally hundreds of millions\u2014of people in poor developing countries whose lives will be made absolutely miserable through climate change. But this National Government is willing to accept that conclusion. It is willing to abrogate its responsibilities. It is willing to see climate change emissions grow in electricity, because that is what this bill will cause.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022 data-id=\u0022e82203b9763c4b0cbc6204c0aa1662b4\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000673\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e82203b9763c4b0cbc6204c0aa1662b4\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Climate Change Issues):\u003C/span\u003E The point on which I would agree with the previous speaker is that climate change is the most challenging and important environmental issue for this country and for the world. The real test though is, will the \u201CThermal Ban Bill\u201D, as it is called, make a constructive difference? I, along with the Minister of Energy and Resources, put to the House that it is Clayton\u2019s legislation that will achieve the opposite to what it is intended to achieve, and that the genesis of the legislation had far more to do with politics than finding a constructive way forward for New Zealand around the challenge of climate change. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000674\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI make no apologies for being an engineer and a bit of a pragmatist. The part in this law that is a nonsense is pretending that we can differentiate between a peak-load station and a baseload station. The nonsense of the current law is that we could build another mammoth Huntly power station and say it is a peak-load station. When Huntly was commissioned, it was a peak-load station. Yet under the current law and the exemptions we could build another station of that sort, despite it being the single greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand. You see, a peak-load station today may become a baseload station tomorrow, and that is why this legislation achieves very little. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000675\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe second thing I want to say about the Act that was passed by the previous Government is that it was all driven by politics. Let us just recite the previous Government\u2019s record on thermal generation. When Labour came to Government in 1999, 72 percent of New Zealand\u2019s power was produced renewably. It dropped to 66 percent\u2014a drop of 6 percent over its 9 years\u2014and it dropped every single year Labour was in office. I asked the Parliamentary Library to go back and check whether any Government in New Zealand\u2019s history has a worse record, in terms of the drop in renewable energy. I say to my colleague from West Coast - Tasman that even if we go back to the very first lights being turned on in Reefton in the 1870s, no Government has a worse record in terms of decline of renewable generation than the last Labour Government. Those members should hang their heads in shame. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000676\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI further say how much of a nonsense it was. Do members know what the last Labour Government did? It used taxpayers\u2019 money in 2002 to build a new diesel-fired power station at Whirinaki. Any New Zealander who picks up his or her power bill will find an electricity levy on it. That levy was to fund a new diesel-fired power station. When I hear members opposite pleading about climate change, that they are somehow the great saviours of the planet, why in goodness\u2019 name were they spending compulsorily levied public money on a new diesel-fired power station? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000677\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EBut it got worse. Do members know that the biggest thermal power station that has been built in the last 20 years was not private enterprise? It was the Government that provided a guarantee for the building of the e3p generator next door to Huntly. The Government said that it would not be built without a Government guarantee. The previous Government intervened in the electricity market to build a new thermal gas-fired station one year, and the next year it wants to pass a bill to stop building thermal power stations. If we want confused public policy, that is what we have seen over the last 9 years, and that is why we have seen such an appalling emissions record around electricity. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000678\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EAgain, let us look at the facts of the last Labour Government\u2019s record. We saw a 186 percent increase in greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation. Let me just say that again. The biggest increase in greenhouse gas emissions during the last 9 years has been in the electricity sector and every piece of it was owned by the Government. Every single element was State-owned enterprises, building things at the direction of Cabinet. Let us just look at the actual emissions figures.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000679\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a6b977a8c5834b37a434782ef4fe10ca\u0022\u003EHon Annette King\u003C/span\u003E: Of course that\u2019s rubbish.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000680\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aa736ce38c9b44f5a488592f041c8669\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Annette King, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, says that is not correct. She should explain.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000681\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c0c6107452da467c96b3b7411df59054\u0022\u003EHon Annette King\u003C/span\u003E: Happened at the direction of Cabinet.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000682\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002263af859d47464e46841e0c279bbb3161\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: That is right. I ask the deputy leader of the Labour Party whether she was in the toilet when Cabinet agreed to provide a Government guarantee for the e3p generator. Where was Annette King when Cabinet decided to build a new diesel-fired power station at Whirinaki? Where was she? The Cabinet minute is very, very clear in that regard. I say to the Minister\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000683\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b52a1e51225e4c3eb34c7bb20e87a1ce\u0022\u003EHon Annette King\u003C/span\u003E: I think you are the Minister now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000684\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aaf25ae6c680477aba45611908fa7b1b\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: I apologise to the deputy leader and former Minister. Why is it that the biggest growth in emissions occurred in the electricity sector during the last 9 years? You see, what members say on this side of the House\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000685\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227c06561a75d74854bf19d533eee1a63a\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: So your answer is to build still more thermal?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000686\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ee2cf9a7874541ec97d121a2567a1000\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Well, I want to talk to them about that. The member opposite asks me about the policy. I think that it is very interesting to look at the record. There is only one year\u2014only one year\u2014in which there was a reduction in thermal greenhouse gas emissions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000687\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227d6aa677d067485bbde3c75247217c48\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: You told us there were no years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000688\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229ed09d0c81624e6fa4d7a5cdb2796128\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: No, no\u2014overall, and every year\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000689\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002292a4736161114d589b237f57f27a93f8\u0022\u003EHon Members\u003C/span\u003E: Ha, ha!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000690\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022337b9e801d06472c9f61fb4d2292de53\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, Mr Parker wants to get cute. It is true that every single year when Labour was the Government, greenhouse gas emissions grew. But in terms of thermal emissions it is true that if we can substitute gas for coal, that is a good thing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000691\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022008a13b8c52f4f5aab524cab261c6f8b\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: I agree, and the current Act allows you to do it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000692\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e69ef35fec3e4187bf1daa28a6dcbf0b\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Well, well! The member opposite, Mr Parker, the man who was part of the Government with the worst record ever in respect of increased greenhouse gas emissions, notes that if we can substitute coal for gas, that makes good sense. That is why we call these silly regularity methods. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000693\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EDo members know the genesis of this bill? The genesis of this bill occurred when Labour went into the last election campaign with its trousers around its ankles, absolutely naked on the issue of climate change, because it had had 9 years of huge growth in emissions. So it dreamt up this idea of a Clayton\u2019s ban to try to hide that nakedness. I challenge members opposite: which other countries in the world have a thermal ban of this sort\u2014which ones? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000694\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222224480a0b00463eb6724011685c7adf\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: Which other country has our renewable resource?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000695\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022945017054990416f85e4d41129f9d160\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: Ah! Let us compare the record\u2014let us actually compare the record of increased emissions. New Zealand\u2019s emissions have grown by 12 percent over the course of the last Government, Australia\u2019s by 8 percent, and the United States\u2019 by 4 percent. The United Kingdom\u2019s have gone down by 2 percent. None of those countries, which have a better record than New Zealand, has instituted this sort of silly regulatory intervention. That is why it is the view on this side of the House that the right approach is to provide a market instrument. That is the agenda that this Government will be advancing, so that there is an ongoing price advantage for renewable over thermal generation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000696\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EI commend the Minister of Energy and Resources for bringing this bill to the House, and for getting rid of the silly political gesture that was made earlier. Labour\u2019s legislation was not designed to reduce emissions, it was designed purely for politics. We need an energy policy that will provide for security of supply and that will provide the right incentives for improved sustainability. The Act passed by the Labour Government was a failure, and it needs to be taken off the law books.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000697\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EDebate interrupted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000698\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002241c5534160c142ad998eea224bd51c95\u0022\u003EMaiden Statements\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000700\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002214d2bed2406645b890f4887b48b95a48\u0022\u003EMaiden Statements\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022 data-id=\u002265ba94ccf12941499ca20bad8bbc89d3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002265ba94ccf12941499ca20bad8bbc89d3\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Honourable members, we come to the last of the maiden statements. As has been the practice for previous statements, I ask that you limit your congratulatory messages so that the incoming member can conduct his or her maiden statement.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022 data-id=\u0022f2027402d59548dca8b5f955776ca003\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000701\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f2027402d59548dca8b5f955776ca003\u0022\u003ELOUISE UPSTON (National\u2014Taup\u014D):\u003C/span\u003E Mr Deputy Speaker, congratulations on your appointment. Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, friends and family, I stand before you as a servant of the people of Taup\u014D, and of New Zealand. I am proud to be a National Party member of Parliament, and proud to be a member of the Government led by John Key. On 8 November New Zealanders voted for change. They voted for better opportunities, for the freedom to make choices in their own lives, and for a Government focused on a brighter future. Today is my opportunity to introduce myself, to share my journey to Parliament, and also to share what I hope to achieve while I am here. I am Louise Upston; my maiden name was McGill. I am a fourth-generation New Zealander. When my family arrived here New Zealand was the promised land, the land of opportunity. New Zealand was the chance for our forefathers to better themselves and their families. My father was born in Southland, my mother in Selwyn. I was born in North Shore and raised in East Coast Bays. I first voted in T\u0101maki, and had my first child in Mt Albert. I was married in Waikato, but I chose to raise my children in the heart of the Taup\u014D electorate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000702\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003EMy father, Ian, who is here today, and my late mother, Norma, shaped me. My parents taught me about hard work and determination. As I was the youngest of four, my sisters and brother taught me a few lessons, too. I learnt that I had to stick my head up to be noticed. I learnt to persevere when the odds seemed stacked against me, and not to take no for an answer. These lessons had stood me in good stead when, at the age of 19, I launched my first business. Since then I have been an employee, an employer, a manager, a leader, and a director. I have been in a range of industries, including local government, tourism, education, broadcasting, and information technology. This is the breadth of experience that I bring to my electorate and to this House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000703\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003ELife has not always been easy for me; I have seen success and failure, personally and professionally, and I have learnt from it. Determination and a bit of guts have enabled me to overcome the challenges by getting over them, around them, through them, or under them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000704\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003EHonourable members, we all know the hard work it is to get a seat in this House. We work hard to get here. Getting a seat in this House has been a goal of mine for many years, and many people have also worked hard to help me take my place here\u2014in particular, my husband, Craig. Craig is an incredibly generous man, who knows the importance of setting one\u2019s sights high, standing up for what one believes in, and never giving up: Craig, I could not have done it without you. To my children: Hamish, my teacher; Mac, my warrior; and Jessica, my princess; my father, my hero; and my late mother, my guide; and to the many friends and extended family who encouraged me to follow my dream\u2014thank you for your love and support; for your patience and your generosity. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000705\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003EAnd I have the best \u201Cblue\u201D crew in the country\u2014we turned Taup\u014D blue\u2014they were as determined as I was to win the seat, and worked incredibly hard with me to achieve the goal. I say thanks from the bottom of my heart to the National Party volunteers from Taup\u014D, led so well by campaign manager, Simon Lusk, and electorate chairperson, Hilary Brown. Of course, we have a very special Taup\u014D resident\u2014party president Judy Kirk, who took this great party from its darkest days in 2002 to its brightest in 2008. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000706\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003ETo the Prime Minister, the Hon John Key, I say: \u201CThank you for your belief in a better New Zealand, for your unwillingness to accept mediocrity, and for your strength in these turbulent times. New Zealanders have put their faith and trust in you, and I know they won\u2019t be disappointed.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000707\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003ESo why am I here? Because we need change\u2014not change for change\u2019s sake, but real change that makes a difference to the lives of ordinary New Zealanders, change that will give us a brighter future. First, we have to change our attitude\u2014dreaming big dreams, setting big goals, celebrating excellence, acknowledging achievement, and nurturing tall poppies. New Zealanders can do it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000708\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003E Nelson Mandela once quoted Marianne Williamson: \u201COur deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.\u201D Our unique Kiwi spirit has power. In recent times it has been suppressed. Political correctness has invaded our homes, our lives, and our minds. Mediocrity has replaced excellence, and fear has replaced courage. We are all pioneers, whether our waka arrived this decade or last century, and no matter where we started our journey, we are all pioneers. That is what makes us unique. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000709\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003EThe people of this country, we pioneers, are all different. We are all equal and we can all succeed at something. Every New Zealander can do well, and as a Government we want New Zealanders to do well. National is determined to raise the bar. I am proud to be part of a Government that will expect more\u2014more of ourselves, more of our Government departments, and more of the communities we represent. We will not sit back and watch this great country go backwards. We will face the challenges head on. We will move nimbly when needed and boldly when necessary. We all know we are in challenging times. Resilience and determination, and the belief in better days ahead, will see us through. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000710\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003EFirst and foremost, I am here to represent the people of Taup\u014D. The mighty Waikato River connects the people of my electorate, from the peak of Mount Tongariro to the horse studs of Cambridge; from the trout capital of T\u016Brangi to the forest land of Tokoroa; and from the tourist Mecca of Taup\u014D to the finest dairy farms in T\u012Brau and P\u016Bt\u0101ruru. My focus is on the people of Taup\u014D and representing them. I have heard too many stories of hard-working New Zealanders trying to get ahead and having to fight a system that is meant to be there to support them. It should be simple for people to get the assistance they need. There are too many rules and regulations, policies and procedures, and not enough common sense. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000711\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003EMy parents had lots of common sense: they valued education because it meant opportunity. That is why education is my top priority. Every New Zealander has the right to a great education, because education provides opportunities. We need to give every New Zealander the skills and knowledge to succeed. Currently, one in five of our children fail. At one of the schools in my electorate, 20 high school students have a reading age of 8. Our education system has failed those children. If they cannot read or write, their opportunities in life will be severely limited. We should be helping those children, and that is why I am proud to be part of National\u2019s crusade for literacy and numeracy. As a parent, as well as a politician, I know that education is the first step on the path to success. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000712\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003ETeachers and principals are doing the hard graft: doing their best to provide an environment where our children can learn. They deserve the resources to get the job done, and our support to let them make decisions about how best to do their job. With our support and parent support, teachers and principals will teach our children to strive and achieve, aim high, and work hard. Excellence in education will ensure New Zealand has a brighter future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000713\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003EMy second priority is keeping New Zealand safe again. In March this year over a thousand people gathered in Taup\u014D at a Sensible Sentencing Trust event. I saw ordinary New Zealanders demonstrating their disgust at the murder of Karen Aim. They were claiming back their town and demanding action to make it safe again. There are simple ways to do that. By changing the laws around sentencing, bail, and repeat offenders we can reduce crime committed by known criminals. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000714\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003ELet me tell the House about a family in my electorate; about an innocent young girl with her whole life ahead of her\u2014Krystal Bennett. She was stolen from her family by a known criminal: a disqualified driver who was driving an unwarranted, unregistered vehicle, and was a repeat drugged driver. The offender was on bail. She was awaiting sentencing for a crime she had committed 6 months earlier, and, not far from this Chamber, she crossed the centre line, ploughed into Krystal, and killed her. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000715\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003EThe suffering of her family, the Barnetts, their lives ruined by a career criminal, was dramatically increased by the previous Government, which seemed indifferent to the victims of crime, yet frittered millions of dollars on criminals. The victims\u2014Sharlene and Malcolm\u2014lost their daughter. They had to fight to get justice, when they should have been supported by a system that puts victims ahead of criminals. Our police need our support in their fight for safer communities. In the fight to reduce crime, New York\u2019s former mayor Giuliani understood that police, supported by politicians, are much stronger than those attacking them. Mayor Giuliani backed his police force to reduce the crime rate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000716\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003EIt seems everyone is presumed innocent, except the police. They act courageously and make terribly difficult decisions in the line of duty, and we repay that by hounding them in the media, launching immediate inquiries, and subjecting them to intense scrutiny. Why do we not support our police? Why do we not back them? Are we going to have to implement Tasers with video cameras to prove the police are innocent? Let us not be mistaken: the police are good, the criminals are bad. It is as simple as that. We need to support our police and not tie them in knots with bureaucracy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000717\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a68928ea-9dd8-4a30-8e2c-a0f49dfc8bea\u0022\u003ELike all honourable members, I want to ensure that New Zealand has a great future; a future where education is valued and our communities are safe. I am ambitious for my country, my community, and my kids. In this House we talk. We need to do more than talk. We need to act with courage and determination, and to work hard for New Zealand. There are challenges ahead, and I am realistic about the size of them. I am excited about being part of a team that will deliver a brighter future to New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022 data-id=\u00225966299ef7204fec98a1caedf90223a6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000718\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225966299ef7204fec98a1caedf90223a6\u0022\u003EMICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National):\u003C/span\u003E Can I begin by congratulating Eric Roy on his appointment as Assistant Speaker. It is a pleasure for me to see him in the Speaker\u2019s Chair for my maiden statement, given the important role he played in my decision to stand as a National Party candidate. I thank him and give thanks to my fellow southern National members Jacqui Dean, Jo Goodhew, and the Hon Bill English for their support this year. Former member Katherine Rich also gave me guidance and I thank Katherine on behalf of the people of Dunedin for her years of service. May I also congratulate the Hon Dr Lockwood Smith and Messrs Tisch and Barker on their appointments as Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and Assistant Speaker respectively. Coming as I do near the end of a long line of maiden statements, I am reminded of United States Senator George Mitchell\u2019s comments about commencement speeches. He said: \u201CI feel a bit like Elizabeth Taylor\u2019s 5th husband. I know what to do but I am not sure how to make it interesting.\u201D I will do my best to keep your interest, Mr Assistant Speaker. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000719\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EI want to acknowledge and congratulate my National caucus colleagues, and, in particular, those who have entered Parliament for the first time in 2008. Much has been made of National\u2019s move to a more representative caucus, particularly in gender and ethnicity. That focus detracts a little from the fact that these colleagues are remarkable individuals in their own right, all of them, and I feel privileged to be a part of the class of 2008. To all those accorded the honour of representing our people in the 49th Parliament, congratulations. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000720\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EMy own journey from hospital manager to member of Parliament has been, by any measure, a swift one. I am very mindful of the confidence placed in me by my party. I look forward to demonstrating that that confidence is well placed, and I pledge my absolute loyalty to the National Party and commit to upholding its values and vision for New Zealand. The Hon John Key and the Hon Bill English are the most formidable Prime Minister - Deputy Prime Minister combination of the postwar era, at a time when their skills in economic management are most needed, and I am privileged to be a member of their caucus. I am indebted to the party membership in Dunedin, and to those who supported my campaign as a candidate for Dunedin North, in particular party president, Judy Kirk; regional chair, Kate Hazlett; electorate chair, Sandra Christie; campaign manager, Scott Mason; committee and campaign members; and so many others to whom I do a disservice by not mentioning. Thank you to those who gave their support as volunteers. It is through their efforts that a robust democracy is given strength and vitality. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000721\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EI want to pay tribute to my best friend, wife, and huge support, Amanda. I am truly fortunate to have her in my life. Thank you for your unwavering support. My daughters Emily, Isabel, and Chloe have kept me grounded and given us more joy than they will ever know. They are my reason. They represent the future of this great country. Whatever demands are placed on me I will not forget my responsibilities as husband and father. There will be times when duty requires the sacrifice of time otherwise spent with them. I thank them for their understanding in those times. I am delighted they are here to share this milestone, but slightly disconcerted at the fact that my children are far more excited at the prospect of meeting the Prime Minister than catching up with their dad. I dedicate this address to my late father, Allan. I know he is watching and proud of this achievement, even if he might tease my choice of party. I share this day with my mother, Pat. I am honoured by her presence despite her own health challenges. There are many other family members watching here, in Dunedin, and around New Zealand, and I thank them for their support. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000722\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EAlthough elected from the National Party list it is my privilege to represent the people of Dunedin in this House. I believe it is incumbent on all list members to be as active in representing a constituency as electorate MPs are, be that geographical, cultural, gender-based, or some other form of representation. Twenty-two thousand, five hundred Dunedinites cast their party vote to my party, and they have a voice in me. But, of course, my service is to all the people of Dunedin. I have blue and gold blood running through my veins and I will work hard for the south. I want to acknowledge the Hon Pete Hodgson, MP for Dunedin North, and the other Dunedin-based MPs. Despite differences in political philosophy we are all working in the best interests of Dunedin. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000723\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EDunedin and Otago have a rich heritage, one that my colonial ancestors helped fashion. My great-great-grandfather, James Woodhouse, emigrated from Lancashire, and in 1862 discovered gold at the junction of the Teviot and Clutha rivers near Roxburgh. No great wealth was passed down, however, as he purchased the Bannockburn Hotel and fathered eight children. In those days in Central Otago churches were not permanently established, and the pastors and priests maintaining the spiritual health of those pioneers were a transient group. Family legend has it that wife Mary was so keen to ensure her brood were christened that she used whichever man of faith was around at the time each child was born. Thus, according to legend, descendants of James and Mary were christened Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, and so on. I am not sure how true this is, but if it is then my great-grandfather was born when the Catholic priest was passing through. My maternal great-great-grandfather was Patrick Lyng, an immigrant from Dublin and Lawrence\u2019s first butcher around the time of the Gabriel\u2019s Gully gold rush. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EI was born and raised in South Dunedin in a family of nine children, the first eight of whom were born before the eldest had had his 8th birthday. This gave me some interesting early life experiences. Although not really conscious of it we were not well off. By today\u2019s standards we might have been considered poor. But thanks to outstanding parenting and after surviving running battles and backyard rugby with five brothers, a certain degree of resilience and self-sufficiency developed. That which today is considered a necessity but which was very much a luxury then had to be earned by working. Part-time jobs before and after school were the norm\u2014up to three at a time while at high school. My mother is fortunate that so many of her children and grandchildren still call Dunedin home. Sadly, that is not the case for many New Zealanders, who fly thousands of miles overseas to attend the weddings of their children. Grandparents now need to learn how to use a webcam to talk to their grandchildren. We Kiwis have always yearned to travel, and I look forward to working in a Government that yearns to bring them home again. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000725\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EDespite the economic downturn I have every confidence in the medium-term future. We are rich in natural resources, and with practical and sustainable use of those resources, our economy can grow at a much greater rate than has been the recent experience. Tourism, for example, has massive untapped potential, particularly in the south. It is tempting to keep the richness of our tourist destinations to ourselves. Indeed, the wonder of the recent increase in the tourist trade in Central Otago, the Catlins, and the Otago Peninsula is not that it is occurring, but that it has taken the rest of the world 150 years to cotton on to what we have always known\u2014that the south is amongst the most beautiful and dramatic regions in the world. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000726\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EHowever, we are at risk of not fulfilling our intellectual and entrepreneurial potential. Our universities and, in particular, Otago University, are founts of awesome knowledge and research capability. The challenge for government is to encourage them to increase their ability to harness and develop that knowledge onshore, convert knowledge into commercially viable industries, and overcome the tyranny of distance. By this I mean a targeted research and development support, not an ill-targeted tax credits regime. National\u2019s ultra high-speed broadband strategy has the potential to overcome the distance problem and create opportunities not even conceived. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000727\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EI believe it is the responsibility of government to create an environment wherein its citizens can aspire to achieve all they can and wish for. It is for individual citizens to seize that opportunity. When the fruits of effort are achievement and reward they should be congratulated, thanked, and celebrated for that achievement. That reward might not be financial, but if it is, that is also something to be celebrated, not envied and criticised. I fear that in this country we are conditioning our young people away from such aspiration. I have led successful businesses but not actually owned them; I admire those who do. They operate in the face of personal and financial risk in a very complex regulatory environment. It was incongruous of the previous Government to claim to support the growth of industries and then drown them in regulation and red tape. It was incongruous to claim to respect the autonomy of its citizens and then seek to control aspects of their lives that Governments have no business being in. Fundamentally, this comes down to trust. I believe it is government\u2019s role to create the environment wherein businesses and individuals can aspire to fulfil their potential and then trust its people to get on and achieve. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000728\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EI also roundly reject the notion offered by some that conservatism and social justice are mutually exclusive. I will be a strong advocate for social justice. But social justice is not served by inaction in intergenerational welfare dependency, increasing illiteracy rates, family dysfunction, and the poverty of spirit that pervades many sectors of society. I do not accept that those who are successful have somehow climbed on the shoulders of others. We have a duty of care to help those less fortunate, but no good is served by the politics of envy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000729\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E Until recently, it was my privilege to be the chief executive officer of Mercy Hospital, Dunedin, a private surgical hospital owned by Nga Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa\u2014Sisters of Mercy New Zealand. I thank my Mercy team for their huge support on this journey. The story of the sisters and their foundress, Catherine McAuley, inspires and challenges me, and forms the basis of my leadership ethos. Reconciling the demands of highly technically-advanced healthcare organisations with compassionate care of the sick and vulnerable is not easy, but it is possible, following simple principles. One thing I understood implicitly was that none of the hospital\u2019s funds could be committed to charitable work unless they were first earned. I also understood that the more we earned the more good we could do. I see parallels with the functions of government in that respect. In my time as Mercy\u2019s chief executive officer and as president of the New Zealand Private Surgical Hospitals Association I have presided over the growth in both demand for, and supply of, private surgical services. I believe that an ideological mindset has prevented better use of spare capacity in private hospitals and that has been to the detriment of the health of New Zealanders. I firmly believe that the future of this nation\u2019s health is based on a strong and sustainable public sector. That said, New Zealanders have a right to good information on what they can reasonably expect from the public system, in order that they can make informed choices. If opportunities exist to better use the private sector to enhance the health of the nation, they should be taken. I strongly support my party\u2019s policy in this regard. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000730\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003ENext week Mercy Hospital will perform 36 grommet and tonsillectomy operations on children languishing on the Dunedin Hospital waiting list. Medical staff will give their time for free and the private hospital will cover all other costs\u2014hardly the actions of a profit-motivated private sector. This has occurred several times, and is happening because of surgeons\u2019 frustration at worsening public waiting times. It is time to re-engage the medical and nursing staff who feel increasingly disenfranchised from the decision-making process and to put the patient at the centre of healthcare delivery. We must accept with good grace that not all the needs can be met by the public purse but I do not accept that this is as good as it gets. The rest of the world is embracing new ways of delivering care using amazing new technologies and therapies. Back-office staff cannot make those changes; only a re-engaged medical and nursing staff can. Again, it comes down to trust. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000731\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EMr Assistant Speaker, as you know, I am very keen on rugby and have been a premier referee for many years. We have similar roles in a way: both penalising the offside and preventing the repeated infringements that spoil the contest. I use a couple of tools in refereeing\u2014these red and yellow cards\u2014that might be useful to you. I would be very happy to lend them for use with one or two worthy recipients. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000732\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003EI will work to encourage policies of aspiration, equity of opportunity, the celebration of success, and the compassionate of support of those who need Government assistance. The people of Aotearoa New Zealand deserve no less from us, and I will work to the best of my ability as their representative to achieve that end.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022 data-id=\u0022ae0b574c0e4c462bb09c38cc33ca336f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000733\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ae0b574c0e4c462bb09c38cc33ca336f\u0022\u003EAARON GILMORE (National):\u003C/span\u003E About 25 years ago, I sat in the living room of our family State house in Corhampton Street, in Aranui. It was early August and freezing cold. It was night, and we did not have enough money to put in the electricity meter to give us power. We had some light from some large candles that sat on the table and my grandmother and I were having Weet-Bix for dinner. The next morning we could not afford breakfast, and I went hungry until a kind teacher of mine bought me lunch. That day, and many others like it while growing up in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch, taught me valuable lessons: the merits of hard work, of a good education, and of the freedom of choice over compulsion; and the importance of family. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000734\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EToday I stand before members in this wonderful House, before many other talented New Zealanders. Some members are old enough to be my parents. Some are, like me, new, young faces in this Parliament. I look forward to working with all members. In my career to date, I have found that a good team will beat a great individual any time\u2014and our Government is a great team. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000735\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EI represent the so-called Generation X. It is my generation who will soon take the torch and have the responsibility to lead New Zealand and look after those who raised us in better economic times. Too many of my generation have decided to make their lives in other countries. I took a stand to create a global business career here in New Zealand, most recently working in the export manufacturing sector, running new technology ventures for a major multinational. As a trained economist with a lot of time in the corporate sector, I believe I have the necessary skills and experiences that this Parliament may require in these tough economic times\u2014though someone said to me the other day that the purpose of astrologers is to make economists look good. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000736\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EI come to this House as its luckiest member this term\u2014elected on our party list by fewer than 40 votes across the entire country. Sir Edmund Hillary once said to me, in 1990 when I was a member of New Zealand Youth to Everest, that it is funny how good luck follows those who are determined and work hard. I would like to thank 40 of my 56 cousins for voting for our party for the first time in 2008. A member needs only enough votes to get him or her here, but I have no plans to remain the most marginal member of this House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000737\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EToday is a good day to be a New Zealander, with our National Government led by our wonderful Prime Minister, the Hon John Key. I am honoured to be a junior member of this Government and under his leadership, and I look forward to spending many years working with him. Of course, I would also like to pay thanks to the Speaker for all the good work and sound guidance he has provided. There are a few other people I would like to thank: my campaign team, the wisdom and wit of my regional chair, Roger Bridge, and the formidable determination and grace of our party president, Judy Kirk. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000738\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EBut today is also a great day to be from my home. Today, for the first time in 154 years, my community has a new voice in Parliament to represent it in our nation\u2019s capital. I am humbled to be that voice. You see, National has never, until now, in its proud parliamentary history had an MP from my community. Over that time my mother\u2019s family, who are from Tuahiwi, have lived in eastern Christchurch, while my father\u2019s family comes from Taumutu. My mother, Kay, was expelled from two schools, due to abuse experienced at home, and was placed in foster care when young. She went on to a career as a seamstress and is well known through Parklands after 20-odd years on the school parent teacher association, making uniforms for sports teams, and being mum to three stroppy boys. My dad, Garry, suffered constant taunts from an abusive stepfather as the sole fair-skinned red-headed boy growing up in a M\u0101ori village, so much so that he changed his name at 18 to Gilmore, which is our family name today. He has spent most of his life working as a cobbler. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000739\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EMoney\u2014or rather, the lack of it\u2014has always been a hot topic in our house and in our wider family, and that has driven me to be careful with it. We have always, as a wider family, worked together to share our meagre resources to make sure no one goes without for too long. I will bring the same focus to Parliament. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000740\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003ENamed after the great Elvis Aaron Presley, I am the son of Kiwi battlers. My parents worked 18-hour days for years to save enough money to buy our small family house where we and my two brothers, Craig and Nigel, lived. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000741\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EThe two communities my parents were from were founded by the survivors from the greatest military loss in our history. This was not from the killing fields of Europe, but from the greatest loss of life in one day for the people of Aotearoa, which occurred in 1832 at Kaiapoi P\u0101 north of Christchurch. In one day, the largest single population of M\u0101ori in New Zealand at that time was massacred. Over 3,000 people were lost, and only a handful of survivors remained to tell the story. This tragedy is one that needs to be taught about in schools and to be rated alongside that of Passchendaele, Gallipoli, and the Somme, which are honoured in this House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000742\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EThe electorate I come from is my home. It is where I was born and raised, attending my then local primary school, decile 2 Parkview School, and becoming its first-ever MP. I recently spoke to some 5-year-olds from my old school. I hoped I would offer them the inspiration and the ambition to break through the glass ceiling put before them that I experienced. I also attended Shirley Boys High School in Christchurch and, in its 51-year history, I am its first MP as well. I will not be the last MP from my old schools.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000743\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003E Christchurch East was historically one of the poorest electorates in New Zealand, but no longer is that the case. It is one of large contrasts. Some of the poorest people in New Zealand are still there and have progressed little under previous Governments. As well as having many new suburbs with many affluent people, it is rural in the north and urban in the south, with the heavily polluted Avon River running near its bottom. The eastern suburbs, like many growing areas, need more schools, roads, and jobs, and lower pollution and crime. The lack of broadband is a laughing joke in the area. National will actively work to fix many of these things while it is in Government. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000744\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EI returned home 4 years ago. I am a loyal Cantabrian. Our beaches, our forests, our rivers and, above all, Canterbury\u2019s people, are what I love. The fact that I can now help people in my community makes me happy. To get this far has been an effort combining family members, friends, and teamwork, and it has been a triumph over obstacles. All my life people have said I will not make it. As a kid I experienced poverty; I did not like it. In recent years, with hard work and wise investments, I have experienced relative wealth; I liked that better. I have stayed in $2,000-a-night hotels in India. They were quite nice, but not as nice as sleeping under the stars on a warm summer\u2019s evening beside Lake Sumner in the Southern Alps with some friends\u2014that was free. I have lunched with billionaires and beggars, and learnt something from both. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000745\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EMore people can achieve the same wonderful contrasting experiences if they, too, get a good education and work hard. I was lucky to have the love and guidance of my late grandmother, Doreen Kennedy-Spiers-Humm, who pushed me to read widely, to go to school, and to go to university. By going to university, I achieved something no one in my family had ever achieved before. My parents, Garry and Kay, instilled in me some great values, which I hold true today: integrity, honesty, openness, respect for others, hard work, a love of the outdoors, determination, and a good sense of humour. Representing young families, I also hope to be an example, like many others in my caucus, that people from disadvantaged backgrounds can, with hard work and determination, succeed against significant odds. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000746\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EI acknowledge my biggest supporters today. Jenny, the love of my life and the best woman a man could have, is my rock in the often turbulent waters of our hectic lives. And, of course, to my beautiful children, Blake and Evelyn, I say Dad loves them more than they can imagine. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000747\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EI want to be an example of what other kids out there can achieve. Ours is a Government of ambition and aspiration for all. Together we need to ascend to the heights of our aspiration. When I was 10, I was told I would never finish school and would only be trouble. I proved those who said that wrong and went on to complete two university degrees. The street I grew up on was deemed by the police to be one of the worst in New Zealand 2 years running, due to insidious gang violence. That is not an excuse to fail; it is an opportunity to succeed. When I was 19 I was told I would never make a living doing what I wanted to do in New Zealand, yet I have done well enough in New Zealand to be resented by some and labelled a rich prick. When I was 25 I was told, after contracting a rare eye condition called keratoconus, that I would never see again, but today, with the miracle of modern New Zealand - developed technology, I can. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000748\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EThose who know me well know I am also passionate and loyal. I like to live my life by a saying that, I understand, comes from Mario Andretti: \u201CIf everything seems under control, then you just aren\u2019t going fast enough.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000749\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003ESir Jack Marshall, in his maiden speech many years ago, spoke of four parts of liberalism. I identify with much of what he said. The one pillar that we are still a long way from achieving in New Zealand is the one that we should be most concerned about: the pursuit of economic liberty. New Zealand in my lifetime has gone only backwards on the goal of achieving economic liberty. We need to fix that by giving people greater freedom to grow the economy with less intervention, by improving productivity, and by having a smaller Government and a smarter investment in people and technology. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000750\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003ENew Zealand can be the most prosperous country in the OECD\u2014at the top, not in the top half. We need to be a nation that is more than the world\u2019s farmer; we need to create wealth from our minds. We must work smarter to compete on the world stage. We must be prepared to take new risks on young people and on technology. We are blessed with natural resources and smart people. Let us use them to our advantage, and not lock them away or encourage people to go to other places. Let us embrace technology for the good it can do, and not shun it in fear. Let us dream a little of a New Zealand that I think we all want: a New Zealand that is safe, clean, prosperous, and, of course, fun; one where people from all walks of life have a quality of life second to none; and one that is a melting pot of the world\u2019s cultures. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000751\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EI have worked in 11 nations, and I have seen good and bad in all of them. We should model ourselves on the best bits of them, but retain our unique Kiwi identity. We are ourselves a nation of immigrants from many of those places. I myself am an amalgam of many races\u2014Irish, Scottish, Danish, and a little bit M\u0101ori\u2014but I am 100 percent Kiwi. New Zealand should be the same\u2014the best combination of the world today. But today that is only a dream. Too many people define themselves by their race, and not by our nationality. We need our kids to aspire to greatness, whoever they are and wherever they come from. For too long we have said that people cannot succeed, due to poverty, the colour of their skin, or where they live. We are one small nation; we just need to work together. The comedian Billy Connolly had it right when he said: \u201CNew Zealand wasn\u2019t the end of the world, but you could see it from there.\u201D So, more than any other nation, we all need to paddle in the same direction, or we will sink. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000752\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EOur nation is great at sport. Eastern Christchurch today may be middle New Zealand, but it is home to many of New Zealand\u2019s greatest sportspeople. But I want our kids to aspire to more than just sporting greatness. We need our kids to aspire to be a Richard Branson, as well as a Richie McCaw. We need our schools to be the best in the world, so that more poor kids can improve their lot. Low-decile schools, like those that I attended, are not what they used to be. Kids in these schools do not achieve. Education, as we have heard many times in the last few weeks, is the pathway out of poverty to prosperity. Large numbers of young people are still leaving school with insufficient skills for the global economy, while too many of our most talented choose to leave New Zealand and never return. We need more people to have high-income jobs in New Zealand, driven by high technology and good old-fashioned hard work. We need our country to be safe, so that only the criminals feel unsafe. We need a country where we are compassionate and care for the old, the poor, the sick, and the infirm; and where our natural areas remain international examples of splendour that we cherish, and do not pollute. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000753\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fbe3f87c-849c-4eee-84cc-119edeb1a681\u0022\u003EToday that is all a faraway dream. Well, when I was a child, eating Weet-Bix by candlelight in my grandmother\u2019s State house, I realised that dreams come only to those who work to make them happen. Now the challenge we have together becomes to deliver on my dreams. My only fear is that there is not enough willingness across this House to deliver a New Zealand that we all want. So I say to members the words of George Patton: \u201CLead, follow, or get out of the way.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022 data-id=\u002229657cf3b1fd4f26bd010b64d0c9a185\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000754\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002229657cf3b1fd4f26bd010b64d0c9a185\u0022\u003EJOHN BOSCAWEN (ACT):\u003C/span\u003E Firstly, I congratulate Mr Speaker and his colleagues on their appointments as Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and Assistant Speakers respectively. I acknowledge the Hon Wayne Mapp and Phil Twyford, fellow contestants for the seat of North Shore, and I thank them for the manner in which they conducted their campaigns. I also acknowledge and congratulate all other new members of Parliament, and I wish them well in their careers.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000755\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EI too am humbled, privileged, and honoured to have been elected an ACT list member of Parliament, and to have been given the opportunity to serve. To all those who supported ACT throughout New Zealand, I say a very sincere thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000756\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EI have a vision of New Zealand as a country that is safe, rich, and prosperous, and once again enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world. Our problems are man-made, and if we are, as a first step, to lift our living standards to the level of those in Australia, we need to break the cycle of dependency and create an environment that encourages rather than discourages hard work, thrift, and enterprise. We need to reduce taxes, increase productivity, and improve our international competitiveness.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000757\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EEducation will be absolutely fundamental to achieving this vision\u2014not just in ensuring that every child leaves school able to read and write, but, equally important, in changing attitudes. Kelvin Davis said in the House last week: \u201CEducational engagement and achievement is vital to M\u0101ori greatness and prosperity. We will achieve more with one full generation of highly educated M\u0101ori than we will from the last 168 years of grievance.\u201D I totally agree. During my time in Parliament I expect to play a part in making my vision of a prosperous, inclusive country a reality.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000758\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EThroughout life our parents, teachers, mentors, and experiences shape our philosophies, values, and beliefs. A maiden speech is an opportunity to publicly acknowledge and thank those who have contributed to making us who we are today. My late sister Leanne and I were privileged to grow up in a loving two-parent family. My early memories are of my father, Owen, who was a schoolteacher, while my mother, Beverley Wheeler\u2014who, with my partner, Jane, is sitting in the gallery today\u2014sacrificed her early career to stay at home and raise Leanne and me. I am deeply indebted to both my parents for the start in life they gave me and for the values they instilled in me.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000759\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EMy father\u2014who, sadly, passed away last November\u2014had an unparalleled association with Otahuhu College that spanned over 60 years. He was a pupil, a head boy prefect, a teacher in the 1950s and 60s, a Fulbright scholar, and, finally, the job he coveted most: principal of Otahuhu College for 14 years from 1972. My father was highly regarded by most in education circles, and he devoted his life to the school and its pupils. He was constantly pushing teachers and pupils to excel and to achieve their maximum potential, be it academically, in sport, or in other ways.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000760\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EJust a few years before he suffered a stroke in 2001, he gave me a copy of the interview notes that he had prepared over 25 years earlier for his 1971 interview as principal for me to use in writing his obituary. I was surprised to read that, as early as 1971, he was calling for the teaching of the M\u0101ori language at Otahuhu College. He then learnt M\u0101ori through correspondence school, and, because of the shortage of M\u0101ori language teachers, taught it himself to fifth form School Certificate level, in addition to performing his duties as principal. M\u0101ori culture is one of the things that surely makes New Zealand and New Zealanders unique and gives us all a sense of identity. Who in this House is not moved by the many waiata and haka from the public gallery that have followed so many of our maiden speeches?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000761\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EFor most of his last 6 years my father was treated with dignity and respect by the hard-working and generally lowly paid staff of ParkHaven Hospital in M\u0101ngere. I thank them. I believe that their families can enjoy higher standards of education through greater choice, greater certainty of health care, and higher standards of living as a consequence of ACT\u2019s policies, and that is one of the reasons why I have come to Parliament.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000762\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EMy mother, sister, and I also attended Otahuhu College. I now follow the Rt Hon David Lange as the second old student of Otahuhu College to enter Parliament. My father taught us both.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000763\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EMy maternal grandmother, Mona Wheeler, was the most selfless, kind, and loving grandmother any child could possibly have. She was absolutely devastated, as we all were, when Leanne died as a result of a car accident at the age of 20. Leanne was an outstanding sportswoman, outgoing, a Rotary exchange student, and she packed more into her short life than many do in a normal lifetime.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000764\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EAs children, my mother tried to encourage in us a sense of thrift. Each week my sister and I were given initially 2s 6d then 25c as pocket money. What was left at the end of the week my mother doubled, and it had to be banked in our school bank accounts. I soon worked out that 100 percent interest over a week was a very good return, and for several years my passbook showed weekly deposits of 50c. With a savings culture ingrained in me as a child, I was instantly attracted in 1995 to ACT\u2019s policy of significant tax cuts, with a portion dedicated to compulsory savings. The Rt Hon Winston Peters eventually incorporated most aspects of ACT\u2019s policy into his own referendum on compulsory savings, which was, sadly, lost in 1997 by 93 percent to 7 percent. In my view, this was a major lost opportunity for New Zealand and New Zealanders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000765\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EI congratulate the Hon Dr Michael Cullen on the introduction of KiwiSaver, and I hope that the recent changes reducing the minimum contribution to 2 percent will see even greater numbers of ordinary working families participate. This will, hopefully, provide the foundation for the scheme to become compulsory sometime in the future. In my view, nothing will give ordinary New Zealanders greater freedom, independence, and certainty than knowing that in retirement their living and medical expenses will be adequately covered. While those not working or with inadequate savings will need to be provided for, this must surely be better than relying on future generations of politicians to bid for the votes of the elderly, as they do now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000766\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EMy parents also encouraged my entrepreneurial efforts. For many years as a child I would get up early on a Sunday morning and ride my bike around the streets of Papatoetoe and \u014Ctara collecting beer bottles. At university I developed a miniature golf course at Mt Maunganui, which my father helped build, and my mother and grandmother ran during the summer holidays. Following my graduation with a BCom from Auckland University I worked initially as an accountant at UEB Industries then at Eta Foods. Like a lot of people at this time, I borrowed heavily to invest in the stock market, and lost everything, and more, in 1987. I fought off the threat of bankruptcy at the age of 30, and, after 5 years of insolvency, and with the support of both my parents I eventually emerged as the developer and outright owner of the 100,000-square-foot K-mart Plaza Shopping Centre in Hastings in 1992, which I fully debt funded.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000767\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EI was lucky, however. I was young, hard-working, and committed, with more than adequate time to rebuild financially. I contrast my situation with that of a large number of New Zealanders in their 60s, 70s, and 80s who have lost all or part of their life-savings through recent finance company failures. This is a tragedy as most of these people, unlike me, will have little chance to rebuild their savings. The fact that so many can lose so much with no government intervention is, in my view, a disgrace.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000768\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EDeveloping the K-mart Plaza in Hastings was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it has changed my life in so many ways since 1992. Firstly, it has enabled me to travel extensively throughout the world, and to have the privilege of experiences few New Zealanders enjoy. For example, I found it impossible to stand inside Nelson Mandela\u2019s cell on Robben Island or in its limestone quarry without having enormous respect for all that he endured and achieved. Alternatively, when visiting eye hospitals in India I constantly asked myself why the elderly in New Zealand must wait for cataract operations, when advances in technology in recent years should have made this a relatively simple, quick, inexpensive, and on-demand operation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000769\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EDuring this time, I have been free to support various philanthropic causes. I am a member of the Rotary Club of Downtown Auckland, and I am proud that Rotary International, a worldwide organisation with over a million members, has been instrumental in virtually eliminating polio from the world over the last 25 years. The love of music and culture instilled as a child sees me a trustee of the Auckland Philharmonia Foundation, and I take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of the Hon Judith Tizard and all that she did in promoting the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill last term.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000770\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EI have also been able to devote considerable time and resources to the ACT Party. I first stood for ACT in Epsom in 1996, and, like so many of ACT\u2019s candidates in 2008, I had no expectation of being elected; rather, my role was to help get others into parliament. For those who did the same for me this year, I am sincerely grateful. I acknowledge all those ACT MPs who have come before me, and, in particular, the Hon Rodney Hide and the Hon Heather Roy, who have kept the party together over the last 3 years; the selfless contribution of the Hon Richard Prebble; and Dr Muriel Newman, who through her website first alerted me to the Electoral Finance Bill last August and the ease with which I could make a submission. I have the greatest admiration for the Hon Sir Roger Douglas and the foresight and courage he showed in addressing the country\u2019s problems during the fourth Labour Government. Without his encouragement I would not be here today, and I will regard it as a privilege to work with him over the next 3 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000771\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EIn addition, I acknowledge and thank so many others: our volunteers, our electorate committees, our parliamentary staff, our party and campaign staff, and all those who supported us financially. Special thanks go to the board, our party president, Gary Mallett, and our vice-president and my North Shore campaign chairman, Michael Crozier, who is with us this afternoon. I also want to make special mention of ACT\u2019s longest-serving and most selfless, tireless, and committed individual: Brian Nicolle. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000772\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EI now turn to the Electoral Finance Bill, which was introduced into this House last July. Incredibly, the Government sought to regulate virtually every form of political expression for the full election year. Anyone who wanted to express any form of political opinion was to be required, as a minimum, to sign a declaration before a justice of the peace before they spent a single dollar expressing their view. Worse still, the Government\u2019s own lawyers, the Crown Law Office, thought this was perfectly acceptable and not in breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. It is hard to imagine a more Draconian attempt to muzzle free speech. If New Zealanders disagreed, they needed to say so. The contempt with which the former Government treated the public was, in my view, unbelievable. I am sure members know the story well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000773\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EThankfully, the Human Rights Commission strongly disagreed and described the bill as a \u201Cdramatic assault on two fundamental human rights that New Zealanders cherish\u201D, and said that the bill \u201Cwas inherently flawed\u201D. They, along with the New Zealand Law Society and others, called on the Government to withdraw the bill and start again. I travelled from Auckland to tell the members of the select committee that they should regard the commission\u2019s submission as my submission, and if they did not withdraw the bill as recommended, I would consider running a campaign against the Electoral Finance Act. The rest is history. Over the ensuing months over 7,000 people joined me in protest marches throughout the country. I am tremendously indebted to all those who joined me in speaking out on an issue that goes the very heart of our democracy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000774\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EI believe that in passing that legislation the former Government was trying to restrict our democratic rights to criticise it in election year. Although I am sure this is not the only issue that contributed to its defeat, I certainly believe that it contributed to a change in public attitude to the Labour Government and to the size of its defeat. Accordingly, I believe that it serves as a lesson to all future Governments that, hopefully, this generation of politicians will never forget. I congratulate the Hon Phil Goff on acknowledging Labour\u2019s mistake, and the Rt Hon John Key and National on their decision to repeal the Act. How ironic that at the beginning of the parliamentary sitting\u2014on the first day of the new year\u2014I stood in the gallery in silent protest, and early next year I will be in this House voting for its repeal.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000775\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EHowever, I also note that the Electoral Finance Act is not the only piece of anti-democratic legislation on the statute book. In 1995 Parliament passed legislation making it illegal for political parties to use their own money to purchase broadcasting time. For example, in the most recent election Labour and National were given around $1 million each in free broadcast time, while the Greens and ACT had just a fraction of this. I believe that it is only fair and democratic for all parties to have the right to use their own funds to purchase additional broadcasting time up to the largest allocation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000776\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002277ec6495-df45-43ac-aaa1-a03b5dd4c128\u0022\u003EFinally, to my partner, Jane, I say thank you for all your love and support, and to the current and past pupils of Otahuhu College I say \u201CKia tama tane\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022 data-id=\u002277542aa020154911bdaff1aadb2ffdbf\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000777\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002277542aa020154911bdaff1aadb2ffdbf\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT (ACT):\u003C/span\u003E In the 1980s my colleague Roger Douglas presided over an economic revolution in this country, and it was sorely needed. Imported goods were rationed and supplied only by the fortunate holders of import licences, which were issued to them by their mates in the then Government. Farmers were subsidised in every area of their endeavours and for things that had nothing to do with farming\u2014 subsidies that were paid for from high taxes paid by everyone, including those on low incomes. In the words of the late, great journalist Frank Haden the \u201Cgummint\u201D, as he called it, has no money. It gets it from the people. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000778\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EAlthough they have been much criticised by many\u2014and some of those who formed part of that Government are still in this House\u2014none of the major economic reforms of the 1984-87 Labour Government have been reversed in the past 20 years. Today, largely thanks to the reforms introduced by Sir Roger and those who came after him, the incoming Government at least had a reasonable idea prior to the election of the serious economic problems it would face. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000779\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EI come to this House firmly believing that a revolution of no less a magnitude than the economic revolution of the 1980s is required to repair our broken justice system. Consider where we have come as a society in the 50 years since I was born. Measuring homicide rates per 100,000 of population allows us to compare New York with New Plymouth, and Dunedin with D\u00FCsseldorf. Until the beginning of the 1970s, New Zealand\u2019s annual homicide rate per 100,000 of population was about 0.5 per year. Today our homicide rate is about three times higher than it was in 1970; it is about 1.5 per 100,000 per year. That is a threefold increase, or 200 percent, compared with 40 years ago. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000780\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003ELet us personalise it. Seven men are currently serving time in New Zealand jails for their second homicide. In other words, they have already completed one sentence for culpable homicide, either manslaughter or murder, and killed again when they got out of jail\u2014seven. Of the other killers currently in prison, 78 had, at the time they committed the killing for which they are now incarcerated, served at least three previous sentences of imprisonment for serious violence. In other words, 78 people would be alive today if, at the time they were killed, New Zealand had a three strikes law of the kind ACT is promoting. Some of the survivors of those victims are in the gallery today. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000781\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EIt is not just homicide that has increased exponentially. In the past 9 years alone, violent crime generally\u2014stabbings, serious assaults and aggravated robbery\u2014increased 47 percent. No amount of spin from either politicians or officials can disguise that reality. Spurious explanations, such as a greater reporting of crime, are just that: spurious. Homicide and armed robbery have never been under-reported in this country, at least not since we have had newspapers and a police force. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000782\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EThe nature of crime has fundamentally changed in 40 years. A researcher today could pore over newspapers from 40 years ago, searching in vain for stories about drive-by shootings, gang members killing rival gang members\u2019 children, and contract killings; none of those things appeared until the 1970s or later. The fact that scum like samurai sword murderer Antonie Ronnie Dixon go about armed with automatic weapons is no longer remarkable, in the literal sense of that word. One does not remark upon it because it happens if not every day, then every other week. That is an appalling indictment on us as a society and, sadly, on this House as the place in which ever more liberal policy has been transformed into law. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000783\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003ESo just how did our society become so altered? One of the favourite explanations offered by many academics and others is unemployment. The only problem with that theory is that it does not fit the facts. We have recently come out of a period of 7 years or so of full employment. The former Prime Minister, who has just joined us, was quite correct when she said a year or so ago that everyone in New Zealand who wanted a job had one. Our unemployment rate in 2007 of less than 4 percent is regarded throughout the Western World as full employment. If unemployment causes crime, why then did violent crime rise over the past 9 years by 47 percent during a period of full employment? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000784\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EIf we go back much further in history to the Great Depression of the 1930s, unemployment then was more than 20 percent and there was a minimal welfare safety net. People literally starved in this country. In 1932 there were food riots in Queen Street in Auckland. The rioters were not looting shops for camcorders and plasma TVs; they looted because they needed food to keep them alive. If unemployment is a major cause of crime, why then did violent crime actually go down in 1932 in the midst of this deprivation and misery? The usual riposte when this little problem with the \u201Cunemployment causes crime\u201D theory is pointed out is: \u201CWell, we were all suffering together back then.\u201D Wrong! Disparities between rich and poor were actually greater 70 years ago. I have seen photographs of the members\u2019 stand at the Ellerslie races in 1932\u2014the same year as the riots. It is full of well-dressed people and the car park is full of large American cars with uniformed chauffeurs standing beside them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000785\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EIt is often said that we have the society we deserve. I quite agree with that sentiment, but not for the reasons those who overuse that clich\u00E9 usually have in mind when they say it. I firmly believe that we are reaping what we have sowed. We are reaping a harvest from a focus on rights without consideration of responsibilities by considering criminals as also being victims who just require the right kind of therapy in order to become decent citizens, and by making our jails places to which some people are quite happy to return. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000786\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EA criminal with a record recently held up a bank in Te Puke and then waited outside to be arrested. His lawyer told the judge that he was not coping financially, so he wished to go back to jail\u2014back to a place where there are no bills, with three square meals a day paid for and cooked by someone else, and a cell with a plasma TV and underfloor heating. The story was not even on the front page. It is no longer remarkable, but those who doubt me can check the New Zealand Herald of Saturday, 6 December. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000787\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EPeople opposed to the views of groups such as the Sensible Sentencing Trust tell us\u2014and they probably actually believe it\u2014that our society has become much more punitive. That is nonsense. It is quite difficult to get sent to prison in New Zealand today. Prison populations have risen sharply, simply because we have become a much more crime-ridden society. I recently read a biography of Sir Elton John, which included a reference to an incident in New Zealand in 1974. John Reid, Sir Elton\u2019s then manager, assaulted the well-known journalist Judith Baragwanath, pushing or knocking her to the ground, and then hit a man who came to her aid. It was a pretty ordinary assault, at least by today\u2019s standards. No weapon was used. Reid was sentenced to, and ended up actually serving, a month in Mount Eden Prison\u2014not a month of home detention or 10 hours\u2019 community work, but a month in the cold stone castle. A month in jail for assault\u2014how terribly, terribly Draconian. I have been unable to ascertain whether Reid ever reoffended upon his release. Thirty-five years later it all makes rather quaint reading, given what is now commonplace in the criminal courts every Monday morning. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000788\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EI have learnt from those who have gone before me that an essential ingredient of the good maiden speech is an explanation of why one comes to Parliament. It should now be obvious that my chief reason for coming to this place is an abhorrence of how our society has changed in regard to personal safety, and a passionate desire to do something about it. Anyone who considers standing for Parliament must carefully weigh the effects on one\u2019s life and family against what one hopes to, or might reasonably, achieve. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000789\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EFor me, it was also necessary to satisfy myself that standing for the ACT Party, as opposed to simply voting for it or being a member of it, fitted with my personal philosophy. In that regard I reached a turning point when I realised that what I thought was simply an electioneering slogan was, in fact, a core part of the ACT Party\u2019s constitution. Clause 3 of the ACT Party\u2019s constitution states that the first duty of any Government is to protect the safety of its citizens. That is utterly in accord with my personal beliefs about the function of government. It is also a function that successive Governments have been failing to perform. They have been failing to perform it for a generation, with the degree of failure becoming worse. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000790\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EAs naive and idealistic as it may sound, I am here to try to play a part in changing that sad state of affairs. It is my firm belief that we can turn this mess around and once again become a country where children can walk to school without their mothers fearing for them. We can become a society where, when she is older, my daughter can\u2014as my sisters did\u2014go out for a walk on a hot summer\u2019s night without fear of being raped or worse; a society where, when the residents of a State housing block in Gisborne go to the beach, they can leave their house not only unlocked but also open, so as to benefit from the cooling breeze flowing through the house from the open front and back doors. I know this is true because I was there. That is the environment I grew up in. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000791\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EWhen one talks about this to New Zealanders under about the age of 35, they think that such a society is but a utopian delusion, or, if it ever did exist, it must have been 100 years ago. It was, as older members and members of the audience know, only a little more than 25 years ago. A senior member of the Labour Party said in this House last week that there was, in fact, no golden age. Not true. In the New Zealand of the 1960s, just like in the New Zealand of the early 2000s, we had full employment and all of the components of the welfare State. We had most of what we have now, without the crime. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000792\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EIf I did not believe that we can once again become a society where law-abiding people go peaceably about their business and criminals are treated like the criminals that they are, then I would not be here. I firmly believe we can return to that real, and not illusory, golden age, albeit with licensed restaurants, lattes, and mobile phones. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000793\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EI believe that we can return to a system where a sentence of 5 years in jail means 5 years, not 2 years; a system where a judge can sentence our most odious murderers to life in prison without parole; a system where prisons are humane but otherwise stark and cold places, to which no one with half a brain would wish to return; a system where violent criminals get a second chance, but not a third; and a system where three-time violent offenders go to jail for 25 years to life.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000794\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E Having said that, I say that we need to face up to the fact that our prisons contain many mentally ill offenders who should not be there. They are there because we have attempted over the past 25 years to treat all our social ills with imprisonment. The place to treat mentally ill offenders is in institutions set up to do so. We have secure units to treat the mentally ill; we should be using them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000795\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EThose who say that our prisons are five-star hotels are exaggerating. Wanganui Prison, New Plymouth Prison, and P\u0101remoremo west, all of which I have visited, are one-star at best. But those who say that they are hellholes are exaggerating much more. We have moved from a penal regime, where prisoners worked in the quarry behind Mount Eden Prison before retiring to a cold cell, to a system where work is voluntary and prisoners retire to a centrally heated cell with plasma TV. This change has coincided with the destruction of our once civil society. Whether those two phenomena are causally related, no one knows for sure, although there is convincing evidence from other countries that imprisonment does work, but we just do not hear about it much. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EIt is time to say \u201CEnough!\u201D to the ever-more liberal penal policies of the last 40 years and to try another tack. As someone in this House said last week, only a fool expects different results from doing more of the same thing, and that is exactly what we have been doing with penal policy for 40 years. But there is no quick fix and no one answer. If the policies I advocate were to be introduced as a package tomorrow, their effects would not be seen quickly. It has taken us more than a generation to reach the sorry state we are now in, and it will take us a generation to change it. We now have an entire generation of thugs who have grown up in the knowledge that there are no real consequences for bad and criminal behaviour. We need to raise the next generation knowing that they, unlike their fathers, will be held to account and will be punished for bad behaviour. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000797\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EFinally, I will say a brief word to my family. Talamonuu ki hoku mali mo \u2019eku fanau faka\u2019ofo\u2019ofa \u2019a ia \u2019oku nau \u2019i heni fakataha mo au. Malo ho\u2019o mou poupou\u2019i au \u2019i he konga fo\u2019ou mo fakato\u2019aloto ko \u2019eni \u2019o \u2019eku mo\u2019ui. Fakamalo ho\u2019omou \u2019ofa\u2019i au. \u2019Oku ou fakatauange ko \u2019eku mavahe mei he feitu\u2019uni te mou ongo\u2019i neu fai ha ngaue lelei mo tokoni ki hono fa\u2019u ha sosaieti saiange ma\u2019a moutolu. In my best but imperfect Tongan, I sent greetings to my wife and family, who are here with me today. I thank you for the support you have offered me in this exciting new part of my life, and for the love you have all given me. I hope that when I leave this place you will feel that I have done some good and helped to create a better society for you, my beautiful children. Thank you, and I love you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022 data-id=\u002294f5998697b74ffc989a48b4fbc15785\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000798\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002294f5998697b74ffc989a48b4fbc15785\u0022\u003ESTUART NASH (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E First and foremost, I offer my congratulations to you, Mr Assistant Speaker, on your election to a most esteemed position in this House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000799\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EI decided very early on not to raise the ghost of a past Nash who is long buried in time and memory but whose footsteps still haunt this place, for even though he wandered these halls for 40 years, that was, after all, 40 years ago. However, as I make my way around the corridors of this wonderful old building, I cannot help but notice that the giants of past eras have never been laid to rest, as their photos are there to inspire us, encourage us, and to remind us of the proud legacy that we carry as a Labour Party team dedicated to always asking, as Harry Holland, the first leader of the Labour Party did, \u201CIs it right?\u201D. Harry Holland realised that if it was right for the people of New Zealand, it would be right for the New Zealand Labour Party. This underlying principle of whether it is right for the people of New Zealand has guided all our Prime Ministers from Joe Savage to Helen Clark, and, I hope in fewer than 3 years\u2019 time, Phil Goff.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000800\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EIt is with a sense of honour and pride\u2014but also, I must admit, a degree of nervousness and trepidation\u2014that I start my parliamentary career. I hope I can live up to the memory and expectations of past members, for the privilege of being a Labour Party MP is one that has a very proud history.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000801\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003ENumerous paths lead to this Chamber, but none of us would be here without the patronage and support of those who encourage and mentor us to this position. First and foremost, I must convey my thanks to the Hon Dr Michael Cullen, for without his support I would not be here. I acknowledge this, and I hope he knows that it is greatly appreciated. But behind every successful man there is a surprised woman, and I am sure Michael\u2019s partner, Anne Collins, would agree with that statement. To Anne, Raewyn Barry, Tom Wilson, Geoff Braybrooke, Bill Sutton, Guy Wellwood, and all those who have supported and encouraged me, I salute you and thank you with all my heart, especially as my rival in Napier reminded me around 18 months ago of a Winston Churchill quote. When the great man was asked: \u201CDoesn\u2019t it thrill you to know that every time you give a political speech the hall is packed to overflowing?\u201D, he replied: \u201CIt\u2019s quite flattering. But whenever I feel that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000802\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003ENapier is also where my story begins, a little longer than a little while ago, so it is nice to come here and be called a young, fresh face\u2014and who said the media is all bad? My family history in Hawke\u2019s Bay begins in around 1865. My daughter is actually the fifth generation of our family to attend Napier Central School; our family\u2019s attendance goes right back to its founding over 130 years ago. Napier is without a doubt one of the best, if not the best, city in New Zealand. It has the climate, the fruit, the wine, the beaches, the art deco architecture, and a rugby team that has beaten Waikato the last four times the two teams have played against each other. The only thing it does not have is a Labour constituent MP\u2014but we are working on that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000803\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EMy father, Hal Nash, is a wonderful man who practised the principles of social democracy during a long legal career better than anyone I know, and my mother, Jenny Nash, had four children under 5 at one stage. It is a testament to her strength of character and fortitude that she is still completely sound of mind. I had a wonderful upbringing, when the summers were long, hot, and sunny, and schooldays at Napier Central School, Napier Intermediate School, and Napier Boys\u2019 High School were fun.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000804\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EThey say that politics is in the blood, but I do not believe that. Politics is in the heart and in the soul, and in our family it was around the dinner table. But perhaps the one person who first shaped my political leanings was that great social democrat, Elvis Presley. It was not to do with his unique solutions to prison reform, or his yearning for social justice and equity in the ghetto, or even for animal rights for bad dogs. No, unfortunately for me, he died on the very same day that the Rt Hon Sir Robert Muldoon delivered a Budget and the day before I had to present a news item in front of my classmates. Five 9-year-olds spoke about Elvis Presley; one poor chap spoke about the Government\u2019s fiscal plans\u2014thanks, Mum! I have bad memories of Mr Muldoon for a lot more reasons than most in my party.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000805\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EThe advice my father gave me when I showed a real interest in politics was to get educated and get some experience to take into the House. So a few universities later, and some experience in a couple of industries, I am here living my passion and my dream. However, when my father was asked just recently whether he was proud of me, he said it was a dreadful job that I had chosen. I did not come here looking for a job, but because of a calling. I liked the line of my fellow newbie Phil Twyford, who said \u201Csome of us will be remembered, but most of us will not.\u201D To be remembered is not what motivates us. If I can leave this House for the final time in the knowledge that my party\u2019s legacy has made a positive difference to the lives of all New Zealanders who call New Zealand home, I have accomplished my goals and ambitions. That is why Helen Clark, Michael Cullen, and all of you who have served in the fifth Labour Government will be talked about fondly by future scholars, historians, and New Zealanders alike around the dinner tables and barbecues. My beautiful daughter, Sophia, and my wonderful son, Charles, are growing up in a better world due to the tireless work, energy, and legacy of this wonderful party I am proud to be a member of.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000806\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EThis place is not called a House for nothing. We spend an inordinate amount of time here. There is a bed in my office, there is a kitchen outside my door, and the father of the House is in the room adjacent. I wonder whether the senior whip, Darren Hughes, was trying to tell me something when he allocated me my office, but I then realised the message was not actually very subtle at all, because within the first 2 weeks we have been obliged to be here until midnight on most nights. But the Labour caucus is a family, not just because we live, work, and eat in the same house and under one roof but because our differences unite us in a common belief and philosophy that forces us to always ask: \u201CIs it right?\u201D, and then to do what is right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000807\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EIn a previous life, I travelled overseas for business. Although I enjoyed the job, I found that international travel was a real tonic for the soul, and I say that because whenever I flew into Auckland Airport I realised just how lucky I was to be living in this wonderful country. Our beaches are pristine, our skyline is visible, our fields are green, our different-coloured children play together in our many parks, and our families interact side by side regardless of socio-economic status and enjoy a champagne lifestyle regardless of what is in the chilly bin or on the barbie.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000808\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EI see myself first and foremost as a public servant, employed by the people of New Zealand to represent this country and its citizens. I am available to help all those who either request or desire my help, regardless of sex, race, age, or political affiliation. I am also a proud social democrat who will work hard to develop a regulatory environment that encourages sustainable economic development and growth through increasing our international competitiveness. This will be done by developing trade partnerships and models that not only promote our companies but also encourage them to seek further offshore opportunities. That will allow New Zealand\u2019s competitive advantage to be clearly articulated and understood by all of those whom we seek trade alliances with. That is nice politics-speak, but what it actually means in plain English is that the No. 8 fencing wire mentality and the \u201Cshe\u2019ll be right\u201D attitude that we have prided ourselves on to date are no longer good enough in the 21st century. To reach the top these days we need to be very smart, exceptionally well prepared, intensely focused, and willing to stand up and fight for what we believe in with all our energy. Handing out replica All Black jerseys is no longer good enough to clinch the deal.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000809\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EI also know that unrestrained and unregulated economic growth can have a negative effect on a country\u2019s well-being. For example, this can occur when those in the workforce have diminished or oppressed rights\u2014and we have seen this in the very first week of this Government\u2014when investors and markets are being deliberately or negligently misled or manipulated, and when scarce resources are exploited. It is the philosophical mandate and governance role of any social democratic party to ensure that the negative social and moral effects of economic growth are mitigated through information communication, sound policy, justifiable regulation, and wise legislation. But Pat McGill, a community hero who spends his days advocating for prison reform and helping and supporting those outside Napier Prison who need his help and support, just wants to know that we are still asking ourselves Harry\u2019s question: \u201CIs it right?\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000810\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EA friend of mine said to me recently that the time has now come to adopt a new economic model. However, the time is not right for simple adoption but for the invention and development of a new economic paradigm that takes into account the expectations of 21st century New Zealanders. Friedman is dead. The economic philosophies of the laissez-faire practitioners have finally been laid to rest and cremated in the ashes of the current economic crisis. That is why I was so disappointed with the Speech from the Throne. It talked about aspiration, yet there was nothing substantive to deliver it. It mentioned productivity, yet there was nothing concrete to drive it. It was not visionary at a time when we are beginning to develop our own global identity, and struggling, to a certain extent, to understand our place on this earth.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000811\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EHistory has proven that the only party to really deliver significant gains for the people of New Zealand is the New Zealand Labour Party. We are, and always have been, a party of social evolution, if not revolution. We work to build, to empower, to create, and to practise fiscal accountability as well as social responsibility. We work as a collective and are more powerful as one than we can ever be as individuals, quite simply because we always ask: \u201CIs it right?\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000812\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EI am very optimistic about the long-term future of our party, because when I look around our caucus room I see an awesome array of experience, mixing, helping, and mentoring the new. But, quite simply, we are just 43 New Zealanders full of energy, competence, and a belief in the principles and philosophies of social democracy, and with a willingness to work hard and create a better New Zealand. It is the most aspirational team I have ever had the humble pleasure to be part of. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000813\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EI finish by quoting what John F Kennedy wrote shortly before his assassination, because I think it sums up this Labour caucus and its leadership under Phil Goff and Annette King: \u201CIf we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, our words will be of no help.\u201D And believe me, this caucus and its leaders are strong. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022 data-id=\u002240b72dbbee814434991cc00ed2726bee\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000814\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002240b72dbbee814434991cc00ed2726bee\u0022\u003ECARMEL SEPULONI (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E Mate atu he t\u0113t\u0113 kura, ara mai r\u0101 he t\u0113t\u0113 kura. Ng\u0101 mihi maioha ki ng\u0101 iwi o t\u0113nei rohe, karanga mai, mihi mai. Ki ng\u0101 tini t\u014Dtara kua hinga atu, moe mai r\u0101. Ki a t\u0101tou e hui nei, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou katoa. When an old frond passes, a young shoot sprouts to take its place. Warm greetings to the iwi of this area. To all those great t\u014Dtara who have passed, rest. To everyone gathered here, greetings.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000815\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003ETulou i le paia fa\u2019atafafa o le Maota Fono. Talofa lava. Malo le soifua. My greetings and acknowledgment to all esteemed members of this House. Greetings to you all. Tapu moe \u2019afio \u2019ae \u2019Otua \u2019i hotau ha\u2019oha\u2019onga. Tapu moe \u2019Eiki Sea \u2019oe Falealea. Tapu moe \u2019Eiki Palemia. Kae\u2019uma\u2019aa \u2019ae hou\u2019eiki Minisita. Pea tapu moe toenga \u2019oe kau fakafofonga falealea \u2019oku mou me\u2019a heni he \u2019aho ni, kae \u2019ataa mu\u2019a keu fakahoko atu \u2019ae fatogia ko \u2019eni kuo fakakoloa \u2019aki au he \u2019aho fakahisitolia ko eni. Io, \u201Ckuo ta kau he lau, pea lau kuo ta kau\u201D!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000816\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EGod who is in our midst, honourable Speaker of the House, honourable Prime Minister, honourable Ministers and also members of the House who are here today. It is indeed an honour for me to be here at this historic event, for today we, the Tongan people, are finally part of this New Zealand Parliament, and today everybody knows that we are now included. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000817\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI have entered Parliament at a wonderful and opportune time, despite the fact that we are in Opposition. With incredibly strong and supportive senior Labour Party MPs and an exciting new intake of 13 energetic, diverse, and committed newcomers, I am truly privileged to be a part of this team. I feel honoured to serve the Labour Party alongside the distinguished and inspiring Rt Hon Helen Clark and the esteemed and respected Hon Dr Michael Cullen. We are fortunate that their track record of superior leadership continues under the direction of the Hon Phil Goff and the Hon Annette King. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000818\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI have the privilege of being the first of Tongan descent, and the youngest and the most recent member of the already robust Labour Party Pacific caucus. My respects must go to our senior Pacific member and MP for Mana, Luamanuvao Winnie Laban; to our MP for M\u0101ngere, Sua William Sio; to our Tahitian MP, Charles Chauvel; and to our new Indo-Fijian colleague, Rajen Prasad. I pay tribute to our former Samoan member of Parliament and strong Pacific advocate, Vui Mark Gosche. Vui leaves a legacy of achieving results for our Pasifika communities. I thank him for the constant words of advice and guidance. I also acknowledge my political adversary but fellow Samoan, National Party MP Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000819\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI greeted the House first in te reo M\u0101ori out of respect for tangata whenua. There is an inextricable link between M\u0101ori and all of our Pasifika peoples. We are linked geographically, historically, linguistically, culturally, and, most important, through our shared whakapapa. I pay respects to Ng\u0101 Iwi M\u0101ori, and, in doing so, I acknowledge our shared ancestors, for they are responsible for our existence and our collective achievements.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000820\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003E Secondly, I spoke in Samoan, my father\u2019s first language. This is a language we were not raised to speak; my father thinking at the time that it was best for us to learn only English. Thirdly, I spoke in Tongan, my grandfather\u2019s first language. Eight out of nine of his children were raised in Samoa and were not raised to speak in Tongan. Only the one sibling who was born and raised in Tonga has retained this language. It is so very easy to see how quickly a language, and the elements of identity that language carries, can be lost if not nurtured. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000821\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EIt is only appropriate that I reflect on the journey that has brought me here today. I had a quintessentially New Zealand upbringing, with my father working at the Waitara freezing works, and my mother working at the Swanndri factory and, later, as a kiwifruit picker and packer. My maternal grandparents were sheep farmers in Stratford. Growing up I saw the most wonderful display of contrasting political views. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000822\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EAlthough my mother did not have strongly formed political views, her parents were resolute Tories. My father was at the other end of the political spectrum and a staunch supporter of the Labour Party. I was fascinated by their opposing political views and have vivid childhood memories of the ways in which these would be manifested. I can remember sitting down at the kitchen table with my grandparents, listening to my grandfather grumble about the Labour Party as he listened to his wireless. I recall, one time, interrupting his grumbling session to say: \u201CBut grandad, the Labour Party looks after the poor people.\u201D His response to that was: \u201CJust eat your ruddy Weet-Bix.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000823\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EOn the other side was my father. His first job in New Zealand was at the railways at Stratford and he would later work for 18 years at the Waitara freezing works. He came to New Zealand speaking only Samoan, but quickly picked up a very colourful version of the English language, quite commonly spoken on freezing works floors. It was always entertaining to watch him employ this colourful language in his rants and raves at the mere glance of Sir Robert Muldoon or, later, Jim Bolger during the evening news. As a child one knew not to move during these moments, unless the command was given to turn the \u201Cbeep\u201D TV off. It was my own personal critique of their arguments for why they supported their respective parties and my own upbringing in Waitara that would cement for me my political allegiance. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000824\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EThe new member of Parliament for New Plymouth mentioned Waitara in his maiden statement, but there is a side to Waitara that did not gain mention. Waitara is a place of historical significance to this country. As the place where the first battles of the New Zealand land wars were fought, it is a place where much blood was shed and lives were lost, and it is a place where thousands of hectares of land were confiscated unlawfully. There is a wairua to Waitara that stems from its history and the battles that have been fought. There is an aroha amongst the people that continues to thrive, despite the immense challenges that have been faced. During my own upbringing in Waitara I observed and experienced some of these challenges. In this town of 6,000 people, 1,500 jobs were lost over the course of the 1990s. Perhaps we should call those years the decade of no jobs and no money. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000825\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EMy dad was a union delegate and was involved with the intense and ongoing strike action of the early 1990s. The freezing works, which at its height had employed over 1,000 people, began progressively to make people redundant until its closure in 1998. In 1994 my own father was laid off for the second time. Although he looked he could not find another job. He contemplated moving to Auckland, but found it difficult to reconcile the likely reality of a pitiful minimum wage of $7 an hour\u2014not enough to look after a family. I look back on this time with sadness, as a once thriving town went silent. Things were tough, and money was tight. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000826\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003ETo this day I take personal offence when I hear negative rhetoric proclaiming the unemployed as dole-bludgers and/or when it is implied that people are too lazy to get out there and find a job. This was not the case in my family, nor has it been the case for the vast majority of people I know who have at some point in time needed to draw on Work and Income entitlements for support. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000827\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EDuring the 1990s I saw the political and economic climate of the time pull the rug of dignity out from under the feet of hard-working New Zealanders. There is very little that can match the degradation felt when men and women are unable to provide for their families. Unable to cope with the miniscule weekly sum that my father was allocated to look after his family, he made the decision to leave us and seek employment in Australia. Yes, he migrated to Australia in 1995, not 2005. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000828\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI observed a National Party Minister sarcastically reciting in the House the other day: \u201CI remember the 1990s.\u201D, in a disdainful tone. Her banter signalled National members\u2019 tiredness of being reminded of their wrongdoings from the past. However, let me draw on a well-known whakatauk\u012B. \u201CTitiro ki muri kia whakatika \u0101 mua\u201D\u2014look to the past to proceed into the future. This may be a M\u0101ori proverb, but it is a concept that is shared by Pacific peoples. The memories of our Pacific peoples are very long indeed. We strongly believe in looking to our pasts to find our presents and to inform the decisions we make, going into the future. With that in mind, it is of little wonder that the vast majority of Pacific peoples remain Labour voters\u2014the dawn raids under the Muldoon Government and high unemployment rates and low wages of the 1990s have ensured this legacy. This is reinforced by the list of achievement for Pacific people attained under the leadership of the Labour Government over the past 9 years. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000829\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EIs it not ironic that I discuss the appalling employment conditions of the 1990s under a National Government, in light of the response by the new National Government to the recession that we now face? In the early stages of the 1990s the National Government introduced the Employment Contracts Act, which was to impact negatively on the rights of workers. Now, in late 2008, the introduction of the 90-day bill, which also serves to negatively impact on the rights of workers, hails the beginning of another ominous National Government term. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000830\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI have lived in Auckland for the past 13 years, stepping away only for a year to teach in Samoa and connect with my family. I have worked in the tertiary sector as a literacy educator, a student mentor adviser, an equity manager, and a Pacific health research project manager. I have seen the very best and the very worst of M\u0101ori and Pacific in education. There have been times when I have felt immense levels of anger due to the unnecessary failure of the education system to adequately cater to our people\u2019s needs. Conversely, I have seen some incredibly innovative teaching and learning practices and the positive impact that this has had on individuals and whole groups of people. I have had the privilege of meeting, teaching, and mentoring some of the most inspiring M\u0101ori and Pacific people, both young and old. I have been inspired by their success in navigating their way through tertiary study to achieve at the highest levels. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000831\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EThere are always two sides to every story, and it frustrates me that when it comes to our Pasifika people, 80 percent of the time the focus seems to be negative. I have learnt through my own experiences and the experiences of others around me that our young in particular can quickly begin to self-stigmatise when the media and society stigmatise them. When the media portrays only a picture of a ghettoised, poverty-stricken group of troublemakers, then our youth can resign themselves to the fact that this is what they are. They may even take pride in this prescribed image, because it provides them with a level of attention and status that, although negative, is attention and status none the less. This perspective only adds to the perpetuation of the problems that exist. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000832\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI deplore the deficit lens being held so intently over our Pasifika communities. Although there are issues that must be addressed, I strongly believe that their resolution can come from adopting and adapting best practice where our people have successfully overcome challenges, and there are many. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000833\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI thank my parents Fa\u2019atalii Kamisi Sepuloni and Beverley Anne Jordan for all that they have done for their children and grandchildren. Both had very limited educations but encouraged us to work hard in school. They would wake to 6 a.m. starts and take every opportunity to work overtime so that they could provide for my father\u2019s siblings and parents in Samoa, as well as for us, their three daughters. We never had much but we always had food on the table and whatever we required for school. I am thankful for all that they have given to us and I am indebted to them for their role in all that I have achieved. I will never forget my father\u2019s words when growing up: \u201CGo to school so you can get a good education and help our people.\u201D It is this aspiration to serve the collective that continues to drive me in all that I do. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000834\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EThe future of New Zealand Pasifika people is promising and positive. We have experienced a 10 percent increase from 2000 to 2007 in the numbers of our Pasifika children enrolled in early childhood education. There has been a 13.7 percent increase from 2003 to 2007 in the number of Pasifika students leaving school with National Certificate of Educational Achievement level 2 or higher. In 2007 there were almost four times as many Pasifika people aged 25 to 64 years with tertiary qualifications, when compared with the 1996 figure. On top of that, our unemployment rate has dropped, from 13.5 percent in 1999 to 6.5 percent in 2007. I acknowledge the previous Labour Government for its leadership role in this. These achievements need to be built on so that even more of our people can get the benefit of a good education. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000835\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EIn recent times Pasifika communities in New Zealand have highlighted the need to retain guardianship over our cultural and spiritual inheritance: the languages, values, and beliefs that are our ancestors\u2019 legacy and our birthright. The Labour Party is notable for its support in recognising the place of Pasifika peoples in New Zealand and in honouring the ties our country has in the Pacific. I hope to support and nurture initiatives in these areas during my time in Parliament. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000836\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EAs a member nation of the ocean continent in which we reside, New Zealand can play a crucial leadership role. Over the past week I have sat quietly at the back of the House, listening to the debate about climate change, global warming, and sustainability, and New Zealand\u2019s role in addressing and leading the world on these issues. These are urgent issues, and New Zealand must lead the way. Here in the Pacific the repercussions of rising sea levels can already be seen. Take Tuvalu: its highest elevation is only 4.6 metres above sea level, but most of Tuvalu is not more than a metre above. Even if Tuvalu were not completely flooded, it faces the escalating risk of storms and cyclones, which, due to changing weather patterns, are increasing in strength. Tuvaluans are contemplating the possibility of the loss of their land, culture, language, and way of life. I cannot comprehend why the National Government and its partners continue to prevaricate over our national response to this international crisis. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000837\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EMy role in this House is no different from the role I have had in every other job I have worked. It is to listen and advocate, to educate and to empower. The difference between this job and any others I have held is that I am privileged now to be at the ultimate of decision-making tables. Whilst at this table my commitment is to advocate for the vulnerable, promote social justice and equity, provide perspectives on issues affecting Pasifika, and highlight the great potential that exists in our communities. I do not claim to be an expert on all things Pasifika and I will rely on Pasifika communities to keep me informed. Having been born and raised in New Zealand, I also want to be involved in the wider issues affecting New Zealand and I look forward to being able to engage and contribute. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000838\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EWithout wanting to close this maiden statement like an acceptance speech for a Grammy award, I would like to make some final acknowledgments. I acknowledge my friends and my extended family for their love, faith, and support. I acknowledge my mother, father, and Uncle Tevita, who are here today. I acknowledge the support I have received throughout my campaign from the Tongan community, particularly the M\u0101ngere Tongan Labour branch, under the leadership of Pastor Moi. I pay my respects to Anapeta Mau, Hola Taue, Salote Lilo, and Semisi\u2014thank you for your love and support. I pay my respects to the Labour Party\u2019s Pacific sector, for it is through this body, under the passionate leadership of our chair, Jerome Mika, that this has all been made possible. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000839\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI acknowledge my late grandparents, with the only sadness of this occasion being that they cannot be here. From Vava\u2019u and Niua Toputapu in Tonga came my paternal grandfather, Fa\u2019atalii Sepuloni. He embodied the true sense of humility, hard work, and love for God and for family. From Vailele in Samoa came my paternal grandmother, Masae Sepuloni. She passed away before I had the opportunity to meet her, but having listened to my dad talk about her all my life, I feel as if I know her. My maternal grandparents were Wilfred and Peggy Jordan. Despite their initial reservations at having a Pacific Islander as a son-in-law, they loved their afakasi granddaughters as they did all of their grandchildren, and I am eternally grateful to them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000840\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EMy final acknowledgment is to my 10-year-old son, Bailey\u2014thank you for your patience and unconditional love. The campaign and this entire journey has been as hard for him as it has been for me. I love him more than anything else. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000841\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EMalo \u2019aupito. Fa\u2019afetai tele lava. N\u014D reira, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou katoa.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000842\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EHymn\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022 data-id=\u00225b91e18a07cd4301b2e8f2303f8e12a1\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000843\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225b91e18a07cd4301b2e8f2303f8e12a1\u0022\u003ECHRIS TREMAIN (Junior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E I seek leave for the House to sit beyond the normal 6 p.m. rising, to allow completion of the maiden statements. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000844\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e220dfc485b044ad9ac7a03ee2560804\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There being none, leave is granted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022 data-id=\u0022fc66850e8fcf4d5f9f518aa9b5fe9e91\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000845\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022fc66850e8fcf4d5f9f518aa9b5fe9e91\u0022\u003ECAROL BEAUMONT (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E Karanga mai rau rangatira m\u0101 me ng\u0101 hoa hoki. Te Whare e t\u016B nei, te papa takoto ki waho, t\u0113n\u0101 k\u014Drua. E ng\u0101 mana, e ng\u0101 reo, e ng\u0101 t\u0101ngata o te w\u0101, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou katoa.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000846\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003E[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000847\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003E[To the many chiefs, and colleagues also, extend your call of welcome to us. To the House that stands before us, and the courtyard that lies outside, greetings to you two. To the authorities, languages, and the people of the moment, greetings to you, greetings to you, and greetings to you all.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000848\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EHaving paid my respects in the first language of our nation, I now acknowledge the Treaty of Waitangi as the founding document of this country. Mr Assistant Speaker Barker, I acknowledge your appointment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EI am aware of the privilege and responsibility that being a member of Parliament bestows on me. It is a great honour to represent my fellow New Zealanders, and to serve and be accountable to them. I will undertake this role passionately, seriously, and with integrity. I will work constructively with all of the people, MPs and staff, of this House, which occupies the central place in our democracy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000850\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003ELet me acknowledge all members. Ours is not a well-respected role. We have a shared responsibility to work to improve the way in which MPs are regarded by New Zealanders, as attacks on politicians have the insidious effect of undermining our democracy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000851\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EI want to acknowledge my family and friends, especially my mother, Barbara, for her unconditional love; my stepfather, Ray, who is watching at home; my sister, Alison, for her consistent support and friendship; and my wonderful nieces, Keriana and Emma, who keep me focused and for whom I want to see a better future. I also acknowledge my partner, Robert, for his support, his friendship, and his love. My friends and union colleagues are also important in my life: my thanks to you, too.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000852\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EI acknowledge with pride our new Labour leaders, Phil Goff and Annette King, and also our previous leaders, who provided outstanding leadership for this country\u2014Helen Clark and Michael Cullen. I am proud to be part of this determined and principled Labour caucus, and I am proud of what Labour has achieved and delivered for New Zealanders, not only over the last 9 years but over our long history. I particularly acknowledge the role of Helen Clark as someone who has inspired me since 1981, when she was elected as the member for Mt Albert. I acknowledge Helen\u2019s strength, intellect, integrity, and commitment to our country and to the cause of peace and social justice globally. Like many others, I have been enormously proud of Helen as our Prime Minister; history will confirm the significance of her contribution.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000853\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EI stand before this House as a passionate advocate for social justice and human rights who believes in fairness, opportunity, prosperity, and sustainability for all New Zealanders. I want an Aotearoa New Zealand that provides hope and ideas for social justice in our region and globally.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000854\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003ESocial justice means equality of opportunity. I proudly identify as a trade unionist and as a feminist, despite the unthinking stereotypes some feel compelled to promote. In my experience, union officials are people who care and who want to make a difference. I acknowledge in this House the valuable work they do.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000855\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003ESocial justice means being fair. I grew up in a family where we struggled to make ends meet. I understand the stress that puts on our families. My parents believed in a fair go, working hard, and education\u2014values that have shaped my life. My late father, Ron, who would be so proud to see me here, taught me to speak out against injustice and fostered my love of debate, but also showed me injustice firsthand. My dad, despite leaving school at 12, became a tradesman mechanic, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. That may have been natural, but what, even as a child, I knew was not right was his dismissal of my dreams as being unsuitable for a girl.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000856\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003ESocial justice means educational opportunities for all. My political activists grew from my time as chairperson of the Melville High School student council. While at school I was also a cleaner and a member of the cleaners\u2019 union. My sixth form history teacher, Marjorie Barrows, fundamentally changed my life course by persuading me not to leave school but, rather, to go to university.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000857\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003E Education is a passion of mine. Education is transformational\u2014for individuals, as it was for me, and for our society as a whole. Our social and economic development relies on improving the educational levels of our people. I can only imagine the impact of low literacy levels on individuals\u2014on their job opportunities, their employment security, and their exclusion from vital parts of our collective life. Imagine not being able to help your children with their homework, to decipher prescription instructions, or to read the newspaper. Imagine the impact that improving literacy could have on the individual, families, and society.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000858\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EI trained as a teacher, a role we do not value highly enough, and have been an adult educator working with those already in the workplace. The focus on workplace learning, given that 80 percent of the workforce of 10 years\u2019 time is already in work, is something I believe in strongly. For the concept of lifelong learning to have real meaning requires our workplaces to be places of learning. This is not suggesting an impost on employers but a cultural change by all concerned. I was very proud of the huge increases in industry training under the Labour-led Government, and the proposal to provide workers with the right to a retraining allowance. I commit here to promoting measures to ensure that lifelong learning is a reality for all New Zealanders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000859\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EI will stand in this House to champion the cause of social justice and human rights. Human rights are both individual and collective. Our rights are mutually dependent, and as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, recognised, individual rights must be placed in the context of economic, social, and cultural rights.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000860\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EWhen the declaration was signed, Dr Colin Aikman, speaking on behalf of New Zealand, said: \u201CExperience in New Zealand has taught us that the assertion of the right of personal freedom is incomplete unless it is related to the social and economic rights of the common man. There can be no difference of opinion as to the tyranny of privation and want. There is no dictator more terrible than hunger. And we have found in New Zealand that only with social security in its widest sense can the individual reach his full stature.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000861\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003ETherefore it can be understood why we emphasise the right to work, the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, widowhood and old age.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000862\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EAlso the fact that the common man is a social being requires that he should have the right to education, the right to rest and leisure, and the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000863\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EThese social and economic rights can give the individual the normal conditions of life which make for the larger freedom. And in New Zealand we accept that it is the function of government to promote their realisation.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000864\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EAssuming the inclusion of women too, this remains true 60 years later. Unfortunately, some see human rights only in terms of self, or see any talk of rights as \u201Cpolitical correctness\u201D. I believe in a strong rights-based framework, and I will defend human rights for all.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000865\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EWorkers\u2019 rights are human rights guaranteed by international and, currently, domestic law. I pledge here to fight each and every attack made on workers\u2019 rights, including on workers\u2019 collective rights to union representation. Unfortunately, we have already seen workers disadvantaged in this forty-ninth Parliament, with the reduction of KiwiSaver entitlements, unfair tax changes, and the removal of rights to fair treatment for new employees in most workplaces.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000866\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EPoverty and increasing inequality are among the most serious human rights issues facing the world today. In New Zealand, inequality grew in the late 1980s and 1990s, and the much referred to gap in wages between Australia and New Zealand grew exponentially. Last year, for the first time in two decades, the gap between rich and poor narrowed, due in no small part to a deliberate redistribution of income by Labour to low and middle-income families. Who benefits from inequality? Not the suffering families struggling to make ends meet. Not the children who go hungry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000867\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EInequality is not only simply wrong in a comparatively rich country like New Zealand; it is unsustainable. The health and educational outcomes of poverty impact on our whole country, economically and socially. Global poverty is a proven destroyer of individual and societal potential, and a grave threat to peace, security, and sustainability.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000868\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EIncreasing provision for social justice depends on a healthy economy. Our economy faces a number of key challenges that can be met only by a highly skilled workforce developing smarter products and services. To continue to improve our valued public services and standard of living, we must be aware of not only wealth distribution but wealth creation. I am committed to sustainable economic development. We need to be deliberate, smart, cooperative, and strategic to strengthen our economy to cope with offshore volatility. New ways of working together, and the clarification of the roles of Government, business, and, yes, unions, have been a worthwhile development in the last 9 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000869\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EAn important aspect of social justice is the right to work. In recent years we have achieved some of the best employment outcomes of any Western country. Now there are major challenges ahead, with unemployment forecast to rise rapidly. Work is of huge individual and society importance. The Council of Trade Unions and Business New Zealand have started discussing what the workplace of the future would look like. I support the Council of Trade Unions\u2019 view that its attributes must include high wages and high value, high skill levels, and fairness, and that it must be located in a strong industry, and be healthy and sustainable. High-skill, high-wage, and highly productive workplaces cannot occur without productive employment relations with decent wages and conditions of work, where workers\u2019 rights to a collective voice are respected.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000870\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EThe attacks of the 1990s on workers were not the way to go. There is still a low-wage legacy from that era. Low wages lead to low capital intensity and people working longer and longer hours to make ends meet. Low wages and low skill levels contribute to low productivity.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000871\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EFamilies are the basic building blocks of our society, and the implications of long hours and low wages on them are huge. We must focus on our children, who are our future. We must ensure their access to quality public education and health, and we must challenge any family violence that threatens to mar their future. I will firmly support initiatives in the area of family violence reduction, and I take this opportunity to acknowledge all those working to eliminate this huge problem.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000872\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EInvesting in people, supporting them throughout the life cycle, and ensuring they have the ability to participate to their full potential are essential for our success as a country. Social inclusion needs to be deliberately fostered. It benefits none of us if new migrants to our country are not able to participate to their full potential, or if young M\u0101ori and Pasifika people are overrepresented in the unemployment and educational underachievement statistics.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000873\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003ESmall countries like New Zealand have a greater opportunity to build consensus on what sort of future we want. A number of successful small countries have created \u201Csocial partnership\u201D approaches to ensure that workers, businesses, and the Government all play a crucial role in economic and social development.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000874\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EThis brings me to my final point: only healthy democracies can ensure successful, fair societies. Democracy is something we value highly as New Zealanders. It is something we have fought for and have led the world in achieving. For democracy to thrive, our people must have the will and ability to participate. Many New Zealanders do not participate in democratic processes, and some attribute this to apathy. I believe the reasons to be more complex, and include lack of knowledge, language barriers, disillusionment with political processes, time constraints, and a sense of powerlessness. Whatever the reason, the alienation of some is a loss to us all, because not only is their vote lost but so are their ideas and their commitment to common values and goals. We must all work to lift genuine participation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000875\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EAs a Labour MP I will be based in the Maungakiekie electorate, where I live and where I was our candidate in the recent election. I acknowledge and thank my campaign team and the large group of Labour activists who worked so hard. Let me acknowledge the Hon Vui Mark Gosche, the previous MP for Maungakiekie. Mark has always been a strong advocate for the values of Labour, the people of Maungakiekie, and working people generally. Mark has inspired many people through his obvious integrity and the courage he displayed through huge personal tragedy. I know that the people of Maungakiekie will miss him as their MP. I want to acknowledge both Mark and Carol Gosche for their support, friendship, and encouragement. I also acknowledge Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga as the MP for Maungakiekie, and indicate my willingness to work with him constructively on local issues where possible.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000876\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EMaungakiekie is a vibrant and diverse electorate. In the course of the campaign, I saw the huge number of people who work for community good in sports groups, on marae, in youth groups, in community safety groups, in churches, and in community development initiatives. They are ambitious people. It is important to reflect on the meaning of the word \u201Cambitious\u201D, because recently it has been used by many only in the context of the individual. It is more than that. I consider myself ambitious and have always wanted to use my skills in roles that challenge me, but my real ambition is in wanting to make a difference for others. As my friend Helen Duncan, a former Labour MP, said in her maiden speech: \u201CI believe \u2026 that people are not driven solely by the pursuit of individual goals and ambitions, and that the welfare, comfort, and happiness of others can make a difference to our enjoyment of our own lives.\u201D I commit to being ambitious for Aotearoa New Zealand and all our people, and I will seek to ensure that we measure what we are doing by considering the economic, social, cultural, and environmental impacts of our actions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000877\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003EI believe that most people want to do the right thing, that they want a better future for future generations. It is about being clear about the future we collectively want, and determined to make the necessary changes. In the words of Sonja Davies, a pioneering woman union leader and member of this House: \u201CNothing is ever too difficult to achieve. Only inertia can defeat us.\u201D N\u014D reira, kia kaha, kia toa, kia manawa nui, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou katoa. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000878\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003E[Therefore, be strong, be brave, be stout-hearted. Greetings to you, greetings to you, and greetings to you all.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000879\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223facbb72-b3b0-464b-b24d-e6de0616f323\u0022\u003ESitting suspended from 6.12 p.m. to 7 p.m.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000880\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00223027b709011549b6aac782c9438dbaf0\u0022\u003EElectricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000881\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022242eec4a6df34c389e774a722339d64f\u0022\u003EFirst Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000882\u0022\u003EDebate resumed.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u00227a81a512543548db956178f1a7305a73\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000883\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227a81a512543548db956178f1a7305a73\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E The Government is continuing its assault against progress. It started last week with the removal of the research and development tax credits\u2014that was the opening bid\u2014and we also learnt there will be no action on the emissions trading scheme any time soon. We are sending that legislation off to a so-called high-level select committee. Then earlier today the biofuels industry had its ankles cut from underneath it, which will mean a swag of disinvestment in that industry, quite apart from the disinvestment that has already occurred in the forestry industry last week. And now the Government is saying it is time we should burn some fossil fuels to make electricity. The Labour Party will strongly oppose this bill, because the legislation it repeals has a function to play, and its removal will see the possibility of thermal generation being built that is unneeded and unnecessary. Let us be clear that the moratorium is against baseload thermal generation only. If any more peaking plants are needed in this country, they can still be built despite the moratorium; it is baseload thermal generation to which the moratorium applies.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000884\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWhy does the moratorium apply? It applies for the simple reason that this country has an integrated electricity generation system involving, predominantly, hydro and thermal energy, with increasing amounts of geothermal and wind energy. That integration is secured by a variety of Cook Strait cables, and it is in balance now. It used not to be in balance; it used to be wildly out of balance, depending on how far back in history one wants to go. I can go back quite a long way, but the Max Bradford era will do. Max Bradford took the electricity generation system and turned it on its head. There was, in effect, a strike by capital for years to come. We had a strike by capital in the early part of this decade. We saw one thermal plant go on, then we saw the five new generators/retailers duck and weave, to see whether they could avoid capital investment, until one of them came forward. Then another came forward, but in the meantime we certainly started to run thin on the margins.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000885\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThose margins are now in much better shape than they have ever been\u2014or at least in the last 1\u00BD decades that I can speak of. The degree of new generation coming on is known to be sufficient. The point is that the new generation coming on is renewable. There is now widespread investment in geothermal, wind, and small-hydro energy. Those investment projects, all of which are known because they have been publicly signalled\u2014and one or two of them have not been publicly signalled but have been privately signalled to officials\u2014and many of which have already been consented, will come on the book, one after another, in an orderly sort of queue. The 10-year moratorium on baseload thermal generation was simply to signal that the future of our integrated system needed to be more predominantly based on renewable electricity generation. It was that straightforward.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000886\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EIt is possible to build\u2014so long as one can secure a long-term gas contract, and that does present difficulties\u2014a quite large baseload thermal generation plant quite easily. Such plants are less costly because their capital costs are lower. The running costs are of course higher, whereas the running costs for renewable electricity generation plants approach zero. The consent process is simple because the footprint, if you will, of a non-renewable electricity generator is relatively modest\u2014it might take up only a hectare or so of land. Once the investment in transmission supports a baseload generator, the generator will be used. Once the owners have it up and running and the gas contracts are in place, they will bid in such a way as to ensure that the generator is used. That is why additional baseload thermal generation is not a good component of our electricity system. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000887\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe opposite needs to happen. As our renewable generation picks up, we need to take offline some of our most inefficient thermal generators, which happen to be coal-based in the main. We have four big coal driveshafts, all of which are in Huntly and all of which are called, collectively, the Huntly power station. Each of them can produce 250 megawatts, but there is no reason why, one by one, they cannot be taken offline in the future as they come up for major refurbishment, or indeed cannot be refurbished and put into the reserve scheme. The Electricity Commission has the say over that and the role to play there, not Cabinet or this Parliament. That is what the future of this country looks like. We should take some of our older thermal generation plants progressively offline. Some of them should stay in the reserve generation market in case we get an unusually calm and dry year in our hydro catchments, but there is no need for new thermal generation plants to proceed at the moment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000888\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EIf this moratorium comes off and a plant goes ahead as a result\u2014because gas contracts that give investors security of supply might be bought or sold on the market\u2014what will the Government do about that? The member who spoke before me was the Hon Dr Nick Smith, and he spent his entire 10 minutes saying that thermal generation in New Zealand had increased. He is right. Just to recap briefly why that is the case, I tell members that the main reason was a strike by capital straight after the Bradford reforms, and only when people finally woke up to the fact that we might start to run out of electricity did we get ourselves a thermal power station in the form of e3p. There is no need for another thermal power station. It is a shame we have that one. There is no need for another. Nick Smith, in his logic, spent his entire 10 minutes saying that we had increased thermal generation, yet his response is to remove a moratorium to allow for more. This guy has a PhD; what does that say about the quality of tertiary education when he says that his position is to be against more thermal generation, but his voting position is to vote down a moratorium that would stop it? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000889\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d6cc3aa7f652421cbe4dd627da36e95f\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: The \u201CMinister of Inertia\u201D told him to do that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000890\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022698136feceb64a8d8b776cbab7f0fecd\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, the \u201CMinister of Inertia\u201D told him to do that. The Hon Dr Nick Smith, our brand-new Minister for the Environment, gave a 10-minute speech to tell us he wanted no more thermal generation but will vote to allow a moratorium against thermal generation to lapse. That is not good logic; that is dumb logic, and one does not have to have a PhD to know that\u2014someone in primer 2 would know that. If one is in favour of something, one should act in favour of it. If one is in favour of something, then one\u2019s vote should follow one\u2019s voice. But the Hon Dr Nick Smith has voiced in one direction and will vote in another. That just goes to show the pretty pass we have reached in this Parliament; this Government is determined to carry out a 100-day action plan, and is determined to do things and to be seen to be doing things, but is not concerned about the strategy, logic, or direction\u2014or anything else\u2014of what it is doing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000891\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWhat is more, there will be no select committee hearings on this. There will be no select committee hearings on anything that has been passed in the last 2 weeks\u2014no select committee hearings, at all. Yet we know that in the Prime Minister\u2019s own electorate, Helensville, where a thermal generation plant may be built if this legislation is passed, the good people have something to say about that. Are they being excluded from the process because the Prime Minister has decided that this legislation will not go to a select committee? Yes, they are being excluded. So there we are, off to another great start. The Prime Minister, the member for Helensville, keeps saying to the local newspapers that he wants to be a very good local member and spend as much time in Helensville as he can\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000892\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220490dc2be18e4980b3191ce77bc55c24\u0022\u003EHon Clayton Cosgrove\u003C/span\u003E: Does he live there?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220b2b0509e77840cb9f1097ad457fa3e7\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Of course he does not live there; he lives miles away in some mansion or other. He has just decided he will have legislation go through the House that may be damaging to his constituents, but they will not have a chance to have any say. In fact, he would not even meet them before the election\u2014he was too busy. The person who was the Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister in waiting, back then, said that his diary was filled up from July until the election. He would not even meet his constituents, but now there is the possibility of a thermal power plant going up in his electorate and he is not prepared to allow the legislation relating to it to go to a select committee. That is the sort of deal he has with his constituents, and I just hope that they pay a bit of attention to the man\u2019s words and actions, because they operate in contrary directions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022 data-id=\u0022586f4767796544a4b9f043bfbb70b486\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000894\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022586f4767796544a4b9f043bfbb70b486\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader\u2014Green):\u003C/span\u003E On the face of it, it does not matter very much that the Government is repealing the renewable electricity preference in Part 6A of the Electricity Act 1992, because the renewable electricity preference has so many exemptions and loopholes in it that one could drive any power station through those loopholes and have it approved. So I am not really sure why the Government is bothering to repeal something that was always a bit of a fiction. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000895\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003ELet us look at some of the exemptions. First, the preference applies only to baseload power stations. Anything that runs for less than about one-third of full-time is exempt anyway, so one does not have to get permission for it. Secondly, one can apply for an exemption if there is any kind of security of supply problem. I can imagine a number of situations where people wanting to build power stations might do that. Thirdly, one can apply for an exemption if one can show that one\u2019s power station will replace a power station that produces higher emissions. That is true of any gas-fired power station that anybody wants to build, and it is true of any new coal-fired power station that anybody wants to build, because they will all be more efficient than Huntly power station on coal. It is true that the Minister of Energy and Resources has to sign this off. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000896\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EI asked three submitters who made submissions on the Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill to the Finance and Expenditure Committee about this. I asked whether they could imagine any kind of power station, at all, that could not be built under one or other of these exemptions. None of the three submitters could. Contact Energy said that it could not, but that it is a nuisance having to apply for an exemption even though it would be granted one. So we could argue that renewable electricity preference was always a bit of a wet paint sign. The Minister, Gerry Brownlee, said he would abolish it, and, goodness, it is important\u2014is it not\u2014to take urgency before Christmas to pass the abolition of a wet paint sign through all its stages! \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000897\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EHowever, the Minister talked about symbolism. I think the reason this bill matters is its symbolism and the message it sends, which is that the Government will burn more fossil fuel, it does not believe in renewable generation, and it thinks coal is sexy. If the Government is not trying to send that message, why would it bother repealing legislation that would never stop a single power station being built? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000898\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Minister says that putting a price on carbon will encourage renewable electricity rather than fossil-fuelled electricity. But the way in which the electricity market\u2014which was set up by a previous National Government\u2014actually operates means that all electricity, whether hydro, wind, or anything else, will be charged at the same price to the consumer as coal-fired electricity. That means there will be large returns to renewable electricity generators, but not to consumers. Those returns were to be the source of funding for the billion-dollar Green Homes Fund. We wanted to give this money back to people in a form that was more use to them than just a bit of cash. We wanted to give it back to them in the form of a warm, dry, healthy home that would be there for ever. That was to be the source of funding. The Government keeps claiming that there was no source of funding for the Green Homes Fund, but that is where it was going to come from. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000899\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Minister says that we need to build more fossil-fuelled plant for security of supply. Well, I am sorry, but we cannot find any numbers, at all, to justify that. A lot of geothermal plant is being built at the moment, which is\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000900\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ed928d3694a447e5b2a061b7a3018b0b\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: And a lot more to be built. There\u2019s a big long list.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000901\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cb5fe9110ae24846b5fd7766796cb150\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS\u003C/span\u003E: The member is right: there is a lot more to be built. A huge amount is in the pipeline right now\u2014consented and being built, consented and ready to be built, or on its way through the consent process. It is enough to last us for years of normal growth, and it is all renewable. But the Minister wants to cut off some of that at the knees and allow the building of fossil-fuelled plants that will crowd the renewable generators out of the market. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000902\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EYou see, if we want security of supply we need a diversity of renewable sources. We did not have security of supply when our energy was all hydro. A dry winter was a real problem. We have more security of supply if we have a mix of hydro and wind because they peak at different times. But we have much greater security of supply still if we have geothermal as well as hydro and wind. When the wave and tidal resources that are being developed now\u2014and for which New Zealand has very good resources\u2014are delivering, we will have even greater security of supply because security lies in diversity. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000903\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe other thing that will lead to security is looking at the demand side of the equation. Security of supply means that supply is always able to cope with demand. We can deal with that by building more supply, which is the expensive and unreliable way of doing it, or by making the demand side more efficient, which is longer-lasting and cheaper. That is what we have been trying to do for the last 3 years with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy and all the work that the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority has been doing on energy efficiency standards, insulation of houses, assistance to industry, and so forth. So if Gerry Brownlee wants energy security he needs to focus a lot more on the demand side than New Zealand ever has. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000904\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Minister spoke as though we will be closing all of our gas plants, but we need some gas for peaking. We have a large gas plant at Stratford, we have a large gas plant at Huntly, we have a large gas plant in \u014Ct\u0101huhu, and we have several smaller gas plants around the place\u2014we have gas for peaking. What we need is some good renewable baseload like geothermal, and some more wind, which will balance the hydro. That is what is being built. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000905\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe real problem with devoting more gas resources to electricity generation is that it pushes us into a gas shortage to which the answer is imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). The people of New Plymouth do not think that that is a very good idea, because LNG plants have the potential to blow up whole cities if anything goes wrong with them. Leaving aside the question of the risks of an LNG plant, I say that if we allow Genesis and Contact Energy to build an LNG reception plant in New Plymouth we will link the price of all electricity in New Zealand to the price of oil internationally. That is because all the contracts for the international sale of LNG are linked to the basket of oil prices in Japan. That is the way the market works. If we are to import gas, we will pay for that gas the price that we are currently paying for imported oil. New Zealand\u2019s electricity\u2014with a few small exceptions such as coal recently being imported to run Huntly\u2014has always been indigenous. We have controlled our own sources. Going down the gas route will expose us to international oil prices just as they are about to go through the roof again. What could be dafter than that? Is that security of supply? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000906\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Minister said that he does not expect more coal-fired stations to be built as a result of this bill. Well, I am sorry, but Don Elder does. Don Elder from Solid Energy is very focused on building coal-fired power stations in Southland and on the West Coast. Without any indication, at all, that the Government has a preference for renewable generation, there will not be anything to stop him. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000907\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Minister says he is committed to the target of reaching 95 percent renewable energy by 2025, but it seems he is not committed to any action to get there. This is becoming standard with the Government\u2019s new targets. It set the target of a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but it is not committed to any ways of getting there. In fact, all the ways that would have got us there have now been abolished.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022 data-id=\u00222ae9da34b21f40db9a44b884cb857da2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000908\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222ae9da34b21f40db9a44b884cb857da2\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE (Leader\u2014ACT):\u003C/span\u003E It is with much pleasure that I rise on behalf of the ACT Party to support the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. This bill is a direct consequence of the relationship built up between the National and the ACT parties. I am very pleased that we are going to have some economic sanity and some sanity in energy planning and supply in New Zealand, as a consequence.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000909\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EPutting a ban on the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity in New Zealand was a mad idea cobbled together at the last minute. It shows that the previous Government\u2019s policy on climate change, global warming, and the emissions trading scheme was cobbled together and not well thought through. If that Government had been committed to, and had believed in, an emissions trading scheme\u2014and I have to say I do not believe in it\u2014it would have priced the emission of greenhouse gases and it would have allowed people to get on with it, reflecting the price. That is the whole logic of having a tradable scheme. That is the purpose of such a scheme. One does not need to tell people how to do it, when to do it, and why to do it; one lets them get on with it. But the previous Government, being of the meddling variety that knows best and tells people what to do, was not content with just jacking up the price of everything to every business and every homeowner in the country; no, it wanted to go a step further.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000910\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EI listened carefully to Jeanette Fitzsimons\u2019 speech, because I am always open to the possibility that we could be wrong and that reversing the ban might be a mistake. I have to say I heard no reason to suggest that the Government is wrong in going with this ban. Jeanette Fitzsimons said\u2014and I remember her saying the same thing at the time the ban came in\u2014that the ban was toothless, that it would not achieve any result, and that anyone who wanted to could get round it. Well, is New Zealand so short of legislation that we should be passing legislation that has no effect? I do not think so. If Jeanette Fitzsimons does not think the ban achieves anything, then let us get rid of it. I guess the hallmark of this Government is that it is honest about what it is doing. I think that what we saw previously was a lot of hot air\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000911\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ef6fde77397f475cbec673fd88da5ca7\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: What about the member\u2019s select committee on climate change? That won\u2019t achieve much, either.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000912\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222f18664ffee7433a805863da4c51481c\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: That member, Darien Hughes, who lost his seat at the last election, is calling out that he knows everything, he knows all about the select committee that will meet for the first time tomorrow, and he knows what the result will be. That is how clever that man is who lost his seat. Mr Darien Hughes was a member of a Government that rammed through the emissions trading scheme without actually considering the options, and without doing a regulatory impact statement. I was very, very interested to hear Darien Hughes and others call out that the Government is passing stuff to remove unnecessary\u2014[Interruption] What did I call him? [Interruption] Oh, I get confused. I heard Darren Hughes calling out that the Government did not do a regulatory impact statement to remove red tape. Where was the regulatory impact statement from the previous Government on the implementation of the emissions trading scheme? Where was it? It did not happen, did it?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000913\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003ELet me go back to Jeanette Fitzsimons, who I was discussing before I was rudely interrupted by the man who lost his seat. Jeanette Fitzsimons wants to ban\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000914\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002201eff08261eb4ffdae6fb3f0661472a4\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: How many MPs have you got?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000915\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a2b9d2b9196f4676b8a93efb59b67573\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: The member wants to know how many MPs I have. I know that for those in the Labour Party it is tough to count. I have five.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000916\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c620ac6796414be59e5bca3eff044096\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: How many when you took over as leader? Nine!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000917\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002211fab47e970144b4afb4752d6cde7a16\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, the member is saying I went from nine to five. Yes, but here is the interesting transition that occurred. When I took over as leader we were sitting where Darren Hughes is. When he came into the House he was sitting on this side of the House. Now he is sitting over there, somehow claiming victory, and not able to count. Look, I like the member\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000918\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223291182fe92c4d8293b858f54abd102c\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: It took you 12 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000919\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c1306f67c49e4c99b572910f06115a4e\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: Oh yes, but good things are worth working towards. I did not have to slip into another party. We actually had the courage, the discipline, and the focus\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000920\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223cfebb1891d24bf9a4a4d0027b9cf5e7\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: To destroy your party.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000921\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226f30f66637e04b57a90d18d85e1836d3\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014to start a party. Actually the Labour Party has had more success at destroying political parties than any other party here. Let me go through the list. It destroyed the Alliance party, it destroyed the New Zealand First Party, it destroyed the United party, it tried to destroy the M\u0101ori Party but did not succeed, and it will probably destroy the Green Party. That is how the Labour Party operates. I am sorry\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000922\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002244807051e84f4c79ba419f88023f1a86\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Watch those words, it will happen to you!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000923\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d9ed7e937c644e79a8b58db9bff42f4a\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: I am just explaining it. Darren Hughes calls out that it is going to happen to the ACT Party. Maybe, but I tell Darren that that will be up to the voters. I know he does not like the voters having a say, but it will be up to the voters, just like\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000924\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002268d680696a234082a56279c48b688d25\u0022\u003EChris Hipkins\u003C/span\u003E: Through the select committee, maybe.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000925\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002201cf0570701b458e9d1161c1b271eb25\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: What is that?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000926\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022de8508e024a14543b26d9856d701d4a8\u0022\u003EChris Hipkins\u003C/span\u003E: Send the bill to a select committee and let the voters have a say.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000927\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ba05fd6ca58f47c6a54d865cb45af35f\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: I have seen Labour operate select committees. Does the member remember the select committee on the Electoral Finance Bill? The public got to have a say. I tell Mr Hipkins that I remember what the public had to say. I have a memory of what the Law Commission, the Law Society, and the Human Rights Commission had to say, and now that member\u2019s own leader says \u201COh, we got it wrong.\u201D Well, that is what the select committee told Labour. I come back to Ms Fitzsimons. These young pretenders who are not allowed to speak in the House try to get into Hansard by interrupting the famous leader of the ACT Party and MP for Epsom. Let me get back to Ms Fitzsimons. I can remember Jeanette Fitzsimons giving a seminar at the University of Canterbury many, many years ago.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000928\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ad1957c8f92d4142bd08bd68fdd7b074\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: You were at Lincoln.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000929\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227618e129f8e24ad99e9ad03263058637\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: I have actually been to more than one university.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000930\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002266c55f827c9744b3aa91f30dc2cca9c5\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: Including the university of life.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000931\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f3478520643b4a3e8ce807c4acb56e2f\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: Yes. Ms Fitzsimons\u2019 concern was that we were running out of fossil fuels. She even put a date on it\u20141992. News flash! We did not run out of fossil fuels in 1992. In fact, it turns out we have so many fossil fuels to power the future of New Zealand that now Jeanette Fitzsimons wants to ban their use. The Green Party predicted that we would run out of fossil fuels more than 15 years ago. We did not run out of fossil fuels, and their having failed to run out, the Green Party now wants to ban their use. What is the Green Party and the Labour Party policy? Are we going to run out of fossil fuels, or do we have to ban their use?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000932\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EI say to the Labour Party and to the Green Party that our concern has to be the cost to New Zealand of powering business, of keeping our houses warm, and of actually succeeding as a nation. All that these sorts of bans do\u2014and bans are always the response of the Labour Party and the Green Party\u2014is put up the costs of the very people whom they claim to represent and care about. That is why I am so pleased to be standing in this House to support the repeal of a very stupid and very misguided ban. Phil Goff has said that the Electoral Finance Act was a mistake; I am looking forward to the Labour Party members saying that this ban was a mistake, too.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022 data-id=\u00220745151aaaae41ad97cd714607b9d26e\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000933\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220745151aaaae41ad97cd714607b9d26e\u0022\u003ERAHUI KATENE (M\u0101ori Party\u2014Te Tai Tonga):\u003C/span\u003E Last week Wellington hosted a prestigious event packed full of academic excellence, ground-breaking research, and creative expertise. I am not talking about the maiden speeches\u2014as outstanding as they all have been\u2014I am thinking of the Realise the Dream event, which celebrates our extraordinary young secondary students who are pushing boundaries and taking on the world of science, research, and technology. The event, hosted by Genesis Energy, included a project from Jake Martin of Cambridge High School. He explored the possibility of turning biomass energy and waste streams into a usable energy source for transport by experimenting with an engine that runs on wood. His model, a gasifier, demonstrated not only that the charcoal waste product of his engine was useful for growing plants but that the biochar produced was also magnetic. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000934\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EIs it not time for Aotearoa to realise the dream? The question is, of course, what the nature of that dream is. In the M\u0101ori Party our dreams include keeping our natural resources and environment healthy, safe, and intact for future generations. To do this, we know, will require this House to exercise as much rigour and expertise in creating innovation and energy efficiency as those students attending Realise the Dream did. For the great challenge facing us all is that while on one hand Genesis Energy was sponsoring an amazing event that was all about inspiring our young people to achieve, on the other it was announcing plans for price hikes of up to 9 percent in parts of Auckland. This is our challenge: to meet the growing demand for electricity while at the same time seeking to reduce demand by the energy efficiency strategies we invent. If a group of secondary school students can construct a steam engine that produces electricity, surely the members of this House can come up with a good idea or two about renewable energy sources including geothermal, hydroelectricity, wave, wind, photovoltaic, and solar. Merely continuing to use coal, oil, and gas to generate electricity is hardly stretching beyond the frontiers of what we know already, which is that coal is the fossil fuel that generates the most carbon dioxide per unit of energy generated. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000935\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EThe coal-fired power station at Huntly\u2014technically known as a baseload fossil-fuelled thermal electricity generation plant\u2014has a direct and immediate impact on climate change, yet in this bill we are disregarding our best knowledge and throwing caution to the wind. Is caution or is commercial pressure paramount? The question that must test all of our minds is whether we actually know what problem this bill seeks to address. Is the real issue that we all need to show much greater interest in creating effective energy conservation and efficiency strategies? Is the real issue that our transmission infrastructure is in such a poor state that the surplus capacity in Te Wai Pounamu cannot be carried across to Te Ika-a-M\u0101ui because the Cook Strait cable needs urgent repair or replacement? Is the real issue the bizarre fact that in our southern hydro lakes, Waitaki and Manap\u014Duri, the transmission infrastructure is so weak that water is currently being spilled? Or is the real issue the structure of the electricity industry itself? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000936\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EI was interested to read the recent statement from Bryan Leyland of the Climate Science Coalition. He suggested that the way the market is structured now rewards generators for keeping us on the edge of a shortage. It is all a matter of perspective. Rushing under urgency to try to meet the growing demand for electricity by increasing thermal generation is at best short-sighted, and at worst it simply heaps coals on an ever-burning fire. Repealing the ban on thermal energy generation will have other effects that the M\u0101ori Party is concerned about. M\u0101ori organisations involved in sustainable energy developments such as geothermal power have spoken to us about their concerns that fossil fuel plants, as a result of this bill, will be at an unfair advantage that is not conducive to fair competition with renewable energy developments. That is because there is no current economic instrument through which these fossil fuel plants will have to face their carbon costs. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000937\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EIt is time to be brave, to realise the dream, and to explore other alternatives. Alternatives such as geothermal energy deserve the support of this House. Geothermal energy is a sustainable energy source. There are no pollutants attached, so it is safe for the environment. There is also a significant amount of energy to be harnessed with geothermal power. It is a source that is available 24 hours a day and for which very little land is required. It is a concept the M\u0101ori Party is very interested in. We know that M\u0101ori organisations have been heavily involved in geothermal energy developments. In fact, one of those energy developments, Tuar\u014Dpaki Trust\u2014an amalgamation of landowners from the seven M\u014Dkai hap\u016B, who affiliate to both T\u016Bwharetoa and Ng\u0101ti Raukawa\u2014topped the M\u0101ori and iwi sector in the National Business Review\u2019s monthly exciting company series with a rating of 93.1, which is the highest ever recorded. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000938\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EThe Tuar\u014Dpaki Trust was described by trust chairman T\u016Bmanako Weret\u0101 as giving his people a beacon of hope and prosperity. That hope and prosperity has emerged from annual revenues that have almost doubled to around $50 million in the past 4 years. The trust combines farming and horticulture business with geothermal power generation and satellite communications. It has come a long way since 2000 when the trust commissioned its first generator, M\u014Dkai I, powered from geothermal steam under the land. A second plant has since opened up and now a total of 110 megawatts of electricity is being produced. Tuar\u014Dpaki Trust is not just about providing a beacon of hope and prosperity to the descendants of seven hap\u016B of M\u014Dkai; it provides Aotearoa with inspiration about a bright future\u2014a future when renewable energy allows us to be sustainable while at the same time protecting and preserving the limited resources of oil, gas, and coal. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000939\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EWe are so fortunate in Aotearoa that we have so many renewable options. We must place faith and trust in those organisations that can produce renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions as a result. We need to find new, post-carbon ways of living, to contribute to solutions that address the global issues of peak oil, and to find sustainable energy alternatives without indulging in further finite and exploitative gas and oil exploration. The security and demand of supply, the infrastructural problems, the price hikes, and the structure of the electricity industry are all challenges that face us. But they are not insurmountable. Windflow Technology in Christchurch has become a world leader in the design of smaller but highly efficient wind turbines. We can accelerate the development of new technology by making a commitment to using renewable energy. That commitment creates a market for electricity from renewable energy and supports private investment, which in turn brings down the relative cost of renewable electricity. We need a forward-looking policy to kick-start a new industry and to create a competitive market in which new players can compete with established operators. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000940\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e2e2ee61-b3b9-4a89-bcc3-5b7be76c5825\u0022\u003EWith the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill we have a solution that misses the mark in terms of addressing the wider scope of these problems. Furthermore, it is, of course, of note when one of our country\u2019s biggest energy companies, Contact Energy, said last night that it had no plans to build fossil fuel power stations, despite this bill being on the books today\u2014a view that is apparently shared by Genesis Energy, as well. The M\u0101ori Party policy is to support the development of renewable energy as a key response to both climate change and peak oil. We cannot support this bill. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022 data-id=\u0022531fc239d8464217ad0140f93b99e8c1\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000941\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022531fc239d8464217ad0140f93b99e8c1\u0022\u003EHon PANSY WONG (Associate Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E I think the Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons actually provided the reason why Parliament should support the repeal of the last Labour Government\u2019s legislation in terms of the emissions trading scheme\u2014the part relating to banning thermal generation. She correctly pointed out that the legislation relating to the thermal ban had so many loopholes that one could drive a bus right through it\u2014it was completely useless. So why should Parliament embrace the retention of part of a piece of legislation when apparently nobody\u2014even the parties that supported it\u2014has confidence in its being effective? In fact, it is useless, so why should we retain that part of it?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000942\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E The other issue is that Labour\u2014the Opposition\u2014has made much of the fact that this bill has not been sent to a select committee. Let me share with members of Parliament the way that Labour respects the select committee process. When the emissions trading scheme bill was sent to be examined at the select committee, the part of the legislation banning thermal generation was, actually, added in the last very minute, despite all the submitters, including the Business Council for Sustainable Development, which opposed the inclusion at the last minute of the thermal ban. That is not to mention the major sector groups, such as the Major Electricity Users Group, and the generator group. So Labour did not pay much respect to the select committee process. A bill was sent to a select committee, new additions were made, and the committee completely ignored the feedback on the legislation from the submitters. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000943\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EI am glad, once again, to be able to take a call in this House to support the legislation that National has been campaigning on\u2014we have made our position very clear. We believe the way to incentivise renewable resources is that thermal generation will, eventually, be subject to carbon charges, and renewable generation will not, through the emissions trading scheme that we will develop. That is a very sensible way forward, rather than retaining the part of the legislation that even the Green Party says is not workable and is sending all the wrong signals. Of course, I hasten to point out that I have not seen Pete Hodgson\u2014who goes on and on about what the Hon Max Bradford did to the electricity industry\u2014in his time as Minister of Energy ever come up with a plan. Even now, every winter, New Zealanders are still subject to the threat of either a power cut or increases in power prices. I believe that our Minister of Energy, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, has once again sensibly brought in legislation that sends a clear signal that we support renewable preferences. Once again, we believe that to retain a part of a piece of legislation that is not workable, and puts our energy supply at risk, is not the way to go. I am very happy to support the passage of this legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022 data-id=\u0022b1089cf426a54d3e87cc307866b61a04\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000944\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b1089cf426a54d3e87cc307866b61a04\u0022\u003EHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour\u2014Hauraki-Waikato):\u003C/span\u003E Members on this side of the House treat the challenge of tackling climate change very seriously, because if anyone heard the contribution by the Hon Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment, they would have had their strongest inclination confirmed that a National-led Government does not believe in a coherent approach to tackle the defining issue of this generation\u2014climate change. We have heard members from all over this House say how important climate change is. We have heard members from across this House say we need to do more for future generations of young New Zealanders. But what we hear from the Government is something that should concern young New Zealanders. It is a signal that I think does not provide leadership, and does not lift aspiration to the possibilities of how this country could operate in terms of where it sources its energy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000945\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EThe mere fact that we are speaking to the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill shows that the Government will do anything to get energy, no matter where it comes from. That is a real concern, because the Minister for the Environment made light of the serious challenge confronting our country to reduce greenhouse emissions, to better regulate our reliance on new thermal generation, and provide and incentivise the landscape to explore and realise renewable energy generation. Instead, the Minister claims that by lifting the moratorium on new thermal electricity generation, the National-led Government\u2019s commitment to tackle the effects of climate change remains on track.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000946\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EI say no. In support of the earlier contribution of my colleague David Parker, I say that this bill will do nothing to encourage a coherent step towards a sustainable future. I absolutely agree with statements made by the M\u0101ori Party on M\u0101ori wanting to take leadership on this issue. The example that she raises with Tuar\u014Dpaki\u2014and I have talked to the people there, and I have seen that they have an absolute commitment in renewable energy\u2014reinforces the view that I present in this House. I know, too, that in the area of wind generation across the west coast, from the north down to the south, there are iwi who are looking at how they can better engage in renewable energy generation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000947\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EIn the first 2 weeks of this Government we have seen a delay in the introduction of the emissions trading scheme by establishing a special select committee that serves no other purpose than to placate the confidence and supply agreement with ACT. I again draw members\u2019 attention to the contribution made by the leader of the ACT Party. A good 50 percent of his speech was a distraction to many members of the House and to those who were listening to the debate in a very serious way. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000948\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EWe have also seen the dismissal of the intent of the biofuels sales obligation\u2014putting at risk private sector investment, and local jobs in small communities. If this is the Government\u2019s leadership in this area, then I will have nothing of it. I know that many more people feel the same way. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000949\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EThe third thing we have seen in the last 2 weeks is the ramping up of thermal generation; a message that says we should be ramping up thermal generation through the introduction of this bill. There has been much talk in this House about great leadership, a brighter future, and lifting aspiration. For those words to have real meaning, courageous steps in climate change have to be taken; action has to take place. Instead, the National-led Government wants to be a fast follower. That is right\u2014a fast follower. Surely we should do more to encourage investment in renewable energy, to ramp up our effort in energy conservation, and to promote new technology to reduce carbon emissions. There is no sign of this happening under the Government. Instead, it chooses to walk quickly into the past, forgetting about a sustainable future, forgetting about what people think, and how this bill might affect them. After all, we are here under urgency, limiting opportunities for members of the public to hold this Government to account. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000950\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EComments were made earlier\u2014again, by the ACT leader\u2014about the issue of the regulatory impact statement. There is nothing of that nature with this bill. The public have had no opportunity for this bill to be heard at a select committee where they can raise their concerns. More important, people in the Prime Minister\u2019s own electorate have taken to writing letters to the editor to be able to express their very serious concern of not being able to present this issue to their local member of Parliament. We should be concerned. A local resident in Helensville says: \u201CLocal residents and lobby groups like my own have had the brush-off from Mr Key\u2019s electorate office when requesting a meeting to discuss local issues before the election. These include energy and climate change policy relating to the Genesis energy proposal to build a non-renewable energy gas-fired power station at Kaukapakapa. After the election, it is too late; the hearing is next month.\u201D His own residents have taken to writing letters to the editor, when a simple hearing would do. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000951\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003ESo we should not be surprised that this bill is being put forward under urgency, not going to a select committee, not enabling local people to have their say, not enabling those people whom we purport to represent to share their view on what I think is part of a range of measures that the members of the public deserve to have a say on. Surely a bill with such an impact on the Government\u2019s overall approach to reducing greenhouse emissions should go to a select committee, but, sadly, it will not. That will be the legacy and track record of this National-led Government\u2019s attempt to meet its sustainability challenge. That will be a very sad face. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000952\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EEarlier this year, in the Prime Minister\u2019s own electorate, in Helensville, a number of members in his local community just wanted to meet him, and that did not happen. Even during the election campaign Mr Key took a balanced approach by sitting on the fence saying one thing to residents, and possibly another to his caucus who were busy dealing with the detail of this policy after the election\u2014only after the election. We can only surmise that, because this bill is being rushed through in urgency at a time when it deserves public scrutiny. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000953\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EMPs come to this House and have the privilege of representing their constituencies and their communities. Sadly for his own constituency, the Prime Minister cannot do this; this is the legacy of how the National Government will run the Treasury benches over the next 3 years. We will be back here revisiting National legislation, because it has failed this country and the challenge to seriously deal with climate change. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000954\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EWe cannot have leadership that denies some inevitability about the state of our environment. We cannot be fast followers; we have to be leaders. We cannot be deniers; we have to take responsibility and action. I am a Huntly girl at heart and I was raised there for most of my life. We used to jokingly say that we had the largest light bulb in the country: the Huntly power station. In this House, there is no one who would like more than me to see the retiring of the Huntly power station in favour of renewable energy, but that decision would need to ensure that communities are better prepared to absorb the impact of meeting new employment opportunities, and I hope that that may come through the clean-up of the Waikato River. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000955\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EI think this bill does very little to lift aspiration in our country\u2019s efforts, and it requires a whole-of-Parliament approach to say that we accept that climate change is an urgent matter that we all must agree to do something on. The lack of leadership provided by the Government is of concern, and we need only look to the changes that have been achieved over the last 2 weeks. Gains under Labour were more than aspirational. We took active steps to tackle climate change through recognising the important contribution of renewable energy to supply the energy sector, strengthening an energy-efficiency campaign and supporting Green Party initiatives like retrofitting homes and encouraging solar water heating, greater investment in public transport, introducing a biofuels sales obligation, supporting smart procurement initiatives, introducing market tools like the emissions trading scheme, and encouraging support for new technologies through research and development tax credits. These are just a few of the real steps taken by the Labour-led approach, and, sadly, in only 2 weeks, all of them have been abolished and reversed by the National-led Government. Its members are not offering leadership when it matters most to the future of New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022 data-id=\u0022a8fa3d8d8e48463ca40f2ee2dd8b8c79\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000956\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022a8fa3d8d8e48463ca40f2ee2dd8b8c79\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National\u2014West Coast-Tasman):\u003C/span\u003E I guess anyone listening to the discussion we have been having would wonder what the fuss is about. Earlier we heard from Jeanette Fitzsimons, who I thought spoke extremely well when she described the original legislation as toothless from the very beginning. She thought that it would never work and that it was pointless to have it. In that case, surely we are meeting the requirements for getting rid of it. The previous speaker, Nanaia Mahuta, whom I have considerable respect for, talked about how important it was to have that legislation. But it does not actually do anything. The reality is that the costs of thermal generation are quite high. I cannot imagine a generator thinking \u201COh goody, let\u2019s rush into it.\u201D That is not the way it works.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000957\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EThis is a Government that keeps its word and delivers on its promises. The Opposition, sadly, needs to get used to that; we will give those members a little bit of time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000958\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a0df66df0ae24dc9ab3b0e65d8e9706f\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: 2 years, 10 months, 2\u00BD weeks!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000959\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002260b597f9604d40eca67461ead5b8e5f8\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: I was thinking more of a 5-year term. I can understand the Opposition being upset at seeing legislation being reversed, but let us face it: the fact is that it is mostly rhetoric that is being reversed. The last two bills are good examples of that. As Jeanette Fitzsimons said, they are \u201Ca bit of fiction\u201D, \u201Ca bit of a wet paint sign\u201D, and \u201Csymbolism\u201D. Those were the expressions she used.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000960\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EOne of the features of the Labour Government was the astonishing increases not only in carbon emissions and the use of thermal power that occurred during those 9 years but also in the prices of domestic power\u2014I believe those price increases were 48 percent. What does the renewable preference that is being repealed actually do? It provides a political cover for a situation that I think the Labour Government did not really wish to admit to. The renewable preference has produced confused public policy. There has been a 180 percent increase in greenhouse gas in the electricity sector during the 9 years of the Labour Government. The right approach, surely, is to have a policy that provides security of supply.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000961\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003ELet us look at the ban from a number of points of view: the ban was an unnecessary intervention from the very beginning, and it was unnecessary for the electricity market; command and control systems do not work well and have not worked well; this ban puts security of supply at risk; it is thermal generation that New Zealand is reliant on; gas plants like the efficient e3p plant at Huntly can run round the clock, and National will leave investment in those plants up to the industry; this legislation does not lead to environmentally sound outcomes, because the ban blocks investment in new generation that could potentially be more efficient and emit less carbon than the current one; and the ban is a disincentive for oil and gas exploration, because explorers will have less opportunity to offset exploration risks and costs against gas sales if New Zealand bans sales to power stations. Oil exploration is a sensitive activity, and it will not take too much before we see explorers and investors going elsewhere.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000962\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EThe thermal ban provisions were part of the legislation that was introduced as part of the emissions trading scheme, and the ban was added at the very last minute, which makes it interesting that those members talk about a lack of consultation. The provisions had not been singled out in advance, and the industry was taken completely by surprise. The Government is today repealing this legislation, which is an intrusion into the electricity market.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022 data-id=\u0022459c1be6abbb48ca9f32f82d74947cb0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000963\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022459c1be6abbb48ca9f32f82d74947cb0\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS (Labour\u2014Rimutaka):\u003C/span\u003E To take up the point of the previous member when he asked what all the fuss was about, I thought I would go back to the purpose of the Electricity Act 1992 we are repealing here today and talk a little about that. The purpose of Part 6A of the Act, as stated in section 62A, \u201Cis to reduce the impact of fossil-fuelled thermal electricity generation on climate change by creating a preference for renewable electricity generation through the implementation of a 10-year restriction on new baseload fossil-fuelled thermal electricity generation capacity, except where an exemption is appropriate (for example, to ensure security of supply).\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000964\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003ELet us run through that for a moment, and just consider some of those things: \u201Cto reduce the impact \u2026 on climate change\u201D; well, I think surely members on this side think that that is a good idea. We have always believed in human-induced climate change. We do not take the \u201Cbalanced\u201D approach of National members, who believe that it is a hoax one day and believable the next, and who then come back and repeal all of the climate change legislation. They have a balanced approach on the same day, in fact; they change their minds as they go along.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000965\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221294823e5e4b4bdf83953763c456f1a8\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Same speech, different day.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000966\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002212646d9999ed4f0e8e3fa58f161cafcf\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: It is a different day\u2014that is right. Mr Brownlee says it is a different day, a different position. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000967\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThe Act created a preference for renewable electricity generation; I am staggered as to know what the problem with that is. What is the problem with creating a preference for renewable electricity generation? Surely that is something that we must agree on. What on earth is wrong with a preference for renewable electricity generation? But the Minister does not seem to be all that interested in engaging in this kind of discussion or argument.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000968\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThe Act also put in a restriction on baseload fossil-fuelled thermal electricity generation. It was saying that our core energy suppliers were expanding our core energy supply. This was not the peak stuff. This was not the stuff we need only in times of really high demand. This was the stuff that basically added to the baseload, and the Act was saying that that should not come from thermal electricity except when it was needed to secure supply. What is wrong with that? There does not seem to be anything wrong with that. But, no\u2014the Government is going to railroad this repeal bill through without allowing members of the public to have any say on it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000969\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI take up two other points that Mr Auchinvole raised in his speech. First of all, he said that thermal generation was expensive and there would be no clamour to build more thermal generators. It was a very interesting point, because then he went on to say that the removal of this restriction would lower power prices. With that kind of logic, I am staggered he is not in the new National Cabinet. I am absolutely staggered.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000970\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e0a81ca4562542c4b7fba59f24d639a2\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Didn\u2019t Max Bradford say the same thing about power prices?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000971\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223f308d21407845d1ad2b07e5dbbb92a5\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: That is right; Max Bradford said a very similar thing, did he not? He said that the reforms were going to lower power prices for consumers. Did they result in lower power prices for consumers? No, they did not\u2014not in any way. So once again it is another day and there is another bill from this Government denying that climate change is a reality. Government members think that it will all be OK if we just stick our heads in the sand for a little longer. Everything will be fine; ignorance is bliss.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000972\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThe Government has failed to answer some of the most basic questions. Do those members actually believe in human-induced climate change? Because anybody listening to this will be totally confused about what the Government\u2019s position is. Do they support renewable energy, or not?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000973\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220cc928af26184b98b94c54223d15e5c8\u0022\u003EPaul Quinn\u003C/span\u003E: Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000974\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221b38bb6288c8476396bb04e23737061d\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: They do! But with the second bill in a row they are doing away with provisions in legislation that support renewable\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220160520a86404e1db35d0f16be08ac6e\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: So wrong!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000976\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002279ed0944a86e4d6286361c60a323da31\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: It is so wrong! That is right, I say to Mr Brownlee; it is so wrong. So why is the Government doing it? If it is so wrong, why is the Government doing it? Renewable energy is integral to New Zealand\u2019s future. It is part of our international reputation as a clean, green country. It is something we are all proud of when we go overseas. We come from a clean, green country, where most of our electricity is produced from renewable sources. That is something I was incredibly proud of when I went around the world. But how on earth can New Zealanders be proud of their country, when they are out in the world talking about their clean, green status, when the Government back home is doing away with all the legislation that has been put in place to really enhance that?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000977\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EOur international delegations, when they go off to climate change conferences overseas, are not up the front any more talking about all of the wonderful things that New Zealand is doing. They are down the back, hiding behind the conference sign and hoping that no one will notice them, because they are so embarrassed to be representing New Zealand and this Government. The international community has noticed. Has it not noticed? What did Gordon Brown do on John Key\u2019s very first visit to the UK? He introduced a departure charge on flights coming to New Zealand. John Key popped in to visit and, oh, up popped that departure charge, which will penalise and punish the New Zealand tourism industry. It will have a major impact on the Kiwi economy, and a major impact on our own airline, of course\u2014which we own, thanks to the good previous Labour Government. That charge was John Key\u2019s \u201Creward\u201D; I bet that a lot of businesses in New Zealand are hoping that John Key stays home a little more. If that is the kind of response we get when John Key goes off overseas, then I think they will be hoping he stays home a little more, do members not think? I do not think we need any more of that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000978\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EIf Labour had been in Government and Helen Clark had been Prime Minister, she could have gone to the UK, sat down with Gordon Brown, talked about all the wonderful things we are doing, and put forward a very compelling case for that departure charge not to be raised. Can John Key do that? No, he cannot. He will stand there and say that the Government is not really sure about this climate change thing, and that his Government is going to repeal all of the legislation put in place by the previous Government to deal with it, but that he does not want that tax to be put on us. But who on earth will take any notice of that? Perhaps he would be better off staying at home and coming to grips with the real issues here. Perhaps Mr Key and his Government would be better off letting the public of New Zealand have a say on this bill, rather than trying to ram it through under parliamentary urgency.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000979\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225e5ddb68d4df4738a01c5537793f3245\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s not going to a select committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000980\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a95395cb29144b0099ea95ddc414babb\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: No, apparently it is not going to a select committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000981\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a9de2935eb5348319752229efa5b3c4d\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: Another one?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000982\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228fdcc0d551b7417ebfc26db639424f4f\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Another one\u2014I know. How many of those have we been dealing with in this House?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000983\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022301d51f0f03842378a2d0f5f9a215bbb\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: Doesn\u2019t that make it all of them?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000984\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d6328f54f2b94344a3ec4d77a7ce56da\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: I think that would make it all of the bills we have been dealing with. This Government has not sent a single bill to a select committee\u2014not one single bill. What have we had? We have had the \u201CNinety-day Fire at Will Bill\u201D, and there was an inadequate regulatory impact statement on that bill, so the ACT Party is doing very well. There was an education bill that said in the regulatory impact statement that the bill was unnecessary, there was a biofuel bill with no regulatory impact statement, and now we have this bill with no regulatory impact statement. So we are really, really good with our regulatory responsibilities! I think the Government has a Minister for regulatory responsibilities. He is doing pretty well so far, is he not?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000985\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fc459c907c9b4400a1b377cb5497bfca\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Where is he?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000986\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002204ae8c5122e24afd9ef45962f6525d35\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Where is he? He is doing a very good job so far. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000987\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EObviously, the public of New Zealand have not had a chance to have a say on this bill, so I thought maybe we should give voice to some of the people who have concerns about this legislation, because they will not get to come to this Parliament and have a say on it. The Environment and Conservation Organisations of New Zealand\u2014ECO\u2014said: \u201CIt is a surprise that National is putting the ETS on hold when it claimed it was their idea to have an emission trading system and that they take climate change seriously.\u201D But I think that that was before the election, though, was it not? That was one of the things National said before it became the Government. It has changed its mind now. That organisation went on to say: \u201CNew Zealand has had reviews nearly every year on climate change policy from 1992 to 1997 until the emissions trading regime was decided on. The ETS combined with the moratorium on large new thermal generation would have for the first time placed a price on carbon and have provided investors in cleaner technology with some degree of certainty.\u201D I thought National was in favour of certainty for business.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000988\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b2b98e9277b748dc9bb4eba4ccd6db2f\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: In theory.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000989\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ae51828d491446b09a5552f0a990a45d\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, that is another one of the things that National said before the election. It all sounded very good before the election, but it is not so good once National got into Government. It is very inconvenient, is it not?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000990\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWhat about the Bluegreens? Whatever happened to the Bluegreens? I am sure they had some views on this. In fact, they got Greenpeace to come along and speak to their conference on it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000991\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222fc51f90d8254e2b951e791d0e6ddf03\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: The Bluegreens are dead!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000992\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002263baffec9f6549ce8e687d26bf17a253\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, they have disappeared. But what did Greenpeace tell them? It said: \u201Cthe fact is, the ETS will not be enough in itself to prevent inappropriate thermal projects, at least in the medium term, so we need the disincentive of the Renewables Preference to prevent new emitting investment from being \u2018locked in\u2019.\u201D That statement came from the Bluegreens\u2019 conference. Oh, but that is another thing; that was before the election. I forgot\u2014how foolish of me to forget. That was one of those things National said before the election; then it became the Government, and now it is just doing whatever it likes. It does not have to worry about those pesky members of the public anymore, because it can just ram legislation through under urgency, without having to worry about any of that public consultation stuff. That is not so important to this Government; it really does not mind about that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000993\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221d9e5f8a9fb54df6888546c17106e845\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s the Tolley principle.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000994\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b198b6a31dbb487f9aab87f770ceb59b\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: That is right\u2014that is the Tolley principle.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000995\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThis bill will not lower power prices, regardless of the Government\u2019s rhetoric on the issue. It will result in an increased reliance on thermal power, which will push up power prices because, as Mr Auchinvole said, thermal power is expensive. Let us be honest about it\u2014this bill will result in higher power prices. The era of cheap, non-renewable energy sources is gone.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000996\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002238d1ea4416784d2f9da01d4b5f2c3fcc\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s been a great couple of weeks for the planet.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000997\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a5119b4c0c8b4bc5853a8633153b43da\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: That is right. Has it not been a great couple of weeks for the planet, thanks to this Government here\u2014the climate-change deniers on the opposite side of the House? That is why National is trying to ram this through under urgency and why it does not want the public to have a say, because then the public would know that National really does not care about New Zealand\u2019s clean, green image, it really does not care about renewable energy, and it does not care about the state of the planet.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022 data-id=\u0022566271fe4aff4fe9acfc7f7550fc32ab\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000998\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022566271fe4aff4fe9acfc7f7550fc32ab\u0022\u003EJONATHAN YOUNG (National\u2014New Plymouth):\u003C/span\u003E The ban on new thermal baseload generators is part of the emissions trading scheme, as members know, and it has the intention of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in New Zealand. This ban has created a scenario that the designers of the policy may not have foreseen, and had they foreseen it they may have thought twice.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e000999\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003EMembers might quickly disregard the following statement, because it comes from a stakeholder in the oil and gas industry: \u201CThe Government\u2019s planned 10-year ban on gas-fired base-load power stations is \u2018ill-conceived\u2019, posing risks of much higher power prices, and risks for the oil and gas sectors, power security and the economy.\u201D Todd Energy said that, in March this year. Members might quickly disregard that statement, but I believe that this policy has led not just to those weaknesses and concerns but also to an environmentally unsound outcome, as well. I will explain this to members, because they may find that to be a bewildering statement, as well. I will tell members why it delivers a worse situation, environmentally and socially, and why it is an ill-conceived policy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003EThe moratorium essentially says to those companies that explore and mine for oil and gas that there is now a diminishing market for their gas. Daily costs to explore for oil and gas are moving upwards towards $1 million per day. That is $1 million a day for helicopters, support crews, platform costs, etc. If one suddenly finds oneself with a swiftly diminishing market, then one has lost the serious motivation to invest that sort of money. So exploration and, subsequently, the supply of gas to the New Zealand market begin to be threatened.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001001\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003EThis, of course, is OK if one wants to stop the increase of thermal generation. But the problem is that around 50 percent of the plants built since 2000\u2014plants built under the last Government\u2019s oversight\u2014are gas-fired thermal plants. The major players that this affects are Genesis and Contact Energy, which have embarked on a project to now import liquefied natural gas (LNG) in order to secure their security of supply for electricity, because nearly all of their power stations run on gas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001002\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003EThe managing director of Todd Energy commented: \u201CDamage to the gas sector will increase gas prices in the long term. Ironically this upward pressure could actually lead to a switch back to coal or other more GHG intensive sources of energy.\u201D Such a greenhouse gas - intensive source of energy is LNG. The Contact Energy and Genesis consortium called Gasbridge is proposing to import LNG to New Plymouth to fuel its gas-fired plants as an insurance policy in case gas supplies run out.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001003\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003ETo produce LNG one has to refrigerate it to minus 162 degrees Celsius, ship it in specifically designed tankers from a LNG production plant located in a different place on the planet, offload it, and through a heat process convert it to gas so that it expands to a volume 600 times greater than what it was stored at. Then one can use it to fire a power generation plant. This process creates a carbon footprint that is far higher than that of natural gas, which we source from our own reserves. Indigenous natural gas produces 52 kilograms of carbon dioxide per gigajoule of energy. A full fuel cycle using coal produces 99 kilograms of carbon dioxide. The full fuel cycle analysis on gas through the LNG process showed that the overall emission was 73 kilograms of carbon dioxide per gigajoule of energy. That is a 40 percent increase in greenhouse gas emissions due to the process of production, transportation, and conversion to gas. This is what is happening in New Plymouth, where a consortium wants to establish an LNG terminal because it cannot trust the gas supply as a result of the proposed ban on thermal base generation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001004\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003EThis moratorium seeks to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, but it is actually serving to create the need and opportunity for LNG to come to New Zealand, and this will increase greenhouse gas emissions. Although it might not increase them from here, it will increase them overseas at production plants, and as tankers carry LNG across the planet. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022eef399da25fa4956a17062c33ab1af93\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill be now read a first time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EBill read a first time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001005\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00225d92286c80c24518b28ec0944a74cbfd\u0022\u003ESecond Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022f5046c7f8b4c4199bc689e7a82f9e5dd\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001006\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f5046c7f8b4c4199bc689e7a82f9e5dd\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill be now read a second time. It has been very interesting listening to the speeches this evening from those who are opposed to this bill. I would have thought that the real effort that New Zealand should be making in the energy sector was to lower emissions. That is what the game should be all about. The thermal energy ban introduced by the Labour Government is a large and pretty obvious impediment to achieving that particular result.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001007\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI will explain that in a minute, but first I want to challenge some of the statements made earlier suggesting that the ban, while it was in place, was about protecting New Zealand\u2019s clean, green image, and about making sure that when New Zealanders in the climate change sphere attend international conferences we can tell a so-called good story. A little bit of a look behind the scenes tells a pretty ugly story. In the time that the Labour Government was in office, the extent of production of energy from renewable sources fell from about 72 percent to about 66 percent. That is the record of the people who say they care about New Zealand\u2019s clean, green image and about being able to say the right sort of rhetoric at international conferences. They simply saw the extent of renewable energy fall. The image that was supposed to be created was that they had great care for the environment, but the record shows quite the opposite.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001008\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EIt is also interesting to note that as this policy has been in place, and as the Labour Government struggled with the whole concept of having a vibrant energy policy, the retail price for electricity paid by New Zealanders when they turned on the light, turned on the heater, washed the clothes, made the toast, boiled the kettle, or whatever, rose from 1 November 2001 through to 1 November 2008 by a staggering 63 percent; it rose by 63 percent through those 8 years during which Labour was saying it was about protecting our clean, green image, and about having the right story to tell when we attend international fora on climate change. What is worse is that when that price rise of 63 percent is broken down, it works out that electricity prices for consumers rose each year\u2014each of those 8 years\u20142\u00BD times the rate of inflation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001009\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EClearly, something has been going wrong. The price has been going through the roof, and we can also see that the extent of energy generated from renewable sources has fallen. Worse than that, the emissions profile of the energy sector has massively increased.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001010\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI know that the opponents of this bill tonight will say that all of that is just because we had a few years of bad hydrology. Well, those same years that saw the 63 percent price rise\u20142\u00BD times the rate of inflation, each year\u2014included 4 years when we had a supposedly one-in-60-year scenario to deal with. That indicates gross neglect of the generating capacity of this country.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001011\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EWhat this Government is saying in removing the thermal ban is simply this: what is the elephant in the room\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001012\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a0de20b342a84df3b175ad87fa4463fc\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Ha, ha!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001013\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f127a75f820f45e5944de3241dd0015c\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E:\u2014and I use that term somewhat advisedly, I might say, and I say \u201Cwhat\u201D, not \u201Cwho\u201D\u2014in the energy sector? It has to be the large coal-belching plant at Huntly. I can tell members that when that plant was commissioned in 1987, it was to be a peaking plant; it was to come on whenever we needed it. But it has been a baseload plant for some years now, running for 7, 8, 9, 10, or more hours a day, burning coal as it goes. That plant alone contributes the largest part of the emissions from the energy sector. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001014\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E If we wanted to do something about it, the smart thing to do would be to say that that plant would be retired, that plant would be stood down, and we would meet the costs of replacing it with an e3p plant or some such other plant\u2014a combined-cycle plant. If that were to happen, if the megawatt capacity of Huntly coal were replaced by gas, New Zealand\u2019s emissions from energy in this year, when thermal power has run at extraordinary rates, would fall by over 3,000 tonnes. Why would we want to have a policy in place that prevents that? That is what the ban does and that is why we are going to repeal it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001015\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cce57f9751904801be9cc4908c161f10\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: Because it would take it down to nothing, you fool.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001016\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225f279e542c6146c0bd85d1e6f1d2da1b\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: The member over there says that the ban would take the emissions down to nothing. Tell me where the projects are! I ask Mr Mallard to tell me where this country is going to get megawatt capacity, in the time that we need it\u2014in the next 5 or 6 years\u2014that is able to be fired up to give electricity to the grid at very short notice. It simply is not there. So the Government is saying that we reject Labour\u2019s idea of belching out lots of carbon dioxide through coal burning over successive years, and we are saying to the industry that it should look at some alternatives.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001017\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EIt gets worse. When we start to consider the response of the Labour Party in Government to emergency generation, we might have thought it would say: \u201CWhy don\u2019t we build one of those highly efficient combined-cycle gas plants that we could fire up very, very quickly\u201D\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001018\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dc4cd51473c94a33ae7f6d00f139bf0f\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s very expensive when you don\u2019t use them much.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001019\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022378190cb9ee04b7c94ed0661faf073f9\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: The previous Minister of Energy says it is expensive, so let us not put a price on carbon dioxide emission. He does not care; he says it is acceptable to use the solution that his Government came up with. Here is how it works. New Zealand consumers, through the levies on their power bills, have paid some $230 million over the last 5 years to the Electricity Commission. The Electricity Commission\u2019s response to a requirement that it have generation in reserve was to build a diesel-fired plant at Whirinaki.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001020\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bdd47b2deee7440cbbbb0e9c78fdabf7\u0022\u003EChris Auchinvole\u003C/span\u003E: Diesel?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001021\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e5caff4bcbe3441cb90ec8cd3873e814\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: A diesel-fired plant. The \u201CWe don\u2019t like thermal energy and let\u2019s clean up the emissions from energy\u201D Labour Government built a diesel-fired plant at Whirinaki. And what did it burn this year? Well, it was not 10 million litres of diesel.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223d492ec659c5466089ea6c6f1b4aa05d\u0022\u003EChris Auchinvole\u003C/span\u003E: Was it 12?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001023\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222ed8945360ae4bd2b6826aa5dae47ae7\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: It was not 12 million; it was closer to 70 million litres. One has to ask what sort of argument against this bill there can be from people who have such a shoddy record.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001024\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EWe have a determination that the emissions profile from energy will change. We believe that part of that is rapid fuel substitution. We also believe that backing up some of those renewable projects with the speed of thermal generation is going to be very, very important, because this country cannot go on having power price rises 2\u00BD times the rate of inflation. That is the Labour Government\u2019s record.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u0022c31422a2ae174ed58b106c08489e4111\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001025\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c31422a2ae174ed58b106c08489e4111\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E We heard the last speaker, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, and the Hon Dr Nick Smith saying that National believed in the 90 percent renewable generation target by 2025 set by the previous Government but that it is going to build more thermal generation. How does that work? How does one increase the percentage from, currently, two-thirds renewable generation to 90 percent by building more thermal generation? That is what the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill is about. It is about building more thermal generation. Those two propositions are just irreconcilable. Members opposite cannot say they want to get to 90 percent renewable generation but they are going to build more thermal generation, too. They cannot do both. The two are absolutely irreconcilable. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001026\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI want to deal with one of the other propositions put by the Hon Gerry Brownlee. He said that the legislation currently prevented retiring old, inefficient thermal plant and replacing it with more efficient gas-fired plant.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001027\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022923b9bffdb6146cf905b9d2dc2a20ef6\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Rubbish!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001028\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222e492faea397489684e52564cb8026dc\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: That is rubbish. The legislation currently expressly allows that as one of the exemptions to the restriction. It expressly deals with it. Repeal the legislation, I say to Mr Brownlee, and what we get is the new gas-fired power station but not the retirement of Huntly. We get both\u2014that is the problem, you see. The problem is that if extra thermal generation is built and the old stuff is not retired, we get extra thermal generation. We get increasing, not decreasing, greenhouse emissions, because we have both. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001029\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223ef275fde7fb4d3795515518def8e35d\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Rubbish!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001030\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224df46ff7fe3b4b22b8650ae9a487cbfc\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: \u201CRubbish!\u201D, he says. Well, where is the control on Huntly staying when someone else builds a new gas-fired power station?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001031\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ce986d5294dd423583ca8db854dd5b94\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Price.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001032\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002242f5fdb7baaf4b73bf0bfd0e60718dbe\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, it is price. So why has price not already retired Huntly? The Minister of Energy and Resources cannot answer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001033\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221d25625cda7f4342970bcbb5da48238d\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: There\u2019s nothing to replace it, silly fellow.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001034\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220115549167ad46bda6c9bd269a715c03\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Goodness me! \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001035\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe other thing he says is that nowhere else in the world is doing this sort of thing. Again, he is wrong. Lots of countries have virtually no renewable generation and have set legislated targets to increase from nothing, or close to nothing, to 20 or 30 percent. That is a 20 percent increase in renewable generation from nothing. What was the legislation doing? It was effectively legislating to go from our current two-thirds, 66 percent, renewable generation to 90 percent. That is a 24 percent increase, which is not much different from the increase that has been legislated for in other countries when they use renewable preference methodologies to bring forward renewable generation that would not otherwise happen and to avoid increases in thermal-related greenhouse gas emissions. So again the Minister, I am afraid, will have to take responsibility for increases in thermal-related emissions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001036\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EHe said that somehow renewable generation is responsible for the increase in power prices in the last few years. I tell him that what has caused the increase in prices is the rising price of gas. The price at which electricity is dispatched sets the market price in New Zealand. Under our auction system, the bid that is the highest of those for electricity that is dispatched is paid to everyone. What sets the price? It is never renewable generation that sets the market price, because we all know that once a renewable power station is built its fuel is free. Whether it is water, air, or geothermal, the fuel is free. Once those power stations are built they cost very little to run. Gas-fired and coal-fired power stations always have a fuel cost they have to recover, so the gas and coal-fired bids into the market are always the bids that set the market price. It is because the price of gas has doubled following the lifting of price controls, following the M\u0101ui gas running out. It is still a lot less than average prices for gas overseas. That is why, even now, New Zealand electricity prices are substantially lower than world averages. Indeed, even now our industrial tariff is as cheap as Australia\u2019s, although our residential tariff has crept higher. So the idea that it is renewable generation that has bumped up the price of electricity is again wrong; it is the price of gas. Yet the Minister wants us to build more gas-fired power stations. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001037\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe other thing the Minister mentioned was the risk of liquefied natural gas (LNG) importation. How does using more gas decrease the risk of reliance on LNG imports in the future? Is that not twisted logic? I think it is. It cannot be right. If we do not want to run out of gas, we should use less, not more. If we use more gas we are more likely to run out and to have to import LNG, and if New Zealand imports LNG then its electricity prices will, for the first time in our history, be pegged to international fossil fuel prices. New Zealand\u2019s electricity prices would go up by about double. They would probably be close to double if we had to import LNG. That would be the worst of all futures for New Zealand. Going to renewable generation, of course, avoids\u2014or minimises\u2014the risk of that being a future reality. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001038\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIn terms of constraints and where renewable generation is going to be built, I tell members that there are already plans on the books of the major generators to build 1,400 megawatts of new renewable generation over the next 5 years, and the Minister knows that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001039\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224d4a521e4e8844559b3cb17c1cd6cf6a\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Where is it? Where are the pegs in the ground?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001040\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f8d6ab7533574bb3aea49594bf12da00\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: The geothermal energy, which is the biggest source of that new-load growth, is in the central North Island. We had a 130-megawatt geothermal facility completed this year, bearing in mind that demand growth in New Zealand is about 150 megawatts per annum. If we want to retire the likes of some of the Huntly generators, we have to build about 175 megawatts per annum on average for the next period, until 2025, to meet that 90 percent renewable figure. A big slice of it will be geothermal. It is already economic because that is what the major generators are investing in.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001041\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224641220985184bb4b5496d8266b48f43\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Why are they building it?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001042\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224eacf81fa041450a929bcce44e40a7b2\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: They are building it. They have just finished one\u2014130 megawatts\u2014this year. There is another one of 200 megawatts already under construction by Mighty River Power. That is next year\u2019s demand growth. Contact Energy has also committed to another large facility at Te Mihi. That is about 600 megawatts that I have just given you. That is 4 years\u2019 demand growth at the rate of 150 megawatts per annum.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001043\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022909a2108d9964ac49a977211783240ab\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: Keep the Speaker out of it, please. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001044\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002222c6891f55a74676adda62035b7d24be\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I apologise, Mr Assistant Speaker. In addition, we have large amounts of wind power consented. That was one of the successes of the Labour Party\u2019s climate change policy. We brought forward wind power, through the projects to reduce emissions. We made it economic before it would otherwise have been economic. It now stands on its own feet. It is economic. Where is it being built? I do not know whether Mr Brownlee has been to Palmerston North recently, but if he had a look around there he would see some big wind farms on the horizon. That is one of the places they are being built.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001045\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022738a276b030547ada1de9d3c865c8384\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: They were there a long time before you were ever a Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001046\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ab18750bb374454a92164a713adc27a7\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: They have been extended within the last year, and if the member did not know that then he really needs to do his homework. M\u0101kara is the biggest wind farm built in New Zealand so far. It is under construction at the moment. I think its first windmills are due to be producing power early next year, and it is set to be completed by the end of next year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001047\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d5544674d0ae455aa6db68f100649451\u0022\u003EDavid Garrett\u003C/span\u003E: What do the locals think about the M\u0101kara wind farm?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001048\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c06b5594b9a84809b46a48d9f937907d\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Some of the locals did not like the idea, but that is true of any project. Some of them did not like it. The wind farm got a consent, though, and, from memory, 150 megawatts is being built\u2014but it might be bigger. There are consented sites throughout the South Island. Consents are being sought by Contact Energy for about 500 megawatts of wind power in the North Island. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001049\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThere is oodles of renewable generation. But do members know what the biggest risk is to that? The biggest risk is if Todd Energy or one of the other big owners of gas decides: \u201CWe\u2019re better off turning that into electricity. We\u2019re going to invest in a gas-fired power station.\u201D If the Government is silly enough to let Genesis proceed with Rodney\u2014it never came to the previous Government for shareholder approval, and probably would not have got it; it never got to that point\u2014and it builds a 400 megawatt gas-fired power station, then it will close out renewable generation. It is that simple. We are at a fork in the road. If New Zealand goes down the path of more thermal generation, we will close out the renewable sources. We will never get to the target National says it has adopted to have 90 percent renewable generation by 2025. There will be rising emissions from electricity, when we could have emissions starting to go down from electricity. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001050\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EAgain I say that if New Zealand cannot get this right, there really is no hope that the world will. I find it very depressing to know that the National Government is once again, as it was on biofuels, the canary in the cage on these issues. If New Zealand does not get it right, we have to conclude that there is very little hope that the world will. Our Labour Government was not ready to reach that conclusion. We knew it could be done, we had the policy in place to do it, and that member\u2019s Government is irresponsibly reversing it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022 data-id=\u002218d2a68274c744f3b96c6284de2d3fb6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001051\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002218d2a68274c744f3b96c6284de2d3fb6\u0022\u003EHon PANSY WONG (Associate Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E There was a lot of wind and hot air blowing from the Labour Opposition. If it could be turned into energy, we might not need to build any more renewable generation, or whatever. After 9 long years the Hon David Parker has said that everything is under control; New Zealand is leading the world. I am sure that New Zealanders will be so glad that Labour is no longer the Government. Mr Parker was trying to tell them that they are lucky that New Zealand\u2019s power prices are very reasonable. Tell that to our senior citizens and the households that year on year are facing the threat of power price increases and power cuts. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001052\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EThe Labour Party\u2019s mate, the Green Party, pointed out that the thermal ban in the emissions trading scheme legislation was nothing but a sham, so why should it continue to defend the indefensible? I think at least the Green Party\u2019s credential on renewable energy is slightly superior to that of the Labour Opposition. Government members are pleased to say that we do not have to, once again, support banning or mandating alternatives that will not be viable, because the Green Party has already said that the thermal ban is not workable. So why not be honest and remove it from the legislation? The Minister of Energy and Resources, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, has already pointed out that the emissions trading scheme that National supports will be the pricing signal, because thermal generation will attract carbon charges, while renewable generation will not. I also hasten to point out that during the 9 years of Labour\u2019s rule, we found that a hydro scheme was not able to go ahead\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001053\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d695204a23fa422195a24ea59ff0a487\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Not one.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001054\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002214c6bb6873194308b1c1a3030e01993e\u0022\u003EHon PANSY WONG\u003C/span\u003E: No, not one. That was because the Resource Management Act was the legislation that was acting as much as a barrier to renewable generation as to any\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001055\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022455a3f48a2bc43769313ac6241d9598c\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister was very excited about ferns, and things like that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001056\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cb48dc1c00e14df8ae07c015be9e59b2\u0022\u003EHon PANSY WONG\u003C/span\u003E: Exactly. Obviously, the Minister of Energy and Resources, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, felt very strongly about that. Not only will National remove this dishonest legislation, the thermal ban, that the Green Party says will not work, but we will advance changes to the Resource Management Act. That will do a lot more to lead to more renewable generation being built. Members on this side of the House are about practical solutions, not about slogans and action about leading the world. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022 data-id=\u00227c416cf78dc34c3081ab372ebe0be9c1\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001057\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227c416cf78dc34c3081ab372ebe0be9c1\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour\u2014Hutt South):\u003C/span\u003E I think that was a 3-minute contribution of a possible 10-minute speech, and it is fair to say that the member said almost nothing that was intelligible or intelligent during her contribution. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001058\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EIt is important for the House to realise what we are doing here today. We are taking New Zealand from a position of international leadership, first in the biofuels area, then in the emissions trading scheme, and now in the thermal generation ban, which we are removing. We are moving from a position of international leadership and the possibility of having cheaper power prices to having a system where we become more and more reliant on gas. Gas prices, of course, are dictated very much by oil prices. The thing that we know is that in the future oil prices will go up. They have been up and they have come down, but we know that over a 20-year time-scale they will go up. The thing that we also know about gas prices is that they tend to track oil on the way up, but they do not fall away in quite the same way afterwards. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EWhat is happening is that the National Government has chosen to let power prices go up in New Zealand at the rate that they have gone up in recent years. The reason that they went up so fast in recent years was that there was effectively a strike of capital, a very small amount of building of power projects, as a result of the Bradford reforms of the 1990s. I might ask why we would build extra plants. If the companies knew that they could sit tight with their already established generation, and as a result of a shortage of generation have prices go up, that means they could get an increased return without risking any investment at all. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001060\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EBut after the legislation was passed we had quite a rush towards increased generation. Contact Energy, one of the companies I was not responsible for, announced plans to invest about $3 billion in 1,400 megawatts of increased generation over a period of 10 years. It included 500 megawatts of geothermal power. Just to let people know, I can tell the House that we need about 175 to 200 megawatts of increased generation each year to keep up with growth. The Greens will disagree; they would probably say that we do not need any, or that we should be running down the supply. But with the sort of economic growth that we were averaging under a Labour Government, that was roughly what was needed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001061\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EWhat will happen now, because of the removal of this ban, is that people will build the plants that are cheapest to build, and most expensive to run. It is much, much cheaper to build a gas-fired thermal plant than it is to build a geothermal plant, for pretty obvious reasons. Companies do not have to drill 5 kilometres down in order to get the steam coming out. But the difference is\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001062\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229348010a177548c09294bbca5054dae1\u0022\u003EChris Tremain\u003C/span\u003E: Where do you think the gas comes from?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001063\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002274b1001a8a1d4e5f852c77918587165a\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: Pardon?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001064\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002271b2ee6071464104bacf462c4df4f5fb\u0022\u003EChris Tremain\u003C/span\u003E: Where do you think the gas comes from?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001065\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220151741d13844fee8ff177ba077468f7\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: No, no. There is a lot of drilling for gas, but for the next few years there is quite an available gas supply. I think, in fact, the member will know that the problem is somewhat the opposite: some people for a while thought they had some gas they could not get rid of. Notwithstanding the fact that we had an oversupply of gas for a period of time, the oil companies managed, as they generally can do\u2014and as Todds are experts at doing\u2014to screw the system and get some pretty good returns on it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001066\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EMighty River Power is probably New Zealand\u2019s most expert company at building geothermal plants. It managed to get its latest project at Kawerau going about, I think, 5 months early. It is a very, very good plant at Kawerau, running at peak capacity, and it is probably now the cheapest plant in the country to run. The company has a new site that has received consent near Taup\u014D. People were complaining about the Resource Management Act. Do members opposite know how long that one took to go through?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001067\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c058e60dcd2343abba79fbf89d837c51\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: It was very, very fast, because there was a limited number of objectors.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001068\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225a4ae6dacfe741898310b6e6afd7dc85\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: Six months! It took 6 months to go totally through the Resource Management Act process, and there was a limited number of objectors\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001069\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d4204d361e9d425797a852e7f1b16af2\u0022\u003EPaul Quinn\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s because all of the landowners had an interest in the plant, anyway.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001070\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a50e923be8d8463195db4479e5e6d93c\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: That is exactly right; it is exactly the point. Paul Quinn has got it! That is the first time he has got anything in this House. The vast majority of geothermal energy in New Zealand is under M\u0101ori land, in the T\u016Bwharetoa area, mainly\u2014heading through to Waiariki\u2014and those people are desperate to use their resources. But Paul Quinn, who has never done a thing for those people in his life, objects to that. He thinks that T\u016Bwharetoa should not be allowed to develop their geothermal resources; he is going to block them by having a thermal plant built in John Key\u2019s electorate. That is what he wants; he wants an expensive thermal plant built in John Key\u2019s electorate. That is his preference. He wants to block T\u016Bwharetoa. There might be some local jealousies involved; I do not know about the iwi relationships up there, but why that member is so against the people around T\u016Brangi and Taup\u014D having some more geothermal power\u2014things that are jointly owned by iwi\u2014I do not understand. It is a system that works very, very well. It is working well in Kawerau, it is working well in the Resource Management Act consent\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001071\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f61abbae2820440bb35ee351f6f9f967\u0022\u003EPaul Quinn\u003C/span\u003E: Why would I be against it, Trevor; I\u2019m part of it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001072\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c57dc4656aeb4955b0bb1900a439f33c\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: Hey, the member will have a heart attack or start crying if he keeps going like that. It is hard to tell with that member what he is going to do. [Interruption] Oh, he has to be on his feet to cry. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001073\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EWe know that as at 1 July this year, 426 megawatts were under construction, and it did not include the Contact plants. So that is enough for 2 or 3 years\u2014189 megawatts of wind power and 237 of geothermal power. Those that were under construction and due by December 2009\u2014that is, those due to start in the next period\u2014were for another 188.6 megawatts of wind power and 105 megawatts of geothermal power. There are also another 665 megawatts - worth of consented projects, and consent has been applied for in respect of 2,875 megawatts. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001074\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EThe point I am making to the House is that an enormous amount of renewable energy is coming downstream, but it will be killed by this legislation because it is cheaper to build a gas-fired plant. These companies are not stupid. If they can get a plant with a lower capital cost, with almost a guarantee of the price going up\u2014the price will go up because they are relying on gas, and it is inevitable that the price of gas will go up\u2014then these companies will go down that route. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001075\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EI find it just amazing that in this House the priority for the Government is to shift away from the things that we can give international leadership in. John Key has asked to have another meeting with Gordon Brown, but whether he will get it, after calling Gordon Brown a hypocrite yesterday in the House, I am not sure. When John Key goes to the UK to see Prime Minister Gordon Brown to say: \u201CPlease do not put your tax for environmental reasons on people coming to New Zealand.\u201D, he has to go there in good faith. But he will have to disclose that we have removed the emissions trading scheme, that we have effectively stopped people from using biodegradable fuel in New Zealand by killing the tallow plant, and that at the same time we have switched our production from geothermal to dirty thermal products. I just ask how we can ask the Brits to keep our tourism industry going when we are heading in exactly the opposite direction from what everyone knows has to happen around the world.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022 data-id=\u002215d991746700464292a5740981a1ddfe\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001076\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002215d991746700464292a5740981a1ddfe\u0022\u003EDr KENNEDY GRAHAM (Green):\u003C/span\u003E I rise, following the intervention of my co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, to oppose the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. I do so in the knowledge that the reasons that have been advanced by this Government have not been found to be convincing. The Minister has indicated his view that the legislation that banned thermal generation amounted to pure symbolism, that it put the electricity supply at risk, and that it therefore was required to be repealed. The Minister Gerry Brownlee, and others among his National colleagues, took it upon themselves to criticise Jeanette Fitzsimons\u2019 intervention on the grounds that if the original bill was toothless, then it should never have been put in place and that it should be immediately repealed. That is a rather thin point of logic, and when I weigh it up in the context of the broader issue of the contribution of this current bill, and others, to the daunting challenge of combating climate change, I find that it is found wanting. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001077\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003EWhat I would like to do, to try to place a constructive interpretation on both the Government\u2019s position and that of the Opposition, is to ask the Minister some questions, and to put those questions in the broader context of the wider issue of climate change itself. If we look at the basic facts of climate change\u2014an anthropogenically induced phenomenon that is recognised as a fact, through scientific consensus, by, it seems, everybody in this House except for possibly five members\u2014we find that the prognostication is that sea-level rise will occur to the extent of at least 0.5 metres over the next 50 years, and that in the event of a more drastic phenomenon of ice-melt in the Arctic, in Greenland, and in the West Antarctic, sea-level rise could possibly occur to the level of anything between 6 metres and 15 metres, without any of us knowing the precise probability of that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001078\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003E That possibility is not discounted, and it is not discounted in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recognition\u2014it has not been included in the fourth assessment report, simply because it was not yet reflected in the peer-reviewed literature. So we have to recognise that that possibility cannot be discounted. In that event, the implications for the physical integrity of the planet, and certainly for the integrity of human society as we know it, are extraordinarily grave. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001079\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003EThat is all based on an expected global warming of somewhere between 2 and 3 degrees. From that basic point we proceed to the Kyoto Protocol, whose binding legal obligations we have assumed. Let nobody in this House be in any way over-impressed by the limited effect the Kyoto Protocol will have on combating climate change. I am happy to be corrected on my facts by experts\u2014other than, perhaps, those sitting in this House\u2014but my understanding is that, of the anticipated 2 to 3 degree increase in temperature, the Kyoto Protocol, if fully implemented, would result in a diminution of somewhere around 0.2 degrees. It follows that the Kyoto Protocol, if fully implemented, would have a very, very modest effect on global warming. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001080\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003EBecause of that, every Government and State that is party to the Kyoto Protocol has not only a binding legal obligation but an overwhelming moral obligation to do everything in its power to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Is New Zealand doing that? Let us look at the previous Government\u2019s track record. In the last recorded year, there was an increase in greenhouse gas emissions over and above the 1990 level of somewhere around 24 percent. It is projected that that increase will double to somewhere around 47 percent by 2012. So the previous Government has a rather uninspiring record. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001081\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002292557bd5-0e66-473c-a6df-7d108e7822e3\u0022\u003ENow we turn to the present Government, with its aspirations to meet its recognised Kyoto obligations. Will it meet its aspirations? The Minister of Energy and Resources, Gerry Brownlee, tells us that the Government is committed, in principle, to 90 percent renewable electricity generation by 2025. Do the Minister and his Government have a well-thought-through strategy, articulated clearly before us, to attain 90 percent by 2025? Personally, I am less interested in the niceties of precisely what will happen to power generation, whether or not this bill is repealed, than I am to hear from the Minister on whether he has a credible strategy to attain the goal of 90 percent renewable energy generation by 2025. Are we about to see a strategy that perhaps puts in benchmarks or milestones every 5 years: in 2010, 2015, and 2020? I propose to the Minister, in a constructive spirit, that he take it upon himself to table in the House a proposal by which we can monitor the progress towards 90 percent renewable energy generation by 2025 using 5-year benchmarks. If that were forthcoming, then we would be able to take the Government at its word and put faith in the credibility of its stated intent to switch to 90 percent renewable energy generation. I hope that such a proposal is forthcoming; I will genuinely, in good faith, look to see whether it comes. Thank you. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022 data-id=\u002239540c5564f846e1a0285be0707b889a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001082\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002239540c5564f846e1a0285be0707b889a\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT (ACT):\u003C/span\u003E I am one of the two people in this House who will be directly affected by the lifting of the so-called thermal ban. The other person is the Prime Minister, Mr Key, who, as we all know, is the member for Helensville. I live in the Helensville electorate and regularly have a beer at the Kaukapakapa pub, where, I have to say, the so-called Helensville thermal power station is not a popular cause. Both Mr Key and I will have some problems with the repeal of Part 6A of the Electricity Act, but, of course, we are here for a wider purpose. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001083\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EMost locals are opposed to the Helensville power station, but, unfortunately, locals oppose everything. Just a second ago I heard a laudatory statement about the latest proposed wind farm. I am not sure whether it is the same one, but in the paper this morning there are the usual protests from the residents who live near the latest proposed wind turbine farm. Of course, that happens everywhere. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EUnfortunately, nimby-ism is alive and well in this country. Whether it is prisons or power stations, nobody wants them nearby. But we all like hot showers, we all like to have the lights going, and we all like to have our heat pumps working. I think that even the Greens and those who live sustainably, whatever that means exactly, like to have hot showers and to cook their meals on an electric stove. So whether or not we like it, we all need electricity. In an ideal world we all would have\u2014and I would have, too\u2014solar panels on our roofs to supply all of our electricity needs, but, sadly, the reality is that we just do not have the much vaunted replacements for current energy sources. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001085\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EI touched a second ago on wind power. Every time there is a proposal for a wind farm, the nimbies come out. There have been complaints about the wind farm in the Manawat\u016B; there are complaints about the wind farms proposed for the South Island. It happens everywhere. As I have said, no one in my local area wants a power station to be built down the road. We see these silly billboards talking about our having Christmas trees for 365 days a year, even though the thing is proposed to be built 2 kilometres off State Highway 16, where, in reality, no one will really notice it. But that is the way we do it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001086\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003ETidal generation is another one. I am 50 years old and I recall tidal generation being the next big thing in the 1970s. It was going to be around within 5 years, especially in a country like New Zealand, which has tidal surges such as those through the entrance to the Kaipara Harbour. I have seen them when I have been out fishing. When I went out there the first time and people told me I would need a two-pound sinker, I thought they must have been joking, but they were not. The tide through there is tremendous. Well, tidal generation is still at the experimental stage. Part of the reason, of course, is the Resource Management Act. God knows how long those people have been trying to get their experimental turbine in place, but I believe they finally have. But 30 years on from the 1970s, we are no closer to using water turbines to generate all our electricity. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EWe rely heavily in this country on hydro power. I am not a conservationist or tramper\u2014I am a getting a bit long in the tooth for it\u2014but I know many people in the conservation movement, in the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society and other organisations of that kind. I have not heard any of them suggest we should dam another river. As far as I am aware, they all say that all the rivers that do not have major conservation values have been dammed. So there is hydro power gone. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EWhat about nuclear? As I said in an earlier contribution in the House, the local Greens get very green when we talk about nuclear, but the European Greens have said that it is a great idea and that, in fact, it is the most green alternative. The local Greens do not agree and, funnily enough, I agree with them. It is not a good idea for a number of reasons. There are intractable problems with waste, and as far as I am aware there has been no sensible solution to that. I lived in Tonga for 4 years and the King of Tonga proposed that a dormant volcano be the world\u2019s nuclear waste disposal dump. That was one of the silliest proposals, but I have heard of other proposals that are almost as silly. No one has offered a good proposal for nuclear waste. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001089\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EWe live in an earthquake zone. As members will know, the Japanese recently suffered a major earthquake\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001090\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ae94eea7-ba5f-4303-bf71-49e708bc9888\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ccf04f8a131c42cd9a32db812d0fef71\u0022\u003EJohn Hayes\u003C/span\u003E: Were you the court jester?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001091\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226445daa53a244a6e96e6a5bd20d6fa97\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014no, I was never paid enough\u2014and there were major concerns about damage. But one of the things that very few people mention about nuclear stations is terrorist risk. People go on about the fail-safe protections of nuclear plants, but they are all predicated on one thing and that is that the operators of the plants do not want them to fail, so they have seven or eight fail-safe back-up mechanisms. But if we have terrorists who are prepared to die, then it does not matter whether there are 27 fail-safe mechanisms, they will come in and blow the rest of us up, as well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001092\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022de783ca155ee437a8ea9a490e06df3e7\u0022\u003EHon Judith Collins\u003C/span\u003E: If they want to die, why don\u2019t they just stay at home and do it?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001093\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002280d60f232c0648869ff53ba3a7830758\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT\u003C/span\u003E: I agree with that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001094\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EI have gone through wind power, nuclear power, and hydro power. What does that leave in a country like ours? It leaves gas, oil, and coal. Oil is pretty dirty.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001095\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ae94eea7-ba5f-4303-bf71-49e708bc9888\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002265f203e2f1ac40848f3d6c364df49a09\u0022\u003EJohn Hayes\u003C/span\u003E: There is hydro.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001096\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227664a104486049b2bc041824f8703652\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT\u003C/span\u003E: We went through hydro. Oil is pretty dirty, so that leaves gas and coal. I understand that the technology for\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001097\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002265e65c0cf7024cdbab72b2eccd543cad\u0022\u003EJeanette Fitzsimons\u003C/span\u003E: Coal is even dirtier.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001098\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022244ba8fcb74542da843dd513168141d5\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT\u003C/span\u003E: I am told that the technology for scrubbing coal is now advancing at a great rate, as it all is, and that is my next point. As to gas, I can remember that not that long ago liquefied petroleum gas, which is the same gas we are talking about for firing gas-fired power stations, was touted as the green alternative.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001099\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221c69a8ba642f425c817c9ae058403f81\u0022\u003EJeanette Fitzsimons\u003C/span\u003E: Different gas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001100\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022852aead7b8ff4d02b0c81e643eb88b04\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT\u003C/span\u003E: A different gas? Oh, OK.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001101\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ddb8f443af1e4834802370b8fdaf7c8d\u0022\u003EJeanette Fitzsimons\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, propane, not methane.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001102\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220f139984e2b349948cd0323e24c07ade\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT\u003C/span\u003E: There is a big difference in emissions, is there? It is still a lot cleaner than oil, and it is a lot cleaner than coal.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001103\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022219b18272af34dadb4795829b48d864b\u0022\u003EPaul Quinn\u003C/span\u003E: This is today\u2019s education.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001104\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221a048f73723b4ae2940a3cace28531f2\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT\u003C/span\u003E: It is good, is it not? The removal of emissions from the burning of gas is a rapidly evolving technology. As I have said, it is a lot cleaner than the coal alternative. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001105\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EI believe we have 1,500 years\u2019 worth of coal in New Zealand, and I can see that getting burnt at some stage, but not yet. The technology is still developing. Everybody realises that for a whole host of reasons it is desirable that we have alternatives to fossil fuel burning. As I said in a contribution on an earlier bill, I would be delighted if we could all burn 100 percent biofuels tomorrow, but the reality is that the technology is not there. I think that its time will come, but that time is not now. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001106\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EThermal generation is a very sensible alternative in the short term. The life of a power station is 20 or 30 years. We might as well burn the gas. It is sitting in the ground. It is a pretty clean alternative. It is not the cleanest, but it is a pretty clean alternative. The technology is advancing. Let us take the Kaukapakapa, or Helensville, station\u2014by the time it has reached the end of its natural life, or probably before, we will have much better technology, and maybe even tidal generation will finally have come. But right now gas is a pretty good alternative. ACT supports this Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill, to allow us to keep on having hot showers in the meantime. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022 data-id=\u0022a03731442d944ec39b6f78e72b22586f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001107\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022a03731442d944ec39b6f78e72b22586f\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National\u2014West Coast-Tasman):\u003C/span\u003E I would like to correct a comment that I made last time I spoke. I said that the retail price rise was 48 percent, but after listening to the Minister I realise that I was wrong. The retail price rise was not 48 percent, it was 63 percent from 1 November 2001 to 1 November 2008.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001108\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229964637f4d5342268fed79b39680bcd3\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: Well, the member should resign.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001109\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fbd8f9c77da14a56af897a12ec52b54b\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: The member should not say that remark too loudly. There have been 4 years in which we have had a one-in-60-year near crisis in supply. Huntly is the biggest generator of emissions. If the bill we are now proposing were not passed, we would not have any prospect of changing to something like the e3p plant, which would dramatically reduce the generation of greenhouse gases. Again, this is an act of honesty on the part of the Government. We are removing a piece of inert legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001110\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EI listened with interest to Mr Mallard, who talked about exercising international leadership. He also introduced a new phrase that I did not hear in the electricity debate when we were sitting on the other side of the House. Whenever we charged the previous Government with having insufficient supply and insufficient capacity we were told that everything was all right. Mr Parker kept saying that there was adequate generation capacity and that National\u2019s criticism was ill-founded. But from listening to Mr Mallard now, I understand that it was a capital strike. That was the reason for generation not being developed over the period of Labour\u2019s 9 years. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001111\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EIt seems to me that we are now having a little bit of a history rewrite; it was a capital strike. I do not think that will wash. But, again, there are a range of views on the effect of power generation systems. Mr Mallard referred in his speech to the United Kingdom. I understand that it is having a burst of enthusiasm for hydro electricity generation over there at the moment. I was told on what I think is fairly good authority\u2014although I do not know the veracity of it\u2014that the Brits are planning hydro schemes on 1,000 Scottish rivers. [Interruption] Aye, and it is not just the fishing. I have to tell the House that by passing this bill, this Government will meet with the approval of a group of environmental enthusiasts on the West Coast whose preference will be for thermal rather than hydro. Before the election I was approached by this particular group and asked whether we would make a commitment to bringing back thermal generation, and I can assure the House that they are very enthusiastic environmentalists.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001112\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002217af6d9f74de4b64acd9739b9664a5e7\u0022\u003EDr Paul Hutchison\u003C/span\u003E: But a lot of them are out of work on the West Coast.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001113\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d630a213b28a47969962a8c695e3c374\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: No, no, these are a very dedicated group of people and I frequently discuss things with them. They are dedicated to river use. They are kayakers and rafters and they see nothing wrong with developing clean-coal technology for power production. They will be particularly happy to see this bill go through. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001114\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022664504cf14e644179a643a50b10dba2d\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: What does this mean for the West Coast?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001115\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226730539317f34800bbc88f22b2d447de\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: We will measure that in a future speech. We still have another reading to do and I will certainly include that in my next speech. There is a wide range of views beyond the myopic view of Labour. In spite of Mr Parker wringing his hands over the demands of the increasing population, the reality is that the increasing population demands energy supply. To put a block on it with legislation is like saying that we can stop the tide from ebbing and flowing, and we cannot.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022 data-id=\u0022906547fd04124d4fa4addae83bd8c00a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001116\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022906547fd04124d4fa4addae83bd8c00a\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS (Labour\u2014Rimutaka):\u003C/span\u003E It is always an honour to follow such an eloquent speaker from the Government. I would like to take up the theme of rising power prices. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001117\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cca2f83d669d479f93c3100034acd002\u0022\u003EPaul Quinn\u003C/span\u003E: Chapter 3 of chapter 3!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001118\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002255ecd6db83e747c19ef2bedf6c65afc0\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Is that the best the member can come up with? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001119\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI would like to take up the theme of rising power prices and what has contributed to those. We need to face up to the reality that the era of cheap electricity generated by non-renewable sources is over.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001120\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EActually, one of the big drivers behind the recent significant increases in power prices has been the end of cheap M\u0101ui gas. If we look at the history of what contributed to that, we see that way back when the M\u0101ui gasfield was first developed, the then National Government under a gentleman called Robert Muldoon, I believe his name was, decided to fix the price of M\u0101ui gas. All of the gas coming out of that field was at a fixed price. And it was fixed for a very, very long time, because the field was such a large one. What that did was artificially suppress the price of all the other natural gas throughout the country. It made it uneconomic to explore other gasfields\u2014and any exploration company will tell members that. The M\u0101ui gasfield was effectively New Zealand\u2019s only major gasfield, because it was not economic to explore any others and it was not economic to start drilling wells. When that gas started to run out and that artificial price constraint came off, suddenly it become much more economic to drill other wells, and the price of gas went up because the gas coming out of those other fields was much more expensive. That was a major contributor to the increase in power prices.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001121\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThat highlights for us that we will never get cheaper power prices by relying on non-renewable energy sources. If we want cheaper power, then renewable energy has to be one of the key ways to go. We have to look at sources such as wind. Once wind generation is in place it is a relatively cheap source of energy. The member from ACT, David Garrett, talked a little bit about the nimby approach, and claimed that rather than try to find places where we can put wind turbines, the solution is to do away with the Resource Management Act so that people do not have a say at all. So we need to look at renewable energy sources.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001122\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWe also need to face up to a couple of the other realities about gas and about burning fossil fuels. Burning natural gas in an electricity plant is one of the least efficient ways of using natural gas. Even if we say that it is worth using natural gas\u2014that we have a supply of natural gas and we should use it\u2014burning it in a power plant is one of the least efficient ways that we can use it. If one burns it where it is used\u2014in the home, under a hot-water cylinder, or on a hob, or whatever\u2014that is a lot more efficient. We waste a lot of gas if we burn it in a power plant, because we then have to transmit it to the point where it will be used\u2014to the home or the industrial user. That is very inefficient, because we lose a lot of it through the transmission of it and we lose a lot of it through converting it from one type of energy to another. It is incredibly wasteful.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001123\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EOf course, we see the nimby approach again in that not many National Party people seem keen to have high voltage power cables go through their land. I have not seen very many National Party members standing up and arguing for that! I would like to take up\u2014[Interruption] There we go! That certainly woke them up; I wondered where they had gone, but they are back. It is good to know that Government members are on the job and wide awake. I would like to pick up one of the comments that the member from ACT, Mr Garrett, made. He said: \u201CI am not [much of] a conservationist \u2026 I am getting a bit long in the tooth for it\u201D. Is that not a revealing statement: \u201CI am not [much of] a conservationist \u2026 I am getting a bit long in the tooth for it\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001124\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226f1c93b5b1f54045982a81229b0e3e0f\u0022\u003EDavid Garrett\u003C/span\u003E: I actually meant a tramper.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001125\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022347b0bf8c87049058d2a5d431d430a38\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, right. I thought he was saying that once we get a bit older we do not have to worry about what comes next, we do not have to worry about saving the planet, or any of those pesky little things; we do just what we like\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001126\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022410675d300e44a4bb6da052e875363f8\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Sounds like Maurice.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001127\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223d4b74ea027d4a7d89bc33f0d9c665aa\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014and do not worry about what kind of state we leave the planet in. Speaking of Maurice Williamson, I think he should take the next call and give us his views on climate change.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001128\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223787331df96d4debbddc9b2f28e7eea2\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: He\u2019s not allowed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001129\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ce13ef1a1a68414b97fbd75a0d050c3f\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, that is such a shame, because it would be good to know what National really thinks. I know that Maurice Williamson is a very, very honest member of National, and we can rely on him to stand up and tell the truth. I would really like Maurice Williamson to stand up and give us his views on climate change. I think they would be incredibly revealing. But he is not allowed to, and that is such a shame for this House and for the democratic process.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002256ae55d95c5f4710b8c833504d8a46de\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: That is so 6 years ago, though.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001131\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022366000c357d1450e9a2ef6b1fd30c9ba\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: That is right\u2014it is so 6 years ago.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001132\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThis Government really does not have any vision when it comes to dealing with climate change and it really does not have any vision when it comes to promoting renewable energy, and we have seen that twice today. We have seen that in this bill. Instead of promoting renewable energy, Government members would rather go back to using fossil fuels. We saw it in the earlier biofuels bill. They are not really into biofuels, either; they are not really into alternative fuel sources for our transport, and all those things. They would rather bury their heads in the sand and pretend that climate change is not happening. There is no real issue of climate change, according to the National Government and its good friends from the ACT Party. What is more, those members are not very interested in encouraging research and development on our clean, green future. That is a real shame for New Zealand. We could be world leaders in this stuff but National members do not want to be world leaders. They would rather wait and see what happens. When we are all up to our necks in it they will be saying: \u201CWasn\u2019t it good that we didn\u2019t show any leadership? We are one of the first countries to drown, but that\u2019s all right. We didn\u2019t show any leadership, but never mind.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001133\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThey do not have any commitment to energy efficiency, either. All of these issues are related. Those members do not have much commitment to energy efficiency. That is why they scrapped the home insulation scheme. We have heard a number of members opposite talk about nice warm homes and people being able to afford electricity to have nice warm homes. But what did they do? They scrapped the home insulation scheme. They scrapped the extra money that would have gone into the home insulation scheme. No, we are not going to live in nice, warm homes any more, under this National Government\u2014at least, not unless we can afford to insulate them ourselves. National members are not really interested in that, at all.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001134\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003ESo what is this bill all about? This bill is being rammed through under parliamentary urgency, as has happened with every bill that this Government has passed\u2014every piece of legislation. I think that is a really important point, for the people at home who are listening to the radio or watching Parliament TV. [Interruption] That is right\u2014on a Wednesday night. This Government has yet to pass a bill using the democratic processes of this House; it has yet to send a bill to a select committee where people can have a say. Government members are not really interested in hearing what members of the public have to say. They do not trust the people. They are not interested in their views. They won the election and they will do whatever they like. It was in their manifesto, like their tax plan.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001135\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270fa4cbd-9380-4916-9f2a-78da059d220e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222c7e05b176e84d38ab90db0e1db722fc\u0022\u003EH V Ross Robertson\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sorry to interrupt the member, but you yourself have drawn to the attention of the House on at least three occasions now that there is continual interjection from the other side of the House. If members on that side would look at Speakers\u2019 rulings 57/3, they would know that interjections are out of order unless they are rare and reasonable, relevant, and restrained. A running commentary is totally out of order. That is the first point. The second point of order is that a number of new members\u2014and I accept that they will not know the rules\u2014have moved seats in order to facilitate interjection, and are not in their own seats. They are also out of order, and I hope you will bring them to order. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001136\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002209bef336f0dc4f1aa71b10c2336245ea\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I thank the member for those points. I have brought to members\u2019 attention on a number of occasions that there is too much barracking, and barracking is out of order. The point that the member makes is very correct: members cannot move to a seat that gives them an advantage. Members of the Government have moved seats and have been barracking. Although you can sit in any seat you wish, you cannot interject from a seat that gives you an advantage compared with where you normally sit.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001137\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225c2f3710b31d42f691910da4d2033791\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: It is unbelievable that right at the very beginning of the Government\u2019s term the new Prime Minister, the new Minister of Tourism, comes along to this Parliament with two pieces of legislation that absolutely ransack our reputation as a clean, green country. Two of the first pieces of legislation that his Government wants to pass will absolutely dent our clean, green image overseas. This is recklessness, it is backwards-looking legislation, and it is another nail in the coffin of our international climate change credibility, which this Government does not seem the slightest bit interested in. It is backwards looking, it is unnecessary, and these energy policies are putting our children\u2019s future at risk. Future generations deserve the same clean environment that we grew up with. That does not appear to be something that this Government is committed to or interested in. It is not interested in renewable energy. It is not interested in home insulation. It is not interested in climate change at all, really. In fact, the Prime Minister of New Zealand thinks it is a hoax, but on another day he thinks it is not, and then he does, and then he does not.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001138\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWho knows what the Government members really think, because unfortunately Maurice Williamson is not willing to stand up and tell us. He might be willing to take the next call. He is ready! He is ready to roll. Maurice Williamson is going to stand up and give us the National Party\u2019s real view on climate change, and we are all looking forward to hearing it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022 data-id=\u0022cd499b8622b34090b0a3ba88eb2748da\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001139\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022cd499b8622b34090b0a3ba88eb2748da\u0022\u003EHon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (Minister for Building and Construction):\u003C/span\u003E Before I begin my contribution I tell the new member Chris Hipkins that I am a very strong believer in climate change. I always have been and I always will be. I believe the climate has always changed, and if it stops changing, then we will be in deep shtook. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001140\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003EI think the measure that we are debating tonight is very, very important on one basis alone: it is something we committed to do during the election campaign. I know that does not sit well with the Labour Party, and I know it would be really churlish of me to do the Michael Cullen line tonight\u2014\u201CWe won. You lost. Eat that!\u201D\u2014so I will not. Nor would we want to be that churlish. But we made it very clear with regard to energy sources that the best method of determining what was right was a general market model based on all of the parameters, including carbon emissions, being taken into account, not some artificial ban that said that as one particular mode of generation is evil we are cutting it out\u2014even if, in fact, the evidence over time showed that some of the generation methods might actually replace some of the very old and very heavy carbon-emitting coal-burning methods. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001141\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003EMembers from the other side do not like that. They have a pre-defined position that they will stick to and control. I understand that the Greens are opposing this measure, but I do not know of any of their members who do not use electricity, and I do not know of any of their members who do not think that some of the modern progress society has made from the benefits of electricity is valuable. Yet they come along and try to have us all living in sackcloth and ashes because they think it is so evil and so wrong to be using some of these modes of generation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001142\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003ENational\u2019s view is very simple on this: a market model is the best way to determine outcomes. In fact, best generation will be that which produces the least emissions at the best cost and at the best rate for society. This artificial ban, which was put in force by the previous Labour Government, was exactly that\u2014an artificial ban. It was trying to make everybody feel good. Labour members say that this particular method is wrong and everything else is better, but they know in their hearts that that is not right. Labour members know that that artificial ban is not right and that we are best to go through each of the modes. My personal preference is hydroelectricity. I still think there are options for hydroelectricity in this country, and I would love to think about how it would be if, 50 years ago, we had taken the \u201CWe do not want hydroelectricity\u201D position. If the Greens had had their way 50 years ago we would not even have the dams that we currently have. Yes, they are intrusive, but they are a hell of a lot less intrusive than some of the other methods of generation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001143\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003EIn this Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill we have said that we will remove the ban on thermal generation and move to a sensible, balanced, and focused approach to the energy needs of the nation. I want any member of this House to get up tonight and say that he or she does not care about the energy needs of the nation if we are to compete in the world of the future and be a participant on the world stage, or care about what the cost of generating that energy is, and that he or she will just be stuck in some myopic, absolutely elementary view of the world that says: \u201CI will not allow things that I have decided should not occur.\u201D From my perspective, that is exactly where New Zealand cannot be. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001144\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003EWe have to look at every mode of generation. We have to look at cost-benefit ratios of those modes. Yes, I accept that in the line items of those spreadsheets there has to be the carbon cost\u2014of course, there does. But if in the end one particular mode is beneficial to this nation, then having an artificial approach of \u201CI have come to Parliament with a ban and I will stop this.\u201D is simply a bizarre way to go. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001145\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003ENational saw that; it said at the election that there was not a secret agenda. We said that the ban is wrong and artificial, and this legislation moves accordingly. I am very, very happy to be a member of a caucus, a party, and even a coalition Government that wants to look at highly efficient forms of generation, to look at those that contribute as little as possible to our greenhouse gases, and to not put in place an artificial ban.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022 data-id=\u002292b993d753044a6399dd79d84eebcc27\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001146\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002292b993d753044a6399dd79d84eebcc27\u0022\u003EHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour\u2014Hauraki-Waikato):\u003C/span\u003E Under normal circumstances the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill would have gone to a select committee, and we would have had submissions from the public. Views, opinions, and evidence would have been canvassed, more information would have been gathered, and there would have been time for honourable members to consider the evidence and the information, to prepare a report, and to bring it back to this House so that we could have an informed debate on the issues we are now addressing in the House. We cannot do that, so we are forced under urgency to have a discussion and a debate on some very serious issues.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001147\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EI heard the member Maurice Williamson say that he, like us, supports the pursuit of renewable energy sources. We can all agree on that\u2014the question is about the methods we use to get there. For that same member, then, to say we were closing our eyes to our reliance on electricity or putting a ban on thermal energy only and closing our eyes to the real opportunity there\u2014which is greater demand in the electricity market\u2014is, I think, very myopic in itself. I say to Mr Williamson that we know we have to shift the frame. That is what the future of energy reliance will look like in a new generation. But the member might not understand that; when we look at members sitting in the House proportionally, we see that the new generation view of what the future vision of electricity supply might look like is probably coming from the views represented in the Opposition. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001148\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002246783cec5c7d474d91a764d0fed096da\u0022\u003EHon Members\u003C/span\u003E: Ha, ha!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001149\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c429b7631a83496bbefb4a89fdd81ef9\u0022\u003EHon NANAIA MAHUTA\u003C/span\u003E: I am making a very serious point. When members opposite talk about other forms of electricity generation and about looking at renewable generation, we would agree on those. But we differ on the method, and in terms of the ban we are saying that putting a ban on thermal generation just highlights the fact that thermal generation is a higher carbon emitter than other sources of energy generation. That is quite a simple point.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001150\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EFor anybody listening to this debate and probably trying to work out what is really being said, I point out that only the Labour Opposition and members of the Green Party are taking this issue seriously, are putting a comprehensive and coherent range of tools at the front and centre of tackling the issues of climate change, and are providing the types of sustained arguments that we have provided over the last 2 weeks. That is an important point, because if we look at the views out there in the community on this particular move by the Government, we see that the Sustainable Electricity Association New Zealand said, in respect of this move by the Government: \u201CThe government will face more big power price hikes like Genesis\u2019s 9 per cent rise unless it acts quickly to encourage more renewable generation,\u201D. That remark was made today by the chairman of the Sustainable Electricity Association, Brendan Winitana. He went on to say: \u201COverturning the thermal power station ban is only a short term solution.\u201D That might appeal to the supporters, the big backers, of the Government, but it does not provide a comprehensive vision about what the Government will do, and what steps it will take, to tackle the very real challenge of climate change and the effects on our environment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001151\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EBrendan Winitana went on to say: \u201CAs the Prime Minister acknowledges we need more renewable generation. That\u2019s why he should be looking at small scale renewable generation as part of the solution. \u2026 Importantly, small scale renewables will mean less thermal generation and so lower emissions. It\u2019s a win-win for the environment and power consumers.\u201D That is the balance that this Opposition is looking for, I tell Mr Williamson, not the balance the member is saying is thermal generation at all costs. Meanwhile, by the way, we also support looking at other renewable energy sources. It just does not add up; it is a really important point in terms of ensuring that the public have a say on this, because we just cannot ignore the informed views of people out there who have long-standing reputations on issues to do with the environment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001152\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003ELet us take another view\u2014that of the Environment and Conservation Organisations of New Zealand: \u201CLocal Government has embarked on consultative processes under both the Resource Management Act and the Local Government Act allowing communities to define the objectives yet Mr Hide as Local Government Minister is likely to want to override them. \u2018The communities and the environment will suffer,\u2019 said ECO spokesperson Cath Wallace. The Resource Management Act has an important role in protecting New Zealand\u2019s threatened biodiversity, improving water quality, air quality, and making communities more sustainable. National and ACT by putting on hold climate change action and reviewing the emissions trading regime is making New Zealand an irrelevancy in international negotiations in the lead-up to the crucial Denmark meeting on Climate Change at the end of next year 2009\u2026\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001153\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003ESo what is the Government not listening to? It is certainly not listening to the voice of the public; that is why we are under urgency. It is certainly not hearing the very serious views expressed by Opposition members in this House, and Government members are certainly burying their heads in the sand on this challenge of meeting climate change. And what for? National members want to signal to their supporters that, yes, National has won the election and, yes, the ship is turning in a different direction. The ship is turning in a different direction with a new leader at the helm\u2014Mr Key. And how have they signalled this? Their ship is turning with a new leader at the helm, and what are they doing? They are turning and reversing decisions on climate change through delaying the introduction of the emissions trading scheme and through the setting up of a special select committee on climate change. What are they doing? They are removing the biofuel sales obligation that would help to reduce our reliance on petroleum oil through fostering alternative biofuel sources. What are they doing? They are repealing the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Act that places a 10-year moratorium on new fossil-fuelled thermal electricity generating capacity. Their ship is turning; that is all this is about. This is the symbolism that the National Party wants to show.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001154\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003EIt is just before Christmas, so we have to ask ourselves what is so urgent about this legislation that National has to ram it through under urgency, with no public participation and no views exhausted, and, with respect, with very, very little or limited debate. It is all about symbolism; that is all it is. I want to make that point, because the Act the Government is actually seeking to repeal includes quite an interesting provision around public consultation. I heard the member Pansy Wong; I listened very carefully to her when she said: \u201CIt\u2019s OK. Renewable projects will go through under the RMA.\u201D But what she has not told the public is that the National Government wants to gut the Resource Management Act in order to be able to streamline a whole lot of decisions on a number of nationally identified projects that the Government will identify as important, so what will probably go will be public consultation. [Interruption] I challenge Nick Smith to say that public consultation will not go, under the reforms he is proposing in the months ahead.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001155\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022faaa29fa7b79450dbff2b5db7b11fab6\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Absolutely.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001156\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220e7e8da2-a6a1-41bb-aeb0-a49be255a293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d56b0098ef004eecbba6b0ec91c4b27d\u0022\u003EHon NANAIA MAHUTA\u003C/span\u003E: I challenge that member to stand up in the House to say \u201Cabsolutely\u201D. Is that member going to repeal any provision relating to public consultation and the Resource Management Act? Will the member take a question? There is silence. So that is indicative that there is a strong intention to remove public consultation when National amends the Resource Management Act. We should be very concerned, because this will be about National ramming through its projects for its mates so that it can show that the ship has turned in a wholly different direction and that there is a new leader at the helm. Climate change is not at the front and centre of National members\u2019 decision making, and they have proved it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022 data-id=\u00223f649f64a0ad42cd9acd5d1cb6367c85\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001157\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223f649f64a0ad42cd9acd5d1cb6367c85\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON (National\u2014Hunua):\u003C/span\u003E I am thankful for the opportunity to speak on the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. I congratulate the Hon Gerry Brownlee for the elegant brevity of this bill. What a marked contrast to Labour\u2019s emissions trading scheme legislation! How many pages was it? About 600 or 700\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001158\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dbe4f5ed4b164905a378b3f2d8741bbe\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: That was just the amendments.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001159\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226468f1aa919343d7b964262fcb5f6a76\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON\u003C/span\u003E: No, there were something like 1,863 last-minute amendments. But I was making the point that it was very good to see the elegant brevity of this bill, which is 2 pages long. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001160\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003EThis bill repeals Part 6A of the Electricity Act 1992, which was added by the enormous tome that was Labour\u2019s climate change legislation. It will remove a barrier to investment in new baseload fossil-fuelled thermal electricity generation plant. It is very important to remember that Labour\u2019s thermal ban allowed Huntly power station to continue burning coal. The Hon Nanaia Mahuta should be aware of this\u2014as anyone should be. Labour had not turned the ship\u2014or the waka, as the case may be\u2014around, at all. The provisions allowed Huntly to continue burning coal. The point I want to make is that using gas is twice as efficient as coal\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001161\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227849890986c645edbf472bf40aa3797a\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Three times!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001162\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220e6b89d2c9c24c40b8346324d67f5868\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON\u003C/span\u003E: Well, I did some investigations this afternoon, and the official figure was that it is at least twice as efficient in terms of emissions per megawatt of power generated. There is a certain madness in what the last Labour Government did. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001163\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003EI quote from an article from 13 October 2008\u2014a time when New Zealand was exposed to extraordinary seasonal weather patterns\u2014\u201CIf it wasn\u2019t for existing baseload gas and coal fired thermal power stations, blackouts would have occurred. Rather than banning baseload thermal plant, we should be encouraging more diversity for electricity generation; subject to generation investors themselves factoring in future carbon cost risks.\u201D National has committed to an emissions trading scheme. If we go back to the 1990s we see that it was the National Government that signed up to Kyoto; we have committed to abiding by our international obligations. But we expect a rational response, and not one driven by sheer ideology, as in the case in question. Who in their right mind would ban an efficient method of generating power in favour of one that was over twice as inefficient?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001164\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002273d42a2bd93846e29f11558151b8a599\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: Who would?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001165\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002285e1a6ef8ba045ea8b75a15ab43f8264\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON\u003C/span\u003E: It is a good question. Who would do it? Maybe the Hon Maurice Williamson could tell us.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001166\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f83cde20bfbb459eb459140ad65de1fe\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: No, I can\u2019t.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001167\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ce41a07587d84e0d9f5951baaae3a3cd\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON\u003C/span\u003E: No, he cannot. Well, I thought it was the Labour Government that did it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001168\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003EI quote a media release from the Major Electricity Users Group that came out on 13 October 2008, before the general election: \u201CBan on thermal stations a regulatory nightmare\u201D. The quote is from Ralph Matthes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001169\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e3f557efadf8460d963e2793ded2c7d5\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s a lobby group that has got its way now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001170\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223a95e295aebd40d8b0d02a1abe539a6e\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON\u003C/span\u003E: The Hon Steve Chadwick says that it is a lobby group. But, after all, it is the Major Electricity Users Group. Surely it is a group that is concerned about consumers and not concerned about straight ideology. Even if the price of power were twice as much, the Labour Government would have forged ahead and made New Zealand consumers pay for it, but pragmatism has to be shown if we are to have an emissions trading scheme in this country that is to some degree realistic.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001171\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E The point made by Ralph Matthes was that \u201CThe discussion paper is a reminder that the legislative ban on new thermal power stations is all about reducing carbon emissions no matter what the additional economic cost to New Zealanders.\u201D Unfortunately, that was the attitude taken by Minister Parker at the time. Matthes says that \u201CThe ban on new thermal power stations is over the top.\u201D He goes on to say that \u201CThe ban on thermal has had a chilling effect on investment in petroleum exploration. The timing of the ban when capital markets world wide are struggling to attract new investment couldn\u2019t have come at a worse time. When most other countries are happy to migrate from largely coal based to gas based power plants, New Zealand\u2019s approach of saying no to baseload gas but embracing weather dependent new hydro and wind generation is foolhardy.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001172\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003EThe second article I draw members\u2019 attention to is from the Independent Financial Review back in April 2008: \u201CGovernment has head in the sand over emissions\u201D. The author says\u2014and this may be unparliamentary, but I am quoting it\u2014\u201CSniff, sniff! Can anyone smell hypocrisy? There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy to the government\u2019s energy strategy. It seems that on many fronts the government wants to reduce carbon emissions at home, but is quite happy to make money from its own state-owned enterprises exporting fossil fuels for use overseas.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001173\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002208976bb4272140e1a621d87fe8789388\u0022\u003EHon Pete Hodgson\u003C/span\u003E: Who is the author?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001174\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c6cd858aae8740f98b4bcaf39bf293a2\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON\u003C/span\u003E: I say to former Minister Hodgson that his Government was quite happy to export coal to Korea, to Indonesia\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001175\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ec442070fe284681b17b930f06fcac2e\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: Japan.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001176\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fee4e28df9a54259aecf55d5ebdc5a53\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014to Japan, and to China, and was quite happy to do so as long as it was not responsible for the emissions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001177\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b82e00f1ee2a4f3486d4a50a550b5ccd\u0022\u003EHon Pete Hodgson\u003C/span\u003E: Who are you quoting, Paul?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001178\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002212b530925bb04804998fe1eef722fdd5\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON\u003C/span\u003E: I am quoting a fellow by the name of John Pfahlert\u2014I think that is how it is pronounced.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001179\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e34084236feb4f9f885369792ff5bf3e\u0022\u003EHon Pete Hodgson\u003C/span\u003E: Pfahlert\u2014we know him.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001180\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c8ef2b2b8ac74bce9d33d87ccf03f4b1\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON\u003C/span\u003E: Well, he is a very good thinker. The point he is making is that the Government is just being\u2014I cannot use the \u201Ch\u201D word again\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001181\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b669262fbebe4e99aedf08878c1b6dcd\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, go on!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001182\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fd77e0c38a3d43f5aa9bb37f99e5e620\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON\u003C/span\u003E: No, I could not do that. In his words, \u201Cthey can clip the royalty payment ticket while conveniently overlooking the fact the gas or oil will be used to fire CO2-emmitting power stations in Japan, Korea and China.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001183\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003EThe very last issue I point to is that the Labour Government was great at talking the talk, but the record shows that 74 percent of new generation over the last few years has been thermal. That is quite extraordinary. Now, suddenly, Labour members want to ban it. They want to ban it in favour of a method that is twice as inefficient. That seems to be plain barmy. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022 data-id=\u0022c26dce0005754c29b2438fb875007508\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001184\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c26dce0005754c29b2438fb875007508\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader\u2014Green):\u003C/span\u003E It is very easy to demolish things. It is very easy to repeal things. It does not take very long to destroy things. It takes a lot more creativity, time, and effort to actually build things up. I guess we could say that the one good feature that this Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill has is its brevity. Part 1 consists of four words. In essence, the entire bill consists of four words, but those four words have quite an effect. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001185\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EI want to go back to something the Hon Dr Nick Smith said in his first reading speech on the bill, because it was a very significant few words. He said \u201Cthe genesis of this bill\u201D several times. We know about the genesis of this bill; we know that Genesis was the genesis of this bill. We know that this repeal bill is being rushed through urgency because Genesis\u2014one of the three State-owned power companies\u2014plans to build the biggest gas-fired power station ever in New Zealand\u2019s history up on the Kaipara. It is concerned that under this bill it would have to apply for permission to do so. Of course, Genesis is New Zealand\u2019s fossil generator. It runs the Huntly power station burning the coal that produces the majority of our electricity greenhouse emissions. Genesis runs e3p, the gas-fired station that produces some more of our carbon dioxide emissions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001186\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EBecause Genesis has been focused on fossil fuels for so long, it has not developed expertise in geothermal and wind, and it has missed the boat in terms of getting access to the best sites in New Zealand where those renewable sources are. This plant is not about New Zealand\u2019s needs for electricity; we could easily demonstrate that this plant is not needed for New Zealand\u2019s electricity supply. This plant is about Genesis\u2019s profits. Why is it that Genesis has to make profits? It goes back to a certain Max Bradford, who split up an integrated, efficient, single national generator into five profit-making entities that had to compete. Although it might be very sensible for the power consumers and for New Zealand\u2019s industry to let those businesses that have expertise in renewable energy like geothermal and wind to get on and build more, in fact Genesis has to build more in order to compete. That is what this bill is all about. No other generator wants to build fossil generators at the moment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001187\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EMeridian has already positioned itself as a wholly renewable generator, is proud of it, and trades on that. People have switched power companies just to buy from Meridian, because it is wholly renewable. TrustPower is also totally renewable, but it is quite small. Contact Energy is also a fossil generator, and it has some gas-fired plants. But members of Contact Energy came to see me quite some time back, before this part of the bill was even drafted, and said that they already had consent for a new gas-fired power station they were going to build in \u014Ct\u0101huhu. They decided to put it on the back-burner because they thought it was better to build geothermal and wind, and they could build enough geothermal and wind for New Zealand\u2019s needs without having to build any more fossil, as long as they could get them through the consent process, and they are getting them through the consent process just fine. So Contact Energy is building renewable generation even though it is a fossil generator. Mighty River Power has hydro and a lot of geothermal, is into a lot more geothermal, and is not proposing any fossil power stations. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001188\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThere is only Genesis, and Genesis is the genesis of this bill. If it builds its nearly 500-megawatt plant, which is very big, up on the Kaipara, what will happen to the New Zealand electricity system? First, the next renewable energy power plant will not be built because if there is a big fossil plant sitting there that is able to run, nobody is going to invest money in renewable generation as it will corner the market first. We will have an oversupply. Of course, the Major Electricity Users Group wants these stations to be built, because it wants an oversupply of electricity to bring the price down as generators desperately try to sell it to someone. That is what will benefit its members. That does not benefit New Zealand; New Zealand still has to pay all that unnecessary capital cost. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001189\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe Government says it supports the 90 percent renewable generation target. If that is true, it simply has not thought through its position. We have done the numbers. We did the numbers with the Ministry of Economic Development and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. It is not possible to meet that target, if the Genesis plant is built, without closing a lot of other perfectly good gas-fired power stations. When we project forward the growth rate in electricity demand and we look at how we would get from 70 percent, or a bit less, to 90 percent by 2025, we find that we not only need to close the Huntly power station, which would be a very good idea, but we need to close another of the existing gas plants as well, replace it with renewable generation, and build no more fossil plants. So the Government cannot possibly support the target of 90 percent renewable energy unless it is planning for people to build more fossil plants, just in order to close perfectly good ones that are operating already. There are plenty of renewable energy plants to build. Some are being built, and a lot more could be built. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001190\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThe irony of all this is that Part 6A of the Electricity Act has a specific exemption for Genesis. We always called it the Genesis clause. It is section 62G(1)(e), and it covers exactly the situation that Paul Hutchison was talking about a minute ago, where we want to build a more efficient plant to replace a less efficient plant. I argued strongly that that clause should be taken out, because we have already built two gas-fired power stations in New Zealand on the grounds that they would back out Huntly power station. They were more efficient than Huntly, and Huntly was to be closed in favour, first of all, of the Stratford gas-fired power station in the 1990s, and then, secondly, for e3p on the Huntly site. Both of them got permission and support on the grounds, really, that they were more efficient than Huntly, but Huntly still runs full bore on coal. So are we to justify a third big gas-fired plant on the basis that it will back out Huntly, then a fourth, and then a fifth, and will Huntly still be running in 50 years\u2019 time? It is ridiculous! \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001191\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EIt is time to replace Huntly with renewable generation. We have the geothermal capacity to do that, we have the wind capacity to do that, we have the capacity for more direct solar, and, coming on stream in, I would guess, around 10 years, is marine energy\u2014tidal and wave\u2014which will contribute in the future. We simply do not need to fill up the atmosphere with carbon dioxide in order to keep warm, even if we are stupid enough to want to keep our heated towel rails running 24/7 with no towels on them, which is what some people use electricity for today. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u002288ebde65388549adba90768a0ee62eb8\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill be now read a second time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EBill read a second time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022837c65b957b7453baf01ef4a08b509a1\u0022\u003EIn Committee\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001193\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022208ab94242c4404a93f65cae285b345b\u0022\u003EPart 1  Part 6A repealed\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u00221b73374f4e794c84a0f43b3e5b7cab26\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001194\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221b73374f4e794c84a0f43b3e5b7cab26\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I would like to begin by responding to what the Hon Maurice Williamson said, which was that the answer to New Zealand\u2019s electricity demand problems was to dam more rivers. He gave the impression that damming rivers was an easy thing to do, without significant environmental effects\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001195\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022290fe0b59304488e96355095092fff92\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: I didn\u2019t say that at all, so don\u2019t tell lies.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001196\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220830d83c001e452da52a1f74daa0c11d\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairman. The member accused me of telling lies. The Hansard record will show that he stood and told the House that we should build more hydro generation. He should be asked to withdraw that comment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001197\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223503cbdf86884cd1b01e2d5d170aba92\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: No; he just said \u201Cdam all rivers\u201D and I didn\u2019t say that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001198\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002214b6df4a9c43484896390b2838b13e98\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: Basically, that is a debatable point. The member who interjected really cannot accuse another member of lying, so on that account he should not use that terminology. It is a debating point, I guess.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001199\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002219d7d8faaa1d431ba9a452fcb41bfb86\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you. Well, it is not a debatable point as to whether I am a liar.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001200\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bcbdbdc4ddc5423d9f4ee5b8e9f66862\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: The point that the member was making was a debatable point. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001201\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f83c25256f064d87856449e3cb099233\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you, Mr Chairman, now that we have clarified that point. The member has said that he would dam more rivers in New Zealand, and that he thought the Greens were wrong to oppose the damming of rivers because that was undermining security of supply.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001202\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cc577a4e931b4038922b8862ba0474f0\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: I didn\u2019t say \u201Cdam all rivers\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001203\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d8a45980e7694f4396d4bd97dfbff125\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I did not say that the member said \u201Cdam all rivers\u201D; I said that he would dam more rivers. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001204\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002258eec63cbfeb49d2b65a06c053dc045b\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: You just did say that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001205\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002241ae8f250ad645c08f4c3c611ebb1ee7\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Sorry; if I said that, I meant to say \u201Cdam more rivers\u201D. Can I list for the member the number of rivers down my way, where we already supply far more power than we use to keep the member\u2019s lights on in Pakuranga. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001206\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E In my area the Taieri River is already dammed\u2014one of our major rivers. So are the lower reaches of the Kawarau and so is the Clutha, in more than one point. The list goes on. So, too, the Waitaki River is dammed, so is the Tekap\u014D, so is the \u014Chau River, so is the P\u016Bkaki River, so is the Waipori River, so is the Teviot River, so is Lake Manap\u014Duri, the Wairau River, and the river system around Manap\u014Duri and various other systems in Southland, which I must admit I cannot name offhand. In addition, consents in recent years have been issued for the damming of the Arnold River, for the damming of the Waiau River, and for another dam on the lower Waitaki River. When do we stop?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001207\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002200f8637c940b409e9c95b48c224db7a4\u0022\u003EChris Hipkins\u003C/span\u003E: Do we have any left?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001208\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aeade59f9bc24360ae5e77a2cbbe0e0c\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Well, we do not have many left down my way.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001209\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002237127a55fc3d4096aa9f908dfcc38f80\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Is Labour\u2019s position to oppose any more hydro?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001210\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a642ce928a1e43af907e984e8e1a747f\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: It is Labour\u2019s position that we do not need much more hydro, that we\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001211\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d6e873d5ede442a98e2aadfe71d35648\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: \u201CMuch more\u201D\u2014oh, you\u2019re going to dam more rivers. He\u2019s going to dam more rivers.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001212\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eaeeb4ce50e64af28753e0207f15424d\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: No; actually, people will not see Labour proposing changes to the Resource Management Act to enable more rivers to be dammed. It has been interesting that Contact Energy has said that it does not need just aided processes to get consent for more dams on the Clutha River; it needs a change to the environmental baseline that is provided by the Resource Management Act, so as to undermine the environmental protection that the remaining undammed sections of the Clutha River currently enjoy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001213\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIf members on the other side of the Chamber think they will be able to provide security of supply through damming more rivers and they think that they will do that down our way, then they should think back to the Save Manap\u014Duri campaign and the Save the Clutha campaign, and they will realise that down our way, some things motivate people. One of them is that when generators have dammed so many of those rivers in Otago, South Canterbury, and Southland, and still want to do a lot more of that, then they ain\u2019t seen nothing yet when it comes to civil protest and popular protest against what would be wrong. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001214\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EWe do not need to do that. So I am somewhat disturbed when I hear that Gerry Brownlee, who is on record as saying that we should have quite a bit more hydro, lots of little\u2014[Interruption] Yes, the Minister has. I have heard him say it. He has said that now we have done all the big rivers, then we should do quite a few more of the small rivers. I put that on record. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001215\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI will move now to the issue as to whether we need to have some change in the legislation so that we can retire old thermal plant. The existing Electricity Act already specifically provides, at section 62G(1)(e), that an exemption can be given where new generation plant \u201Cwill be connected and operated in circumstances where an existing thermal electricity generation plant will be retired in whole or part\u201D, as long as there will be a 20 percent reduction in emissions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001216\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E So the existing legislation allows for new, more efficient thermal plant to be built to retire old coal-fired plant like Huntly, but if the Government repeals the legislation, then that will not happen. Instead it will get a new gas-fired station at Rodney, and it will get Huntly as well, so it will get increased instead of decreased greenhouse gas emissions. The existing legislation is necessary. A price on carbon alone will not guarantee where we need to go in respect of renewable generation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001217\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIn terms of what is consented and whether this is threatening security of supply, I make two points. Firstly, security of supply is a class of exemption. Anybody who has security of supply concerns can get an exemption to the restrictions on baseload thermal generation from the Electricity Commission making a recommendation to the relevant Minister that would then be adopted. But that is unlikely to be necessary, because we have so many renewable projects that are already consented. I have heard National members say they are not economic. I ask why these current-technology renewable projects are already being built by, in respect of geothermal generation, Contact Energy, Mighty River Power, and up north by Top Energy. Additional wind farms are also being planned for construction by a wide range of generators including Contact Energy, Mighty River Power, and Meridian Energy, which has the M\u0101kara project currently under construction with the potential for close to 200 megawatts at that facility. There was an announcement recently of a Mighty River Power project over to the south-west of Wellington, and some very large wind farms are being proposed for Otago, some of which are consented and some of which are in consent. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001218\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThere is ample new generation. In fact, there are already more than 655 megawatts of consented projects. To put that figure in perspective, 150 megawatts of extra capacity is needed each year to meet increasing demand. In addition to those consented projects, there are already an additional 2,875 megawatts of other renewable projects in consent processes as of 1 July 2008, and, indeed, some of those projects have already moved on to be consented. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001219\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EOne of the things we should remember about National power policy is that it was National that visited upon the country the so-called Bradford reforms, which were introduced under the control of Max Bradford but voted for by the previous National Government. It is interesting to reflect on how much easier it would be to go to renewable generation if we still had the old Electricity Department structure. Under that structure, all that would have happened would be a meeting between the Minister and Electricity Department where the Minister would say \u201CHey, look, is it possible to build renewables instead of thermal, please?\u201D, and the department would say \u201COh yeah, that\u2019s economic, and that\u2019s possible.\u201D, and then the Government would say \u201CCould you please do that, and not build any thermal.\u201D, and that would have happened. I ask members to look at what we have now got ourselves into because of the ridiculous so-called reforms of the Bradford years, and the plan now for Genesis to build more facilities using gas. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001220\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI ask one other question of the Minister in the chair, Gerry Brownlee. Last week we had Genesis put prices up, and this week we had the Governor of the Reserve Bank say that given inflation pressures in the economy and the fact that we have a recession around the world and decreasing rates of return in virtually every other sector of the economy, it is about time the electricity sector decreased its expectation of ever-increasing profits no matter what the economic cycle. He said that electricity companies should not charge so much. Well, the Minister is part of the Government that owns on behalf of the taxpayer the major State-owned enterprises like Genesis Energy, Mighty River Power, and Meridian, which produce about two-thirds of New Zealand\u2019s power. I ask why the Government does not simply say its expectations of rate of return from these companies has dropped by 2 percent. If the Minister said that to those generation companies, it would immediately cause them to not increase their power prices. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001221\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a8e1ca0acb194767a06f1f5ead3220da\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Where were you for 9 years? There was a 63 percent increase in prices. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001222\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f28e31470b33413196b3eef12c90c9a2\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Well, in the last 3 or 4 months the world\u2019s economy has gone down. In fact, I have heard the Government\u2019s own Minister of Finance acknowledge that reality. Maybe the Minister in the chair has not caught up on it. The solution lies in the Government\u2019s own hands. It should not blame it on anyone else. It should get off its hands and tell those State-owned enterprises that they ought not to be putting up their prices, because in hard times the Government expects its companies to bear some of that pain, to not put prices up, and to not expect the same high rates of return during this part of the economic cycle that they expect in every other part of the economic cycle. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u00220411b8d0bf2643368d4622dc4e2e692f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001223\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220411b8d0bf2643368d4622dc4e2e692f\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E A long time ago we were at the beginning of the second reading debate on the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill, and I remember the good Minister of Energy and Resources, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, talking about the elephant in the room. I wonder whether the Minister can remember that comment. We thought it was a self-referral, but the good Minister was able to put us right. He told a story in which it became apparent that the elephant in the room was the Huntly power station, that great gargoyle that burns so many tonnes of coal and emits vast quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. He said that if there was a moratorium on some new plants that would replace this great gargoyle, this great monster that needs to be replaced, would not be replaced, that therefore we need to get rid of the existing legislation, and that that is why the Government has introduced this bill. That was roughly his contribution in the second reading. We know that it was nonsense. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001224\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002230e843428a1d49f1a7115eab639b1fc0\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: It is very rough.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001225\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022593fb0349f4b4571958e6003804569a5\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Well, I did it in 1 minute. The Minister spent 10 minutes, but that was the essence of it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001226\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThere are two reasons why it was nonsense. The first reason has already been outlined by Jeanette Fitzsimons and David Parker, and it is that the legislation the Minister is ripping out of the statute book says, if members care to read it, that where there will be a significant improvement in energy efficiency, then of course that plant can go ahead. You see, a straw man was set up, and it has been knocked over by black-letter New Zealand law. The Minister needs to forgo that argument in all parts of the Committee stage, and so does Dr Paul Hutchison and anybody else who runs up that particular flag\u2014that under the moratorium it is not possible to build a more efficient fossil fuel station and back off a less efficient one. It is possible. It is a matter, as I say, of black-letter law.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe second reason is even more interesting. The Minister\u2019s mind is in this frame: \u201CIs it going to be gas, or is it going to be coal?\u201D. It could be in another frame altogether, such as \u201CIs it going to be renewable generation, or is it going to be coal?\u201D. I invite the Minister to make the paradigm shift from gas as a source of baseload generation to renewable generation. Of course, he may be thinking \u201CHa ha! It doesn\u2019t always rain.\u201D and \u201CHa ha! It doesn\u2019t always blow.\u201D But we have an integrated electricity system, and the Minister knows as well as I do that the spread of the catchments of our hydro facilities and the spread of wind generation\u2014especially in the foreseeable future\u2014is such that there is very good integration across the land. Of course there can be dry years. We have had a few. I hope we do not have any more any time soon, and I am delighted that the lakes are at a state of considerable replenishment right now. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001228\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cc411544a73e4cf3ad7b25d24c47d6a6\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, happy Christmas, Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001229\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224a9e6cec0a50454f88aa0d1682003e8d\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Happy Christmas to the Minister. That is where the reserve generation capacity comes from, and that is the future of the Huntly plant. I ask the Minister to take out one of its driveshafts, to take out 250 megawatts\u2014or, indeed, to invite the Electricity Commission to consider doing so, because he does not have the ability to do it; it would have to be done by the commission. Let us see whether that is a future possibility. When National fetches up paper tigers and straw men and runs red herrings up flagpoles, we can pick them out pretty quickly. Fortunately, there is an erudite Opposition here to point out the error of the Government\u2019s ways.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001230\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EYou see, there is no particular need to scrap the existing legislation. Ideology is what is at play here. Government members claim that it is bad legislation because it was introduced by an awful, horrible, bygone Labour Minister in an awful, horrible, bygone Labour Government, and that is why it has to be thrown out. It is actually quite elegant legislation. It gives a market signal in law, it puts exceptions in place where exceptions may be needed, it is time-limited, it is designed to ensure that the base of New Zealand energy will be renewable energy, and it is designed to have New Zealand heading towards 90 percent renewable energy by 2025. And 90 percent by 2025 means no more fossil fuel power stations, thank you very much, between now and then; otherwise, those who build them will have to wreck them in order to meet the target.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001231\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe moratorium is simply a way of signalling, in law, that the Government\u2019s intention is serious. If the moratorium is going to be ripped down, it seems to me that, ipso facto, the Government\u2019s target, which is the same\u201490 percent renewable energy by 2025\u2014is one that it does not intend to keep. I put it to members opposite that I do not think that it is remotely possible for us to achieve the Government\u2019s own target of 90 percent renewable energy by 2025 by allowing more fossil fuel generation. I do not think it is arithmetically possible. Therefore, the Government should be saying: \u201CWe have told porkies, and we need to change our target.\u201D, or it should get rid of the legislation before us now. It needs to do one or the other. It should change its target and say it has been telling porkies, or it should get rid of the legislation before the Committee right now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001232\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EI think those are the two options. I think they are the only honest options, and the fact that the Government is not prepared to take either of them means that it is designing a future that is based on sophistry. We will catch this Government out within 3 years, and we will replace it at the end of that time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022 data-id=\u0022c7cb8e89a6f44c8ba984c8a8c558d7d4\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001233\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c7cb8e89a6f44c8ba984c8a8c558d7d4\u0022\u003ECLARE CURRAN (Labour\u2014Dunedin South):\u003C/span\u003E There has been a consistent theme running through the legislation that has been rammed through Parliament in the last week without any public scrutiny, and that theme is a lack of logic. Apart from the absolute outrage of rushing through legislation that does not need to be rushed through uncontested under the cover of Christmas, there is a lack of logic. It runs through every bill that has been passed in the House in the last week, and it does not make sense. It is as if the National-led Government is living in a parallel universe. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001234\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003ENational policy says it believes that New Zealand is a responsible international citizen and, as a country that values our clean, green environment, must act to reduce our greenhouse emissions. That is National policy. This week the mantra of John Key and the National Government has been \u201Cbalance\u201D\u2014balance of environmental issues against economic interests. It sounds more like code to me than balance. But according to National we must have thermal generation, to ensure security of supply and to keep prices down, even though there is enough thermal generation already\u2014and everybody on this side of the Chamber has talked a lot about this tonight\u2014to ensure security of supply. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001235\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EWe already have these new generation projects coming on stream over the next 4 years, and we need about 150 to 200 megawatts built each year to keep up with demand\u2014and we have heard David Parker list them tonight. Our security of supply margins have been improving all the time. So given that this Government claims in its policy that it wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001236\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bb78017ba58f4f08a979d577f990934d\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. We have a Minister in the chair who never takes a call, who would not defend his biofuel legislation, and who is not taking a call here, yet he abuses his position in the chair in respect of his access to the microphone. He abuses the convention of Parliament that the Minister in the chair will not make interjections whilst in the chair and will instead exercise his right\u2014indeed, his duty\u2014to take calls periodically. I request, Mr Chairperson, that you call the member to order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001237\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a23779197b094c229ffd86429213f494\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: I will uphold the point of order. It is in breach of Speaker\u2019s ruling 59/4. It is the convention that the Minister in the chair will not interject when the microphone is on.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001238\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224e67541287504fdd9f66ea9f90b1677f\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table for the good benefit of the member on her feet the press release by Mr Pete Hodgson announcing Labour\u2019s construction of the Whirinaki diesel-fired power station, noting that\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001239\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228f97c6d849b04817ab31eadb94fd4c00\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is anyone opposed to that course of action? There is no objection. Under the Standing Orders the member will have to table that document today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001240\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001241\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022821e1fdb0018489288340d331e146729\u0022\u003ECLARE CURRAN\u003C/span\u003E: Why is National ramming through reckless, backward-looking legislation that does not take into account the reality of secure supply and is a kick in the teeth to New Zealand\u2019s reputation as a nation that takes climate change seriously\u2014a nation that is willing to do the right thing? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001242\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EAs Stuart Nash said in his maiden statement tonight, Labour always asks: \u201CIs it right?\u201D. Well, unfortunately, I do not think that this Government is concerned about what is right. It is more concerned about having a blind commitment to some other agenda. Hmm, I say to myself! Anyone would think that another agenda is going on here, but I am a bit of an optimist and I always like to think the best of people\u2014I do. I would like to believe that a brilliant new strategy is being developed that is so brilliant it requires a review of the emissions trading legislation, a reconsideration of all the principles of climate change, and disinvestment in the biofuels industry. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001243\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003EI would like to believe that this really brilliant new strategy will somehow magically reduce our emissions, but despite my optimism I have a horrible feeling. We all know that in this time of economic crisis across the world, confidence is the key to dealing with the problem\u2014confidence in the financial system, confidence in the institutions, and confidence in the Government because it knows what it is doing and has a plan.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001244\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229bf5284cb30041b9b2ac46dc1fb5c359\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Absolutely.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001245\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222aa0b524-c38d-45aa-bd5b-99c5927085f4\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225bb44de7a03747f28b0f7c04f9db5414\u0022\u003ECLARE CURRAN\u003C/span\u003E: I tell the member that this bill destroys confidence, as have all the bills that have gone through the House in the last week. The repeal of the legislation requiring oil companies to mix petrol and diesel with biofuel undermines confidence in new industry, the 90-day bill undermines confidence amongst workers, the education bill undermines confidence amongst teachers and children, and now this bill undermines confidence in New Zealand\u2019s commitment to addressing climate change.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022 data-id=\u002233f0cd1ba0c84f318f565f7cdd72d12c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001246\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002233f0cd1ba0c84f318f565f7cdd72d12c\u0022\u003EGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour\u2014Wellington Central):\u003C/span\u003E I am sure my colleague Clare Curran will be able to take another call and carry on with her excellent speech. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001247\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EI refer us back to Part 1 of the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. Part 1 repeals Part 6A of the Electricity Act 1992. I think it is worthwhile to take just a moment to reflect on the purpose of the part that we are repealing. The purpose of Part 6A is, in part, to implement a 10-year restriction on new baseload fossil-fuelled thermal electricity generation capacity, except where an exemption is appropriate\u2014for example, to ensure security of supply. I find it difficult to understand why the National Government would want to repeal something like that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001248\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EThis restriction is part of a wider plan in respect of our sustainability that the Labour-led Government had been working on. Yesterday in the House we heard uncertainty as to whether the emissions trading scheme has been suspended or whether it is continuing in some other form. We also know that as part of our emissions trading scheme Labour and the Greens had agreed on an insulation package, we had the biofuels obligation, and we had brought through this renewable preference focus. That was Labour\u2019s plan to help address our issues of sustainability\u2014a long-term plan to start dealing with a long-term issue like climate change. In Part 1 of this bill we see \u201Cshort-termism\u201D, whereby National says that it made a promise on this issue and it is going to go through with it. It is short-term logic and it does not follow through on the importance of the issue of climate change. National does not seem to have a plan. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001249\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EEarlier today we heard the Minister in the chair, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, say we just had to wait\u2014that is what he told us. Well, climate change is a pretty pressing issue. We need a plan, and we need to know what is going on in terms of the National Government\u2019s overall sustainability plan. How will it address those climate change issues? It is not acceptable for National to bring a bill to this House and say that it is getting rid of the renewable preference, but that it does not know what else is happening. It does not know what the rest of the plan is. It is not even sure where we are going on the whole issue of sustainability. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001250\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EThis is a reckless bill. It looks backwards. It takes us backwards. It is a nail in the coffin for New Zealand internationally. I have stood on the world stage and talked about New Zealand\u2019s environmental record, and I have been proud to do that. I was proud to do that under a National Government when I was working at the United Nations in New York because Simon Upton, a former Minister for the Environment, stood up for New Zealand. He stood up and said that New Zealand had a record that we could be proud of. He meant what he said when he talked about sustainability. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001251\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EThe Labour Government came in and tried to carry that on. In Part 1 we see the repeal of one part\u2014one aspect\u2014of that attempt. It repeals a part of legislation that says that we will put a restriction on baseload fossil-fuelled thermal electricity generation. There are exemptions. There will be times when we will allow that to happen. But we want to send a signal out to the world, to New Zealand, and to the environment that we can work with renewable generation. Somehow or other National seems to be telling us that security of supply is incompatible with renewable generation. That seems to be what it is saying. But we have heard time and time again in this debate that that is not true.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001252\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002279b40318e4f748bab8fbf2c85977c8b6\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: New Zealand used to be 90 percent renewable.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001253\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fffa6b8a0e7b4a7284a1c7ec64977b7b\u0022\u003EGRANT ROBERTSON\u003C/span\u003E: That is right. New Zealand used to use 90 percent renewable energy. We are working away, with 1,400 megawatts of new generation projects coming on stream over the next 4 years. David Parker has outlined those projects; they are meeting the demand that we need to meet. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001254\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EWhy does National want to repeal Part 6A? This repeal bill sends a signal to the rest of the world that we do not take seriously our sustainability challenge. The fundamental thing that New Zealand needs to do is show the world that we are taking the sustainability challenge seriously. It is not just about the environment or the future that we want to leave for the next generations; it is about our economy, because it is about how we are seen in the world. We have already seen this with the statements Gordon Brown has made and his policy\u2014which we are looking at\u2014that could restrict people travelling to New Zealand if cost is a factor for them. Now we will see it again and again. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001255\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EThe National Government has to wake up and realise that our reputation internationally is important not just for foreign affairs officials but also for our economy and for getting our goods sold overseas. The image we are sending with this bill is that we do not want to go towards a renewable future. Everyone else in the world might be going towards a renewable future, but we do not want to! We want to go backwards to more coal and more gas, rather than to look ahead to our natural advantages. Part 1 repeals one of the most significant things that we could do. It is a key part of the picture, yet National has decided it wants to go backwards.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001256\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002273689dd2b28945b2b4cacd600c5e82e2\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: You\u2019ve gone backwards for 9 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001257\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a6fa733a14ca47568358a6574100a312\u0022\u003EGRANT ROBERTSON\u003C/span\u003E: We have not gone backwards for 9 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022 data-id=\u0022842313dea23442859b2245f71e6da193\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001258\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022842313dea23442859b2245f71e6da193\u0022\u003EHon STEVE CHADWICK (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to take a call to build on the previous speaker\u2019s comments about New Zealand\u2019s international reputation. I have just returned from a climate change conference in Viet Nam that I attended with Dr Paul Hutchison and Sue Kedgley, where we hung our heads down in shame. This conference was about climate change and the effect on population and population demographics. We used to be looked at, in this forum, as leaders in the world. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001259\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225121345085a24e0390b3931faad75a37\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Absolute rubbish!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001260\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002214a844e6070f45a2a251056caac129f8\u0022\u003EHon STEVE CHADWICK\u003C/span\u003E: And I will build on another conference I went to in Chile where I was asked with Ministers of Conservation\u2014I say to Dr Nick Smith\u2014to also give a paper on conservation and climate change. People at these conferences were looking to New Zealand to be a leader, and to take keys and intuition from the way that New Zealand was going. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001261\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003EI think that the trifecta the Government has plonked in the House under urgency brings shame on this Government. What did we see? We saw the gutting of the emissions trading scheme and that Dr Paul Hutchison now has to chair a select committee\u2014with no gender perspective on the terms of reference, I note. Women are hugely affected by the effects of climate change and we will make sure that we fix that. The emissions trading scheme special select committee is going to waggle on for some time, giving no clues to the market about the investment signals that the previous Minister of Energy had been very clear on, with our energy strategy stating that we would have 20 percent renewable generation by 2025.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001262\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b890a424123245bbaf38ca13edb6c8dd\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: 90 percent.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001263\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227e75ea0c7c3942408476522f315f05f1\u0022\u003EHon STEVE CHADWICK\u003C/span\u003E: It is 90 percent. What a line in the sand that was.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001264\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220bead52e205f4a28ba237652c60f6870\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: 20 percent! That\u2019s about right. That\u2019s where it was heading.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001265\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022da2b9a8d625b460799e713d9eecad393\u0022\u003EHon STEVE CHADWICK\u003C/span\u003E: I will correct that, I say to Dr Smith. It was 90 percent renewable generation by 2025. What a wonderful signal that was by the previous Minister of Energy. We also had the biofuels target. Shame on the Government now for the damage it has done to the biofuels obligation and to investor signals in what was a lofty goal for New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001266\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003ENow tonight there is the trifecta: this ridiculous Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. I am ashamed that after all the work we did, led by the then Prime Minister Helen Clark, we are now looking at a cumulative effect that is not going to let New Zealand hold up its head in international fora and say we are leaders on climate change. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001267\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003ESo what do we have? We now have a Prime Minister who has also made himself\u2014and I thought it was very clever at the time\u2014the Minister of Tourism. As well as looking at footballs for the World Cup, he will also go around the world as Minister of Tourism touting the brand of clean, green New Zealand. I think our Prime Minister needs to look very closely at this trifecta, which signals a slipping and sliding back to the times before Labour came into Government in 1999. It is a sad day for us. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001268\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003EI think the other thing about all of these signals is that these are deemed to be \u201Curgent\u201D measures\u2014lifting a 10-year moratorium on baseload thermal energy. It is absolute rubbish that we have to be doing this in urgency, and that it will not go to a select committee to allow the Major Energy Users Group, the small energy-developers, and the consumers to come before that select committee to give their view. I am ashamed of the process that this legislation is going through now; it is absolutely shaming. The country is noticing it and soon it will wake up to realise that this was the genesis\u2014as Jeanette Fitzsimons said\u2014for allowing the production at e3p and Kaipara. Of course this was what this was all about\u2014opening up the way to gas\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001269\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ba2ea50d595f4922a6552729156555ac\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: e3p at Kaipara?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001270\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227c6fbb0f275543719684eaeee4aac354\u0022\u003EHon STEVE CHADWICK\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014no, at Huntly\u2014and opening up other thermal baseload generation. The spokesperson, when he was in Opposition, kept asking David Parker why he was so risk-averse about lifting the 10-year ban. I also want to mention the first role of the Minister of Energy, which was to come into what was my old electorate, which I love dearly, to open the Kawerau power station. And how did that happen for Mighty River?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022 data-id=\u0022ba1dd4af528b46af909bfcd12d5855c5\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001271\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ba1dd4af528b46af909bfcd12d5855c5\u0022\u003ENATHAN GUY (Senior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022 data-id=\u002287568574ce784d358d2fb0139a5e7608\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001272\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002287568574ce784d358d2fb0139a5e7608\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. Another hour passes and another Act is repealed by the National Government, another round of select committee hearings is bypassed, and another regulatory impact statement fails to be produced to this House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001273\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI find that part quite amazing, I have to say, given the rhetoric from that side of the Chamber about the importance of regulatory impact statements.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001274\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aa72bbdea275407f9d85621264957eaf\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: They have a Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001275\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bcf4445b6d1f41348c96d043cce8850f\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN\u003C/span\u003E: Absolutely! Those members think the issue is so important that they have a Minister for Regulatory Reform, yet the House has not seen one adequate regulatory impact statement.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EWe are speaking on Part 1, which repeals Part 6A of the Electricity Act 1992. Given the brevity of the bill before us, for the edification of members I would like to read from section 62A, which gives the purpose of Part 6A: \u201CThe purpose of this Part is to reduce the impact of fossil-fuelled thermal electricity generation on climate change by creating a preference for renewable electricity generation through the implementation of a 10-year restriction\u201D\u2014I highlight that part, for the edification of members\u2014\u201Con new baseload fossil-fuelled thermal electricity generation capacity, except when an exemption is appropriate (for example, to ensure security of supply).\u201D That last part is particularly interesting, and I would like to dwell on it, if I may.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001277\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229c2170dc29654e43acd2b64fc8c839ff\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: You may.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001278\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022592115a3ad894b3ea10cf754caf75768\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001279\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220a08c260a3a840db83cd3dff8a81f0e7\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN\u003C/span\u003E: I will; thank you, colleagues. We have heard that one of the reasons for the existence of this bill is to give that all-important security of supply. No one is doubting the importance of security of supply. That is why Labour legislated for it; that is why we pointed out its importance in the purpose section of Part 6A of the Act. Now we see it being used as an excuse for Part 6A in its entirety to be repealed. I see that the Minister in the chair, Gerry Brownlee, has a picture book in front of him at the moment, so perhaps he is not concentrating fully on the happenings of the Committee. I have a question for him: what is the point? If this bill is all about security of supply, and Labour has already set out provisions for that, what is the point? In fact, the Minister has heard speakers on this side of the Chamber point out that plenty of new generation is coming on stream over the next 4 years. In fact, we need much less generation than we have coming on stream. We are prepared, so what is the point?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001280\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EAll I see on that side of the Chamber is a complete lack of aspiration. I know that National members would like to patent that word. It is their favourite. It is the word of the hour: \u201CWe are going to turbocharge aspiration.\u201D In fact, as far as I can see, turbocharging aspiration is code for ramming legislation through the House. Their turbocharged aspiration has brought us the repeal of Labour\u2019s biofuels legislation and, now, the repeal of Part 6A of the Act. What does this tell us? If we might actually have to build a new industry, we might actually have to bring forward entrepreneurial Kiwis to create jobs, and we might actually have to be a bit creative in the work we do, the National Government believes that it is too hard and we should get rid of it. That is what aspiration means to the National Government, and that is all that we have seen.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001281\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EThere is a lack of aspiration for our environment, and that is the critical part for me. I am standing here proudly as a child of the 1980s, but with some shame at what members from the 1970s, 1960s, 1950s, and beyond, have brought forward for us. What does this bill say to the next generation of Kiwis?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001282\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002226f79731b86f4ae7aa002e0bd1937163\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Oh!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001283\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022afe3089551ae45d5a19ca5f93795ec2c\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN\u003C/span\u003E: Where is the can-do attitude, I ask Dr Smith. Where is the can-do attitude? I can tell members that the Labour Government had aspiration for this country. We saw what was possible, we combined it with our absolute dedication and commitment to improving the environment of New Zealand, and we put forward legislation, which the National Government is now busily repealing. I would also add\u2014to look forward a little\u2014that I know that the National Government is also very keen to get to work on the Resource Management Act. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022 data-id=\u0022081c03d3251843c99792e9178879fa0b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001284\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002267431f57-e958-4c83-b438-7da8061d479e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022081c03d3251843c99792e9178879fa0b\u0022\u003EPAUL QUINN (National):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022977fd5855c6948f1bc30f3c9df0e6fbd\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00225ec2c984ecce4aeb8983c7492bf63f0e\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That Part 1 be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EPart 1 agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001285\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022fdca10983b57471485d43ff3965e3655\u0022\u003EPart 2  Consequential amendments to principal Act\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u002299d11482a33446a687d8c5d17c3fe11d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001286\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002299d11482a33446a687d8c5d17c3fe11d\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E I will talk to Part 2, which is a relatively small part with some consequential amendments to other parts of the principal Act, beyond the repealing of Part 3. I want to address my remarks on this part to rebut some of the logic\u2014actually, logic is far too strong a word\u2014some of the commentary that the Hon Dr Nick Smith has made throughout the debate, in the first reading and in the second reading. Actually, he was active during the biofuels bill, too, but I should not talk about that at length when we are dealing with the Committee stage of this. He was active, also, last week, when we were setting up a select committee to look into climate change. But I really should not talk about that at great length, because we must contain ourselves to the purposes of the Committee stage. But the consistent theme has been, in the words of the Hon Dr Nick Smith\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001287\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002278cae01f675c4c108a5d239c642a3e08\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. We are debating Part 2 of the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. This part deals with only the consequential amendments, such as the powers of the Electricity Commission to investigate issues in respect of the electricity renewable preference provisions that are being repealed. I think you should require the member to speak on that part.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001288\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002287f1dde15f7a4546aafdef58346e8ad5\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: That is right; you have made a fair point. Thank you. I think the member on his feet knows that. I just say that when it comes to closures, repetition and relevance are a matter that the Chair considers. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001289\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222a5456e06ca647dfb17425d45c3dc51b\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: I thank the Hon Dr Nick Smith for repeating the very words I had used. This is like being in an echo chamber, not in the Chamber of the House of Representatives. The point I was about to make, and now will make, which is relevant to this part because this part makes some consequential amendments and therefore makes the abolition of the energy renewable preference bill complete\u2014without it, it would not be complete\u2014is that the Hon Dr Nick Smith has throughout this debate said, for a day and a half now, that Labour\u2019s record on climate change was shocking, and that Labour\u2019s record on building fossil-fuelled plants has been shocking. He has been listing figures and listing power stations. He has been not taking his tablets, and all the while he has been voting against any improvement.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001290\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002241c14e37b50748b2aca19922765dfbb5\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. You can always tell when Labour members are in trouble with the debate; they get personal and nasty. I do not think that those sorts of statements do anything for the Committee, and I take offence.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001291\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223ecebd747c8c4468b047e9b094e0216f\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: Let me just say that we are going to have to change our habits, in terms of points of order. I will make a general point first, then I will respond. Members raising points of order should adhere to what the Standing Orders and Speakers\u2019 rulings say\u2014that they should be terse. The presiding officers will not tolerate barbs, innuendos, or imputations in points of order. We will deal with points of order in a fair and just way, in the House in general. The member has just offended in that way\u2014not in a particularly bad way, but it is symptomatic of what is going on. I want to make that point very clear. We are going to change our habits, as a House, about that. That is the first thing. The second thing is that the member did breach what is accepted. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001292\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f0ecc51dd5f7457480bb73d3b43b0371\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Very good, Mr Chairman. Dr Nick Smith has, all this while, said that the progress this country has made\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d61f5af4fa0e45ae99743c55e4bae24e\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I think the statement that was made by Mr Hodgson was offensive, and I take offence. I think the member should be required to withdraw and apologise, Mr Chairman.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001294\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225dfcd9cadb7342269b7e5314f72135b6\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: I ask the member to withdraw and apologise.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001295\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c4285aca0dc9415192ce228566b64c23\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: I withdraw and apologise. Right through the debate the Hon Dr Nick Smith has railed against this country\u2019s poor record, but voted to make it worse. I want him to get to his feet to explain what is logical about a member apparently caring a great deal about our progress on climate change, and apparently caring a great deal about emissions that occur in our electricity sector, but then voting to make them worse\u2014voting to get rid of biofuels, and in the case of this legislation and this part, which completes the abolition of the moratorium, voting to allow the building of baseload fossil-fuelled generation. He speaks in one direction and votes in another. I want the honourable gentleman to take the call and explain himself, because he has not got any logic to his logic. The gentleman says one thing and votes in the other direction. I am getting sick of it. I reckon\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001296\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223cc912bd0ad4494f8cb9c567bb9338ba\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. We are meant to be debating Part 2. It is a very narrow part, and it changes, very narrowly, the investigative powers of the Electricity Commission. The Standing Order around the Committee stage debate is that the member needs to narrowly reflect on those issues in Part 2. I ask that he be required to comply with the Standing Orders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001297\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a1a80cdc0cd1407387d5bf404e9cf842\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: I uphold that point of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001298\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fc75350af2d34d2a86bc4087d69682e8\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Very good, Mr Chairperson. I was simply making the point that Part 2 completes the abolition of the moratorium. Therefore, by completing the abolition of the moratorium, Part 2 allows the moratorium to be lifted; therefore, it being lifted allows for the development of further fossil-fuelled electricity generation, and, therefore, is not consistent with anyone who argues against that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001299\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe most vociferous arguments against those things have come from the Hon Dr Nick Smith, who, none the less, votes in the other direction. I do not understand it, and there are a bunch of words I cannot use to describe it, so I shall not. But I do think that, in the course of this part of the Committee stage of the bill, the Hon Dr Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment, should get on his pins and describe what it is about his contribution that is remotely logical. So far, it appears to me to be bereft of logic. The good gentleman has got himself a PhD from somewhere and therefore has to have a couple of brains to rub together, and I would like to see that exposed. I would like to see the gentleman get to his feet and see whether he can make something resembling a coherent argument in favour of fewer emissions but somehow against a moratorium that would stop them. Thank you, Mr Chairperson.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u002269d0de4ec89847138f2bf444448e86c6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001300\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002269d0de4ec89847138f2bf444448e86c6\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E Part 2 amends the principal legislation by removing the inquiry powers of the Electricity Commission. I will discuss those inquiry powers and describe to the Committee how those powers currently work under the existing legislation and why it is important that they not be repealed. One reason I want to explore this is that when the existing legislation was passed, one of the principal objections raised in the debate by National Party members was that, essentially, the decision as to whether an exemption should be given from the restrictions was a ministerial discretion, which effectively enabled the future shape of the electricity market to be determined by ministerial fiat. That was never the case, and it is interesting that in this debate National members are no longer using that justification; they have moved to different grounds. I make that point because it shows that the underlying purpose now is political, not principled. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001301\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe existing legislation states that the Minister of Energy can grant exemptions in a number of categories, and that it is for the Electricity Commission to do an inquiry on an application by someone who wants to come within the ambit of one of those exemptions, in order to see whether the exemption should be granted. The commission then makes a recommendation to the Minister of Energy, and the Minister has the authority to do only one of two things: the Minister can either accept the recommendation or reject the recommendation. The Minister of Energy cannot replace the recommendation of the commission with some different decision. The Minister cannot replace the recommendation with his or her own decision, but can accept or reject the recommendation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001302\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe exceptions that are allowed for under the legislation, which the Electricity Commission has the duty to consider, are set out in section 62G in Part 6A of the Electricity Act. The first is that the Minister of Energy can grant an exemption\u2014again, on the recommendation of the Electricity Commission\u2014if the specified generation plant will be non-baseload plant that will have an average load factor less than a prescribed limit, will emit greenhouse gases less than a prescribed limit, or will have a start-up time of less than a prescribed limit. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001303\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe second exemption is where there is a combination of renewable or other non - fossil-fuelled plant, together with fossil fuels. That cogeneration process can be a sensible way to generate electricity. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001304\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe third exemption is one that I have mentioned in previous contributions in response to the National Government\u2019s assertion that the country could not build new, more efficient thermal plant to retire less efficient coal plant, for example. That category exemption is found in section 62G(1)(e). It states that the specified generation plant that could be allowed will be connected and operated in circumstances where an existing thermal electricity generation plant will be retired in whole or in part, and that the specified generation plant, together with any part of the existing thermal electricity generation plant that is not retired, will be operated in a manner that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent, based on emissions of the existing thermal electricity generation plant and the projected emissions assessed in the prescribed manner. It also requires the Electricity Commission not to reduce the security of supply. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001305\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003ESo what would happen in practice under the legislation as it stands will not be able to happen if Part 2 of this bill passes in its current form\u2014that is, the Electricity Commission will lose its ability to make that inquiry. If, as National members say, they are concerned about being able to replace inefficient thermal plant with efficient thermal plant, then the Electricity Commission is the body that would listen to those applications, and it would have the expertise to assess the security requirements of the system. For example, we do not want to lose the whole of the Huntly power station to some interruptible gas-peaking plant, because that would not be good for the security of supply, but we might be willing to have that replaced by a more fuel-efficient gas plant that has lower emissions than a gas-fired plant. It would be for the Electricity Commission\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022 data-id=\u00225d4f8a73317e494e96e7e55e1822f2f8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001306\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225d4f8a73317e494e96e7e55e1822f2f8\u0022\u003ENATHAN GUY (Senior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022 data-id=\u0022a6a481fe0dff4ca79b8e77b541dbd3b7\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001307\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022a6a481fe0dff4ca79b8e77b541dbd3b7\u0022\u003EGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour\u2014Wellington Central):\u003C/span\u003E I just want to build on the comments of my colleague David Parker about the powers of the Electricity Commission, which are covered under Part 2 of the bill, because, as was kindly pointed out to us by members opposite, we are debating the investigation powers of the commission, which are being removed as a consequence of what we have already done with Part 1. Really, we have to ask what the commission would be investigating. We have already heard from David Parker that some of that is around the question of exemptions; and in listening to the debate, it seems to me that a number of members opposite do not seem to realise that there was an exemption part of the Act. It does not even seem as though they want to know that. The very reason it was there was to allow, as we know, the Electricity Commission to investigate situations where there was a more efficient thermal option that could be brought on board. That was an important part of the Act, because although we wanted to ensure that renewable generation was preferenced, and we wanted to make sure that New Zealand goes forward into the future with renewable energy, we also wanted to make sure that we continued to develop efficient options where they are. So that is what the commission would have been investigating, but it will not be able to do that now, as we go to repeal that legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001308\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EWhat else would the commission be investigating? It would potentially be investigating other areas where people perhaps were going to breach the moratorium. We do not know that there was a lot of that going on, because what we do know is that there was a large amount of renewable generation coming on stream\u20141,400 megawatts. So it would have been unlikely that the Electricity Commission would have been investigating this kind of breach of the moratorium, but it is possible. Once again, we will not be going down that path because we are here trying to repeal that under Part 2. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001309\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EAnother part of what the Electricity Commission would have been looking into around the grounds, terms, and conditions of exemption was under section 62H of the Act. The Minister of Energy would have had to specify in the exemption the ground or the purpose under which the exemption was going to be granted. It then went on to state what conditions would be imposed upon that, and if the person was granted an exemption, he or she then had to specify the kind of generation plant that would be operated and how it fitted with the rest of the Act. So that is the kind of work that the Electricity Commission would have been investigating. It was an important thing. But a really critical part that we have not discussed yet is section 62I, which is actually the public consultation process. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001310\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aed4266de83243d2a56291a7a165028c\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: National doesn\u2019t believe in that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001311\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229bb6565f7900469e9578699fa18d7402\u0022\u003EGRANT ROBERTSON\u003C/span\u003E: I know that National would find that a difficult subject to discuss, because we have seen throughout this week that public consultation is not something it is interested in, but that was the role that the Electricity Commission was going to do\u2014to make sure the voice of the public would be heard if there was a case for an exemption or, indeed, if there was a case for someone being prosecuted. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001312\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003ESection 62I of the Electricity Act states: \u201CBefore making a recommendation to the Minister of Energy to grant an exemption, the Commission must\u2014(a) publish its intention to do so \u2026 and (b) give a reasonable opportunity to those persons to give those views; and (c) have regard to those views.\u201D So that is what the commission was going to be doing. It was going to be operating a public forum in which people could put forward their views. That is a very, very good thing and it is not something we have had an opportunity to do under this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001313\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EThis bill makes a significant change to the way we look at our sustainability challenge going forward, and there is no opportunity for public consultation. Obviously the Electricity Commission had that role and that is now gone. The select committee would have been a great venue at which to have a debate about the mixture of New Zealand\u2019s energy generation that we want going forward. But, no, National has come to this Parliament for the past 2 weeks to show us that it does not really want to listen to the public\u2019s concerns. It does not want a body like the Electricity Commission to have the opportunity to hear public concerns. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001314\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EIt simply wants to ride roughshod over New Zealand\u2019s global and local interests. It is sort of like a perverse version of the \u201Cthink global, act local\u201D approach that the National Government is taking. On a global level it wants to take us backwards by ensuring that we will not only be made a laughing stock on the world stage but also be told here in New Zealand that we will not look forward and we will not try to protect our environment. What we see in Part 2 is the enabling of the repeal of an important part of the make-up of our sustainability going forward. We want renewable energy because it is good for the environment. That is also good for jobs and employment, and we can see that right around the world\u2014in the European Union, and in Germany in particular where a lot of jobs have been created in the renewable energy industry. That is not what the National Government wants. It does not want to see any jobs created in this area; it wants to take us backwards to a time that realistically is not where we want to go.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022 data-id=\u0022d587f24921ee4cc3808dfe723ba98ffc\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001315\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c83012b4-3939-4753-80fc-1956a3e2bd1e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d587f24921ee4cc3808dfe723ba98ffc\u0022\u003EMICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f44431ef-b505-4e94-9f57-a60b0a569bf7\u0022 data-id=\u00222895f06e6a8f4f22be34c066f58343e7\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001316\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f44431ef-b505-4e94-9f57-a60b0a569bf7\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222895f06e6a8f4f22be34c066f58343e7\u0022\u003EHon SHANE JONES (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I will take a short call\u2014a skimpy, small contribution inversely related to the problems that will follow\u2014on Part 2. I follow on from what Mr Robertson has said. The stripping away of these institutional powers worsens the capacity for ordinary, garden-variety Kiwis. Whether they be firms and users of energy, investors, or communities, they will have their rights to engage in participatory democracy stripped away from them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001317\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cb0506a604ad4be9a411e4893d243fcb\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: This is very good.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001318\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f44431ef-b505-4e94-9f57-a60b0a569bf7\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226fa6dc47e5c4471a8e8f66477848fd37\u0022\u003EHon SHANE JONES\u003C/span\u003E: I say to Mr Brownlee that the bill is inversely related to a certain girth, but I will say more on that at another time. It is a very mean-spirited approach to people having a stake, an opportunity, to participate in, and influence the outcome of investments in, the energy sector. It might suit some narrow sectional interests that have been driving, for a whole host of reasons and for a long time, to change the character of energy investment and the range of sources from which we derive energy or the resources we use to create energy. In that sense it is a very blinkered approach. Others have spoken about how it will have ruinous consequences on our international reputation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001319\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f3da3e151ce547c0bdeda34a640aa5ef\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. We are meant to be debating Part 2 of the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. It is a very narrow part, dealing only with the deletion of the words \u201CCommission\u201D from the investigating powers of the Electricity Commission. I have listened carefully to the member. He has been well outside the Standing Orders, and you should require him to speak to the part.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001320\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f44431ef-b505-4e94-9f57-a60b0a569bf7\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002205852049fa0846b195256be1496b665d\u0022\u003EHon SHANE JONES\u003C/span\u003E: Speaking to the point of order, I say that it is quite simple. This strips away institutional powers, and it will have an effect in terms of how the full legislation is implemented.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001321\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002246ad52a14748458ab0fc06741f44596c\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: No, the member is getting into the debate. Several cautions have been given to Committee members to stay on target, to stay on message, and to keep within the realms of Part 2. I invite the member to continue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001322\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f44431ef-b505-4e94-9f57-a60b0a569bf7\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022be0c5be8df6e49b48814c54eb7298afb\u0022\u003EHon SHANE JONES\u003C/span\u003E: For fear of spurring another avian contribution from Dr Smith, I say fair enough. Dr Smith may laugh, but as I have said before, there is a famous M\u0101ori proverb: \u201CHe p\u012Bp\u012Bwharauroa atu i konei, ki kon\u0101\u2014when the cuckoo leaves one nest, it goes over there, still a cuckoo, so kaua koe e katakata. [do not laugh]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001323\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f44431ef-b505-4e94-9f57-a60b0a569bf7\u0022\u003ETo go back to Part 2, I say that it is an egregious slur that Dr Smith puts upon the ability of a parliamentarian to contribute to such an important matter. National has brought forth a set of ideas and is hiding them as narrow, technical amendments. But, in actual fact, it is a circuitous attempt to erode our ability to act in a sustainable and very wise fashion and uphold our international integrity in the eyes of our competitors. Also, it worsens the prospects of moving towards a broad, sustainable approach in relation to energy. This is a very worrisome, negative, and mean-spirited attempt to strip away a fantastic set of changes that was brought forward by my colleague here. The Government refused to allow them\u2014[Interruption] Ah, there is noise from the cuckoo\u2019s nest, and it is now being joined by chirps and trills from the back of the Chamber. Of course, those members fear the accuracy of what we are saying. One cannot reduce people\u2019s rights to participate, and one cannot force industry to pay higher costs as a consequence of stripping away the institution\u2019s ability to investigate and to test the worthiness of various energy proposals. For that reason this will be only a short contribution to the statutory landscape, until such time power returns to where it belongs. Kia ora t\u0101tou katoa.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022 data-id=\u0022b2a45b3d2ce44645ad39f105a8caef09\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001324\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b2a45b3d2ce44645ad39f105a8caef09\u0022\u003ETIM MACINDOE (National\u2014Hamilton West):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00227d41794b357a4605a9cbc60f7b4e6acd\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 53\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022c282632cbc92450aaf63381d478bab6b\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That Part 2 be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EPart 2 agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001325\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00220369cd11146d43ceaac4d94123bac570\u0022\u003EClauses 1 to 3\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u0022976719d81d794515968713bf5b152382\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001326\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022976719d81d794515968713bf5b152382\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to take a call in the debate on clauses 1, 2, and 3. I focus for a start on the date that this legislation comes into force, which is the day after the date on which the bill receives the Royal assent. We can take it from that that the Government intends, having passed this legislation in urgency, to take it as soon as it can to the Governor-General to get its Royal assent, and thereafter it intends this legislation to take effect. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001327\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI ask the Minister what the rush is and why the Government thinks there is a need to repeal the existing legislation\u2014which is the effect of this bill\u2014so soon, when it does not yet have the price of carbon in the economy that it says it will rely upon as the alternative in order to discourage thermal-based electricity and instead prefer renewable sources of electricity. We have heard from the National Government that it has adopted the Labour Government target of 90 percent renewable generation by 2025. But in order for there to be a meaningful prospect of that target being achieved, we have to build renewable generation in the future rather than more thermal generation, and that, of course, was what the existing legislation did. It placed restrictions on additional thermal generation, thereby encouraging New Zealand to go for renewable generation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001328\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe great thing about renewable generators, as we all know, is that once we have built them the fuel is free. We do not have to buy more gas and more coal for ever. But when Government members spoke during earlier stages in this debate, they said that they would achieve that effect through having a price on carbon. But, of course, we do not yet have a price on carbon in the electricity sector; we have a price of carbon in the forestry sector only and, indeed, that has already been undermined by the National Government saying that it will suspend the emissions trading scheme. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001329\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EWe have a select committee being set up by a motion and taken through this Parliament by the Leader of the House, who is also the Minister of Energy and Resources. This new select committee has been created to look at, amongst other things, whether we should have something other than an emissions trading scheme or whether we should, perhaps, have a carbon tax.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001330\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f44431ef-b505-4e94-9f57-a60b0a569bf7\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002244bd9d6146a64114924aa842f936f71d\u0022\u003EHon Shane Jones\u003C/span\u003E: Rodney Hide made them do it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001331\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a3cfa393e5664df9bbeed167501be762\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Rodney Hide made them do it; that is right. Amongst other things, those members were weak, and they thought that they should open up the ambit and extend the inquiry into matters relating to whether climate change is real. In the meantime we do not have a price on carbon. We have uncertainty as to when we will have a price on carbon, whether we will have a price on carbon, and whether the price of carbon will be anything near the real market price of carbon or will be at a low figure such as the figure proposed by the Business Roundtable, which would have little environmental effect and would not act to discourage more fossil-fuelled thermal electricity in any meaningful way. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001332\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI ask the Minister to take a call and explain why it is necessary to have such an early date for this legislation to come into effect, and to say whether he has considered having an assent date that is after the date when the select committee reports back on whether we should have an emissions trading scheme, or after the date on which we have certainty as to whether we will have a market price on carbon. As the Minister has said in his remarks at an earlier stage, he and his Government are relying on that price of carbon to discourage more fossil fuel - based generation and to instead have renewable generation. I just cannot understand, unless I have some explanation from the Minister, how it can be that we can rely on a price of carbon that does not yet exist. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001333\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThis also links back to the date on which the Electricity Commission loses its investigatory powers. Allied to those investigatory powers is the public right of participation in these decisions, because under the current law the commission has to publish notice of its intention to do something and to give a reasonable opportunity to let people express their views, and then it must have regard to those views. It seems inappropriate that those rights are being taken away.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u00225a4a58a650c240288cbb9e4e3e98c032\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001334\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225a4a58a650c240288cbb9e4e3e98c032\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E Right through this debate there has been one argument that the National Government could have put in favour of the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill, but has not. The idea came up in this stage of the debate: the former Minister of Energy, the Hon David Parker, put his finger on it. One way of describing the argument that the Government should have come up with in support of this legislation, but has failed to, goes like this: why would one bother to have a moratorium on fossil fuel generation when the emissions trading scheme is coming? Why would one do that when the electricity system is to face a marginal charge for carbon dioxide? What would be the point of having a moratorium in addition to that? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001335\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ERight through this debate the National Government has not adduced that argument; it has simply not thought it through. If I were in the Government I would argue in favour of the legislation that is before members by saying that it is belt and braces. Why would one need both? When it comes to the commencement clause, we need the belt at one point and braces thereafter\u2014or, if you like, braces at one point and the belt thereafter. Sooner or later, the stationary engine sector will come into the emissions trading scheme; it is scheduled to come in on\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001336\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227ede4792d308489687132ffd587f8de6\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: 2010.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001337\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226e84e485e54c48beb8c7589191d83a83\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: \u20141 January 2010. That is 12\u00BD months from now. Maybe the commencement date should be 1 January 2010 or\u2014just to be a little more careful, because a high-level select committee is going on and some people in this Chamber think that that means there is a lot of time to do not very much at all\u2014we could have a commencement date of \u201C1 January 2010, or at the inclusion of the stationary engine sector into the emissions trading scheme, whichever comes later\u201D. One could do it that way. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001338\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EI wonder whether the Minister would like to take a call and pick up the thoroughly good bit of logic put forward by my colleague the Hon David Parker. I wonder whether he would like to take a bit of help from the Opposition\u2014which has finally come up with a good reason why one might want this legislation\u2014and use the belt and braces argument. He could use the commencement clause to ensure that we have one and then the other, but never both. I wonder whether the Minister is tempted to rise from the chair and take a call to explain whether he thinks that logic has any fault in it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EIt seems to me that there is no intellectual grunt behind the Government\u2019s position. We are offering it some. I will do so again. One does not need both belt and braces. Let us have the belt for the moment and braces thereafter. Why do we not do that through the commencement clause? Why cannot the commencement clause read: \u201Cwill come into law on 1 January 2010, or at the arrival of the stationary engine sector into the emissions trading scheme, whichever comes later.\u201D? Then, if the Government needs a bit of extra time with its high-level select committee, nothing is lost\u2014the moratorium remains in place until it is replaced by the marginal cost of electricity generation inclusive of the cost of carbon dioxide. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001340\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThere is a certain magic to that idea\u2014certainly we think there is\u2014and we wonder whether the Minister, if he can stop yawning long enough, would like to get to his feet and tell us what he thinks might be wrong with it. Did he get it or shall I go though it a third time?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022 data-id=\u0022c815217f6acd4945b7faf0cc582637ad\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001341\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c815217f6acd4945b7faf0cc582637ad\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour\u2014New Lynn):\u003C/span\u003E It is appropriate to be debating the title clause of the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. It is hard to understand how anybody could not have a preference for renewable energy, as opposed to the counterfactual\u2014that is, energy that is not renewable and energy that will not be available for our grandchildren.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001342\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003EI am not a paid-up member of the Green Party, but I agree with its members that we face peak oil prices at some point. Even foreshadowing constraint, we live in a time when oil prices have reached US$150 a barrel. How long will it be before it is US$200 a barrel or US$400 a barrel? The long-run average trend is up, and against that background that will, of course, drag up the price of other fossil fuels, such as coal and other substitutes\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001343\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002222bfe92097de4a0baf3befb11a37a970\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: Gas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001344\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220fce178a74c34d54acc0abc6388854f5\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CUNLIFFE\u003C/span\u003E: Gas. In that kind of world, what is really important is that New Zealand, as an energy-dependent country, is well stocked with alternative energy sources. So it is absolutely vital that we create the incentives now, because of the long lead times that are required to bring in this production.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001345\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003EIt is also the case that because of the good work of the Hon David Parker and the outgoing Government, there are enough megawatts of capacity and renewable energy in store in the next few years to provide for the growth in baseload and peaking demand. That means that the renewable energy preference policy is working as it was planned and foreseen to do. But it worked only because the Labour Government had the fortitude to send a clear signal to the market, and the market cannot internalise that which the participants do not personally bear. The market cannot internalise the benefit to society of having a long-term plan for energy that is sustainable and protects our security. The market can only take to book the benefits that are relevant to each individual company.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001346\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003ETherefore it follows that clear Government leadership is required, and therefore in a fossil fuel - constrained world it follows that that policy was good, which brings us to the reason why we are here. Why on earth would we do this? Why on earth would we remove a preference that makes all the sense in the world? Nick Smith is smirking. I wonder why Dr Smith is smirking. He has a PhD, and he should be able to work out that this legislation is a giant act of shooting oneself in the fossil fuel foot.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001347\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003EThis policy does not actually have any relevance to the language in the explanatory note of the bill, which conveys that the legislation is somehow related to the emissions trading scheme. Let us just stand back and think for a second about why we have an emissions trading scheme. The emissions trading scheme allows our economy to adjust at a least-cost price path for any given level of carbon emission constraint. So at whatever level at which the Government would like to see us pumping soot into the atmosphere\u2014whatever level Rodney Hide thinks would be OK\u2014the cost of adjustment will be lower under tradable emissions. David Carter may laugh. The member represents the agricultural community, I believe.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001348\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222de66269136d485bb176dbc441994a9e\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I noted that the Minister in the chair, David Carter, was very keen to take a call as he interjected on the previous speaker. We are very happy for him to take a call. We note that he has not yet done so in the Committee stage.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001349\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022344212b4262b47b6a5ef73b5af1da4d2\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: That is not a point of order; the member knows that. I would remind the Minister that it is accepted practice not to interject from the Minister\u2019s chair, because he or she has access to a live microphone. I ask the Minister to restrain himself.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001350\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ed03b258b68e47b3baa82741a3df7f39\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CUNLIFFE\u003C/span\u003E: It is therefore very hard to imagine why the National Party in Government would want to impose change on New Zealand that at any given level of emission reduction would cost our economy more, when tomorrow it will announce significant increases to Government debt, a forecast track for higher unemployment, a forecast track for more difficult\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001351\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223ffc173ccb69414cb2880c18020706af\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s your legacy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001352\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fbd0aa7bc4794278bf1432fbaf51af11\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CUNLIFFE\u003C/span\u003E: No, no. [Interruption] I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. You are doing a great job as the Chair. I do not believe that anything the previous Government has done is \u201Cyour\u201D legacy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001353\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f935eddf7d47425ebf9221195c76c0c2\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: I respond to the member by saying that that is not a point of order, because the interjector does not have the call. It is the speaker with the call who should not bring the Chair into the debate. The only reason that that interjector is now in the debate is that the member has made mention of him. Had the member ignored the interjection, the person would not be in the record. The member has 59 seconds to continue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001354\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a488e54b46bc456e9a8d33e8804c961c\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CUNLIFFE\u003C/span\u003E: Is it not interesting that that member is still smirking? He is smirking about an international environment that is getting worse by the day. I understand the latest projections are for Chinese growth in the coming year to fall as low as 2 percent. And David Carter smirks. That member purports to represent agricultural producers, whose livelihoods will be negatively affected.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001355\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003EI ask Mr Carter whether this is just the arrogance of new-found office\u2014is that what it is about? He is a member from a sector that is characterised by high emissions of methane, of nitrous oxide, and of other greenhouse gases that will be hugely affected if this bill goes through.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001356\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002205f20a4c9ea84fecbb7034221e2b5ee5\u0022\u003EDr Paul Hutchison\u003C/span\u003E: Have you got any solutions?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001357\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ebc2cef94f6f4cc9b727c75eca2a23fe\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CUNLIFFE\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, we have solutions. One of those solutions is to ensure that we are able to have renewable energy flows, which means that we can adjust with the least disruption to our economy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022 data-id=\u00222d44461c94e34fc39f0ee74895022769\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001358\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222d44461c94e34fc39f0ee74895022769\u0022\u003EHon DAVID CARTER (Minister of Agriculture):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022 data-id=\u0022871fce6134b54b02a266071be4824a42\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001359\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022871fce6134b54b02a266071be4824a42\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS (Labour\u2014Rimutaka):\u003C/span\u003E It is somewhat ironic to be rising to speak on the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill when we have had such a lack of energy from the Minister in charge of it, Gerry Brownlee. In fact, I do not think he has taken a single call on this bill, which is in his name\u2014not a single call to speak on this bill. He got an exemption! Do members think he would be eligible for an exemption\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001360\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a5c0c4413d2d47b8837f5dba30b37dd0\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: Thermal generation!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001361\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022062079caea7b48e0a64b86e6e3c24544\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014for thermal generation?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001362\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI am very happy to rise and speak on the title clause of this bill and to offer other potential titles. I thought maybe we could call it the \u201CClimate Change Denial Bill\u201D. But then I thought maybe we could call it the \u201CClimate Change Denial Bill No. 2\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001363\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222febd1d10cc34e889da9cdd2e7249276\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: Or No. 3.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001364\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fe267f8e8fb34d0fa0b15a39355e4c4d\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Maybe even No. 3. The bill that we were debating immediately before this one, the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill, would be \u201CClimate Change Denial Bill No. 1\u201D; this bill would be \u201CClimate Change Denial Bill No. 2\u201D. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001365\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI am a bit confused as to where Government members stand on climate change. I know that they are taking a balanced approach: on one day they say it is a hoax, and on another day they say that of course they have always believed in climate change. Then they seem to come back again and say that it is a hoax. So I am a bit confused, and I imagine that anybody listening at home would be a little bit confused as to the Government\u2019s actual views on climate change. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001366\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI notice that the Minister for the Environment, Nick Smith, is suddenly very quiet. Clearly he has been railroaded by the other members of his party. Maybe that is another potential title for the bill: it could be the \u201CWhat Happened to the Bluegreens Bill\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001367\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d091a17d7497485081bc1671a3545aaa\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: It was in the Bluegreens policy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001368\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c339b5131b3046a886ca0ef605d01139\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Was it in the Bluegreens policy?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001369\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002284f218134f2c4041aedebb13b8a090e1\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, it was.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001370\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002288c28da800174031a502cf014510c64f\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Is that right? So how is that possibly\u2014in any way, shape, or form\u2014green?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001371\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022564582b9bb6f4b75b6836c84e3e74e3b\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s blue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001372\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002217c5069eff344d0a8695bdd9e38a4994\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: It is blue\u2014it is certainly very blue\u2014but I am not sure where the green bit comes in when those members are saying that they do not really like renewable energy and they do not really think it is all that important. It is certainly not a high priority for this Government to make renewable energy important. This is the second bill in a row where we are debating whether to wind back the clock on renewable energy. That is what National seems to think is one of its most important priorities immediately on becoming the Government. In fact, it thinks it is so important that the public of New Zealand should not have their chance to have a say on its decisions, at all. The Government just rams the bill through under urgency without anybody having a chance to have a say.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001373\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWe could call this the \u201CClean Green Image Revocation Bill\u201D, because that is actually what this is all about.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001374\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dd642277fd1849b8988d4dbaa462b0db\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: It was only ever an image.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001375\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227d9c392bd36f42288c343556f1adadfe\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Dr Smith says that it was only ever an image, so we were never a clean, green country. The people of New Zealand who are very proud of our clean, green image will be very, very disappointed to hear that. They will be very, very disappointed to hear that, according to this new National Government, we are not a clean, green country, at all.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001376\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225d88149e21be4d1390f5306292ccfc7c\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: Aotearoa\u2014the land of the long white cloud.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001377\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022196f8df6484247e7ad39b5b0fa9d5ce6\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: That is right\u2014the land of the long white cloud. It is not a clean, green country any more, and according to National it never was anyway. So let us not worry too much about that\u2014let us not worry about that, at all!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001378\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWe could call this the \u201CWhere Has the ACT Party Gone Bill\u201D. This is yet another bill being passed that has no regulatory impact statement. How many bills have been passed that have no regulatory impact statements or very inadequate regulatory impact statements? I wonder whether we have a Minister for Regulatory Reform now, and whether he has a view on the fact that there is no regulatory impact statement on this bill and that there has been a complete absence of any form of regulatory impact assessment on the legislation that is being rammed through. We could call this the \u201CWhere Did Think Big Go Bill\u201D. Where did Think Big go? This is the \u201CThink Big Legacy Bill\u201D, perhaps.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001379\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EMembers opposite have been talking about increased power prices, but we know that in most instances thermal generation is actually more expensive than renewable generation. Why on earth does this Government want to promote more thermal generation\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001380\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b6db12ea1fbb4ff8bd6d91aa2af79d4c\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: So why do you need to regulate it if it\u2019s cheaper?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001381\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226aca0b32140747229289a73ac56489eb\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Perhaps the Minister for the Environment needs a little lesson on how the electricity market actually works. Maybe he could talk to the Minister of Energy and Resources, but I am not entirely sure that he understands it, either. I am not entirely sure that he has quite got to grips with that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001382\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dd76d214ce7348c0b20a60464c7c4740\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: He hasn\u2019t got to that page in his colouring book.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001383\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220806eab84b464d2e811fd5be4b65c791\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: That is right. The picture book has not quite got up to that part yet. The cartoonists cannot quite draw it fast enough for him to keep up.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001384\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThere are many other titles for this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001385\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225714ac5d3f964d74b86c1da409df29dc\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: Hoax.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001386\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226913eb26b23142a7ad57b92cb2cdfa1f\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: It could be the \u201CClimate Change is a Hoax Bill\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001387\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228425005bf4b84666aa77d3531b9552d3\u0022\u003EGrant Robertson\u003C/span\u003E: A balanced approach.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001388\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022efb48239452f4ffeb91d5ad2c65a47de\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: It could be the \u201CBalanced Approach Bill\u201D. Again, we are coming back to the balanced approach.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022 data-id=\u0022f81bfe7cbb7b4aa2a97ee85c592a1db0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001389\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cfdabe42-521a-4dca-afab-3e781731a130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f81bfe7cbb7b4aa2a97ee85c592a1db0\u0022\u003EDr PAUL HUTCHISON (National\u2014Hunua):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001390\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002256af166eb7534c049e08db0c223f538a\u0022\u003EThe CHAIRPERSON (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: I will take one more call.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022 data-id=\u002211a3d3642a184e53836d3641a1d55442\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001391\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002211a3d3642a184e53836d3641a1d55442\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I am happy to take a call on clauses 1, 2, and 3 of the bill. Again, I urge the Minister of Energy and Resources to get on his feet and actually respond to the criticisms and the questions of the Opposition. I hope the Minister is not running on renewable energy, because if he is I am starting to think it ain\u2019t so flash. Instead of sitting there and yawning, looking through his picture book, and doodling on the little bit of paper in front of him, maybe he could take a call.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001392\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI remind the Minister that we are in urgency because of his Government. He is giving us looks as though somehow it is our fault that he is forced to sit in the chair and answer questions. He is yawning like nothing else. I remind him that it was his Government that called urgency\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001393\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002279fa9f5e04f7477b8b7a51ee119660db\u0022\u003EChris Tremain\u003C/span\u003E: And this is the title.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001394\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226d3e9d3eb223407d86f36b9070da5b1d\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014and is putting this bill through the House under urgency, and that is the reason he is in the chair. Maybe we could call the bill, I say to Mr Tremain, the \u201CWould It Not Be Wonderful If We Had a Minister in the Chair Who Took a Call Bill\u201D. Maybe that would be a good title for this legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001395\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EOnce again, we see legislation being rammed through Parliament under urgency that does not have to be rammed through Parliament under urgency. Maybe another title for this legislation could be the \u201CWe Desperately Need to Look Like We Are Doing Something in the 100 Days of Turbocharged Aspirational Action That We Promised the Electorate, So We Are Forcing Through Legislation That Could Have Gone to a Select Committee, Because We Have Decided That the Right of the People of New Zealand to Have Their Say at a Select Committee is Less Important Than Our Image That We Are Doing Something Bill\u201D. I know that it is a long name, but I think it fairly encompasses\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001396\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bca252b24ec44a4a943b488af3a877dc\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s longer than the bill!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001397\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c5e3884c53f04ca985eb92304cf5150e\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014it is longer than the bill\u2014what the bill does. I know that members on this side of the House have been making this point a lot during urgency. That is because 100 percent of the bills passed so far have been rammed through under urgency with no select committee process. That might be a record that the member is proud of, and his little twitchy smile tells me that he is proud of it, but the select committee process is important to this House. It is a way that we can make legislation better. There are concerns\u2014[Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001398\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eea66d004d2849a8bd5971f93208469b\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: It protects them from themselves.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001399\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022029d112a3ad6433db4171ed76d39918b\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: It does. The Minister may think he knows everything, but there may be some people out there in the country who know a little bit more about this and who want to have their say. People who are affected by this legislation might want to have their say, and the Minister is denying them that right. I think that is appalling.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EAnother title for this bill could be \u201CAnother Bad Day for the Planet Bill\u201D. My colleague Steve Chadwick in her contribution earlier raised the fact that this bill is part of the trifecta of the urgency last week and this week. Mr Brownlee, in either his first or his second reading speech\u2014I cannot remember which one it was, because they were so close together; they did not have the usual 6-month select committee process in between them, and were about an hour apart\u2014basically said that doing something will make things worse. That is also the argument we heard from Mr Brownlee on the biofuel legislation\u2014that the fact that we had done something would make things worse than if we had done absolutely nothing and left it up to the market to decide everything. Well, I say that it is shameful for a Government to absolve itself from responsibility like that. It may have no ideas on how to do anything, but that does not mean it should be ramming through legislation under urgency to repeal legislation that was developed at a select committee and was passed through this House, when it actually has no idea what it will do.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001401\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThis is yet another piece of legislation that puts the cart before the horse. The Minister is saying to the people of New Zealand: \u201CTrust me; trust me that I will do what I said I would do, and that I will implement all the things that I am promising to make this better.\u201D Well, why should we trust this Minister? He comes from a Government that in 2 weeks has made New Zealand a laughing stock on the world stage when it comes to climate change.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001402\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f5bbe919030841aba91ed2653b823e33\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Rubbish!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001403\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022492e9698b27145ebb1bc53da6ea268ed\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: It is true, I say to Dr Smith. The member probably has no concern about New Zealand being a laughing stock. He is probably quite used to it. But the fact is that is how we are now being seen. In 2 weeks the Government has undone a number of years\u2019 worth of good work, and for no reason. Today the Minister, Gerry Brownlee\u2014he might consider this a good day at the office\u2014lost a businessman the $10 million that he had invested, by repealing the biofuel obligation. The Minister in the chair might be proud of that\u2014I do not know; I do not know what drives some of the people in the National Government\u2014but one would think that it would be a bad thing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001404\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EWe could also describe this bill as incredibly bad for research and development in New Zealand. Last week we had the repeal of the research and development tax credit, which would have helped some of our most innovative businesses, some of which were doing work in this area. Mr Brownlee knocked them out last week. This week he is knocking out renewable energy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022 data-id=\u002214992371a1f24e2f9c5095544e540b64\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001405\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002214992371a1f24e2f9c5095544e540b64\u0022\u003ECHRIS TREMAIN (Junior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00223fc6b36f481b40b497387aed6739f64a\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the question be now put.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00225ecd3e27ea314e2ebeefa6f6d8e19c15\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That clause 1 be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EClause 1 agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022d0b94584ca964b6ab8567ffa3c7ebb03\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That clause 2 be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EClause 2 agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022afef0025477740ccac739589dd684054\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That clause 3 be agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EClause 3 agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001406\u0022\u003EBill reported without amendment.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001407\u0022\u003EReport adopted.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001408\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022f4e4dde32e224cbf9cf02fb7019956ac\u0022\u003EThird Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u00225b4ce3f9224c44838554be9ee1070e8d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001409\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225b4ce3f9224c44838554be9ee1070e8d\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill be now read a third time. What a demonstration of supreme arrogance we have seen from the Labour Opposition this evening. When the Hansard record is perused, it will be extraordinary to note not only the weakness of Labour\u2019s argument but also the fact that throughout the evening Labour members had to rely on a lot of personal attacks on colleagues of mine to get them through the argument. You see, I suppose for all those new members who have come into the Labour Party there is no need to be apologetic about the debacle of the last election result. Of course, they will be basking in the success that they have personally enjoyed. Unfortunately, this debate confirms that the Labour Party is just as arrogant and out of touch today as it was on 7 November.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001410\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe bill deals with this very, very simple problem: for decades now we have seen a neglect of the generating assets of this country, which has meant that New Zealand has put itself in the position of having a less than secure electricity system. If anyone on the other side of the House wishes to argue against that proposition, I ask them to just look at the recent history. In 9 years the Labour Government managed to preside over four one-in-60-year events in the electricity sector. That is not something that just happened by coincidence. It is something that happened through that Government\u2019s very much designed neglect.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001411\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe thermal ban is very, very symbolic. It was extraordinary to hear the previous Minister of Energy, David Parker, argue over and over that there was no need to repeal the legislation. In essence, his argument was that it had no effect anyway. When we think about it, we are left with the question about what exactly the plan was that that Minister was trying to follow. The reality is that over those 9 years not only did carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity generating sector climb considerably but so did the price that New Zealanders paid at a retail level for their electricity. The people Labour claims to be so concerned about\u2014the poor and middle-income people who struggle to pay bills at times\u2014saw a 63 percent increase in electricity prices over the time that Labour was presiding over this portfolio.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001412\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EMore than that, that figure represents a two and a half times inflation for each of those 9 years. That cannot be a record that any Government would be comfortable with. The question is why that occurred. Well, it is simply that Labour was too harsh in the way in which it dealt with hydro-generating applications. They were knocked over, one after the other, if not by the resource management process, then, in many cases, by the Minister of Energy or a Minister inside the Government. The consequential effects were that after the crisis of 2003, with great fanfare and a huge amount of trumpeting, the Government backed the development of the e3p plant at Huntly by underwriting a gas contract for Genesis Energy. That is a thermal plant built by a Government that was so committed to renewable energy. As if that was not enough, the Government decided it needed to back itself up by having an emergency capacity\u2014a capacity that would produce up to 3 percent of New Zealand\u2019s electricity needs at tight times. So what did Labour do? It built a 150 megawatt diesel-fired plant at Whirinaki. Those were Labour\u2019s responses to the neglect that had gone on in those early years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001413\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003ENot only that, Labour decided that it had better fix the organisation of the electricity industry by putting in another committee\u2014another body, another bureaucracy\u2014the Electricity Commission. Over the first 5 years of its existence, the Electricity Commission has taken some $230 million off New Zealanders. That is over and above the 63 percent price rises, and over and above the two and a half times per year inflation rise.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001414\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dba56bfec8134a3caa11be44f77a14d8\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: No, it\u2019s not!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001415\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022949bf88cca7a41669c5d38d3f7995a11\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I say to Mr Parker that it is. There we go: here is a man who has his head so far in the clouds that he does not even read his own electricity bills. That is a straight levy; it is $250 million taken straight out of the pockets of New Zealanders to set up a bureaucracy that has achieved what? We have gone from being a country that was able to generate its delivered electricity from 72 percent from renewable sources to a country that is now producing about 66 percent from renewable sources. It is a massive fall, and all this has come from a party that all through this debate has said that it was all about renewable energy when it was in Government. I just find that totally, totally\u2014I cannot say the word that I would like to, but I am incredulous. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001416\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe member Shane Jones used a lot of \u201Cous\u201D words; he said this legislation was \u201Cruinous\u201D, \u201Cegregious\u201D, and \u201Ccircuitous\u201D. Well, I think many of those arguments could be mounted for the way the Opposition has handled this debate. Members opposite can screw up their faces all they like, but they have an appalling record in this area. The barefaced facts are right there in front of them\u201472 percent down to 66 percent, price rises of 63 percent, $250 million out of the pockets of New Zealanders, and this year 70 million - odd litres of diesel burnt in the Whirinaki emergency plant. That indicates that the party now in Opposition did not have a clue what it was doing in Government\u2014not a clue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001417\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226c048b56a0b748d09f3bc23178e5c1b8\u0022\u003EHon Pete Hodgson\u003C/span\u003E: You\u2019re going to get a history lesson in a minute, Gerry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001418\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002235a0b6456c41407aa8173ba18f1c7faf\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Hodgson\u2014the man who presided over the establishment of the Electricity Commission, the man who made the decision to underwrite the gas contract for Genesis, and the man who made the decision to build Whirinaki\u2014says he is going to stand up in a minute and give us a history lesson. Well, history lessons are interesting, but they make no difference to the consumers who have to pay the price.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001419\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI tell the House that in advancing this bill we should put a bit of a rationale into the mix for decisions that will be made by those who invest in generation in this country. Why would we want someone who is proposing a wind project to have to go cap in hand to the Minister to ask whether he or she could put in some thermal generation to back up that particular project? It makes no sense. We think those organisations are capable of making those decisions themselves.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001420\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThere will be fuel substitution as a result of this legislation passing today. I suspect a greater number of renewable projects will be advanced, because although the Government talks about them and they may well be consented, very few are actually in the build stage.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001421\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThis legislation simply recognises the repeated comments put before the Finance and Expenditure Committee at the time it was first considered. Those comments essentially damned the proposition. It allows the industry itself to make rational decisions about how future investment is made, and this country needs a heck of a lot more of that if we are to see some curb in the outrageous price path that is the legacy of the Labour Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u0022ec63c7e5571746d6b5eda7fa9ae34e47\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001422\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ec63c7e5571746d6b5eda7fa9ae34e47\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E It will not be lost upon listeners to this debate, and listeners to the debate in this House over the last 2 weeks, that Gerry Brownlee, who accused the Labour Opposition of arrogance for doing the job of the Opposition\u2014in terms of trying to show the weaknesses in legislation and the poor processes\u2014was the very member who under urgency has pushed through legislation that has not had the benefit of select committee consideration. That member sat in the chair like a stuffed dummy and did not take one call in the Committee on the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill\u2014not one call. And we are accused of arrogance! He abused his position in the chair. He made the occasional interjection, but did not take one call\u2014not one call. His answer to curbing emissions growth in the electricity sector is to make it easier to build more fossil-fuelled thermal plants. When we boil it down, we see that it is as simple as that. The Government is pretending to want 90 percent renewable generation, but its answer is to make it easier to build more fossil-fuelled electricity plants.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001423\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe Government claimed earlier that the legislation as it is currently drafted stops the retirement of inefficient thermal plants, but that has been shown to be wrong. It is an issue that Mr Brownlee has not responded to either as the Minister in the chair or in his third reading speech. We showed that the legislation currently allows an exemption to the restrictions on new, more efficient, thermal electricity generation that retires old, less efficient, thermal electricity generation\u2014a new gas-fired station to retire part of the coal-fired Huntly power station, perhaps. But, of course, the ability to exert that sort of control is lost because of this repeal legislation, and in future we will see more gas-fired power stations as well as coal-fired power stations.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001424\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EMr Brownlee makes a lot of the fact that the e3p power station was built. Actually, e3p was the only significant thermal power station added during the period of the Labour Government, and it was necessary for the security of supply. That is why it was done. That is one of the reasons why we have security of supply exemptions under the legislation as it currently stands\u2014they are occasionally necessary\u2014but we have got to the point where it is less likely that they would be necessary in the future, because we have brought forward wind power through good projects to reduce emissions. That makes it affordable and helps some of those projects through the consent process, and in the last year we have built only renewable generation. Indeed, against a background where we need to build additional capacity of about 150 megawatts a year to meet demand growth, this year we have 426 megawatts of additional capacity under construction and it is all renewable electricity generation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001425\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003ESo what we did turned the corner; it worked. We had geothermal and wind electricity generation coming forward, and we also had some hydroelectricity generation coming forward. I am on record as saying that I do not think we should need much more hydroelectricity generation. It has too much of an adverse consequence on our rivers. But some hydroelectricity generation has been consented to, and it will be built. That is another point where there is a lack of logic behind the Government\u2019s plans, and this has been disclosed by the Opposition speeches. Mr Brownlee has the temerity to call the Opposition arrogant because we were doing our job, even though he did not take one call during his time in the chair.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001426\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EMr Brownlee makes a lot of the Whirinaki power station. I think he referred to 70 million litres of fuel\u2014I cannot recall the exact figure. It sounds like a big number, and it is not small, but he talks in litres. If we convert that figure to greenhouse gas emissions, assuming 1 litre of fuel is roughly 1 kilogram of fuel, we find that that is 70,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide times two. So that is about 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. It is not insignificant, but it is not enormous, either. That is because although the Whirinaki power station has quite a capacity, it does not run very much. It only runs about 1 percent of the time, and when we need it, we need it. We build thermal plants in that sort of situation rather than renewable plants because the capital costs are a lot lower, and the running costs, although they are higher, are incurred only when we are really short and we need it for a short burst.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001427\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThis legislation is typical of the legislation that is now being promoted by the National Government. The Government says it wants to reduce emissions or to control emissions growth, and it pretends that it wants to meet the goal of 90 percent renewable generation by 2025, but it will not take the steps that it needs to take in order to get there. National criticises any regulatory intervention, saying that we should leave it all to market prices. It ignores the reality that in most of the market economies of the world there are regulatory interventions to lift the percentage of renewable electricity generation. The only real difference between New Zealand and Australia in that regard is that Australia is trying to lift from a very low percentage to something around 20 percent\u2014I forget the exact number\u2014and similar increases are being proposed in other countries. In New Zealand, because we are already at around 66 percent, to get to 90 percent we have to lift it by about 24 percent. So this regulatory intervention to lift it by 24 percent is not very different to the regulatory interventions taking place in other parts of the world.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001428\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe last point I re-emphasise is that we cannot rely on a carbon price when we do not have a carbon price. How can we rely on a carbon price to stop new thermal electricity when we do not have one? How can you credibly stand up in this House and say that, when you have a select committee set up to look at whether you should ever have a carbon price. We do not have one yet, and the select committee will be considering whether we should ever have a carbon price or whether we should just adapt to climate change rather than trying to reduce emissions. How can you credibly say that you have a carbon price that will forestall extra thermal generation, when the Government is not yet clear as to what the price of carbon will be?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001429\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226cb93d3a9e644fb3a05135a7a72d6b40\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker)\u003C/span\u003E: Please keep the Chair out of the debate. The member keeps referring to \u201Cyou\u201D. Please keep the Chair out of it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001430\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022adb99d91354b4c928569f466db2128b7\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I am sorry, Mr Assistant Speaker.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001431\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EThe Government\u2019s acolytes at the Business Roundtable\u2014themselves fossils\u2014are promoting fossil fuel use and a carbon tax, and they say it should be $5 to $10 a tonne. We know that when push comes to shove they will be saying $5 a tonne. We know that $5 a tonne, which is but 20 percent of the market price of carbon\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001432\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ad3f4b2adba9432cbea2adf933e0dbf6\u0022\u003EHon David Cunliffe\u003C/span\u003E: What\u2019s the international market price?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001433\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221a92e15430d049b2889f80c0f9ce7f2c\u0022\u003EHon DAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: The international price is around $25 a tonne at the moment. Four-fifths of the cost would be left with taxpayers, and the Government would expose the participants in the electricity market to only 20 percent of the cost. That $5 a tonne would not be sufficient to forestall investment in thermal generation. It just would not work. So how can we pretend that we can control the growth in fossil fuel electricity emissions by putting a price on carbon when, first, we do not have it, and, secondly, if we did have it, it might be at an artificially low price that would not work?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001434\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIn terms of the projects that we already have consents for, the details of these have been listed and provided to those who are now members of the Government on many occasions. Those members made Official Information Act requests and asked questions in the House, and the details of the projects have been provided to them many, many times. They know, like we know, that our cheap sources of generation that are readily available from renewable sources include geothermal generation. There has been a renaissance in geothermal generation in New Zealand and we are very, very lucky to have it, because were it not for that geothermal generation it would be quite difficult for us to meet that 90 percent target whilst maintaining the security of supply. That geothermal generation provides baseload generation. We have substantial quantities available, and we already know that it is economically sound because Mighty River Power and Contact Energy are both heavily investing in geothermal generation in order to bring those renewable projects to market.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001435\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI also refer to some of the confusion that the Minister of Energy and Resources referred to in his criticisms of the Electricity Commission. What does the Electricity Commission do and why did we need it? Well, one of the reasons was that after Max Bradford\u2019s reforms, New Zealand was the least-regulated electricity market in the world. We had completely unregulated lines businesses; we now have regulated lines businesses. At the time of the previous National Government, we had about $50 million per annum being spent on capital investment in the transmission grid. That is now up to half a billion dollars per annum\u2014a tenfold increase. So there is that level of investment, which is improving the security of supply. The Minister says security of supply is so parlous after 9 years of a Labour Government, but the reality is the opposite. Security margins in transmission have been improving year by year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022 data-id=\u00226bfd942da99b443eb7f30e44874191c6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001436\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226bfd942da99b443eb7f30e44874191c6\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment):\u003C/span\u003E The first point I make in this debate on the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill is that there are some really important issues on which there is agreement across the House. The first of those is that climate change is the biggest and most important issue facing us, the second is that greenhouse gases need to be constrained, and the third is that we need to increase the amount of renewable energy we are generating in New Zealand. You see, the real argument here is not about the objectives but about how to get there. Where members disagree is that members on the Government side of the House favour price instruments and reform of the Resource Management Act, rather than the very crude and blunt regulatory instrument that we are repealing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001437\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EWe have heard all sorts of extravagant claims from members opposite. Let me just go through their record during the last 9 years. Let us be fair here. Labour was in charge of climate change policy for 9 years, and National has not had 9 weeks. Before members opposite get on their hind legs and lecture us about successful climate change policy, I remind them what has actually occurred over the last 9 years. Emissions have increased from 68 million tonnes to 78 million tonnes. They have gone up by over 1 million tonnes per year. In terms of renewable energy, the record of the last decade shows that 75 percent of new generation that was built during the course of the last Government was thermal generation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001438\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EWhen we look back over the record of the last Labour Government and compare it with that of the previous National Government, the Lange-Douglas Government prior to that, the Muldoon Government prior to that, the Norm Kirk Government prior to that, and the Holyoake Government prior to that\u2014and we can actually go all the way back to when the lights first went on in Reefton\u2014we see that a greater proportion of thermal generation took place under the previous Labour Government than under any of those previous Governments.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001439\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003ERegarding international comparisons, the part I find most extraordinary about Labour\u2019s contribution to this debate is that its members have said that Labour\u2019s record of world leadership is being compromised by this legislation. Let me remind members opposite that I have here the record of the United Nations on increased emissions. Our records only go up to 2006, but my officials advise me that the record for 2007 and through to the end of 2008 is likely to be even worse. Let me compare the records where we have data. To the end of 2006, New Zealand\u2019s emissions grew by 12 percent. Over the same period, emissions in Australia grew by 8 percent and emissions in the United States grew by 1 percent. Again, let me put the record straight. The record of the last Government on the increase in emissions was 12 times worse than that of the US under George W Bush. In the United Kingdom, emissions went down by 3 percent. In Germany, they went down by 2 percent.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001440\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe only thing Labour led during its period of Government was an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001441\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b8aa4ee7726443f5b836e050e5fa6bee\u0022\u003EHon David Cunliffe\u003C/span\u003E: So you would want an incentive for renewables?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220402763b3e8c4572ba289994e5f9df5e\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: I say to Mr Cunliffe, who was a member of the Cabinet for that period, that we on this side of the House think a new approach is required. What is that new approach about?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001443\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227d0567ac08bd426cac45feb15e5057de\u0022\u003EHon David Cunliffe\u003C/span\u003E: What is it? It is promoting fossil fuel burning.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001444\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229104b20892724d4dbd2d17cefb31e3c5\u0022\u003EHon Dr NICK SMITH\u003C/span\u003E: I ask Mr Cunliffe why 75 percent of the generation built under Labour was thermal. I ask whether any member opposite can tell me why 75 percent of new generation built while David Cunliffe and Steve Chadwick were Ministers was thermal.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001445\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003ELet me answer the member\u2019s question about what this Government thinks is a logical approach to this challenge. One of the biggest challenges for renewable energies is getting resource consents. Let me give members an example from this very city. Meridian Energy applied for a consent to build a major wind farm here in Wellington, and it took over 2\u00BD years to get consent for that wind farm to be built. I think members on both sides of the House think that that wind farm would be a good thing, and that we need to bring it on stream. The truth is that by taking so long to get through the resource consent process, the previous Government had to build a lot of thermal generation to keep the lights on in the interim. This Government says it is time for a new approach. We will be bringing amendments to the Resource Management Act to streamline the process for the construction of new renewable energy, because that is the logical approach by which we can deal with emissions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001446\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe question to ask is where we will provide the incentive. The part that is extraordinary about this Act we are repealing is that we could build the Huntly power station under it. I will tell members why. When the Huntly power station\u2014the biggest single contributor of greenhouse gas emissions\u2014was built, it was very clear that it was built as a peak-load station. I ask what sort of Act allows a Government to build a massive coal-fired power station as a peak-load station. How does this Act that we are repealing in any way protect the environment when someone could build a massive, 1,200 megawatt, coal-fired power station, say it was a peak-load station, and get that station exempt? I ask whether a single member of the House really believes that that is logical.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001447\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e978865e-57e5-41d6-a7f6-b49daae78630\u0022\u003EThe last important point I make is that the one area I must say the previous Government did some good work was in developing a pricing instrument. The real way forward is to ensure that in every hour of every day, every electricity generator has a clear financial incentive for renewable power over thermal\u2014not when it is built, but in every single hour of every single day. That is why I say, as the incoming Minister for Climate Change Issues, that getting a pricing instrument is a very important priority if we are to do better as a country in this important area of climate change.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u00222d49eb41aaa84feb912b2e6ce13d4267\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001448\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222d49eb41aaa84feb912b2e6ce13d4267\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E The witching hour is approaching so I will limit myself to just a few remarks, and take up the call at 9 o\u2019clock tomorrow morning. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001449\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EI address the first remarks made by the Minister of Energy and Resources, Gerry Brownlee, at the beginning of this third reading debate when he called the Labour Party arrogant. I want to place on the record a rebuttal to those comments. It was not this party but National that decided that the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill would be debated under urgency. It was the Government, not the Opposition, that set the pace and decided we would be debating until midnight. It was the Government, not the Opposition, that said that this legislation must not go near a select committee, and that it must go through the House the week before Christmas when no one else is listening or taking a care because they are concerned with other matters. The Minister, through the entire Committee process, did not take a call except by way of interjection, at which point he was sat down, Mr Assistant Speaker Barker, by your very good self. The Minister took those actions, yet he calls the Opposition arrogant. That is a case of the pot calling the kettle black if ever there were one. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001450\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThe Opposition\u2019s job where it opposes legislation is to fight it to the closure. We have fought this bill to the closure and we will continue to fight it during the third reading debate until the time has expired. That is our way of offering opposition to something that we think is wrong. We take our opportunity to say why we think it is wrong. The Minister, on the other hand, took no opportunity during the Committee stage to either put his own arguments or rebut ours, yet he got up in the third reading debate and said we were arrogant. That is unfortunate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001451\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EI want to say some other things, but it depends on the time available. Perhaps I can sneak in a very quick story about Whirinaki power station. Whirinaki was built by the New Zealand Government in the Hawke\u2019s Bay in around 2004 as a 150 megawatt diesel-fired power station. It was built there because until 6 months earlier there had already been a 150 megawatt, diesel-powered station at Whirinaki.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001452\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EDebate interrupted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id20081216da1faa6e232c4222bf0db31e8914ec7e001453\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ESitting suspended from 12 midnight to 9 a.m. (Thursday)\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000001\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00228358574aed734d54afa9cd8aca234f7f\u0022\u003ETuesday, 16 December 2008\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000002\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00221adc5f625b74411da8cb169209f0d0b0\u0022\u003E(continued on Thursday, 18 December 2008)\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000003\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022e0d84b49279a4292bd7ae9cb145ece9c\u0022\u003EPoints of Order\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000004\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002244018eb04de94552b599346ad4eaf104\u0022\u003ESale of Liquor (Community Involvement) Bill\u2014Leave to Introduce\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022 data-id=\u0022ec3d8a3fe5114623b9d3103b54d1bb6d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000005\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ec3d8a3fe5114623b9d3103b54d1bb6d\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL (Labour\u2014Christchurch East):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek leave of the House to table the Sale of Liquor (Community Involvement) Bill, a member\u2019s bill in my name, and have it set down as a members\u2019 order of the day.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000006\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a195b738525e40bda3f78431ee6c5e36\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? Leave is denied.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000007\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002290e4ea8f2fd84c54810a1ea00c2b5d4d\u0022\u003EElectricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000008\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00220367f18a1b8c4d6e90b236ca74160bac\u0022\u003EThird Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000009\u0022\u003EDebate resumed.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u002270860a6080124becb1c903312622d1d0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000010\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002270860a6080124becb1c903312622d1d0\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Labour\u2014Dunedin North):\u003C/span\u003E Here we are gathered this morning, witnessing this nation moving backwards at speed\u2014New Zealand is retro-advancing\u2014and we have been doing this for the past couple of weeks. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000011\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ENational says: \u201CTo hell with the global forces demanding a change of policy on the issue of climate change. To hell with that\u2014we know best. We the New Zealand Parliament know better; we\u2019re going to set up a committee, because if we didn\u2019t we would annoy Rodney, and that won\u2019t do. So we are going to set up a committee because Rodney doesn\u2019t like the idea of climate change being kind of real or gathering pace, so we will set up a committee. We have this legislation, which says: \u2018Hey, to hell with all this stuff around climate change.\u2019 Those scientists don\u2019t really know what they\u2019re going to do. We\u2019re going to have some more gas-burning power stations, and we\u2019re going to get rid of the moratorium on that. That is great; that is progress. That is economic growth, front and centre; that is turbocharging. We are heading back to the future at a hell of a pace.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000012\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ENational members put their heads in the sand and say: \u201CWe\u2019re OK. It will all be OK. We don\u2019t even need those biofuels. What the hell do you need biofuels for? What\u2019s wrong with some good old decent oil, a bit of petrol, and a bit of diesel? It never did anybody any harm, and who said it\u2019s going to run out? When? They don\u2019t even know precisely when. Therefore, we don\u2019t have to worry about it. Who gives a damn about the fact that people say there\u2019s going to be peak oil everywhere? We don\u2019t care about that. We\u2019re the National Party, and we just won a mighty fine election. We\u2019re getting rid of anything that resembles nanny State. We don\u2019t care about any of that stuff.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000013\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ENational members also say: \u201CActually, who said you need to go retrofitting houses? For goodness\u2019 sake, let\u2019s be practical here. People should just put on another cardie. We don\u2019t need to have retrofitted houses. The fact that our countrypeople die in winter disproportionately\u2014like more than they ever would in, say, Sweden or the UK\u2014is because they do not put enough attention into putting on an extra cardie, and they should put on an extra cardie. We don\u2019t need to retrofit, and, besides which, we\u2019re asserting\u2014because we\u2019re the National Government and we just won a mighty fine election\u2014that we do not even have any money for that. So who gives a damn about that? Actually, who gives a damn about technology in general? Let\u2019s get rid of the tax credit on that. We need to give that to some mighty fine people who supported us at the polls. They need an extra few dollars a week in their pocket, and we didn\u2019t have enough money to give them, so we\u2019ve gone and put a tax increase on to our very best companies and said \u2018Sorry, guys, but we\u2019re going to have to get rid of that tax credit. You have to pay a tax increase, because we\u2019ve got to give it to our rich mates.\u2019 \u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000014\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThat is roughly what the past 2 weeks has been about, and this bill is simply one of the mix. This bill is about a moratorium on thermal generation, the details of which meant we could have it for peak-load generation, and we could have it if we needed security of supply. It was a very, very moderate moratorium, but it has to go because it is nanny State. National members would say: \u201CWho says we like moratoria? That sounds like control. We\u2019re not into that; we\u2019re into laissez-faire, and if someone wants to put up a gas-fired power station instead of putting up a wind-fired power station, well, that is fair enough; what\u2019s wrong with that\u2014who cares? The market is going to be good for the environment\u2014consult history. The market has been brilliant for the environment so far, we say. So why don\u2019t we just let it rip?\u201D. That is basically the position that National has. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000015\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWhen National had a go at putting some logic around why it wanted to get rid of a moratorium on thermal generation, even as it argued for more renewable generation, it failed. National argued for this time and time again. In fact, Nick Smith was a cracker. He spent the entire debate saying that he really hates fossil fuel generation and greenhouse gases, and that when Labour was in Government it was really hopeless\u2014a terrible lot. But then he voted to get rid of the moratorium. The guy has a doctorate. He argues in one direction and votes in another, and we sit there saying \u201CBoy, whatever happened to quality of tertiary education?\u201D. This guy does not have logic that is consistent from one sentence to the next. And then we had the Minister, Gerry Brownlee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000016\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e9fe2958c3534cafa0f360b0019793b3\u0022\u003EChris Hipkins\u003C/span\u003E: Did he speak?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000017\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ff68b66440d94167838a10d652ac58a2\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister did not speak. He did not speak in the entire Committee stage. He has two books, one of which he has not even coloured in yet, and he spent the entire time working on the book that he is colouring in\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000018\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022445851feccf94aacab17d00b3c122b17\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: Trying not to go outside the lines.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000019\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220edae71d82264ba18b036fe2ff6d7abe\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014and not going outside the lines. He has probably done some good work, but that is what he did\u2014he coloured in his book. When he came to give his third reading address he decided he would give it to Labour because Labour was bad and irresponsible when it came to too much greenhouse gases and bad and irresponsible when it came to too much non-renewable energy\u2014and away he went. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000020\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EAt one point he decided he would tell us that we had put in some reserve generation\u2014150 megawatts of diesel-fired reserve generation in the Hawke\u2019s Bay\u2014and he railed against the evils of this. He failed to tell us a couple of things. One of them is that it is reserve generation and cannot be used unless we are in trouble. Secondly, there used to be a power station in the very same spot that was 150 megawatts and diesel-fired, and which had been there for years. It was used as reserve generation, but Contact had just sold it and gotten rid of it. Why? Because Max Bradford had been to town and decided that we would have a pure market approach to electricity, and the pure market had run the lakes to the lowest level they had been at for many, many years. So we are still trying to get through the side effects of the actions of that old man in a hurry, Max Bradford, who tipped this remarkable sector upside down. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000021\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ESo here we go\u2014a pretty pass we have reached. At the end of 2 sitting weeks loads of progress on environmental matters over the past 9 years\u2014courtesy of the Labour Government, courtesy of a Prime Minister who has a real vision for this stuff, courtesy of some assistance, sometimes a lot of assistance, from the Green Party, and courtesy of assistance from other parties, including United Future and New Zealand First\u2014is being ripped down, and this process is well under way. The environmental vandals are in the hot seat, they are going for bust, and they reckon that their future is the only way forward. Their future is backwards in a hell of a hurry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022 data-id=\u0022aec1ad59d25a458596e7154944a193c6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022aec1ad59d25a458596e7154944a193c6\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader\u2014Green):\u003C/span\u003E In my final contribution to the debate on the repeal of the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Bill, I shall try to run through some of the logic from first principles of what it is we are trying to do here. All but five members of this House acknowledge that the world and the future of humanity face a serious threat from accelerating climate change. New Zealand, along with all OECD countries, signed up many years ago to an agreement to try to do something about it. Since that time, successive Governments have talked and done nothing about it, until very recently. New Zealand\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions are about five times the world average per capita. We are one of the worst polluters in the world in terms of greenhouse emissions per person. We therefore need to take action. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000023\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EIn the latter years of the Labour Government it started putting in place a number of measures to try to reduce those emissions. All we hear from National is that emissions rose under the Labour Government\u2014fast\u2014and that is true, they did, because when no action is taken, emissions are pretty much linked to the rate of economic growth. We can decouple economic growth from emissions by being smart. Some of the recent measures have tried to do that, but now they have gone. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000024\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003ESo what could New Zealand do to reduce its emissions? We have a different emissions profile from all the rest of the OECD, because half of our emissions come from agriculture. An assumption on the Government side of the House is that that means nothing can be done about them. There are actually quite a few things that can be done about them, but they are not very easy or fast-acting. So agriculture is the hard bit. We got a soft target in 1997 at Kyoto in recognition of that fact. The rest is carbon dioxide that comes pretty much from burning fossil fuels, and the biggest part is from transport. There are some low-hanging fruits in transport that we should be picking. So far there are no measures on the table to pick them, although a lot of work has been done under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy to try to develop that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000025\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EThen, if we look at what is left, we see we are very different from other countries in that the majority of carbon dioxide emissions in most other countries come from thermal electricity, mainly from coal. But that is not the case here. Electricity emissions comprise about 10 percent of our total emissions, but they are the easiest bits to fix. They are by far the easiest bits to fix, because New Zealand has an abundance, a huge wealth, of renewable sources of electricity. Transport fuels are much harder. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000026\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EA logical decision is for us to tackle what is easy first. Let us tackle the emissions we can reduce at virtually no cost and with virtually no other downside. Electricity used to be virtually all renewable, but over recent years, mainly because we found an absolutely ginormous gasfield\u2014gas cannot be traded between countries without huge investment in infrastructure, which basically was not done when M\u0101ui was discovered\u2014and had to use that up somehow in order to meet the take-or-pay agreement. So a number of gas power stations were built to use it up fast. Well, M\u0101ui is now substantially depleted. We have had some other smaller gas finds, but we are heading to the point where gas is going to be scarce for bulk-users, like electricity. There is always likely to be some for direct users, like homes and industries that use gas directly, which is much more efficient than converting gas to electricity. In the meantime, geothermal technology has improved, wind technology has developed from fringe to mainstream, and we have the next generation of renewables\u2014like marine wave and tidal technology\u2014starting to get their prototypes tested and obviously on the way. We also have a lot of opportunities to use direct solar heat for things we currently do with electricity. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000027\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003ESo the logical way to make a step down in our electricity emissions is to build renewable generation and not thermal generation. The first target, of course, must be to phase out the old Huntly power station\u2014one of its four units at a time, putting them on standby for a while before closing them completely. But even that will not get us to the 90 percent we want to get to without closing another gas station, as well. So that is easy. There are heaps of renewable energy projects to build, so let us get on and build them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000028\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003EDavid Parker and I, working together in the last Government, got work done by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority to give us a thorough analysis of what the costs would be of going to 90 percent, 95 percent, and less, renewable. We picked 90 percent because the costs of doing that were negligible. If we go to 95 percent we start to raise the costs because of having renewable power stations standing doing nothing in a wet year. We want to use the gas when we need it and not use it when we do not need it. The thing we absolutely do not want is baseload thermal power stations; we want to use them as peaking generation. At the moment the gas is used for baseload power stations. That needs to change. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000029\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003ESo the renewable electricity preference tried to deal with the easy part of our emissions first, by establishing that no new baseload gas or coal stations would be built. One might ask why that is necessary if we have all these renewable sources. Well, it would not be necessary if we had a single integrated electricity generator as we used to have, with a very complex refined computer programme that told it what the next best thing to build was and the next best thing to run. We simply would not have got a Genesis Kaipara power station proposed under that situation. But, because we now have a competitive market, Genesis\u2014because it has to grow in this business model and has to compete with those who are doing renewable generation, and because it is not very good at renewable generation\u2014sees itself as having a commercial advantage in building a gas-fired power station, which is not in the interests of the nation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000030\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003ESo this legislation aimed initially to put a little bit of blockage in the way of that and say that we should build the next best things for New Zealand, not just the next best things for Genesis. Ironically, the legislation did not really do that, because it had in it the big Genesis loophole in subclause (e). When we tried to get that loophole closed, we learnt that some of the people on whose votes the Government was relying to pass this legislation insisted that the Genesis clause remain. I find it interesting that none of those people are still in Parliament. That is the irony of politics. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000031\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022765b0a0314104d15b443f84eb93f1a59\u0022\u003EHon David Parker\u003C/span\u003E: The whole thing is going anyway.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000032\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e4b4dd85943d491d89d0df845f895cb2\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS\u003C/span\u003E: Of course, the whole thing is going anyway. I also find it interesting to have been told by a very senior person in one of the other generators that had they gone to their board with a business case like the one for the Genesis power station in Kaipara, it would have been their last board meeting. But it seems that a State-owned enterprise can put up a business case that is so bad that it does not make any economic sense at all, just because it has this kind of business \u201Cneed to grow, need to compete\u201D attitude. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000033\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003ESo this was sensible legislation but not particularly powerful legislation. Under the wrong Minister, Genesis could still have got permission to build a baseload power station on the grounds that it was going to back out Huntly, just like, in the 1990s, the Taranaki combined-cycle power station was going to back out Huntly and so got permission, and just like e3p was going to back out Huntly and so got permission. I wonder how many power stations we could build in New Zealand on the grounds that they are more efficient than Huntly, and Huntly still continue to run. So it is time we put a stop to that. New Zealand could have a brighter future on renewable electricity, but the Government has chosen that that will not be the case.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000034\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a60b03a9a526467f95a3cc8a15847c3e\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The question is that the motion be agreed to. Those of that opinion will say \u201CAye\u201D\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022 data-id=\u0022c4240f4a5447483cbc82ec5cc9e57ba2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000035\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c4240f4a5447483cbc82ec5cc9e57ba2\u0022\u003EHon STEVE CHADWICK (Junior Whip\u2014Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Could you make a little bit of an allowance for a new member who wishes to take a call?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022 data-id=\u0022587d63065d04432cb31b3f356058e8f2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000036\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022587d63065d04432cb31b3f356058e8f2\u0022\u003ECHRIS TREMAIN (Junior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E We had moved to a point where a vote was going to be taken, and I ask that we move to that point.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022 data-id=\u0022cc89f49506774aaaac69fefd7f8eeecb\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000037\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022cc89f49506774aaaac69fefd7f8eeecb\u0022\u003EJEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader\u2014Green):\u003C/span\u003E We do have new members in the House. There is also an established order of speaking, under which they may think it is not yet their turn to seek the call. So if people do not rise to take a call when it is their turn, could you allow just a little leeway for other people to recognise that they can get their call earlier?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000038\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022986198e1264f4044a807dd5da7048dda\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you. I call Stuart Nash.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022 data-id=\u00220ac377ebd5eb4c4882764f266ecb6c3b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000039\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220ac377ebd5eb4c4882764f266ecb6c3b\u0022\u003ESTUART NASH (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E It has been a long week, but could someone please tell me what portfolio Prime Minister John Key has taken?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000040\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002283f36915231e41248487f80e63a673fb\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: Tourism.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000041\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c9275f8c1204414dbbb5efa4bd7e4ac4\u0022\u003ESTUART NASH\u003C/span\u003E: Tourism\u2014oh, that is right; thank you. It really has been a long week. Can someone please tell me what the main marketing line of Tourism New Zealand is, again?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000042\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002265ccc0dce3104059a382ddb76463e889\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: \u201C100% Pure\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000043\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002275a076ffc93e4704bfa4e939819dd0df\u0022\u003ESTUART NASH\u003C/span\u003E: That is right\u2014\u201C100% Pure New Zealand\u201D. Tourism New Zealand\u2019s website says: \u201CNew Zealand\u2019s spectacularly beautiful landscape includes vast mountain chains, steaming volcanoes, sweeping coastlines, deeply indented fjords and lush rainforests.\u201D\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000044\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022272bc7d9c40944c3bd114c355b7f9074\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: And Gerry Brownlee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000045\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022227766e828c84b2b9f533d9b181a2518\u0022\u003ESTUART NASH\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014and Gerry Brownlee. New Zealand has \u201Ca population of only 4.1 million\u201D making it \u201Cone of the world\u2019s least crowded countries. It is a haven for those seeking peace, rejuvenation and relaxation as well as a playground for thrillseekers and adventurers.\u201D It is funny, but it does not say \u201CCome and see our new 1950s thermal power stations polluting our countryside and atmosphere.\u201D So let us hold on for a second\u2014members are telling me that New Zealand markets itself internationally as a clean, green country. Are they sure? Why are we marketing ourselves in this way? I will tell them. It is because the image is one of New Zealand\u2019s major, international, unique selling points. People come here because we are clean and green, not because we want to power our cities with thermal energy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000046\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EThe Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill is in direct contradiction to one of New Zealand\u2019s top earners of foreign exchange, our tourism sector\u2014Mr Key\u2019s portfolio, because it is so important to New Zealand, apparently. Has the honourable member Mr Brownlee actually talked to his Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism about this bill? If so, what did he say? It is hard to believe, really. How can we sit here and legislate for this type of non-renewable energy power generation when it is in direct contradiction to the image we want to portray of ourselves? Why would Chinese tourists come here to escape their polluted atmosphere? It makes no commercial sense, from a countrywide marketing perspective. Why would we do it? There is no reason, in my view as a businessman, and as a person who has carried internationally, and proudly, the message of a clean, green image. We are a country that is renowned for its stance and its leadership role in the area of \u201Cclean, green\u201D and \u201C100% Pure New Zealand\u201D. Let us keep this image intact. If we start building non-renewable electricity plants, word will travel faster than power down a 100-kilowatt line running through the Mackenzie country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000047\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EThe Ministry for the Environment commissioned a report to quantify the extent to which particular New Zealand exports benefited from positive perceptions of our environment. The project focused on three export sectors: dairy, which I think we all agree is pretty important to our economy; inbound tourism, which is one of the largest earners of foreign exchange; and organic produce, which is perhaps the way of the future for New Zealand. The project assessed the potential consumer reaction to an illustrated decline in New Zealand\u2019s clean, green image. The work done in this study reinforces the qualitative evidence that our clean, green image is valuable, and the study provided some useful insights into the size and nature of that value. The results were not definitive; no contingent valuation study can ever be so. But they strongly indicate a significant vulnerability of export value in the event of a degradation of New Zealand\u2019s environment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000048\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EThe main findings of this study were as follows: \u201CNew Zealand\u2019s clean green image does have a value. Environmental image is a substantial driver of the value New Zealand can derive for goods and services in the international market place. The study suggests that this image is worth at least hundreds of millions, possibly billions, of dollars\u2014aggregating value elements from dairy, tourism, and organic produce, and extrapolating to other sectors such as meat. New Zealand is relatively clean and green. This is mainly attributable to our low population density resulting in relatively benign environmental pressures. However,\u201D\u2014and this is the important part\u2014\u201Cthere are environmental problems that are sufficient to raise questions about the sustainability of New Zealand\u2019s exports attributable to its environmental image. There is a risk that New Zealand will lose value that is created by the current environmental image if we are not vigilant in dealing with the problems that could threaten the image.\u201D I will say that again for the House: \u201CThere is a risk that New Zealand will lose value that is created by the current environmental image if we are not vigilant in dealing with the problems that could threaten the image.\u201D Yet the Hon Dr Nick Smith told us last night that this was only an image\u2014that \u201Cclean, green\u201D was only an image. I bow to the honourable member\u2019s knowledge of New Zealand landslides but, as an international marketer, I can tell Dr Smith that, globally, image is everything. Image is perception, and perception is reality. So although \u201Cclean, green\u201D may be just an image, it is our competitive advantage and a unique selling point, and we must protect it with all our energy\u2014sorry, that is probably the wrong word; with all our collective might\u2014because our image is hugely important and I am sure the Prime Minister will tell the Hon Dr Smith that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000049\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EWith this in mind, why are we not absolutely focusing on sources of totally renewable energy? I have heard the economic costs of production argument, but I have my doubts, actually; I would not mind seeing the model on that. But that aside, surely the indirect economic benefits of our clean, green image are huge compared with the costs and damage that will be incurred if we do not go down the path of renewable energy. Of course we need certainty of power supply. It is a fundamental premise of First World economic development that certainty of supply is simply a given. The Government should, in the absence of a robust market or a sustainable alternative, take the lead, as Labour did. However, if this is the case and the Government does take control in the absence of a competitive market, which may or may not exist in a country the size of New Zealand, then that same Government also has a moral responsibility to its citizens to ensure that the long-term benefits of the country, its resources, and its future are taken into account\u2014as Labour did. Building a thermal power plant does not meet this test around the Government\u2019s moral responsibility. It does not ensure the long-term sustainability of the country\u2019s resources, and it certainly does not take into account this country\u2019s wonderful future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000050\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EIn relation to what National and Mr Brownlee are doing, all I can say is that Mr Brownlee should Think Big. They say we hark back to the 1990s, but, goodness me, this is going a hell of a lot further back than that. We are a country that leads in many areas, but within 2 weeks we have gone from being a world leader in sustainability challenges and clean, green growth to being the laughing stock of the developed world. I tell members that I pity Charles Chauvel. He was at a climate change conference in Belgium. I did not pity him when I first heard that he had this trip\u2014we would love to go to Belgium\u2014but I do now. No doubt when he found out about that trip, he was rapt. He was heading overseas to represent a party that championed climate change policies and environmental sustainability\u2014a hero. Yet by the time he arrived his face must have dropped. Mr Chauvel went from being a hero to representing a zero\u2014gee, thanks, I tell Mr Brownlee. We have also heard from the Hon Steve Chadwick that she was at a conference in Viet Nam when New Zealand was the laughing stock of the international market. This is not who we are or what we represent. We are leaders, not laggards. We lead; we do not, as proud New Zealanders, like being the laughing stock. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000051\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003EFor 9 years we represented all that was good and right; in 2 weeks, that has gone. It went without any public submissions. I am astounded at this arrogance of passing legislation that can undermine our global reputation, built over a 9-year period of consulting internationally and locally, undertaking studies of best practice, and setting the global standard. I ask Mr Brownlee when he last spoke to ordinary New Zealanders about how they perceive this country. Does Mr Brownlee really believe that New Zealanders want another thermal power station? Tourism New Zealand certainly does not, and our exporters certainly do not. Our clean, green image is worth billions of dollars to this country. No, I tell Mr Brownlee: security of supply, yes; thermal power plants, no. As well, anyone who knows anything about the global nature of the petrochemical or coal industries knows that the long-term cost of meeting such demand for thermal power stations will inevitably increase, over and above the price needed to develop long-term sustainable renewable energy. We have seen crude oil prices skyrocket on the back of an international commodities boom. Now we have seen the price drop considerably as part of that commodity cycle, but, as sure as eggs, that cycle will once again turn, as it always does. The price of gas and coal will continue to rise, as this is simply Economics 101: if demand is greater than supply, then the price increases. We cannot see the price of wind or tidal power increasing. Can Mr Brownlee see that? Of course, he cannot.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022 data-id=\u0022746faa29b70b4a9486e8065b0b56e815\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000052\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022746faa29b70b4a9486e8065b0b56e815\u0022\u003EHon PANSY WONG (Associate Minister of Energy and Resources):\u003C/span\u003E Good morning to you, Mr Assistant Speaker, and to all my colleagues. I am proud to be part of a hard-working National-led Government and to take a call in the early morning.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000053\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EI have to compliment the new member Stuart Nash. It is refreshing to hear a new member come out and admit that Labour is all about image and has no substance. That is what he said in his speech. He said that all Labour cared about was image, and that that was why the so-called thermal ban was rushed into Parliament during the last term. Even the Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said that the thermal ban was a sham, that one could drive a bus through it, that it was useless, and that it was actually of no impact. That is exactly what Stuart Nash said, but for him that was not a problem, because Labour was all about image and no substance.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000054\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EThen Stuart Nash said that the Minster of Energy and Resources, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, should listen to the people. Indeed we have done so, and the people spoke on 8 November. National is the party that listens to the people, and the people threw Labour out. If the Labour Party continues to believe in image and no substance, it will be on the Opposition benches for a very, very long time. In contrast, on this side of the House we carry out what we campaigned on. The Hon Gerry Brownlee has always made it clear that we would repeal the thermal ban.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000055\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EI have seen a new development in respect of the legislation about repealing the mandatory quota sale of biofuel that was passed last week under urgency. Today the biofuels association put out a press release saying that it understood why National passed the legislation, that it welcomed it, and that it looked forward to working constructively to develop the biofuel industry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000056\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EThat is a pragmatic approach to take, and we are taking the same approach in respect of this thermal ban. The legislation providing for the thermal ban was rushed. It was introduced at the last minute into the select committee process during the examination of the emissions trading scheme, and it was not included in the original bill. Even the Business Council for Sustainable Development was against it. But did the previous Labour Government listen to the submitters? No, it rushed the legislation through the House. So it is a pleasure for me to take a call in the third reading stage of another bill of the National-led Government, which is fulfilling another election promise.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022 data-id=\u0022ce81ea9f989a4adebdccf7b7c70091ae\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000057\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ce81ea9f989a4adebdccf7b7c70091ae\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS (Labour\u2014Rimutaka):\u003C/span\u003E Another day in this House, another bill from this Government denying climate change. It is another sad day for the planet as the Government turns its back on climate change. We have just seen another outrageous attempt by the Government to stifle the debate by shutting it down before members have had a chance to have their say. The Government is embarrassed by the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill, and it is embarrassed by its stance on climate change. It does not want the public to have a say on the issue, so it is trying to shut down the debate.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000058\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI will run through some of the points that have been raised in the short debate that we have had on this bill. It is a shame that Government members have not felt compelled to take more calls on the bill and outline why they think it is important. One of the things we have talked about is the argument from the Government that this bill will lead to lower power prices. We will definitely be holding the Government to that, and we will come back to it in 3 years\u2019 time to assess the impact that this bill has had on power prices.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225794113476104b809ed3d003c5284329\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: Just like you guys managed over the last 9 years!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000060\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225b88cb86160d4c2083a22e4e307bf7a2\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: That is right. We know a little bit about what has caused the increase in power prices, and for a little bit of a history lesson we will go back to the 1970s\u2014when Rob Muldoon was the Prime Minister, the M\u0101ui gasfield was being developed, and the price of gas from the M\u0101ui gasfield was fixed. The price was kept artificially low for several decades, which led to lower prices for gas. Then, of course, the gas started to run out and the price started to go up. But we have not heard any member of the Government engaging on that particular issue. We have heard nothing from National members on M\u0101ui and nothing from them on the prudent use of our gas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000061\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EOf course, burning gas in power plants is actually a very inefficient way to use it. It is much more efficient to burn gas at the point where it is needed rather than for it to be sent to a power station to be turned into electricity and then to be transmitted across the country where a good chunk of the energy is lost. There was not a word from the Government on that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000062\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThis bill is not needed to shore up security of supply. There was already an exemption in the legislation that this bill repeals allowing for new thermal generation for security of supply where absolutely necessary. It would have given the Electricity Commission the ability to investigate, but this bill takes away the ability of the Electricity Commission to do that. So what are some of the things that the Electricity Commission might have considered in the course of those investigations? It might have considered the security of supply impacts, which is something the Government claims it is interested in\u2014and we will come back that issue in respect of the Whirinaki power station in a moment, because I heard Mr Brownlee talking about that last night. It could have considered the price impacts\u2014what impact the price of thermal generation will have on the overall price of electricity. It seems from the discussion last night that the Government members have a real lack of understanding of how the price of electricity is determined. It is a shame that the Minister did not share with us his knowledge on the price impacts that thermal generation would have.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000063\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThe Electricity Commission might have investigated the transmission capacity and the possibility of moving any new thermal generation around the country to points where it was needed, and it might have considered whether the current transmission system could have coped with that. It might have considered the transmission upgrade costs for any additional transmission upgrade that would be required through new thermal generation. It might have considered the impact on greenhouse gas reductions that any additional thermal generation might have had, but we have just removed the ability of the commission to do that; this bill specifically removes the ability of the commission to investigate those things.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000064\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003ETo come back to the issue of security of supply, I say there is already a lot of new generation under development. We have 1,400 megawatts under development. How much do we need? Apparently we need about 150 to 200 megawatts per year, yet we have 1,400 megawatts already under development. So it is clear that this bill is completely unnecessary from a security of supply perspective.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000065\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThis bill turns back the clock. We are no longer fast-forwarding to the future; we are retro-charging\u2014we are going backwards as fast as we possibly can. We are retro-charging\u2014we are going back to the future. This bill turns back the clock and says that our future in this country no longer lies with renewable energy. We are going back to using non-renewable energy\u2014environmentally unfriendly thermal generation. It is a slap in the face to the companies investing in renewable technology and in renewable electricity generation. There is significant investment currently being made in renewable generation, and this Government does not seem to be the slightest bit interested in promoting that or in encouraging it. We are not turbocharging the future; we are retro-charging.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000066\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EAs my colleague Stuart Nash pointed out, this bill, combined with the one on biofuels, absolutely sabotages our reputation as a clean, green country. How ironic it is that our new Prime Minister is the new Minister of Tourism, when one of the first things his Government does is bring to this House two bills to undermine our clean, green image and our standing in the world when it comes to issues of environmental sustainability and climate change. We are no longer even fast followers; we have turned around and we are now running the other way. We are running the other way, and we are being left behind by the rest of the world. We are being absolutely left behind. We could send John Key over to the UK to argue to the UK Government that it does not need to impose the departure tax, but how could he possibly do that? He could not stand up and credibly say that his Government believes in climate change and that it is committed to the environment. He could not possibly say that, when two of the first bills that his Government has brought to this House go in completely the opposite direction and undo much of the progress we have been making in the last few years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000067\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThe clean, green image is vital to New Zealand. It is vital to our tourism industry, which is one of our largest export industries. John Key acknowledged that fact in appointing himself Minister of Tourism. It is a shame that he does not seem to be doing anything to protect that industry or anything to enhance our reputation. The UK departure tax will have a big impact on Air New Zealand, but Government members have made no mention of that. They are sitting there quietly, intently reading their papers all of a sudden, and they do not seem to be the slightest bit interested in having this discussion.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000068\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI turn to the issue of the Whirinaki power station, because Mr Brownlee talked about this diesel-fired power station that the Labour Government built to provide security of supply. Mr Brownlee said that Whirinaki had been running flat out. In March this year he made similar comments about Whirinaki running flat out, but what did he mean by that? Did he think it was running at 100 percent? If so, he would be 96 percent wrong. When Gerry Brownlee said Whirinaki was running flat out, it was running at 6 percent of its maximum output.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000069\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e95faf55c98e42e58affd0be725338dc\u0022\u003EMoana Mackey\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s flat out for him!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000070\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bf133f1ea62945eda90d28b744c2d4eb\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: That may well be flat out for Gerry Brownlee, but 6 percent is not flat out for Whirinaki. When he was told he had made an error, he said that Contact Energy was trying to put a bit of gloss on a very big turd.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000071\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f9339ef3cce548b0b23d92d98815b603\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: No wonder he hates biofuels.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000072\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fe71d374b0c84ef3a7a4ba3003e98eb3\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: It is no wonder he hates biofuels.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000073\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThis bill is being passed undemocratically. The Government is gerrymandering the legislative process so that it can ram this bill through the House and therefore not give a chance for the public, environmental groups, power companies, and scientists to have their say. The Government does not seem to like scientists, and it thinks they should not have a say on anything to do with climate change. There is no regulatory impact statement on the bill. This red tape - cutting Government, along with the ACT Party and its Minister for Regulatory Reform, are ramming this bill through the House, under urgency. In fact, none of the bills being rushed through the House has had a regulatory impact statement. Where is the Minister for Regulatory Reform? He has been remarkably silent on the lack of regulatory impact statements on any of these bills. Do we have a Minister for Regulatory Reform?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000074\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022266352ca8571481ab15e8f18fc609a47\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: He\u2019s \u201CHide-ing\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000075\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002297d2e8cbc6bf48cb978f41ef9edb2258\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister for Regulatory Reform is \u201CHide-ing\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000076\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThe New Zealand public has been hoodwinked by this Government. Before the election the National Party told the public that it believed in climate change, and that it believed in New Zealand\u2019s clean, green image. It even had the blue-greens. The blue-greens popped up and were going to be the way of the future. But now it is just blue\u2014the green bit has gone and it is completely blue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000077\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EYesterday Maurice Williamson said he had always believed in climate change, but he did not use the words \u201Chuman-induced\u201D climate change. I notice he was very, very careful not to use those words. That is such a shame. This bill is yet another example of the National Government\u2019s failure to learn from history.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022 data-id=\u0022fbd03d36c82e456a8754abfde4e59ef6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000078\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022fbd03d36c82e456a8754abfde4e59ef6\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National\u2014West Coast-Tasman):\u003C/span\u003E I am grateful to Mr Hipkins for his contribution, but I would like to join with Pansy Wong and say: \u201CGood morning ladies and gentleman. What a beautiful day it is today. Walking to work, it was splendid. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and then we come in here and are faced with misery from members on the other side.\u201D This debate has been interesting but I am surprised that Opposition members seem to be hanging the entire credibility of their climate change legislation on this one particular bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000079\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002238e56e36d3d1413a9c0c997af5c18d11\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: All three bills; a trifecta.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000080\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c6b9045a44a644289a5e843199888cdd\u0022\u003ECHRIS AUCHINVOLE\u003C/span\u003E: None of those three bills is crucial or a huge thing. The legislation that this bill repeals has not generated, in this debate, any definitive points of substance for it to be retained. The reason is that the legislation seems to have been put in as a sort of afterthought to the emissions trading scheme; something to raise credibility to give an image that Labour was against thermal production of energy. That legislation was not carefully thought through. I have not heard anybody opposite say, so far, that the legislation was carefully prepared and thought through. There is nothing to indicate that was the case. It is almost as though the legislation was designed as a sort of badge for Charles Chauvel to wear during his intensive, hard slog at the conference in Belgium. Well, no doubt, when this bill passes, he will choke on his canap\u00E9s. I say: \u201CCharles, tant pis, mon ami, nous sommes vraiment d\u00E9sol\u00E9es.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000081\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EIf the previous Government wanted to do something for image, it should have done it well. Frankly, this thermal ban has not been done well. No substantive points about it have been brought forward in the debate, in spite of the best efforts of Messrs Hipkins and Nash. They were rushed on to the front line of debate, and they have done very well. It has been an interesting debate, but even the Greens have had difficulty. Jeanette Fitzsimons was trying to establish a reason for keeping the thermal ban, while, at the same time, saying it is toothless, it is empty, and one could drive a truck through it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000082\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003ETo sum up, because we do not want to spend too long on this, Labour had 9 years to do something formative in this particular area of legislation. The legislation that this bill repeals is all image and no substance. It would not have worked. They say it would not have worked. They acknowledge it would not have worked. They could not have made it work. It does not have a purpose to it that will achieve anything. It was do-nothing legislation. It did not do anything, it does not do anything, and it would not do anything if it were retained, so it might as well go. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000083\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bfa5b74-8933-458a-99d4-bbd75d9898d0\u0022\u003EThe record is not something that Labour can be terribly proud of. Renewable generation is down from 73 percent to 66 percent. Domestic prices are up. Forestry has been decimated. This bill will take away the pretend policies of a failed Government. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022 data-id=\u0022631308da315f42488072bae83c939403\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022631308da315f42488072bae83c939403\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I celebrate Mr Auchinvole\u2019s being here, because we have been hearing a lot in this Parliament about the number of firsts in both this and the previous Parliament\u2014the first Chinese MP for the Labour Party, the first Tongan MP, the first Sikh MP, and, of course, Mr Auchinvole is, in the 150-odd years of this Parliament, the first toff from the West Coast to be an MP in this Parliament. So we have many firsts to celebrate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000085\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EBut what did we hear from Pansy Wong, who came in here like a small Energizer Bunny Pollyanna, and her helper, Chris Auchinvole? \u201CThe sun is shining.\u201D, they told us. The sun was shining as they walked to work, and I have to say, coming from Hawke\u2019s Bay, that when the sun is shining in Wellington it is important the rest of the country knows that fact, because it is not always the case in this city. But, of course, what is their answer\u2014\u201CLet us try to stop this. Let us try to black the sun out. Let us try to block it out from New Zealand by having lots of thermal generation capacity.\u201D Mr Auchinvole is looking for a thermal coal-fired power station to be built on the Wellington foreshore, so that when he walks to work he does not have to worry about the problem of getting melanoma at some point in the future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000086\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EWhat is the rush for this Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill? You see, at the very moment we are talking in this House, there are a whole set of people in the lock-up, and already there is not a dry seat in that house as they are going through the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update. What that Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update will tell us is not that the Government managed to find another $50 million that somehow is not in the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update; it will tell us of a massive downgrading of world economic growth forecasts and, therefore, a significant downgrading of New Zealand\u2019s economic growth forecasts. Therefore, the reason why greenhouse gas emissions have gone up so much in the last 8 or 9 years will not be a big problem for the next couple of years for New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EWe will not have any real economic growth; we will actually have a pause. So we do not need to rush through with this bill because there is to be some big crisis in terms of power supply. Far from that, we will not have that issue facing us very much at all over the next year or two. It is what we might call a blessing in disguise, or, as economists put it: \u201CFor every silver lining there is a cloud.\u201D So we do not need the legislation that quickly. This could go to a select committee. It could be thought through more carefully. Just having it thought through would be good. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EThe reason the bill is here is the same reason that lots of other things have come here under urgency in the last 2 weeks. The National Party in Opposition thought that its default position would be that if the Labour Government did it, then it would say it would repeal it. Then, having got there, the National Government has to do something. Its 100 days of action have consisted of enormous moves like this: any national standards of education will not be able to be reviewed by a parliamentary select committee. This will drive stronger productivity growth! National says that we will not have to have sustainable electricity generation; that we can add to baseload capacity thermal generation in a plant that might be built in some years\u2019 time and this will somehow drive stronger productivity growth over the short to medium term. It says that we will bypass Pharmac when it comes to the supply of drugs in New Zealand and this will somehow drive greater productivity in New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000089\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EThis has been the dynamic period of action. As I said before, this has been the turbocharged Morris Oxford, but what I did not realise was that a new gearbox has been put into the Morris Oxford, as well, with one forward gear and four reverse gears. That is National\u2019s whole plan for the future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000090\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EWhat about this issue of security of supply? That is an interesting one because any Government has to make judgments at the margin. We can have as much security of supply as we like as long as the country is prepared to pay for it. There is a trade-off at the margin between 100 percent guarantee of security of supply and the cost that the consumer has to pay, because there will always be some point at which absolute security of supply cannot be secured without having yet another generating station. And no Government can pretend otherwise around that. That is the difficult trade-off. Actually, the Government and the Electricity Commission have changed that trade-off recently to reinforce the importance of security of supply. But security of supply cannot be bought at the cost of other things, as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000091\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003ELet me deal with the issue of cost. Mr Brownlee worked himself up to something approaching enormous energy last night in the House. In fact, he was so energised that he almost looked like Dr Hutchison when speaking to the House. He somehow blamed the Labour Government for the fact that costs have gone up, but let me tell him that the fundamental issue is the structure of the market. The market for electricity is generated, created, on the basis of a model that says: \u201CThe price will be\u201D\u2014ignoring the short-term factors\u2014\u201Cover the medium term the marginal cost of the next station being put in place.\u201D Indeed, there is a whole circularity. As the price goes up the revaluation of the generators occurs and then, of course, unless their prices go up again, the return on equity falls. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000092\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003ESo there is a peculiar illogical logic that is imbedded into the nature of the market created by the National Government. There is no point in the National Government bemoaning this fact. If it wants to address that issue it actually has to fundamentally change that electricity market. It is an interesting question as to whether we want to fundamentally change that market, and to fundamentally change that market almost certainly to having a monopsonistic buyer somewhere within the middle of the system that purchases new capacity but the electricity system as a whole being onsold at average price. As long as we have a marginal price model, then almost by definition prices will rise, because the next power station will be more expensive than the last one. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000093\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EThat is particularly true of thermal generation over the longer term, because the value of the gas or coal that drives it will continue to rise faster than prices on average and, therefore, the cost of that power will rise. That is not true necessarily of wind. It probably is true of hydro, by and large, which is why the previous Government strongly encouraged wind generation because it is our best prospect for reasonably priced, sustainable generated capacity over the next 10 to 15-year period. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000094\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EThe Government says that as long as we have a carbon price we can solve this problem. But the Government passed a resolution through this House last week to have a select committee to think about whether we should have a carbon price, at all, because it will even think about whether human-induced global warming is actually an issue. We know what Maurice Williamson thinks about that. He thinks that it is not an issue, that it is not human-induced, and, therefore, that no action we can engage in will affect that particular matter. If we are in that position, then the Government cannot come in here and say: \u201CWe are going to have an effective emissions trading scheme quickly that will address that matter.\u201D, because the Government is saying it will take more time to think about an effective emissions trading scheme, and, ironically, the slow down in world economic growth will buy some time in that particular regard. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000095\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EBut what is clear is that if we have thermal-generated capacity\u2014and let us remember that one is ready to go, north of Auckland\u2014rather than renewable-generated capacity, then that simply shifts the costs of Kyoto Protocol compliance to somewhere else within the economy and to somewhere else within New Zealand. It means we have to strive strenuously and harder somewhere else to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. What we have done, as Ms Fitzsimons quite rightly said, is that we decided not to pick the low-hanging fruit. We decided instead that we might stimulate the economy by encouraging the purchase of ladders so that we can go and pick the higher-hanging fruit instead. This is called turbocharging the New Zealand economy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000096\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EOf course, if I was being cynical I might consider this as some kind of retirement job for Gerry Brownlee. He clearly does not think he is going to be in the job very long, given how he has been going over the last few weeks. I cannot remember a Minister who has had as bad a start as Gerry Brownlee has had over the last few weeks. I think he is looking forward to the creation of some kind of natural gas plant that he will be connected up to in the future so that he can become the motive power for that natural gas plant, and that will be his retirement job into the long-term foreseeable future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000097\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EThis is a silly bill. If this silly bill was to be considered, then it should have gone to a select committee. It goes with the repeal of the biofuels obligation. It goes with the setting up of the so-called high-powered committee, with the well-known slogan: \u201CIf climate change should be done it should be seen to be done.\u201D, which is what the slogan of that particular committee seems to be. It goes with us going cap in hand offshore to discuss climate change absolutely unarmed, with no moral authority at all in those important international discussions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022 data-id=\u0022606bfd49c3f04e37a90d81090b22f185\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000098\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022606bfd49c3f04e37a90d81090b22f185\u0022\u003EJONATHAN YOUNG (National\u2014New Plymouth):\u003C/span\u003E I believe that the moratorium has backfired. The Labour members felt that they had produced legislation that would operate like a well-run machine, like a greatly tuned car that was economic and clean burning. But all that has come from it is a big backfire of black soot, and I want to tell members opposite what that is all about.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000099\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003EIn New Plymouth we are faced with the prospect of having an liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, because of the reduction of gas supply that the industry has perceived. The LNG that comes to New Zealand has a carbon footprint 40 percent higher than that of indigenous gas. We can thank the last Government for that. We need to understand that Genesis, which proposed this, comes under the auspices of the Government. I would like to know why the former Minister did not have anything to say about it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000100\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003EI am also quite confused why, under the last Government, a peak-load station was built that had the capacity to burn 1.1 billion litres of diesel per year. I cannot quite understand where its commitment was, given that that happened. Even this year, 70 million litres have been burnt; if that diesel were used to fill trucks, we would have a quarter of a million trucks full of diesel driving through our country. I cannot understand why the previous Government thought that would be a good thing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000101\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003EI support the repeal of the moratorium, because at least we will go back to 52 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every gigajoule of energy produced, instead of 72 kilograms. In time\u2014because National members do believe in climate change\u2014we will hit the renewable energy goal. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022 data-id=\u0022ce215b3817e543bd84b3c105955a52f8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000102\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ce215b3817e543bd84b3c105955a52f8\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E All the speeches we have heard from the National members so far seem to indicate that they support the moratorium on thermal generation and that they are great fans of renewable energy, which leads us to ask why we are here in urgency again, passing a bill that does exactly the opposite of what every single National member has argued for. There is confused, then there is really confused.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000103\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EBut there is one light at the end of the tunnel. I am very pleased that the member who has just resumed his seat, Jonathan Young, has finally realised that it was a moratorium, not a ban. I am pleased about that, although it has taken the entire debate for him to realise it. I am glad that he has finally appreciated that his first and second reading speeches were completely wrong\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000104\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002219e88f26f8224e7eb9d2afc6f73ebdd4\u0022\u003EChris Hipkins\u003C/span\u003E: A quick learner!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000105\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022db3f8099cef14ab5af34a964143ea37c\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: A quick learner; well, it has not taken him very long. If there is one bright point in the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill being rammed through under urgency with no public input, maybe it is that Mr Young has finally realised that the claims he made in his earlier speeches were completely wrong. I congratulate him on standing in this House to correct the mistake he made earlier on.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000106\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI come back to the point that if the National Party members truly do not want any more baseload thermal generation, if they truly believe that renewable generation is the way of the future, then why are they passing legislation that repeals exactly that?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000107\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002245400db6e02f4f7fbc7baa466c0e2332\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: In urgency.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000108\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224e120bb0fae74b25a3056586757d5c3f\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: In urgency. The member who has just resumed his seat also questioned Labour\u2019s commitment to renewable generation, which is very ironic, given that we are sitting under urgency to repeal legislation put in place by the previous Labour Government that promoted renewable generation. I do not know whether the member was confused; perhaps he had not read the bill. It is actually not very long. It would take the member only about 5 minutes to read, at the very most. It is not very difficult. The member has Dr Paul Hutchison sitting right in front of him\u2014a very learned man. He could ask him about it. He should not ask Maurice Williamson. He should come down a row and ask Paul Hutchison, and he will get a much better answer. Paul Hutchison can probably explain to the member how this bill does exactly the opposite of what he just said in his speech, what Mr Auchinvole said in his speech, and what Ms Wong said in her speech.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000109\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI know that Pansy Wong is into archaic technology, so I am not surprised that she supports this repeal. If she pops by my office, which used to be her office, she can have back her cassette Walkman, which she left in the drawer. So I am not surprised that Ms Wong has a kind of sentimental attachment to the technologies of the past. I can forgive her for supporting this legislation. It is quite nice to have a traditionalist in the party\u2014there is nothing wrong with that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000110\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EMr Auchinvole\u2019s contributions in debates are always extraordinary. I must admit that I look forward to them, and I worry when it looks like he will not take a call. I am pleased that he is to be the chair of the Local Government and Environment Committee, because his contributions in this House on those issues during this Parliament are even better than his contributions in the previous Parliament. I think it was in his second reading speech that he was sounding very much like Max Bradford. He got quite wound up, quite animated, and he started giving the old Max Bradford spiel, which leads me to ask whether anyone has actually seen Chris Auchinvole and Max Bradford in the same room. With a little bit of work it could actually happen, and I think it is something Mr Power might want to look into.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000111\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225735b081f1c5472781a0019620d80742\u0022\u003EHon Simon Power\u003C/span\u003E: I will get the officials to look into it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000112\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022055362a682c94da3a0d2bf7b433b3a4b\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: That would be a very good idea.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000113\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI come back to process. During the Committee stage the Minister in the chair, Gerry Brownlee, was surprisingly very low on energy\u2014ironically, given the bill. He was yawning throughout the entire process. He was sleeping. My colleague Jacinda Ardern pointed out that he had a picture book in front of him.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000114\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022595ad5b1809343b796c092d824dbe571\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: That was his briefing note made especially for him.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000115\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229ae3061cc68b4fe8a82b383cffa91c99\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: That is fine\u2014to each their own. I do not pass any judgment on that. But it would be nice if the Minister was here in the House at the winding up of this debate. I suspect he is in his office praying for an energy crisis soon, so that he can blame it on the previous Government. He has spent all this year praying for an energy crisis, praying that we would run out of electricity, constantly questioning the Minister of Energy in the House, and hoping that the mere semblance of his asking the question would indicate that there was some kind of crisis coming. He is probably up in his office hoping that within the next few months there will be some kind of energy crisis that he can blame on the previous Government, and thereby come up with some kind of reason for having passed this legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000116\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EIt was disappointing that during the Committee stage the Minister in the chair did not take a call. This is important legislation. It is being rammed through the House under urgency. It does not need to be. There is no rush. There is no reason why this legislation, like every other piece of legislation we have dealt with so far under urgency, could not have gone to a select committee so that those who are affected, those who have an opinion, and those who perhaps know a bit more than the Minister, God forbid, could have their say. I know that Mr Power is very proud that coming up we have the first piece of legislation that the Government is sending to a select committee. If I am not wrong, it is Labour Government legislation that has been carried over.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000117\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f4717d366f1a454187c0fe0e679e0f06\u0022\u003EHon Simon Power\u003C/span\u003E: No, it\u2019s not, actually. You should read it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000118\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224d3bd1bf49bb493da98c5fec17a0e53f\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: Watered down.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000119\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022de4dd9d315e44c2ebf79747bd6f2436f\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: That is right\u2014it has been watered down. I congratulate Mr Power on coming up with the first piece of legislation to go to a select committee. I do not actually think it is something to be proud of, which is what the member who just raised that point thinks. I do not think it is something he should tout\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000120\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002227bade461d2e473aa1b9bfc87773fc57\u0022\u003EHon Simon Power\u003C/span\u003E: Why did you congratulate me?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000121\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022036bc39ec7ed46858540a49b184b1681\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: I tell Mr Power that I was being facetious. I do not think that\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000122\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bb2085b73bd646659603b6d198b7528c\u0022\u003EHon Simon Power\u003C/span\u003E: Oh really! It\u2019s so hard to tell.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000123\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f15501724e4f4d928be9912f2ae95853\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: The member will learn; he will learn. I think it would be easier if Mr Power always assumes I am being facetious unless told otherwise.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000124\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI do not think it is a good idea to stand up and say that it is good that we will soon have the first piece of legislation to go to a select committee. A bill not going to a select committee is meant to be the exception rather than the rule. It would appear that under this new National Government that is not the case.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000125\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EThis bill, which repeals the thermal moratorium, is not going to a select committee. All that the moratorium did was provide a 10-year restriction on baseload thermal generation, because Labour members think that if New Zealanders are going to stand up on the world stage and talk about climate change, we actually need to have done some action and not be all talk. We have heard lots of really nice words in the Speech from the Throne and from members opposite about how much National believes in climate change. Maurice Williamson has actually started emphasising the word \u201Cbelieve\u201D when he says it: \u201CI believe in climate change.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000126\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002249ff481bd1c54bae8bbdb6a3f6e2c5f3\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: I believe, I believe!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000127\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002227fcd56c8b8f47f5bcb29438fb580f20\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: I am afraid that actions speak louder than words.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000128\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a11ce4e-9fb3-4738-b0be-5a9f81d975da\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002294f39351f36f41d98e69daa5a94b7119\u0022\u003EHon Maurice Williamson\u003C/span\u003E: Alleluia!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000129\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a45a532a269a4f5fa007fddf6e07c30f\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: He has had a road to Damascus experience. But I am afraid that actions speak louder than words, and we have sat in a Parliament that, over the course of 2 weeks, has wound back every single piece of climate change legislation put in place by the previous Government\u2014and not just legislation but policies, like the $1 billion retrofitting of houses, which would have seen cleaner, drier, healthier houses. We hear a lot of talk in this House expressing concern about the health of our young people and the way that they perform at school, but no one draws a link between that and cleaner, drier houses, which mean that children are not sick and can go to school, and that when they do go to school they are actually able to learn and to benefit from it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002241e31c13646e4d19a23da89cf47e0966\u0022\u003EHon Steve Chadwick\u003C/span\u003E: It is common sense.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000131\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002211f64a1f5a214bba88728fed0d3d9c19\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: It is common sense, but members opposite do not see that link. The other advantage is that it is good for the environment. Again, one would have to question why the National Government, which claims to believe in climate change and claims that it wants to do something about it, has wound that back.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000132\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EWe are not quite sure what is happening with the emissions trading scheme select committee. We are not quite sure whether it has stalled, has been suspended, or is carrying on. I think that foresters deserve to know exactly what the situation will be and what will happen further down the track. The National Party members say new legislation will be passed by September. Well, anyone who has seen the terms of reference of that select committee knows that it will be very difficult for it to do justice to the foresters and report back in time for a bill to be passed by September.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000133\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003ESo what are we seeing? More environmental back-downs. We should not be surprised about that, because National Governments have always backed away from the big issues. It has always been Labour Governments that have faced up to the big issues facing the country, even though they are not easy to deal with\u2014for example, climate change and our lack of savings. What are we seeing in this Parliament? A winding back. I say to members of the National Government that it is very easy to defend the status quo; it is far harder to actually have some vision and deal with the difficult issues facing the country, which inevitably are issues that polarise people. We have a National Government that will not take us forward, and that, at the very best, will leave us stagnating where we are. More likely, it will have us turbocharging backwards at a rate of knots.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000134\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229e57cc51bd634c6fb3d7401bf0b91900\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: \u201CRetro-charging\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000135\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222db49c9c9859416abf7f4e757437090f\u0022\u003EMOANA MACKEY\u003C/span\u003E: \u201CRetro-charging\u201D\u2014I am sorry. I wonder how good that is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000136\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270dd644d-8bcf-40dc-998a-887d62d24a76\u0022\u003EI listened with interest when Jeanette Fitzsimons was giving one of her contributions, after the Hon Dr Nick Smith had spoken. Of course, he had given a very energetic\u2014I think that would be a good word\u2014contribution. Jeanette Fitzsimons pointed out that greenhouse gas emissions grew under the 1990s National Government, and that they grew faster under the Labour Government\u2014and Dr Smith was enthusiastically nodding\u2014and then she pointed out that that was because of stronger economic growth under Labour. Then Dr Smith started shaking his head so hard that I thought it was going to fly off. He did not get the point. Well, it has become clear to me that this National Government\u2019s programme for dealing with climate change is to drive economic growth down. We have seen the removal of the research and development tax credit, we have seen the removal of the biofuel obligation, which was helping our innovative bioenergy companies, and our savings through KiwiSaver have been cut. I bet members\u2014in fact, I guarantee\u2014that we will have the Hon Dr Nick Smith standing up in this House and touting a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions because they have damaged the economy so much and claiming that that is a good thing. Well, that is a National Government for you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022 data-id=\u002241bbf61030b34a9faaa9c0820fab4576\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000137\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002241bbf61030b34a9faaa9c0820fab4576\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: That concludes the third reading of the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. The question is that\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000138\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022301d8e9f050944b19f2bf03497571dd9\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek leave for Mr Williamson to give a speech.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000139\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022172ebc9791684e1f92396b7f28079f4e\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: You cannot do that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000140\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b6a27ea3da1f4b61b5f86ef6761b9d65\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Opposition would not object to Mr Williamson seeking leave to give a speech.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000141\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ea40d315a8e0420b86640cb4dfeaee11\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: I do not think we will do that, either.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00222e9d17647e5444bf9e2cfb98943fae07\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill be now read a third time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 57; ACT New Zealand 5; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 43; Green Party 9; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EBill read a third time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000142\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022d40a30dbbc034829b39365a2abfabade\u0022\u003EDomestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000143\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022cf8bcceb03364782b1e3dc2b42ee3a0b\u0022\u003EFirst Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022 data-id=\u002235ff4dac1a534efb9a9586604ff33873\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000144\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002235ff4dac1a534efb9a9586604ff33873\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill be now read a first time. At the appropriate time I will move that the bill be referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee for consideration. We all know that family violence is a problem in New Zealand, accounting for over 80,000 recorded events per year: 39 percent of homicides, 42 percent of kidnappings and abductions, 44 percent of grievous assaults, and 64 percent of serious assaults. We cannot legislate away behaviour that is clearly the product of broader social attitudes that, we hope, will shift\u2014but only over time. But the way agencies respond to family violence can save lives and reduce the impact on victims. This bill is the criminal justice response to some of those issues. It is predicated on the belief that we can still do more to strengthen the response from the criminal justice authorities to protect victims of family violence and to stop them from becoming another statistic. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000145\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003EThe main purpose of this bill is the introduction of police-issued on-the-spot protection orders\u2014a move that was first announced by John Key on 1 November 2007. At present, family violence protection orders are made by a Family Court judge and restrict the alleged offender\u2019s contact with the victim. However, victims must apply to the courts for protection orders, and many never go through with this process because of either the delay, the costs involved, a lack of trust in the system, or fear of repercussions. Against the background of a steady increase in reported family violence, the number of applications for protection orders has actually declined 26 percent from 1999-2000 to 2005-06. This bill allows police to issue on-the-spot protection orders to address the immediate safety of victims\u2014that is, the vulnerable partner and children\u2014in the violent situation by removing the alleged violent person from the home for a period of up to 5 days. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000146\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003EPolice will issue the orders in situations where there is an insufficient basis to arrest\u2014that is a very important distinction to make\u2014but where they believe there is a likelihood of domestic violence occurring and an order is necessary for the safety of the victim. The orders will provide a period of safety in which victims can consider their future options, including the possibility of a court protection order. Significantly, it will not be the police\u2019s responsibility to find accommodation for alleged offenders for the duration of the order. It is important that these alleged violent offenders take responsibility for their actions and realise that their actions have consequences. Another serious consequence for the subject of the police order is that while the order is in force the provisions of a parenting order or an agreement allowing that person day-to-day care of or contact with any children is suspended. This measure has been a long time coming. I acknowledge the Hon Annette King\u2019s work and the previous Government\u2019s commitment to legislation in this area. Unfortunately, it was not until 2 days after the Parliament was adjourned in September that the last Government\u2019s bill was tabled. We indicated early that we would have supported that legislation throughout this process. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000147\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003EOnce this bill is referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee I will be particularly interested in hearing the select committee\u2019s work about views on the time frame for the police-issued on-the-spot protection order. The proposed duration for the order in the bill is for a period not exceeding 5 days, which is longer than the proposal that the previous Government had suggested\u2014that is not a criticism; it is just a fact\u2014but shorter than the 2-week period I personally would have liked to see in respect of this. I say to that select committee that I encourage genuine discussion about the appropriateness of the time frame, and I look forward to receiving their advice on that issue. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000148\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003EThe bill also provides an opportunity to re-examine other provisions relating to the protection of victims of domestic violence. The current criteria for arresting those who breach protection orders are repealed because they create more hoops for police when deciding to arrest than exist for offences under the Crimes Act. The two-tiered penalty structure for breaches of protection orders is removed, leaving only the maximum penalty of a term of imprisonment not exceeding 2 years. In addition\u2014and, I think, extremely important\u2014failing to attend a court-ordered programme such as anger management will attract a specific penalty of up to 6 months\u2019 imprisonment. The bill also amends the Sentencing Act so that when the criminal courts sentence a person convicted of a domestic violence offence they must also consider imposing a protection order on behalf of the victim. This is important because it does not place the victim in the situation of having to request or seek the order; rather it leaves the court in the position of being able to make the order without putting the victim in a very difficult situation, as is often the case in our courtrooms. Finally, this bill proposes a change to the Bail Act 2000, so that when police arrest persons for domestic violence offending they may also impose bail conditions that more explicitly protect children. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000149\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003EThe review of the Domestic Violence Act undertaken by the previous Government identified other matters relating to the Care of Children Act. I know from discussions with the Opposition spokesperson on justice, the Hon Lianne Dalziel, that she is keen to see those issues advanced. I can tell her that I have asked officials this morning to revisit the matters more closely related to the Family Court. But this bill is quite deliberate in its focus on the response of the criminal justice system. I do not pretend that this bill will stop violence from occurring in the home, nor do I imagine anybody in this Parliament does. But as a first step it is designed to give both police and criminal courts enhanced tools to provide victims of domestic violence with immediate protection and to help keep victims safe from further violence. That, I hope, will in turn help those victims to reclaim their homes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022 data-id=\u00222d4eddf9a1614530a7f424399baaff1b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000150\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222d4eddf9a1614530a7f424399baaff1b\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL (Labour\u2014Christchurch East):\u003C/span\u003E I am pleased to be able to advise the Government that the Labour Opposition will support the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill. We are very pleased that this bill, unlike all the others included in the urgency motions of the past 2 weeks, will go to a select committee. But, in saying that, I have to also say that I am disappointed that the Government has decided to introduce a slimline version of the bill that the previous Government had on the Order Paper\u2014the Domestic Violence Reform Bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000151\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EThe reason I am disappointed is that the bill introduced by the Hon Annette King was far more comprehensive. It changed the definition of a child from a person under the age of 17 years to a person under the age of 18 years in order to align the age in the Domestic Violence Act with that in the Care of Children Act, and also with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This proposal had flow-on effects throughout the legislation\u2014for example, increasing the age at which minors could apply for protection orders in their own right. It empowered the court to make interim care or contact orders to protect the welfare and best interests of the child in cases where an applicant with a child applied for a protection order. It required a judge declining a without notice application for a protection order to provide written reasons for declining the application, giving the applicant time to decide whether to proceed on notice.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000152\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EThe bill made provision for applicants to be able to attend information sessions that would provide information about making effective use of protection orders and on social assistance that may be available. It provided the court with the power to direct attendance at an addiction treatment programme. It amended the Care of Children Act to extend the definition of violence to include psychological abuse and extended coverage beyond when allegations of violence are made to any case where there is a current protection order in force against one of the parties for the protection of the child or the other party. It amended the Hague convention provisions in the Care of Children Act that were proposed in response to a recent court decision ordering the removal of a child from New Zealand even though considerable time had lapsed since the original order had been made. The court noted the absence of a mechanism to discharge a section 105 order implying that the order would have been discharged had such a provision been available\u2014and I make a plea to the Government on behalf of the constituent in my electorate who is the subject of that court case, and which our previous Government was seeking to address. That is why I am very keen to see that provision reinstated. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000153\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EGiven that this bill is going to a select committee there is no reason why the Domestic Violence Reform Bill could not have been brought up the Order Paper with the Minister announcing that the Government intended to increase the number of days that the police orders would be good for, and indicating an early report-back requirement for part or all of the bill, given that this part of the bill was being progressed to meet the 100 days of action requirement. I have no difficulty with the new Government setting out an agenda such as this one has, but I am deeply frustrated when I see the significant work being cast aside for nothing more than political expediency. I have taken an interest in domestic violence since I sat on the Justice and Law Reform Committee, as it then was, when I first came to Parliament in 1990. I remember the report commissioned by the Victims Task Force that was rewritten within the Department of Justice to soften the very powerful message it contained on behalf of women who had died at the hands of men they had once loved. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000154\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EI remember visiting the Hamilton Abuse Intervention Pilot Project, as it then was, and being impressed with the approach it had adopted\u2014being built as it was on collaboration and a shared understanding of the nature of power and control against Government and non-government agencies alike. I remember returning there in 2005, and finding that the over-arching violence intervention project was struggling to make ends meet, and that one of the most critical components of the Hamilton Abuse Intervention Pilot Project, the court advocates who appeared for the victims of domestic violence, had disappeared with its pilot status in the late 1990s and no one could tell me why. I could not even find an evaluation of the pilot project, which meant that the real lessons were never passed on, and despite the successful results the project could identify it was still not universally rolled out around the country to every place that needed it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000155\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EBy the time I was appointed as Minister of Women\u2019s Affairs after the 2005 general election, the Government had established a Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families. The task force was led by two State sector chief executives to signal to Government agencies the priority that was attached to this issue. The involvement of the judiciary, the police, and representatives of non-governmental organisations, including the National Collective of Independent Women\u2019s Refuges meant that the quality of advice from the coalface was second to none. Sitting alongside the task force was a ministerial group that met regularly to respond to ideas that came through from the task force and any other sources. In June 2006 one of the country\u2019s top policemen, Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Roger Carson, raised the issue of police issuing on-the-spot protection orders when they attend domestic violence incidents rather than waiting weeks for the order to be issued through a court. He said at the time that he had picked up the idea during an Australasian conference in Sydney on policing family violence. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000156\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EUnfortunately the initial response from the most important stakeholder was very negative, with Heather H\u0113nare, chief executive of the National Collective of Independent Women\u2019s Refuges, saying the idea was not welcome and that the collective would prefer that the police concentrate more on lifting their game in dealing with breaches of existing protection orders. She also expressed concern that it would take some of the decision-making process away from women. The local Police Association said the idea should be looked at because, in its view, officers at domestic scenes were often in a better position to judge the need for protection than people in court who are viewing an incident after the accused had calmed down. As a result, the then Minister of Police, the Hon Annette King, asked the police to undertake work on the subject. Because Women\u2019s Refuge then raised the issue with me in my role as Minister of Women\u2019s Affairs at its 2006 conference, I asked the Ministry of Women\u2019s Affairs to make some inquiries. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000157\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EOut of this I arranged to meet with police in Hobart, Tasmania, when I was there for the APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting. What I discovered was a programme called Safe at Home. This programme was designed to address domestic and family violence where the safety of victims is paramount, and was unprecedented in Australia in terms of funding, resourcing, law reform, and departmental culture change. The criminal justice focus on pro-arrest, pro-charge, and pro-prosecution was underpinned by an integrated coordinated service response, and the cooperation and collaboration of the Department of Justice, the Tasmania Police, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Under Safe at Home the police were responsible for providing immediate intervention to secure victims\u2019 safety, manage the risk of repeated or escalated violence, and to undertake risk assessments and safety audits. Specialist police victim safety response teams provided follow-up contact and support to victims. The pro-arrest approach was coupled with a presumption against bail, and because this increased the likelihood that witnesses would be compelled to provide evidence this required the gathering of strong corroborative evidence. I mention this because the whole system was underpinned by weekly integrated case coordination meetings in each district; they were essentially forums for key stakeholders and service providers to share case management information from the family violence management system in order to monitor and respond to the changes to the level of risk and threats to safety. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000158\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EI make this point because what we need in terms of domestic violence relates to the whole question of an integrated response. It is not simply one response that is required; it is an integrated response that is required. I also make the point that some of the proposals in the original Domestic Violence Bill came directly from the Waikato University report that the Ministry of Women\u2019s Affairs commissioned on women\u2019s experience of protection orders. It will be an enormous disappointment to the ministry and the dozens of women they interviewed that, in fact, the whole bill will not be pursued. That is why I would like to seek the leave of the House at the conclusion of my address to have that bill referred to the select committee, with no debate, so that the provisions of that bill could be considered by the select committee at the same time as this issue is being considered by the House. I remember the closing words of the dedication of the writers of the Victims Task Force report to the women who had died when they wrote their earlier report. They wrote: \u201CThe days of your death were marked by the system\u2019s trivialisation of the dangers you faced.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000159\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EThe Labour Party is willing to work cooperatively with the Government to ensure that we remove that risk of trivialising the dangers that are faced when the violence is so close to home. But at the same time, we call on the Government to learn the lessons of the past. It is a multifaceted challenge to take on the scourge of domestic violence, and I am disappointed that only the part of the comprehensive reform bill that made it into National\u2019s election policy is being addressed in this bill. I urge the House to support my request to the House that we consider the other bill at the same time at the select committee. I seek leave to have the Domestic Violence Reform Bill referred to the same select committee as the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000160\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4112fc5-c53f-4aa9-bf6d-5a05ce6252cf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002259cd1e6c2ba94b02838a978ee6673ec3\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy)\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there anyone opposed to that course of action? There is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022 data-id=\u002252aa497cdd3c415f930a08fcfd9973aa\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000161\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002252aa497cdd3c415f930a08fcfd9973aa\u0022\u003EHon Dr RICHARD WORTH (Minister of Internal Affairs):\u003C/span\u003E What a powerful general policy statement it is in the explanatory note to this legislation that states in these short sentences: \u201CFor a significant number of victims of violence, the most dangerous place they can be is in their own home. In 2007/2008 family violence accounted for approximately 39% of homicides, 42% of kidnappings and abductions, 44% of grievous assaults, and 64% of serious assaults.\u201D I commend the Opposition for its indication that it will unstintingly support this legislation, which is part of a package of measures that the Government continues to advance to implement effective law and order policies that will safeguard community interests and, in particular, the interests of victims. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000162\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003ETo summarise this Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill in short order\u2014what will it do? First of all, it will enable the police to issue on-the-spot protection orders, police orders, for a period of up to 5 days. It will ensure that the safety of children in a domestic relationship with the alleged victim and the offender is more explicitly considered when setting the conditions of police bail. It will provide that when the criminal courts are sentencing a defendant convicted of a domestic violence offence, those courts will have to consider whether a protection order should also be made on behalf of the victim. It will repeal the criteria for arrest without warrant for breach of a protection order, and it will amend the structure and penalties for the offence of breach of a protection order. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000163\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003EFor those who are interested in law and order issues there always has existed, and will continue to exist, the opportunity of travelling with the police at night, in the back of a police car, to witness firsthand some of the things that occur in our community. Like other members of this House, I have had that opportunity on a number of occasions. Almost without exception, certainly on the occasions that I have had that opportunity, we have come across worrying incidents of domestic violence that have imposed considerable difficulties in the context of the police having to deal with those issues. The police are called to about 80,000 domestic violence cases a year. They currently do not have a lot of scope to deal with potentially dangerous situations, beyond advising families to leave the home themselves and to seek help from family or Women\u2019s Refuge. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000164\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003EIt is a great outcome at the start of the life of this Government, which I believe will continue in office for a substantial period of time, that we have grasped the nettle relating to this issue of domestic violence in the way the Minister earlier outlined. I hope that the bill will be speedily reported back from the select committee and can be implemented into law without delay.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022 data-id=\u0022afdb23d9f9b74c409c5b3bc47d6cd5e1\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000165\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022afdb23d9f9b74c409c5b3bc47d6cd5e1\u0022\u003ELYNNE PILLAY (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E First, I congratulate the Government. This is the first time since this Parliament began that we have debated under urgency a bill\u2014the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill\u2014that will be referred to a select committee so that the public can have a say on it. I acknowledge that that is a good thing. This is also the first bill this Parliament has seen that does not take a major step backwards; that has been very sad to see in this House over the last 2 weeks. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000166\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EI register my disappointment, but firstly I congratulate Lianne Dalziel on a fantastic speech and, more important, on the very constructive proposal she put to the House that this bill be accompanied by Labour\u2019s Domestic Violence Reform Bill, which is far more comprehensive. It is the culmination of so much work, and it would do so much more towards addressing domestic violence and giving more support to women and families in our country than the current bill. I am very, very disappointed about that. I note that Simon Power made some commitment towards engaging with and working on this bill, but National\u2019s very next move denied the opportunity for a more comprehensive bill and for more ideas to be considered. That is disappointing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000167\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EThe Labour Government did so much work around the issue of domestic violence. As I said before, I pay tribute to Lianne Dalziel, a former Minister of Women\u2019s Affairs\u2014a position, I have to say, that a while ago National did not think was even necessary\u2014and the Hon Annette King, who put so much time and energy into working with the justice sector. All of that feedback was incorporated into the Labour Government\u2019s bill. Under Labour a family violence ministerial team was established to work with all stakeholders in the State sector, and across the myriad of non-governmental organisations that work at the coalface. I acknowledge in this House all those organisations and the absolutely fantastic and wonderful work that they do, whether they are women\u2019s groups that educate and empower women, family organisations that work with families in education and that support and promote alternatives to violence, or our schools in terms of the implementation of many anti-bullying messages. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000168\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EThe previous Labour Government introduced all these initiatives to raise awareness and to say that violence is not OK. I also acknowledge the refuges and emergency houses that provide a safe haven for women, but, more than that, provide the opportunity for women to begin the recovery process\u2014not just physically but, more important, emotionally and psychologically. That happens day after day in our communities. I know that many organisations have said to the Government that they are most appreciative of the support they have received. I urge the National Government to continue the commitment to support those organisations and the work they do. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000169\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EAll of that work culminated in the Government\u2019s commitment to strengthening the Domestic Violence Act. I want to talk just a little about some of the things that are missing from that Act. When the Act was reviewed, one of the key proposals\u2014which obviously this bill addresses\u2014was short-term safety orders. Other proposals were strengthening the penalty system; providing victims of domestic violence with more information when the court declines an application for protection orders; requiring the Family Court to scrutinise more carefully applications for discharging a protection order; requiring criminal courts to consider making a protection order on behalf of a victim; improving access to programmes for respondents, protected persons, and their children; and ensuring further consistency between the Act and the work that is done in the courts. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000170\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EI also comment on where this bill is sadly lacking: on the definition of \u201Cchild\u201D, which may seem quite a small issue. The bill is very light on this\u2014it is not only light; it does not address it. If, as Lianne Dalziel pushed for, the bill had gone to a select committee, then far more comprehensive and important things would have been addressed. Simply changing the definition of a child from \u201Cunder the age of 17 years\u201D to \u201Cunder the age of 18 years\u201D, which lines up with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, would give so much more protection to minors: it would mean that they could apply for protection orders in their own right. It is very sad that that has not been addressed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000171\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EI see Chester Borrows in the House today. He sat with me on the Justice and Electoral Committee as it heard submissions on section 59 of the Crimes Act. I hope that the select committee will address this bill in a very constructive and non-partisan way so that we can address many of the discrepancies and initiatives that are lacking in it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000172\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EAlso missing is the empowerment of the court to make interim care or contact orders to protect the welfare and best interests of the child where an applicant with a child applies for a protection order. We want to require a judge declining an application without notice for a protection order to provide written reasons. We also want to make provision in the legislation for applicants for protection orders to be able to attend information sessions that will provide information about making effective use of protection orders and provide advice on social assistance that may be available. Also missing is the power to direct attendance of an addiction treatment programme. The bill does not include an amendment to the Care of Children Act to extend the definition of \u201Cviolence\u201D in section 58 to include psychological abuse, and to extend the coverage in section 59(1) beyond cases where allegations of violence are made to any case where there is a current protection order in force against one of the parties for the protection of the child or the other party. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000173\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EThese are all very, very important parts of the previous Government\u2019s Domestic Violence Reform Bill, which was so much more comprehensive than the bill before the House. The public\u2014and I am talking about all organisations\u2014made comprehensive submissions on it through the select committee process. It really saddens me that, despite the rhetoric and the words, that bill will not accompany this one. I would urge the Government to reconsider that. It is not too late; there are many more speeches to come from Government members, and perhaps during the course of this debate it could reconsider its position. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000174\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EDomestic violence is up there with the most abhorrent crimes in our communities and our society. To address the problem, we have to own the problem. We have to own the problem within our communities and as a nation. The previous Labour Government\u2014and I say this with real pride\u2014really pushed for public discussion on all aspects of domestic violence. I acknowledge all the strong women who have told their stories. It is a very hard and painful thing to do; it means reliving their experience of abuse. But they do it because they see how vital it is for every member of our society to say out loud\u2014and to know without any doubt whatsoever\u2014that violence is not OK. It is the responsibility of all members of our society to speak out and to report if they see violence occurring or if they believe that violence is occurring. I know that this public discussion would not have happened if the previous Labour-led Government had not raised awareness. That is something that I am really proud of. I support this bill. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022 data-id=\u0022d74542b58c3843ccab514cff4a12b79a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000175\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d74542b58c3843ccab514cff4a12b79a\u0022\u003ESUE KEDGLEY (Green):\u003C/span\u003E Domestic violence is a huge and disturbing problem in our society today. When the cross-party working group on family violence\u2014which, of course, was established under the previous Government\u2014visited South Auckland recently, the police were quite clear with MPs that youth gangs were not their major problem, and that a vast amount of their time was taken up dealing with domestic violence, with the majority of it being suffered by women and children. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000176\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003ESadly, we live in a society where far too many women continue to be physically, sexually, and psychologically battered and abused, and some women are even killed. Police statistics show that between 2000 and 2004, 56 women and 39 children were murdered in family violence - related incidents. In 2005 to 2006, over 65,000 children witnessed family violence, and that is just the number of recorded incidents. Apprehensions by the police of male offenders numbered over 25,000, and in the same year there were over 4,400 breaches of protection orders, nearly 3,000 of which resulted in arrest. Also, half of all murders in New Zealand are family violence - related. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000177\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EAs horrifying as these statistics are, they are just the tip of the iceberg. They are a damning indictment of a society in which so many adults\u2014principally, but not solely, male\u2014still think it is OK to control their partners or children through the use of physical force. For the Green Party, non-violence is one of our four founding charter principles, and our commitment to non-violence led us to take such a firm stand on the need to amend section 59 of the Crimes Act so that there is no longer any defence in law for beating, whacking, or hitting children for the purposes of correction. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000178\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EThe Green Party is very aware of the deficiencies in the current domestic violence legislation, which became law in 1995. Prior to the election we had welcomed Labour\u2019s proposal to amend the Domestic Violence Act. Like other parties, we have had only a day to consider the new Government\u2019s Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill, which we are debating today, but at this stage we support the legislation at its first reading, although we acknowledge that there may be some issues with its implementation and more that needs to be done in this area. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000179\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EWe are very relieved that the bill is going to a select committee. We are very thankful for that because there are, we believe, a number of sensitive issues around the law in this area. We need the input of experts in the field. We need to hear the voices of those who have experienced domestic violence at first hand, of those who have worked with victims and offenders, and of legal experts, who have a much greater knowledge of the finer points of this area of the law than lay people, which most MPs are. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000180\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EThe key element of the bill in front of us is that it introduces the ability of the police to make on-the-spot protection orders for victims of domestic violence. These orders will allow police to remove offenders from the home for up to 5 days, allowing time for the victim and her children, if she has them, to make arrangements for their ongoing safety and well-being. These on-the-spot orders will be applied only where the police do not actually arrest the offender but believe there is an ongoing risk to the victim. There will not be a requirement for the victim to consent to the protection order. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000181\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EThe positive aspects of this step are that the orders have the potential to keep women safer, for it removes the necessity for a battered partner to be the one who has to say whether an order should be issued. A further advantage is that from the point of view of the subsequent Family Court proceedings, the fact that the police have initiated a protection order as a result of being present at an incident of domestic violence means there is little room for argument as to whether something has happened. In addition, these on-the-spot protection orders have the potential to help prevent further violence, because once an order is in place, and if a partner breaches it, the police have the immediate power to arrest and charge the offender when the breach occurs. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000182\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EThe downside is the well-known difficulty of getting the police to respond adequately to breaches of protection orders, and this is another implementation issue that needs to be addressed by improving the culture around police responses. Another risk we see with the amendment is that the police may not necessarily be well trained or experienced in dealing with domestic violence. Offenders can present as being in control at a scene of violence while a victim can be distressed and out of control, and it can be easy for a misplaced judgment to be made in favour of the calmly manipulative partner. Another downside is that because the order can be instituted without the involvement of the woman, she can end up feeling even more disempowered about her life and her situation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000183\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003ESo in supporting this aspect of the bill, we believe that certain safeguards need to be put in place. The police need more and better training in dealing with domestic violence, victims deserve to be put in touch with advocates immediately and in every such situation, and groups that provide those advocates, like Women\u2019s Refuge, need to be funded adequately to cope with the workload professionally, as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000184\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EThere are several further aspects to the bill beyond the introduction of police-initiated protection orders. It proposes that when criminal courts are sentencing someone convicted of a domestic violence offence, the court will be obliged to consider making a protection order on behalf of the victim if it is for the victim\u2019s protection and if the victim does not object, and, once the order is made, the defendant will be required by law to attend a Stopping Violence Services programme. All of this sounds fine, as long as the organisations responsible for the Stopping Violence Services programmes, again, are adequately funded for the vital work they do. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000185\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EA third key element is an amendment to the Bail Act, allowing the police to impose bail conditions that will provide more explicit protection for children. Again, on the surface of it, we find it hard to see any downside to this amendment. Children are often the unseen and unconsidered victims in adult domestic violence situations. We support anything that can be done to better cater for their welfare and well-being. For all these reasons, the Green Party will be voting for the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill today, and, looking beyond this particular bill, we hope the Government will act quickly to sort out a number of other problems in this area as well. We would like the bill amending the Domestic Violence Act that the Labour Party brought forward to proceed as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000186\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EThere is an urgent need to lower the costs of obtaining protection orders. It is all very well for the police to grant an order for 5 days, but victims still have to find a way to fund getting a further order after that if they need one. More training is needed for all involved in implementing the laws around domestic violence\u2014not only the police but also lawyers, counsel for children, and judges. Victims of violence should be eligible to receive free counselling and more support beyond what is available through the Accident Compensation Corporation. But above all it is up to all of us to do everything we can, whoever we are and wherever we are in society, to help end the culture of violence against women and children\u2014and of course against men, where that happens, too. All of the social marketing campaigns, changes to the law, and fine words in Parliament will not alter anything as long as citizens in our country think it is OK to carry on with this kind of behaviour themselves, or to remain complicitly and covertly in support of the abusive actions of others. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000187\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EFinally, we also point out that as long as we have television that is saturated with violence, and as long as we have young children growing up watching videos, television, and computer games that instil a culture of violence and make violence seem an acceptable and legitimate way of solving disputes, the sort of violence we are discussing in this debate will continue to pervade our society. We need to take action to reduce the culture of violence in New Zealand and the amount of violence on television, as well as taking the positive steps that this bill proposes to take. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022 data-id=\u00227c1b12a8aa04439ebe9ecc538b53bffe\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000188\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227c1b12a8aa04439ebe9ecc538b53bffe\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT (ACT):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to speak on the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill, and I am very pleased to speak on this bill as my first duty since I gave my maiden speech last night. In that speech I said we needed a revolution to repair our broken justice system. I wish to put on record on behalf of both the ACT Party and me personally that any perception coming from abroad that we think society\u2019s violence problem is confined to the streets is completely wrong. Yes, as a country we have become much more violent on the street, and, yes, aggravated robberies, beatings, and homicides have increased on the street, but a great deal of the violence problem comes from the home.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000189\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EI wish I could wholeheartedly agree with the previous speaker from the Greens, but I need to point out that a couple of things Ms Kedgley said were not correct. Firstly, it is not 50 percent but 39 percent of homicides that occur in the home. Secondly, until the very last couple of minutes of her speech, Ms Kedgley referred exclusively to \u201Cthe woman\u201D and \u201Cher children\u201D. Sadly, the problem is not exclusively limited to women. The figures in front of me show that one in four women and one in five men will be a victim of domestic violence. The domestic violence I witnessed as a child was perpetrated exclusively by my mother. My sad, wimpy father took it and never retaliated, and of course in those days he did not call the police, either. I think it is quite important to realise and acknowledge that this problem is not limited exclusively to men on women. Men suffer from it as well. I was also interested to hear references from members opposite to psychological violence, and I think that is something that certainly should properly be raised at the select committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000190\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EI looked at new Part 6A, and I thought that it had a great deal of merit and that a great deal of thought had clearly been put into it. Of course, the primary purpose of this bill is to allow police to issue on-the-spot protection orders. I think that is a very good thing, perhaps for reasons that are somewhat different from those given by members opposite. As a lawyer, albeit not one practising in family law, I am aware, as every other lawyer in this House will be, that there are cases where protection orders are issued on the basis of affidavits that are, to put it mildly, embroidered somewhat with the assistance of lawyers. I think it was Ms Pillay who made the point very well, and I agree with her, that a police officer who is on the spot is better able to judge what has gone on than a court can 5 days later. I say that for reasons that are somewhat different from Ms Pillay\u2019s. The court hears an affidavit and sees both parties on their best behaviour. The police officer, on the other hand, is there on the spot seeing broken furniture and a split lip, and although I am not naive enough to think the police always get it right, I would say that perhaps they might get it right more often in those particular instances.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000191\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EHowever, I noted a couple of things about the provisions on police orders. In particular, one was the proposed provision precluding police from issuing orders against a child. I wonder why that provision is there. Members may think I am being a little facetious when I point out that children of 16 can be 6-foot tall. Some of my Tongan relatives of 16 are considerably bigger than me, and I am talking only about the female ones. I think that is something that could be looked at, as well. One hears of children terrorising their parents, and I wonder whether that is an area that could be looked at by the select committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EAs I have said, I agree with the Hon Lianne Dalziel that police are often better placed to judge circumstances, but I also point out\u2014and again, I think this is something that should be canvassed before the select committee\u2014that in my local area alone I am aware of two instances involving male acquaintances, not friends, where allegations were made against them and were accepted without any evidence, at all. Both of those men spent a couple of days in jail, as both incidents happened to occur on a Friday. I think the standard of proof and evidence required in such cases needs to be looked at more closely as well, both for police orders and for protection orders generally. I am not saying for a moment that I would wish to reduce or blunt the protection offered to women, but it is not a one-sided picture, as the figure of one in four for women and one in five for men that I mentioned earlier bears out. Having said all of that, the ACT Party and I personally are very happy to support this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00227883c85e-a5bb-4a12-9962-80df55af0ecd\u0022 data-id=\u00227c783deb3fe742e68df7316e583d1f05\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000193\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227883c85e-a5bb-4a12-9962-80df55af0ecd\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227c783deb3fe742e68df7316e583d1f05\u0022\u003EHONE HARAWIRA (M\u0101ori Party\u2014Te Tai Tokerau):\u003C/span\u003E T\u0113n\u0101 koe, Mr Assistant Speaker. Kia ora t\u0101tou e te Whare. It is nearly Christmas, and for many Kiwis Christmas is the time of year for hanging lights, putting up little pine trees, stringing cards on the wall, getting kai ready, organising the h\u0101ngi, and getting out the mattresses for all the relations coming home for the holidays. It is a time for family festivities, a time to be with loved ones, a time for family reunions, and a time for unveilings and good memories at the graveside. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000194\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227883c85e-a5bb-4a12-9962-80df55af0ecd\u0022\u003EBut for some families those graveside memories will be overwhelmed by grief and anger at the tragic loss of lives stolen in a haze of alcohol and drug abuse in homes where violence is the norm and murder an ugly companion. This is in a country where, during Christmas 2005, women\u2019s refuges all around Aotearoa were forced to take in 450 battered and fearful women and children, seven mothers were killed in acts of domestic violence, and 19 kids woke up to a life sentence without their mums. Such is the context in which we consider these amendments to the Domestic Violence Act and seek to eradicate violence by strengthening the response of the police and the courts. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000195\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227883c85e-a5bb-4a12-9962-80df55af0ecd\u0022\u003EI know that it may sound flippant, but domestic violence really is a matter of life and death for a lot of people. It is an explosive mixture of threats, stalking, harassment, raging jealousy, obsession, violence, assault, and murder that runs through every cultural, ethnic, and socio-economic group in the country, but it runs way too deeply in M\u0101ori society. The statistics tell us that in 2005 police had to deal with more than 63,000 incidents of family violence, that women are four times more likely to be raped by someone they know than by a stranger in the shadows, and that more than 25 percent of all women are beaten up by their partners. Such are the facts of life for women who are endangered and for children who are cowering in fear\u2014the facts of life that we keep hidden behind closed doors, and the facts of violence that we must put to an end. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000196\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227883c85e-a5bb-4a12-9962-80df55af0ecd\u0022\u003EI sincerely hope this Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill will help to address the problem by allowing police to break the cycle of domestic violence through on-the-spot protection orders, to protect families from further violence until matters come before the court; by directing courts to take into account when sentencing the fact that victims are children; and by increasing penalties for breaching domestic violence protection orders. Yes, this is a \u201Cget tough\u201D approach; yes, there is way more to this than is immediately apparent; and, yes, there is much to be done in the way of community standards. But when the safety and the very lives of our children and women are concerned, somebody really does need to say \u201CEnough is enough\u201D. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000197\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227883c85e-a5bb-4a12-9962-80df55af0ecd\u0022\u003EOver the last 40 years we have accepted the need for fireworks safety, for seatbelts in cars, and for helmets for cyclists; we can hardly do less for wh\u0101nau. We need to set standards of safety for wh\u0101nau, to emphasise child protection, and to sign up to legislation that treats domestic violence as the serious and criminal breach of human rights that it is. People tell us that things could be done better if only the existing framework was implemented properly, particularly in areas like having comprehensive training for everyone working in the sector, including judges, lawyers, court staff, and police; better resourcing for advocacy services; and better collaboration between courts and family violence networks. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000198\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227883c85e-a5bb-4a12-9962-80df55af0ecd\u0022\u003EOne factor that keeps coming up in all of the suggestions we are getting is the call from people like Parek\u014Dtuku Moore of the National Network of Stopping Violence Services, which is to speak out against violence, to not allow the issue to be hidden behind closed doors, and to denounce domestic violence in all its forms. For example, last week, some \u201Ca-hole\u201D tried to use TradeMe to sell men\u2019s black singlets under the label \u201Cwife beater\u201D, but following widespread outrage from all around the country, TradeMe pulled this sicko promotion from its site. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000199\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227883c85e-a5bb-4a12-9962-80df55af0ecd\u0022\u003EThis bill is an opportunity for Parliament to raise awareness about the issue of domestic violence, to remind the nation that there is no acceptable level of domestic violence, to reaffirm our commitment to protecting women and children from domestic violence, to speak up about the impacts of domestic violence, and to lay down markers about our refusal to tolerate it. But this bill is also an opportunity to speak out against the rampant unemployment that has crippled M\u0101ori families for the last quarter-century, to protest against the poverty that affects great swathes of the M\u0101ori community and that has created the conditions in which domestic violence, drugs, ill-health, theft, and lawlessness prevail, to speak up for those children forced to live in a world where they do not even know they are poor because they have never had anything, to challenge attacks on the rights of workers at a time when unemployment is set to go through the roof, and to speak out against a refusal of this House to make eradication of poverty the priority that it must be if we are truly to deal with the problems of violence and crime that are crippling our society. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000200\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227883c85e-a5bb-4a12-9962-80df55af0ecd\u0022\u003EAll those National members who roundly accuse Labour of playing the nanny State and interfering in the lives of ordinary citizens should know that as National passes this bill into law it is doing exactly what Labour did in the last term\u2014playing a hand in the way in which our society is run in order to ensure that the rights of those who are the most vulnerable are never forgotten. In the same way that the M\u0101ori Party stood alongside Labour and the Greens in respect of the section 59 bill to protect the rights of children, so too will we stand alongside National to help ensure the protection of families, as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000201\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227883c85e-a5bb-4a12-9962-80df55af0ecd\u0022\u003EChristmas is supposed to be a time of reflection and joy, but for many families it will be a time of drunkenness, hangovers, anger, and violence. It will be a time when business is booming for women\u2019s refuges, for all the wrong reasons, and police have to tear families apart simply to save the lives of those in desperate need. There are many factors behind domestic violence, not least the destructive violence of poverty, but there can be no excuses for the brutalising of our families in Aotearoa. For all those reasons and more, the M\u0101ori Party will be supporting this bill. Kia ora.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022 data-id=\u0022537cace68eee4ce28dd2df1a2a9d1e31\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000202\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022537cace68eee4ce28dd2df1a2a9d1e31\u0022\u003EHon PANSY WONG (Minister of Women\u2019s Affairs):\u003C/span\u003E I acknowledge the strong, heartfelt speech made by Hone Harawira MP. I think it is important for men to speak out and take a lead in terms of eliminating violence against women. My first activity after becoming Minister of Women\u2019s Affairs was to hand out white ribbons at 7 a.m. at Wellington Railway Station. I am pleased to say that on that day half a million white ribbons were handed out. The International Women\u2019s Day movement was started by a group of Canadian men with the objective of eliminating violence against women.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000203\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EThe Ministry of Women\u2019s Affairs is charged with providing the Government with policy that leads to the well-being of women. One of the major barriers and obstacles to their well-being is violence inflicted on them. Let me share the following statistic, which will demonstrate why it is such a tragedy that we need to tackle. The 2008 report of the National Collective of Independent Women\u2019s Refuges stated that every 26 days a woman dies at the hand of her partner or former partner\u2014every 26 days a woman dies at the hand of her partner or former partner. Of course, countless others are injured or scared every single day. That simply is not good enough, and it simply has to stop.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000204\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EI have the pleasure of taking a call in this House on the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill. The Prime Minister, the Hon John Key, made this issue a priority of the National Government\u2019s first 100 days, and the Minister of Justice, the Hon Simon Power, has brought this legislation, which provides for on-the-spot protection orders, to the House under urgency, and I welcome that. It sends a strong message. The fact that all parties in this House unanimously support the bill being sent to a select committee for examination sends a very positive signal that members of Parliament collectively will not stand for the amount of violence that is being inflicted on the women, the mothers, of our country. It is a very good start to this Parliament.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000205\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EI have written to the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Police about several matters, one of which the Green Party member Sue Kedgley pointed out. I support the introduction of the bill, which gives a qualified constable the authority to issue protection orders on the spot, but we have learnt from the experience of Western Australia that among the issues we need to address early on is training the police to detect the problem. As was pointed out by Sue Kedgley MP, a calm and collected offender might give the wrong impression, and the constable might not correctly read the signs. Also, it is important that during the 5 days\u2014or whatever period the select committee might recommend as being effective\u2014of the protection order the victim should be well informed as to the type of service and the level of support available to her and her children. At the same time, we should not forget that the offenders should be told to get some help during that cooling-off period\u2014help that will, hopefully, stop them from repeating their behaviour. I am totally convinced that my colleagues the Minister of Justice, who has introduced this legislation, and the Minister of Police will take up those recommendations in order to make sure that the implementation of the legislation will justify its unanimous support by Parliament.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000206\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EThe other issue is that the Ministry of Women\u2019s Affair, when examining this legislation, wanted to flag that the issuing of a protection order should never be a substitute for the police arresting perpetrators. Obviously, we condone the issuing of an instant protection order for the sake of the victims, but we should tell the police that doing so should never be a substitute for arresting and prosecuting the perpetrators. It is not a substitution.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000207\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EOnce again, I thank the House, in my capacity as Minister of Women\u2019s Affairs, for its unanimous support of the first reading of the bill. I look forward to the report back from the select committee, and to seeing the unanimous support of the House for the bill\u2019s final reading, in order that a very strong message is sent out there that violence against women is simply not acceptable in New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022b2567d3e-a09c-47b4-bd50-2f5bb4049762\u0022 data-id=\u0022bcdb984a66f0422cbcdad7c583e93120\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000208\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b2567d3e-a09c-47b4-bd50-2f5bb4049762\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022bcdb984a66f0422cbcdad7c583e93120\u0022\u003ESUE MORONEY (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E It is my pleasure to rise to speak in the first reading of the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill. In looking back over our society during the course of a number of years, I think that today\u2019s debate should give people great encouragement that over a period of time we can, with strong legislation backed up by strong education, actually change the attitudes and views of society. I think that today\u2019s debate really does demonstrate that, because so far no one has got up in the House during its course and said that the Government should stay out of people\u2019s bedrooms. No one has got up and said that the Government does not have, and that society does not have, a right to set standards and expectations in this area. I imagine that if we had been having this debate some decades ago we would have heard those very speeches being delivered in this House. There would have been elements in society arguing that it is not anyone else\u2019s business to interfere in the family home, to talk to families about how they behave, or to set the standards society expects. This demonstrates to me that we as a society have moved on quite significantly. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000209\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b2567d3e-a09c-47b4-bd50-2f5bb4049762\u0022\u003EThe best that any of the naysayers in our society can do in respect of domestic violence is to somehow diminish it by not accepting there is a gender imbalance in this equation. That, I think, is as close as naysayers will get to not acknowledging the real issue that exists. Yes, although there are men who are affected by domestic violence, overwhelmingly those who suffer are women\u2014women and children, in fact. If we do not acknowledge that, then we will set out down a pathway that does not address the worst of the problem facing this country. When the select committee looks at this issue of domestic violence, I hope we will not get into a big argument about the gender implications of it in our country, because clearly the issue here is the outcomes of domestic violence for women. The Hon Pansy Wong said in her speech that every 26 days a woman dies at the hands of her partner, her ex-partner, or someone she was once in a relationship with. I think that demonstrates that the outcomes of domestic violence for women are so much more severe, and, although that does not excuse any other element of domestic violence, I think it puts the real context into the discussion. If we do not focus on the very real outcomes of domestic violence, then we will get the wrong solutions to the wrong problem. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000210\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b2567d3e-a09c-47b4-bd50-2f5bb4049762\u0022\u003EThe Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill before the House at the moment is supported by the Labour Opposition, because of course we must make steps forward on this issue that is an indictment on our country. But I want to reinforce what the nature of the issue is and how large it is. It is incredibly sobering to read the statistics in the explanatory note of the bill, remembering that statistics are numbers and that behind every one of them is not only a victim but also people close to that victim who are also affected by this terrible scourge on our society. In 2007 and 2008 family violence accounted for approximately 39 percent of homicides, 42 percent of kidnapping and abductions, 44 percent of grievous assaults, and 64 percent of serious assaults. The connection there, I think, is that although we have seen an increase in the reporting of serious crime, these figures tell us the basis of that. The awareness-raising exercise by the It\u2019s not OK campaign has led to a higher level of reporting domestic violence. That, of course, is not something we want to celebrate, necessarily, but we see it as a very important step forward. People now acknowledge that assaults are not OK, and they do report them these days. But the most damning part for New Zealand in the explanatory note is the statement that precedes those statistics. It states that for a significant number of victims of violence the most dangerous place they can be is in their own home. In their own home is where people should feel safest, and clearly that is not the case. So I applaud this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000211\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b2567d3e-a09c-47b4-bd50-2f5bb4049762\u0022\u003EHowever, I want to point out that there is a lot of room for improvement, and I am so pleased that this legislation is going to a select committee. I think it is the first of the bills we have been dealing with under urgency to do so, and I applaud that, because there are many, many issues that I think need to be added to it. Again, this is a little bit about numbers but I have with me a bit of a visual aid. It is the Domestic Violence Reform Bill, worked on and introduced by the Labour Government, which deals with the same issue but in a much more comprehensive way. The bill before us has 12 pages, the previous bill has 34. Although numbers are not everything, the content is. In the case of the bill before us, it means that significant content, which I hope the submitters who come to the select committee will argue for, has been missed out. The issue of domestic violence is not a simple surface issue; it has many, many layers to it, and we need to take a comprehensive approach. I hope the select committee will get an opportunity to discuss some of the issues in the bill that the Hon Lianne Dalziel was denied leave to table\u2014issues she was concerned about being missed out of the bill before us. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000212\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b2567d3e-a09c-47b4-bd50-2f5bb4049762\u0022\u003EOne of the things that could be added to this bill is a change to the definition of a child from being a person under the age of 17 years to a person under the age of 18 years, aligning it in that respect to the Domestic Violence Act, the Care of Children Act, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Another issue is that previously the legislation empowered the court to make interim care, or contact, orders to protect the welfare and best interests of the child in cases where an applicant with a child applies for a protection order. I think we must put children at the heart of this, because when children witness domestic violence, we know that it has implications for them for the rest of their lives. Another issue I hope that the select committee will get to discuss, concerns the requirement for a judge declining a without notice application for a protection order to provide written reasons, because I think we need to improve the way in which our justice system responds to issues associated with domestic violence. I also hope that the select committee will get an opportunity to talk about making provision in the legislation for applicants to be able to attend information sessions, which would provide information about making effective use of protection orders, and providing advice on social assistance that may also be available to them. There are a number of other issues that I will not go into in great detail, because a number of my colleagues have already canvassed those details, and, as I said, I hope that the select committee will get the opportunity to do that, as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000213\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b2567d3e-a09c-47b4-bd50-2f5bb4049762\u0022\u003EBut I want to acknowledge the work that is happening on this issue out in our community. Many speakers have referred to some of the very fine initiatives that happen to be operating in the Waikato area. I am not sure why we have such a focus on this in the Waikato area. Certainly, the statistics would show that we do not have a worse problem with domestic violence than any other part of the country, but we tend to have a significant number of people who are focused on this issue. I acknowledge the work of the Hamilton Abuse Intervention Pilot Project, and the work that it has been doing. I hope that the project will make a submission to the select committee, because it has a lot to offer. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000214\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b2567d3e-a09c-47b4-bd50-2f5bb4049762\u0022\u003EI also acknowledge the work that has been done by the National Collective of Independent Women\u2019s Refuges. I had the opportunity to meet with Heather H\u0113nare from the Women\u2019s Refuge just in the course of this week, actually, and she was urging the Labour Opposition to ensure that this new bill has a speedy passage through the House because of its importance. In terms of timing, I think it is a great shame that we have not been able to deliver the outcome, in relation to the orders that could be made immediately before the Christmas - New Year period, because that is a time of particular stress on families; unfortunately, that is the time when domestic violence tends to increase. Certainly during the course of this year\u2014the Women\u2019s Refuge has informed me\u2014there has been a 16 percent increase in the number of women and children being referred to its service.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022 data-id=\u00225d4c7e6714504d74a66b083362aa7ea2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000215\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225d4c7e6714504d74a66b083362aa7ea2\u0022\u003ECHESTER BORROWS (National\u2014Whanganui):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to make a few points in respect of the progress of the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill. We are all agreed, across the House, on a number of statements that have been made by various speakers, and the one just made by Sue Moroney\u2014that children should be at the heart of this legislation\u2014is quite right. The fact is that if young children are growing up in a home of domestic violence, girls learn that it is their role to be beaten and young boys learn that it is their role to beat them or their future partners. So that is why, sadly, when we look back at the victims of domestic violence, we find that women frequently grew up in homes watching their mothers being beaten, and that the perpetrators grew up in homes watching their fathers beating their mothers. We need to do something significant to stop that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000216\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003EAnother point that needs to be made is that there need to be initiatives across pieces of legislation to enhance the ability of the victims, principally women, of domestic violence to be safe. One of the sad things that has occurred, for instance, with the Legal Services Agency provision of legal aid to those in dire need, is that there is less and less of it available because the fees have never been increased. They have not been increased since 1996. There are a number of small towns where the catchment of lawyers providing legal aid services is getting smaller and smaller. For example, in a recent case a woman on the West Coast of the South Island was unable to have representation through legal aid, because no one was prepared to work for her. One of the things we need to look at, at some stage, will be the availability of legal aid for those people who would be seeking replacement protection orders for what has been a short-term protection order given by the police.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000217\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003EIt is also important to acknowledge some of the things we will have to consider about the way in which this legislation will be implemented. An issue that bothers me is that the police will issue a protection order on every occasion they attend an address. The problem we have there is that if that is done in an ill-considered way, if it is done for fear of media reprisals if it is not done, or if it is done as a result of a \u201Ccover your ass\u201D sort of attitude, then it could well be that the victims of family violence will be re-victimised by the imposition of the protection order if they do not have the ability to assert themselves in that situation. It will also have an effect on a number of men\u2014and I certainly do not have any problem at all with that, if they are the perpetrators of violence, whether it be psychological or physical\u2014but we have to ensure that the interests of justice and the rule of law are confirmed through this legislation, as well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000218\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003EI also think that there is a slight anomaly, because the imposition of protection orders in this legislation relates only to the situation where a person is not arrested. That person could have a protection order enforced against him or her where there has not been violence, but if there is violence and the person is arrested, he or she will be subject only to bail conditions that do not have the strength of a protection order. So a clinical analysis of it would be that offenders would be better placed in the long term if they used physical violence than if they did not, because protection orders that would later be imposed against those offenders by the court would at least be done by judges, whereas in this case they would be initiated by a member of the police without there being a judicial process.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000219\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003ESo there are a lot of things to look at and a very wide gambit of things that need to be considered. I look forward to the bill going through the Justice and Electoral Committee. It will be a bipartisan debate. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022 data-id=\u00226225b55e1e0347339ec47a942f596bd9\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000220\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226225b55e1e0347339ec47a942f596bd9\u0022\u003EDr RAJEN PRASAD (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E It is my pleasure, also, to talk on this bill, and to underscore the fact that Labour supports it. Labour supports any action for the elimination of family violence in our society. We see family violence as a horrible, horrible curse that our nation faces when we look at any figure, any data, that anybody in this Chamber or outside quotes for us. But when it happens in our homes and amongst the ones we love the most in our society, and when it happens in secret, then there is something fundamentally wrong with our society. In the end, it is about us, and we do tolerate violence. We tolerate violence in our society, and we do not do enough to eliminate that from society. We talk a lot about it, but in the end the figures go up and up and up. It is a problem that everyone needs to own\u2014every person needs to own. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000221\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022\u003EOne does get frustrated at the violence in our language, the violence in our images, and the violence in talk-back radio programmes. What we want to do to somebody else, and the way we express that in violent language, is really part of the particular problem. These are real families, these are frightened people, and these are vulnerable women and children. Yes, Mr Garrett is right: men are also caught up in this. But, fundamentally it is gendered, because men do so much more damage than women. We need just to look at any data, as well. But I would not be fairly representing the many men who have come to see me, as well, unless I agreed that what Mr Garrett was saying needs also to be said. So without taking anything away from the horrible performance we have as a society, and that of men, it is important to acknowledge that some men are also victims. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000222\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022\u003EAnybody who has worked in this particular area would really want to do everything possible to help, so it is important that at this time, and this close to Christmas, when, as Women\u2019s Refuge figures show us, the violence rates go up so dramatically, Parliament must send a message. My colleague Hone Harawira is right to point out that at this time before Christmas it is important for Parliament to send a message\u2014even through this debate and how it is reported in the media\u2014about the importance for our families to focus, and to be conscious over this period of what they do when they believe violence is about to occur, for people to keep themselves safe and to seek assistance, and for those who are perpetrators, when they recognise that something is about to happen, whether it is through drinking or some particular behavioural issue, to get some help in this Christmas period. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000223\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022\u003EI also want to reflect on what Lianne Dalziel said in the introduction. Fundamentally the response to family violence\u2014to all violence\u2014has to be integrated; doing it in a piecemeal fashion is what we have done for years and, in the end, somebody else has to try to fix it again. So I welcome the consensus there is in this House and, indeed, the way the Minister has been conducting himself on this particular issue. As occurred in an earlier bill, there is a willingness to work across parties and that is a genuine offer we certainly want to take up. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000224\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022\u003EHowever, I want to also reflect on the election campaign we have just had and the way in which, during that campaign, we politicised this question as well, almost beyond belief\u2014even in the way we looked at the violence statistics that were coming out. We kept saying time and time again: \u201CLook at what explains the largest increase in family violence\u2014the 19 percent increase in family violence offences in the June 2008 year.\u201D Much of that was because of the work we had been doing as a society through the \u201CIt\u2019s not OK\u201D campaign and how that came through. Yet we did not have an honest discussion about that. I think the figures were deliberately misinterpreted and the suggestion that crime was rocketing in South Auckland, and that South Auckland was a no-go area, was pushed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000225\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022\u003EI hope we remember the way we had that discussion and debate during the campaign. It was not helpful when it comes down to trying to find real solutions to what is an awful problem. This is not to deny there is a problem. As I have already said, yes, there is. But much of the campaign was orchestrated and sometimes we question the genuineness of some of those marches we saw. I certainly have not seen them on some of the occasions that have occurred since the election. So we politicised the issue. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000226\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022\u003EIn 2004 when the then Minister, the Hon Steve Maharey, really heard what the workers in this field were telling him\u2014that there was a problem and we were not getting anywhere\u2014almost in the identical week prior to Christmas 2004, he called a group of us together, sat us down and said: \u201CFind the solutions.\u201D That was the beginning of the family violence task force. It is instructive how that group has worked. It was set up carefully; it took until about June 2005 to set it up for the right people to be brought around the table. Those people, from across Government departments, the non-governmental organisation sector, M\u0101ori society, Pasifika society, and Crown entities, were given the responsibility and were told: \u201CGo and find a solution, and find a way of doing this that will give us long-lasting solutions.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022\u003EThe work of that particular committee is quite instructive about how to go about designing a solid solution to an intransigent problem in our society. We had the right people around the table, and we found out what we knew nationally and internationally about this particular area. Some members may have read the Beyond Zero Tolerance publication from the Families Commission that brings it all together and says to stop doing more research, to take what we know, and to apply it in a systematic way over a long period of time. The evidence said that if we did that we would begin to turn our society around. So what was required was sustained effort in this particular area\u2014something we have not had. We have had single acts of conscience around this particular area but when we bring together a sustained programme we have to realise it will take a number of years. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000228\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022\u003ESenior people came to the task force and they also had to have the authority to commit their particular organisation to work on a consensus basis. The process was owned by the group, we fought and argued, but what came out was a multi-pronged approach to family violence. I hope the select committee has the benefit of that as well when it begins to look at this bill. The group came up with a concerted long-term programme to really change the attitudes and behaviours of New Zealanders. Unless we do that, somebody else will be standing here having the same argument, trying to fix this particular problem. So the \u201CIt\u2019s not OK\u201D campaign, which resulted in the \u201CIt\u2019s not OK\u201D language now, has been very, very successful. But we cannot just do that and then leave it. There were community-led initiatives throughout the country; there was a whole range of programmes where local people were working on this issue. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000229\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022\u003EMuch of what they did was quite fundamental. Leadership needs to develop on this issue throughout the various spheres that influence it\u2014in our families, in our churches, and in our communities. Once we do that, once we bring that together, we can then design the next level of programmes we need to address. Family violence will not go away; it will take a number of years and it will take resources. I hope the Minister is committed enough to this to ensure that those agencies working with this issue have the resources to do it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000230\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225db0a23e-1579-44c6-9194-76e34cf5ae99\u0022\u003EFinally, I would like to say that it is good to note before Christmas\u2014and this is a good present for our families\u2014that this bill will go to a select committee. I would encourage those people who know quite a bit about this issue to come up to the committee. There are people from many parts of New Zealand where there are programmes in place: Wairarapa, Waitakere, the business community are engaged, Amokura up north is working in this area, and women\u2019s refuges up and down the country. I hope the select committee invites the family violence task force to appear before the committee so that it can really understand the best effort we have had in this country to address this issue. If that happens, I believe that what comes back to us will be a much better product. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022 data-id=\u002280a752a0d3d24e578a7068e5535f1ae3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000231\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002280a752a0d3d24e578a7068e5535f1ae3\u0022\u003ESIMON BRIDGES (National\u2014Tauranga):\u003C/span\u003E I rise to support this Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill. I agree with the member Dr Rajen Prasad that this will be a good present for the people of New Zealand when it is passed\u2014and it is appropriate that we are doing this just before Christmas, when domestic violence is a problem. I agree with him also that domestic violence is a curse and a scourge on the families of this country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000232\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EMy reason for supporting this bill, like members of all parties in this House, is that domestic violence is a very serious problem\u2014indeed, it is an ongoing problem\u2014in this country and our nation. I do not think it is going too far to say that it is mind-blowing to hear that more than 80,000 domestic violence incidents were recorded by the police in 2007. That number of domestic violence incidents represents the population of a city nearly the size of Tauranga\u2014a city that I am privileged to represent\u2014being involved in domestic violence in this country every year. The reason I support this bill is because, like other members, I am sure that it speaks to that problem; it speaks to and addresses in a substantive way the issue of domestic violence. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000233\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EWhat is most concerning about the statistic of 80,000 domestic violence incidents is that, according to the explanatory note, the number of protection orders has been going down in the last several years. Victims have been giving up on protection orders, yet, at the same time, domestic violence reports have gone up, although I accept that this is also a matter of reportage. We, of course, want to see the reverse happen, and I hope this bill will go some way to achieving that when it is law. We want to see the number of protection orders go up and the number of domestic violence incidents go down. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000234\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EFinally, we have had police advertising campaigns and the like over quite a period now. Certainly they are praiseworthy and have been positive, but going by that figure of 80,000 incidents, we can also say that those campaigns have substantially failed to reduce domestic violence. I cast no blame on anyone at all for this, but the State\u2019s response has been inadequate. This bill is part of an approach from the State, from the Government, and from all parties to strengthen the provisions and the law in relation to domestic violence and get that terrible statistic\u2014as I say, it is mind-blowing\u2014of 80,000 incidents in this country down and to deal with the issues of this country.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000235\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EBill read a first time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000236\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022badb0a39-849c-462a-b32f-77fc017c9fc2\u0022\u003EBill referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000237\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022e6756e5178824ba29b4866d59f206cae\u0022\u003ECorrections Amendment Bill (No 2)\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000238\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00225e226f50ee88476aaea616f09ee0c625\u0022\u003ESecond Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022 data-id=\u002292a36d025fbc4fbd8135c47c100fa6c3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000239\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002292a36d025fbc4fbd8135c47c100fa6c3\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a second time. This bill was introduced by the previous Government and the Hon Phil Goff\u2014if I am right, the previous Minister of Corrections. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000240\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228417c5d326c14dedb26844461b141e00\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: A very good Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000241\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002295f4ce351fa447dd821e7cb8f693a5a5\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER\u003C/span\u003E: He was an adequate Minister. The Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) enjoyed support from the National Party when it was in Opposition and will continue to enjoy that support from the National Party in Government. I trust that the Labour Party, which introduced the bill when in Government, will continue to support the bill while in Opposition. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000242\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003EAt the end of the last Parliament this bill was caught up in a rather disappointing way. I know that the honourable Leader of the Opposition will not comment on this, and he will not necessarily agree with it outright. The point is that the bill had large cross-party support between the major political parties prior to the last election, but, unfortunately, due to matters that are beyond the realm of my understanding\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000243\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a9757eab66b04391a400fcba9919228a\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: That doesn\u2019t limit it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000244\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222cc82f29ee7a43948032bcdca0966f77\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER\u003C/span\u003E: Touch\u00E9! It was unable to be advanced because of arrangements the then Government clearly had with some of the smaller confidence and supply partners. They did not agree to include this bill in the rush of legislation that went through the House prior to its rising for the general election. That was a shame. This Government considers the bill to be a priority and that it is worthwhile advancing it, and that is why we have included it in today\u2019s items of business. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000245\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003ECrucially, the bill does some things that in my previous role as Opposition spokesperson on justice and corrections I had taken a personal interest in. I take some credit, I guess, for highlighting some of those issues in a way that may have assisted this bill\u2019s coming forward. I hope the bill will help to reduce contraband in prisons and increase control of prisoners\u2019 communications with the outside world. It rightly includes changes that will make it harder for people to bring prohibited items into prison, and make it easier to detect prohibited items and punish prisoners and others for using them. The bill complements security and surveillance improvements within prisons, which is to be encouraged. Expanded drug-dog teams and checkpoints to screen visitors and staff are to be welcomed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000246\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003EOver the last 9 years, prior to the change of Government, members of the National Party highlighted the unacceptable levels of contraband within our prisons. In particular we raised issues like the prostitute who was found in the grounds of Rimutaka Prison in 2006, having been procured by an inmate using his cellphone; two inmates at Christchurch Prison who were sending obscene text messages to women, also in that year; and, of course, other contraband such as KFC, and the like, being consumed in an inappropriate manner. After 8 years of denial, head-shaking, and counter-accusations, the previous Government\u2014to give it its due\u2014introduced the bill under the guidance of the Hon Phil Goff. Despite Mr Goff\u2019s believing that he has been in the justice area for 9 full years, he actually had a small period off the job when a couple of his former colleagues entered into the fray. That provided ample opportunity for the then Opposition. I have to say that from the moment Mr Goff introduced this legislation, I was certainly keen to see National support it. We will continue to do so. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000247\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003ESince the previous Labour Government took office at the end of 1999, we have raised issues covered by this bill with all six Ministers of Corrections. When those matters were drawn to the public\u2019s attention the then Minister of Corrections, now the honourable Leader of the Opposition, determined that action had to be taken. The new Government places public safety above all other issues when it comes to the law and order and justice debate. This bill will enhance those policy settings, and although because of relationships with confidence and supply partners the last Government found this legislation difficult to progress, that will not be an issue for this Government. In June 2007 the then Minister of Corrections, Damien O\u2019Connor, promised to clamp down on contraband: \u201CI will use every tool at my disposal to remove the scourge of drugs from prisons and to keep cellphones and weapons out of prisoners\u2019 hands.\u201D It took some time before the legislation arrived, but it got here in the end. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000248\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003EI have to say in respect of jamming and detecting cellphone communications that this work is not a straightforward area. As the former Minister will know, I questioned how this particular technology would operate in different prisons with different geographic contortions and topography surrounding those prisons. I am looking back to my old geography days; I came first in the seventh form. The key to this is to use a range of tools within the prison system and to use cellphone towers. It has taken far too long, in many respects, for agreement to be reached with the telecommunications providers for that technology to be utilised. Frankly, it is well beyond the time that we should have introduced legislation to specifically authorise the Department of Corrections to jam, detect, and monitor cellphone and other radio-based communications within prison boundaries, obviously providing that those activities do not interfere with devices outside prison boundaries\u2014for example, in the case of prisons that are located in the centre, or near the centre, of large cities and small towns. I visited New Plymouth Prison and, from memory, it had in the vicinity of 60 to 80 beds, which Mr Goff will know. That prison is very close to the city, so this technology has to be carefully monitored to make sure it does not have wider implications for cellphone users in places near the prison. Also like New Plymouth is central Auckland, with Mount Eden Prison nearby and the Auckland women\u2019s prison.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000249\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220aab8537e585458988e52b7b480a9535\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: And Auckland prison.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000250\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226b554d55a753427fa83a53559579e2a0\u0022\u003EHon SIMON POWER\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Goff is quite right. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000251\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003EWe were able to pluck this bill\u2014which we consider to be a crucial part of the tools that need to be made available to any Government\u2014from an Order Paper where, unfortunately, the previous Government had been unable to advance it. We believe that it is worth spending the time of the House today to advance a measure that we hope will enhance the safety of the public and send a clear message to inmates who reside in our prison system that, once sent to prison, we expect certain liberties to be removed. The ability to bring in contraband should be removed, and the ability to use cellphones to connect with the outside world in an unauthorised way should be removed. Of course, the most important thing is to ensure that Department of Corrections prison officials themselves have the necessary powers and procedures to deal with contraband and cellphone use in prisons. This bill will go some way to ensuring that happens. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000252\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003EThe Government considers this bill an important part of its law and order programme, and that is why the bill comes to its second reading today, under this Government\u2019s watch and with this Government\u2019s full support.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022 data-id=\u00229bdae9d89d76431f9d864089941523c2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000253\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229bdae9d89d76431f9d864089941523c2\u0022\u003EHon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour\u2014Waimakariri):\u003C/span\u003E Firstly, I congratulate the Government on advancing the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2). The bill was partially dealt with by the previous Government. I have to say that it is nice, after almost 2 weeks of urgency, to have a bill from the Government that has some substance\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000254\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022efbbe0c598a445a7afea3677c2ddd9ba\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: And went to a select committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000255\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002214c5197a0c06486ebdc5c81b3e269a46\u0022\u003EHon CLAYTON COSGROVE\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014and went to a select committee.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000256\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228a9eb75411e04bceabbd12024b3d0760\u0022\u003EChester Borrows\u003C/span\u003E: Keep voting for them, Clayton.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000257\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fd444b88295b4f26aebd520de84fd5f0\u0022\u003EHon CLAYTON COSGROVE\u003C/span\u003E: Absolutely we will be voting for it; we wrote it. It is nice that we finally have a bill that has been appropriately scrutinised by a select committee, that has gone out for public consultation, that is a bill of substance, and that, as the Minister of Justice said\u2014and I agree with him\u2014will have a huge and positive impact in terms of keeping New Zealanders safe. It is the first bill of substance to come through this Parliament in the last 2 weeks, and that is because it was written by the previous Government. It is the first legislation that will take some huge, concrete, and positive steps in terms of public safety and law and order. We have seen two other bills that, as we know, were fictitious. They were a hoax. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000258\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002293f76bfb4ec94179b142708ece659eba\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Window dressing!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000259\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227912422dfeab4b69a9cf4883469509df\u0022\u003EHon CLAYTON COSGROVE\u003C/span\u003E: They were window dressing, as Professor Geoff Hall noted about the sentencing legislation and as others have noted about the bail legislation. It has taken legislation written by the previous Government to be brought into the House for us to have a bill of substance. Over the summer break National members will go out and take the credit for it and say they are being tough on law and order. They will try to convince people that it was all their idea and that it was in their great 100-day plan.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000260\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003EMr Power cited a number of issues that have occurred in our prisons. It is interesting to look at the record of the previous Government and to talk about facts rather than just dredging up a salacious example\u2014because we can all do that. I remember well the example that occurred under Dr Nick Smith\u2019s reign as Minister of Corrections. It involved a prisoner who was elderly or in his retirement years. He was receiving medical treatment and he was hooked up to an intravenous drip. He was temporarily disabled because of the medical treatment he was receiving, but he managed to escape from, I think, Middlemore Hospital. Hobbling, crawling, limping, intravenous drip in hand\u2014with stand\u2014he managed to outrun the prison officials, guards, private sector folk, or whoever they were, who were attempting to secure him. We could go for little salacious examples, but if we look at history\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000261\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220590754568d24785973f7d55daade93d\u0022\u003EChester Borrows\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s the word for the day.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000262\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f3bb5a3d3d2c477ab31f3c2c74bf9645\u0022\u003EHon CLAYTON COSGROVE\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014we see that under the previous Government\u2014I will come to Mr Borrows in a moment; I read his contribution to the first reading, which I thought was interesting. Maybe I should deal with it now. I noted in the first reading debate that Mr Borrows, quite rightly I think, drew on his experience as a young lawyer, as he put it, and, quite interestingly, said that he wanted further funding for the very good non-governmental organisations that provide prisoner rehabilitation and prisoner counselling in an attempt to rehabilitate prisoners. I think that was a good point that the member made in his speech, and I look forward to holding him, his Minister, and his Government to account to see whether they do it. I see that the Minister is here, and he may wish to contribute. I say to him that I was just saying that Mr Borrows had made an excellent contribution in his first reading speech when he noted there should be more funding for the non-governmental organisations and others that deal with the rehabilitation and counselling of prisoners. I look forward\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000263\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a592ba15962b4fc6b46fe1d16e90338b\u0022\u003EHon Simon Power\u003C/span\u003E: Help is on its way.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000264\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d2f027d5b5cf4f48bcc43b400bc508f8\u0022\u003EHon CLAYTON COSGROVE\u003C/span\u003E: That is excellent. We would like to know when, how much, and who will deliver it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000265\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003EIf we look at the history of this matter in respect of the previous Government, we see that substantial advances were made in this area. Prison escapes per 100 prisoners were just one-sixth of the escape number 10 years ago under the last National Government. That means that the escape rate fell by 84 percent under the previous Government, despite the little examples, the salacious items and news clippings, that members opposite tend to read out. Drug taking in prisons was less than half what it was when National left office in 1999. Fewer inmates were returning positive drug tests. The last Government made it significantly more difficult for people to escape. It put in 17 kilometres of perimeter fencing and introduced single points of entry.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000266\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022af206d469cd54755bcee3a26bb32b1e3\u0022\u003EHon Simon Power\u003C/span\u003E: If I\u2019ve heard that once I\u2019ve heard it a million times.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000267\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b5448fd291d1403cb406ed23075b10b4\u0022\u003EHon CLAYTON COSGROVE\u003C/span\u003E: Well, those are the facts. The Minister should go back to his officials and check. There were not enough fences under the National Government pre-1999, nor were there enough resources or personnel. That is why we had people on intravenous drips limping out of hospitals and outrunning prison guards and others. That happened when Nick Smith was the Minister of Corrections. He may have been at the hospital at the time\u2014I do not know\u2014visiting the prisoner, but that was the loose kind of arrangement we had under the National Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000268\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003EMr Goff, as the Minister of Justice, introduced this bill and partly put it through the House, and it deals with some significant matters. Some may ask why we would want to amend the Corrections Act 2004, given that it is pretty recent in the scheme of things, and what the drivers behind doing that are. Firstly, the drivers are technology. As a person who was formerly employed in the telecommunications industry, I know that telecommunications technology advances by the day. In respect of contraband, I am sure that Mr Borrows will concede that although it will always be exceptionally difficult to stop all items of contraband from entering a prison, the technology has advanced to the point where, as the Minister said, we can now jam telecommunications. It is interesting to note that the full implementation of the jamming technology will be completed by February next year. It was started under the last Government, which put it through. So one of the drivers for amending the Act is technology.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000269\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003EAlso, because it is almost impossible in every instance to prevent contraband from entering a prison, it is necessary to incrementally and regularly amend legislation like this. Prisoners have one objective in life\u2014well, maybe a couple. Generally, while they are incarcerated many of them sit there all day thinking about how they can beat the system and, often, how they can get out, and inventing new and innovative ways to do that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000270\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003EThe bill also deals with letters containing threats. The current legislation permits prison staff to read prisoners\u2019 mail only if a test of reasonable grounds is met. That will now be bolstered. The bill provides that all prisoners\u2019 mail may be read by an authorised officer, except, of course, correspondence with members of Parliament and official agencies like the courts and others. We know that there have been communications with victims where threats have been made, and that victims\u2019 lives have been made a misery by those who continue to peddle their views, misguided as they are, from behind bars.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000271\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003EThe cellphone issue is an interesting one. I think Mr Power is right. One of the difficulties with the jamming technology is attempting also to allow legitimate cellphone use by non-prisoners, and ensuring that, where a prison is in a suburban area, the technology does not interfere with the legitimate work of businesses and other entities external to the prison. Some have asked why it has taken some time to implement the technology, but obviously we want to get it right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000272\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003EI think this legislation is sound. It deals with cracking down on drug use, eliminating cellphones, and enhancing powers of search in relation to inmates, and, for those working in prisons, it adopts a policy of zero tolerance towards staff who pass contraband to prisoners. The penalties in that area are increased. The current term of 3 months in prison is increased to up a year, and the maximum fine is doubled to $5,000. The bill authorises electronic detection and jamming, as we have spoken about. It extends prison officials\u2019 powers to screen inmates\u2019 mail, as I have said, and it creates a penalty for publishing unauthorised communications from inmates that prejudice the interests of victims. I think that is particularly important because we have had high-profile cases where inmates have acted grossly inappropriately, and communications have been published to the detriment of victims.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000273\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003EThis is sound legislation. Of course this side of the House, and, I think, most, if not all, parties, will support it. It will make a real difference to the security of our communities, to the integrity of our prisons, and also to the professionalism of the corrections service. As with all Government agencies, 99.9 percent of prison officials are honourable, professional human beings. They have an incredibly difficult job and they often are under stress. We have seen occasions where prison staff have been victimised and threatened. They have an incredibly difficult job, and I think this bill will enhance the integrity and professionalism of the corrections service and the staff within it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000274\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003EI come back to where I began and simply say that this is the first time in 2 weeks of urgency that we have had a bill of substance that will make a real difference to the lives of New Zealanders. Of course, the bill was authored by the previous Government, and is now being supported and put through the House by this Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022 data-id=\u0022dcda733fe30b4af092e221495f0d95ed\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000275\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022dcda733fe30b4af092e221495f0d95ed\u0022\u003EHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Attorney-General):\u003C/span\u003E Can I begin by saying that I have not spoken in the House since you became Assistant Speaker, Mr Barker, and I am delighted you are Assistant Speaker, wish you all the best, and congratulate you on your appointment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003EAs other members have said, the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) amends the Corrections Act 2004 to create new search, detection, drug-testing, and offence provisions to help control contraband. The bill will make it harder for people to bring prohibited items into prison and make it easier to detect prohibited items and punish prisoners and others for using them. The bill will increase controls over prisoners\u2019 communications with the outside world, enable the screening of mail, and\u2014most important\u2014adopt a zero tolerance approach to those staff who pass contraband to prisoners. The previous Government, notwithstanding what Mr Cosgrove said, has failed to deliver on numerous important pieces of legislation on law and order, and the failure to pass this bill represents one of them. It was too slow to introduce this bill and, indeed, it introduced it only after the then National Opposition shamed it into it, and then Labour allowed it to languish for almost a year. In doing so it unnecessarily put the safety of prison staff and the public at risk. But fortunately for New Zealanders we now have a Government with a comprehensive law and order policy, and we support this bill because it attempts to deal with issues that have been very important for a number of years. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000277\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003EThe Government supports the bill because it will enable us to crack down on crime being committed from behind bars. It significantly enhances the ability of the Department of Corrections to control contraband and to suppress unlawful communications in prisons. We believe it will improve safety and security within the prison system and it will give guards more powers to search cells. The bill also contributes to the effectiveness of drug and alcohol programmes in prisons because such programmes simply will not be successful if prisoners have ready access to drugs. The bill means it will be harder for anyone to bring prohibited items into our prisons and easier to detect such items and punish prisoners and others for using them. This will help curb the intimidation and stand-over tactics that are associated with the presence of contraband in prisons. Specifically, the bill is going to do a number of things. It enhances existing powers and procedures for strip searching prisoners, it provides for random searches of areas such as staff lockers, it supports the integrity of drug testing in prisons by strengthening the measures against tampering with samples, and it tightens offence provisions relating to contraband. It will be an imprisonable offence for a prisoner to possess or use an electronic communication device such as a cellphone, and for anyone to possess an unauthorised item without reasonable excuse while visiting or working in a prison.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000278\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003EThe bill also contains important measures to control prisoners\u2019 communications. It is clear that letters containing threats, plans for further offending, and other prohibited communications are, in fact, leaving prisons. Current legislation permits prison staff to read prisoners\u2019 mail only if a reasonable grounds test is met. In most cases there are, on the face of it, no reasonable grounds to suspect that a particular letter may need to be examined, so the bill provides that all prisoners\u2019 mail may be read by an authorised officer, except correspondence with official agencies, members of Parliament, or legal advisers. Cellphones are not permitted in prisons and have been used for such harmful purposes as organising crimes\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000279\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ea00df3c22c54b41a9fd394f841434c7\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: I notice that the member on his feet is reading word for word the speech that I wrote as Minister of Corrections, and I wondered whether I could seek leave of the House to have him table the speech, which is not his speech, and save the time of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000280\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220a96cfc1512144e9bb763d9625df92c9\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: You are asking for the member to\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000281\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b574f663a8134aeba2926cee1a33fd01\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: I am seeking leave for a copy of the speech that I wrote and that the member is now reading to be tabled. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000282\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fea70e36e18341fea2f4b53357e9fc23\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: You cannot ask another member to table.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000283\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221987d8160f814ae5a6ce2510950ec5cf\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: I am seeking leave to table the speech that the member is reading. It is plagiarism, because I wrote it and he is reading it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000284\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022668f26cdadb04f90a9c4f427ad1c6fcb\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There is objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000285\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022220a14b916624a0c87285c88eddd59c9\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Can you help me out? Are there rules against plagiarism in this House when a member reads, word for word, a speech written by another member without acknowledging that he is doing so by admission?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000286\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224f8e5c787a3041ddbe9a0316de114d81\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: These are debating points, and I am sure the member, when he takes his call, will change a few words if he feels that way inclined.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000287\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002249853b68a448458a83f8a466287f412b\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Do you wish to be corrections Minister, Chris?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000288\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022996922b4d45b4717b5ca6b38a86b63cc\u0022\u003EHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON\u003C/span\u003E: Oh no. I am a sort of a stand-in for the Minister who is visiting a prison at the moment, but I must say that in so far as there is some overlap between the contribution of the former Minister of Corrections and this speech, at least the member will acknowledge that I can read the speech properly, unlike that member when he was trying to read questions from the sheet, like his colleague the member for Te Atat\u016B earlier in the week, and he could not read\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000289\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223e4458ee32a9461381c508264e829dd0\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: I thought he was Minister of Education.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000290\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225039541f85b64b4a96079f11f5a52e90\u0022\u003EHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON\u003C/span\u003E: No, but he was. I have learnt that. He is no longer the Minister or Education or is likely ever to be the Minister of Education again.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000291\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022858ac05aae8a4f55916863a78842f63d\u0022\u003EHon Clayton Cosgrove\u003C/span\u003E: What about the law of copyright?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000292\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002285ea40505d2b45cb899546d8a58e2923\u0022\u003EHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON\u003C/span\u003E: No, I can tell the member that there is no Crown copyright here, and if the member would like to try to sue me for what I am saying I suggest he will need a better lawyer than me to get me.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221308e2570c3d4e489af67bf620f3b313\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: I think the proof is very obvious, actually. It would be an easy case to prove.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000294\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221d8b5437e78a438d9f6e16942e5836fe\u0022\u003EHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON\u003C/span\u003E: The danger will, of course, be quantum of damages and matters such as that, but if the member wants to go ahead and try to do that, good luck to him.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000295\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223cebfdf0452f4620b1df3c78d7f52cd6\u0022\u003EHon Clayton Cosgrove\u003C/span\u003E: I would be happy to write all your speeches, Chris!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000296\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022557e40ab668a4585bd6791d3830be070\u0022\u003EHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON\u003C/span\u003E: Well, not that member because I notice that the member for Waimakariri gave a spirited speech today, but apparently he must have a \u201CReader\u2019s Digest Guide to the English Language\u201D, because his word for the day is \u201Csalacious\u201D. He must have repeated it like a litany about 15 times.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000297\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002289e5a3814f334f96818588f2755b42be\u0022\u003EHon Clayton Cosgrove\u003C/span\u003E: I knew you were getting excited. You were sweating.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000298\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cdbd4e7f23a345bc94ec4433d7899bcc\u0022\u003EHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON\u003C/span\u003E: I was. I was looking forward to some salacious details from the member and I certainly did not get any. The point is that cellphones are going to be properly monitored within prisons and, as I think everyone would admit, the implementation of these solutions is now well advanced, and it is accepted that legislation is required to deal with these issues, and I am sure, as the Leader of the Opposition would acknowledge, and would probably say in a speech that he would give in the House, communication with a prisoner may, indeed, cause grave distress to victims, particularly if it results in publication\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000299\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f9bedaa5f0f245b4a739b83fbf820e14\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: \u201Cthe publication of details of the offence, or the victim\u201D the member was going to say!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000300\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002268aa98fb12a6478d9b2285155142620e\u0022\u003EHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON\u003C/span\u003E: That is exactly correct.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000301\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003EThere are a number of important issues that are raised with this bill, and I am delighted that the Opposition is adopting such a constructive approach, and by a process of ESP is apparently not only picking up the essential themes of the bill and parroting them, but also anticipating exactly the kind of contribution I am going to make.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000302\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227582d4b0890f418487d2a6405815b84e\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: We are in Opposition; we are here to help!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000303\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d9801707630f4e96bf3974710a3442b6\u0022\u003EHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON\u003C/span\u003E: Of course, the boy wonder from \u014Ctaki is here to help, and I look forward to having my by-election campaign with him in that highly marginal seat of Rongotai when the deputy leader of the Labour Party leaves in the not too distant future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000304\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002241146229-4d11-415b-a4ac-f4e2b923e95d\u0022\u003EI think the Law and Order Committee did a very good job dealing with this legislation. It has recommended a number of amendments that I am sure the Leader of the Opposition has not had the opportunity to speak on in the first reading contribution. For example, and this will not be covered by any copyright, it strengthens forfeiture provisions in the bill and it has improved the provision prohibiting possession of unauthorised items while in prison by changing the test from \u201Cknowingly\u201D to \u201Cwithout reasonable excuse\u201D. I am sure the member for Waimakariri would immediately pick up the slight change in the test. It is a salacious change and a very important one. So there we are, these are important first steps in this legislation to improving what has been an unsatisfactory situation, and I take the opportunity to signal that this law and order Government will be introducing further measures to improve the safe, secure, humane, and effective management of the prison system.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022 data-id=\u0022fd1697c3e48942fd8f7eb19d06b71427\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000305\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022fd1697c3e48942fd8f7eb19d06b71427\u0022\u003EHon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition):\u003C/span\u003E Opposition members, unlike Government members, do not have to read their speeches. It was a particularly inauspicious start for the new Attorney-General, Christopher Finlayson. In his very first speech to the House as Attorney-General\u2014the man responsible for upholding the laws of this land\u2014he breached copyright law, not acknowledging that he plagiarised what he read from the Leader of the Opposition\u2019s speech, and he was unable to be innovative enough to change even one word in it, which might have given him some ground for defence.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000306\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221928d9f971bf47ad9adb0529325090f3\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Resign! Resign!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000307\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002275ba64f56a1f4cd0906eb572d80ecb88\u0022\u003EHon PHIL GOFF\u003C/span\u003E: Well, the Attorney-General pleads guilty and should resign forthwith. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000308\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EI want to straighten that member out. He started off by talking about the failure of the Labour Government to deliver on law and order. The new Minister should take account of a few facts. The first is that the escape rate from prisons under the Labour Government was one-sixth of that under the preceding National Government. We reduced the number of escapes by 84 percent. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000309\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EThe Minister of Justice\u2019s electorate contains a prison called Manawat\u016B Prison. When I became the Minister of Justice in 1999 I got a transcript from the current Minister of Justice\u2019s local paper that stated that there was an enormous rate of drug taking in Manawat\u016B Prison. It was over 30 or 40 percent. The transcript said that one of the problems was that all one had to do to smuggle drugs into Manawat\u016B Prison was to climb over a six-wire farm fence, walk up to the window, and pass the drugs through. This was a nightly event at Manawat\u016B Prison. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000310\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EWhen it comes to credibility, I have to say that the track record of National on the corrections system in its previous times in Government was absolutely zilch\u2014absolutely zilch. Do members know what the drug-taking rate in our prison system was in 1999, when I became Minister of Justice? It was 34 percent. I say to Mr Borrows that it was one in three\u2014one in three inmates was taking drugs under the previous National Government. I say with some degree of pride that a succession of very capable Labour Ministers actually reduced that figure by two-thirds. I expect that the National Government should now be able to build on the groundwork that we have laid. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000311\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EI have to say too that the briefing to the incoming Minister of Corrections notes that under a Labour Government we were able to build four new prisons\u2014commission them\u2014without any significant teething problems. That was an enormous achievement, because there has been a very large increase in the number of people going into prisons. That is because the law has been tougher and because we did not take away police numbers, which is what the National Government did when Chester Borrows was a constable. It had something called the INCIS system, which it spent $100 million on. But how was it going to pay for that? By cutting police numbers by 500. The former constable knows that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000312\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cad4654814354502a74790235ddbe931\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: It was his idea.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000313\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220a3f26910bdf46fd849e390d4e4eb8be\u0022\u003EHon PHIL GOFF\u003C/span\u003E: It was his idea? Well, nothing would surprise me. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000314\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EBut I have to say that some really good things have happened in our corrections system. Mr Finlayson is quite wrong. We have vastly increased the number of jobs in prisons. Two-thirds of sentenced inmates are now working, which is a huge increase. Under the previous Labour Government we increased the number of beds for drug and alcohol rehabilitation from a mere 40 to 500. The National Government has promised to build on that, and I will support it in that respect if I see evidence that it is actually doing it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000315\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EThis Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2), as my colleague Clayton Cosgrove has said, is the first positive and substantive piece of legislation we have seen in 2 weeks of urgency. The reason that it is positive and substantive is that a Labour Government introduced it and a Labour-dominated select committee got it right. I emphasise that fact about the select committee. This bill is, I think, the first bill that we are dealing with that has gone before a select committee. The public out there would expect every piece of legislation to be subject to select committee scrutiny, and for us to give New Zealanders the democratic right to participate in the process by making submissions to a select committee. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000316\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EI say to Mr Borrows that it is a matter of shame that this new, arrogant Government has come into the House ramming through legislation, some of which\u2014as Professor Hall, the foremost expert on sentencing, says\u2014is mere window dressing. Some of it is hugely damaging to New Zealanders: taking away people\u2019s right to redress for unfair dismissal, and robbing low and middle income earners of $730 million. That exposed the National Government. The financial veto set that figure out; the Government was not going to own up to it. It told the country that that legislation would benefit all New Zealanders, but, finally, here is decent legislation that will make a difference. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000317\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EThe bill does a number of things. First of all, it strengthens the reduction of contraband. It does that partly through creating a legislative framework for jamming cellphones. My gift to Ms Collins, as Minister of Corrections\u2014and I give it to her gladly\u2014has been to create a cellphone jamming system. It means that by February next year, just 2 months away, in every prison in New Zealand\u2014all 20 prisons\u2014inmates will not be able to misuse cellphones, because they will be jammed. That is great. I will tell members why it is great. When I went with the chief executive of the Department of Corrections to the Australian Corrective Services Ministers\u2019 Conference earlier this year, they said to me that they had not even started to do this and that we had created a role model, and they asked whether they could borrow it. That is how far ahead New Zealand is in terms of its corrections system. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000318\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EThis bill also enhances search powers. That includes giving the right to search staff lockers. Unlike the Minister of Justice, who slagged off corrections staff for 6 years, I say that the vast majority of people working in our corrections system do a difficult job and they do it well. They are dedicated, they are decent people, and they do the right thing. But a minority of people behave corruptly\u2014sometimes out of greed, sometimes out of threats to their family from gangs, and so on. But there is no justification or excuse for a staff member to smuggle drugs into a prison. This bill quadruples the penalty in terms of imprisonment for staff members behaving corruptly in that way, and it is important that we do that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000319\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EThis legislation also gives prison management the ability to scrutinise any written correspondence sent by inmates to people on the outside. We know that some inmates were abusing the privilege of correspondence: they were threatening people\u2014often their previous victims. This bill makes it absolutely clear that every piece of written correspondence can be monitored and, if necessary, blocked by prison authorities. We have already done that on electronic communication. During the term of my predecessor, Damien O\u2019Connor, who did a fine job as Minister of Corrections, we set up a system whereby every payphone call from prisons can now be monitored. It is all recorded. I have sat in and listened to the recording, and I have heard gang members try to plan crime outside the prison. That system is now a vital part of police intelligence that the corrections system can work with. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000320\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EI will finish on this point. I have watched with some amazement as a number of new National MPs and ACT MPs have got up and given their campaign speeches on law and order, and I want to see them deliver on that. I will hold them to account on that. They have promised things that I know they will not deliver. The briefing to the incoming Minister makes the point that I have made to Simon Power: that there will be a big increase in prison population anyway\u2014some 2,200\u2014and four new prisons are needed. Those new members come into this House with a claim that they will toughen up and put more people in prison. Firstly, I say to them that I want to know what that will be at the cost of. Will it be at the cost of health spending or education spending? I also say to those members that although we already have the tough laws that I have put on the Order Paper and got through this House\u2014and I make no apology for that\u2014they must know that in the end we have to address the causes of crime in order to make New Zealand safer. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000321\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EI want to know how much money the new National Government will put into early intervention to stop the wee kiddies who are abused sexually and physically from growing up to be dysfunctional teenagers and then growing up to be the criminals and the parents of a new generation of criminals. Labour started that. It started it with some really positive interventions. I want to know whether this National Government will do anything at all to address those causes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000322\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EDebate interrupted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000323\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022998e15357ad44ee4832068ab2feb2216\u0022\u003ETabling of Documents\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000324\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022de374238c0714e418009f5e1bfab73fa\u0022\u003ESitting Programme\u20142009\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022006c6a13eb65453aa67b21e4fc00489f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000325\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022006c6a13eb65453aa67b21e4fc00489f\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House):\u003C/span\u003E I am sorry to interrupt the flow of the debate, but in order to facilitate the debate that will take place this afternoon, I seek leave of the House to table the sitting programme for 2009.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000326\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228ad9ac9b4205482cb09f735b99e2cf4f\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000327\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000328\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002242c01117737a4a63a983a02e557a66ce\u0022\u003ECorrections Amendment Bill (No 2)\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000329\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022dba160702ff34e2b98f0ed5ee5787070\u0022\u003ESecond Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000330\u0022\u003EDebate resumed.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022 data-id=\u00222ca6b6d7ac1447dc805cc557a5c5620c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000331\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222ca6b6d7ac1447dc805cc557a5c5620c\u0022\u003EMETIRIA TUREI (Green):\u003C/span\u003E Hey look, here is a bill\u2014the Corrections Amendments Bill (No 2)\u2014that has actually been sent to select committee! The first for the Government? I am quite impressed\u2014although it was the old Government that sent it to select committee, and not this Government. So there we go, the first one\u2014on the last sitting day of this year we are able to debate a bill that has actually had some kind of public scrutiny. Yay! It is about time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000332\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThe Green Party opposes this legislation. It is a mixed bag. We have liked some bits and we have had some concerns about some other parts. My colleague Nandor Tanczos delivered the first reading speech on this bill. He raised issues that we wanted to see addressed in the select committee. Unfortunately, although there was a good select committee process for the bill, those issues were not addressed, and on that basis we are not able to support it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000333\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EI shall go through a couple of those issues in my address today. One of them that has raised a bit of an ugly head over the last week, when we think about the issues involved in it, concerns the opportunity or the ability to look into prisoners\u2019 mail. There is a justification for doing that where there are real issues about whether criminal activity is being discussed\u2014that is a fair enough approach. But the legislation does not provide for any kinds of constraints. In fact, it just identifies justification as prejudice to the maintenance of law. Nandor Tanczos quite rightly raised the issue that any kind of political activity, even the desire to change the law in a perfectly legitimate way\u2014whether it is a political way or even a legal way\u2014could be considered by Department of Corrections staff who make these assessments to be of some kind of prejudice to the maintenance of the existing law. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000334\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThis provision opens up the opportunity for staff to look at any mail and to make assessments about the political interests of inmates. That is a serious issue about human rights. Inmates are not stripped entirely of their rights when they go to prison. They are entitled to be engaged in political activity, if that is what they choose to do, and to pursue legal issues if that is what they want to do. Mr Garrett, of course, has a very radical and very extremist attitude to prison issues. But a sensible attitude to prison is that when an offender offends and gets a prison sentence it is the denial of his or her liberty that is the punishment, and not the denial of dignity\u2014not the denial of human rights. In fact, what we find and what know to be the case is that the more time people spend in prison being denied any kind of ability to rehabilitate, to deal with the issues that have led them there\u2014all of those things\u2014they are more likely to reoffend, once they have left prison. Prison is not, obviously, a place for dealing with issues of reoffending, because it actually leads to more reoffending later on. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000335\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003ENone the less, that is not the issue I want to address here; the issue is about the ability for Department of Corrections staff to investigate mail. We have just had an expos\u00E9 of the police, in particular, using spies and narks to spy on political organisations, legitimate political organisations, and even political parties such as the Green Party\u2014cops could easily get on the Green Party\u2019s mailing list. We will send people stuff if they want to hear about what we are doing. One does not have to use a spy or a nark to be sent our press releases, or our campaigning information, because we like to tell people what we are doing. We are a very open and transparent party. But instead of using proper processes we have police using spies and narks to do that instead. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000336\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EIn that context, then, and having prisoners also subject to that kind of political scrutiny by Department of Corrections authorities, potentially by the police, is a real issue and that was not dealt with in select committee. We would have liked to see some reasonable discussion of that in the select committee process. That did not happen. That is one of the reasons why we cannot support this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000337\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThe second reason raised by my colleague was about the extension of search powers for non-prison areas\u2014areas where prisoners do not go but staff do. We have heard from Phil Goff about the concerns of staff bringing in contraband. That is a fair enough concern and there does need to be a process for managing that. I have spent a reasonable amount of time visiting the new Milton Prison. I have visited a number of prisons around the country. The Milton Prison is very close to where I live in Dunedin. In my experience, those staff are fantastic. They are working in a very new environment, a new physical environment that helps to build and retain the dignity of the staff. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000338\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EIn the select committee process we were looking for changes that would at least identify some reason why those staff areas might be searched by other authorities. There are no safeguards for the privacy of those Department of Corrections staff, or for the employment rights in that relationship. There is no requirement, for example, that the search be conducted on reasonable grounds, that there has been a problem with that staff member or staff in that institution. There are no grounds to suspect at all in the legislation, so it is an absolutely free power by authorities to investigate and search those staff areas with no consideration at all for the fact that those staff are working in a very difficult, very tense, and highly politically contentious environment. Yet they are trying to do their best for both the offenders in the institution and for maintaining a high standard in those institutions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThis legislation comes at a time when there are increasing attacks on Department of Corrections staff. There have been law changes that will increase the muster in prison. There have been threats by National\u2014by the Minister of Corrections and the Minister of Justice\u2014to have a process of double bunking in prisons, which directly puts corrections staff at serious risk in those prisons when we have the doubling of numbers in a prison environment, increased stress, increased violence, and increased aggression. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000340\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003ENational has been highly critical of corrections staff, and with any institution of that size and with those kinds of conditions there will always be the occasional problems. That does not justify the kinds of criticisms from National. The chief executive has been called to resign by National\u2014almost on a weekly basis. National opposed staff bonuses in 2007. Simon Power has called them incompetent, describing blunder after blunder, and giving no support at all for those staff. This legislation is another step towards removing the kind of support that those staff need in order to do a good job. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000341\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EIn the kind of environment that they are in, and with the responsibilities that they have, they must be well-paid, well-supported, and at least trusted to some extent to do their job properly. This legislation strips away all of that trust. It also leads on to the very real concern that is proposed by National about the privatisation of prisons. We have had one privately run prison in this country. We campaigned to stop that from being able to be continued, and the private management was taken out of that prison, and for good reason\u2014particularly about the staffing issues. Our concern is about staffing issues for Department of Corrections staff. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000342\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EIn the public sector we have had massive levels of resignations from the Department of Corrections over the last little while. In some areas 40 percent of staff have less than 2 years\u2019 experience in their role. Why would we have experienced people wanting to do that work, to do those jobs in such a difficult environment, if there is such a low level of trust from this Parliament and from the institution itself? In terms of private prisons we have even worse examples. The Australasian correctional management company that ran the remand prison in Auckland had an appalling international reputation of unsafe work practices. In fact, it was the organisation that lost a court case when a staff member took the company to court for unsafe work practices. It is owned by an international organisation, Wackenhut Corporation, which runs a whole range of prisons around the world known for assaults on staff, retaliation issues, contraband inside prisons, the silencing of witnesses in prisons, withholding of information that has been required by the court in prison, and a massive turnover of staff. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000343\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EIf we are to have the kind of safe and secure environment in our correctional institutions, where offenders need to be treated well enough, such that they retain some dignity, so that when they leave prison they are less likely to reoffend, we need to have staff who feel secure in their jobs, who are well respected by the community, and who are not undermined every day by this Parliament. It is not only Ministers making comments about those staff, saying that they are terrible, but also putting law in place that undermines that trust. We will not be supporting this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022 data-id=\u00228dcabcd148604665a0ae062c740cc13a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000344\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228dcabcd148604665a0ae062c740cc13a\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT (ACT):\u003C/span\u003E I rise on behalf of the ACT Party to support the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2), which was introduced by the previous Government and is now supported by the current Government. This bill is a very good illustration of what is wrong with our system. I will leaf through it quickly, as it is quite a big document. The explanatory note\u2014and of course the Law and Order Committee was dominated by Labour members\u2014states that new section 79(3) \u201Callows the possible use of alcohol in both Christian and non-Christian religious ceremonies \u2026\u201D. That is utter, utter naivety. Do people really believe that the motivation for wanting alcohol is religious? Come on! It is just absolute nonsense.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000345\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fbd1320e328d404ab972e2737cf5fff8\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: For the Catholic prisoners it definitely is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000346\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225681c74816ca4eac9c178ff9e867a2e6\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT\u003C/span\u003E: I was born a Catholic, I say to Mr Hughes, and we never had wine with Communion.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000347\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EIt is actually quite possible, if one changes one\u2019s philosophy, to eliminate cellphones and drugs completely from prisons. I say that because I have seen it. I was in Arizona and California last year, looking at the prison systems. I am not talking about the tent jails, although I thought they were a pretty good idea; I am talking about ordinary jails, such as we have here. There are some quite crucial differences. I visited a high-rise jail in Arizona. I was with former MP Stephen Franks. We talked to the senior guards and to the ordinary rank and file guards. We wandered around the prison at will. We were not shepherded by minders. We were told we could talk to anyone we liked, including the prisoners, incidentally. I remember asking one of the guards about the extent of the cellphone problem in the prison. The Americans are polite people, and the guard said: \u201CThey are not allowed cellphones, sir.\u201D We said: \u201CYes, we understand that, but how many do you find?\u201D. The guard said: \u201CExcuse me? The prisoners are not allowed cellphones, sir.\u201D Once he had worked out what we were asking him, the answer was none\u2014zero.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000348\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a3be5988ffc7407882d2903f1f1e7731\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Ha, ha!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000349\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222c6ba149fa72410b802037e7f6ce9e90\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT\u003C/span\u003E: In a moment I will tell Mr Hughes why that is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000350\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EWe then went on to the issue of drugs. We asked what percentage of positive drug tests they found. Another of the guards said: \u201CYes, we drug test.\u201D We asked: \u201CWhat percentage of positive results do you get?\u201D. One guard asked the other: \u201CHey Randy, didn\u2019t we get one last year?\u201D. We said: \u201CWhat, 1 percent?\u201D. He replied: \u201COh no, sir, one positive result.\u201D I will tell members how they do it. It is quite easy. Firstly, the prisoners do not have contact visits. Even lawyers are required to sit in a room next to the prisoner. There is a small slit, sufficient to put perhaps a 5 or 6-page affidavit through, but otherwise there are no contact visits. That is one way to ensure that there are simply no cellphone or drug problems in the prison. However, it is probably possible to get LSD embedded in a paper and passed through by a corrupt or crooked lawyer. That is probably possible.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000351\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EThe next reason why there are no cellphone or drug problems in this prison is punishment. Ms Turei said\u2014and this is an old sore\u2014that offenders go to prison as a punishment, but not for punishment. That remark sounds wonderful to middle-class people like all the members here, because deprivation of liberty for us would be a huge punishment. Deprivation of the right to go down to the dairy on Sunday morning and get the paper, or call in and have a beer on the way home, would be a major incursion on us. But for some people it does not matter\u2014they do not care. So that remark just demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the reality. It is possible to eliminate cellphones and drugs from prisons, and that is how it is done. There are no contact visits, even with lawyers.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000352\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EThe other issue is punishment for breaches. Arizona and California have the systems that we used to have here. If someone is found to have broken the rules, he or she is punished\u2014solitary confinement and a No. 1 diet. We used to do that too, and, funnily enough, we did not have anywhere near as much crime. I wonder why! In Arizona, prisoners lose various rights. Our prisoners lose the right to vote. Mr Hughes might like to help me\u2014he is a very voluble chap\u2014by telling me of any other rights they lose. But in Arizona prisoners lose the right to have the haircut they like, they lose the right to wear the clothes they like, they lose the right to smoke, they lose the right to have salt on their food\u2014I cannot quite understand that one, quite frankly\u2014and they lose the right to have tomato sauce.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000353\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EThe crucial point is that the Arizonians and the Californians accept that criminals, by their actions, have deprived themselves of rights. They should not and do not have the same level of rights as the rest of us. [Interruption] This is not a campaign speech, I say to Mr Hughes. It is a new one. This is a good start.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000354\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EPrisoners also lose the right to privacy. I was talking to a prominent defence lawyer before the election. He is not an ACT supporter and did not vote for us. He told us that in his opinion the loss of the right to privacy, as occurs in the Arizona prison, would be a major deterrent here. He pointed out to me that frequently in court\u2014I do not practise criminal law so I am going on what he said\u2014the prosecution will ask for a deterrent sentence. The judge will ask: \u201CWell, who\u2019s it going to deter? The only ones here are the convict, the lawyers, and me. No one is going to know. Where is the deterrent, Mr Prosecutor?\u201D. My friend, whom I will not name, said that he believes that if they did here what is done in Arizona, which is that on conviction a prisoner\u2019s name, photograph, crime committed, and sentence given go straight on to the website, it would be a deterrent. This was from a person who makes his living solely from defending criminals. He said that losing the right to privacy, among other things, would be a far more effective deterrent than a lot of the things we do now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000355\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EI want to touch on the Hon Phil Goff\u2019s point about the causes of crime. We hear about this all the time. In my maiden speech I spoke about the \u201Cunemployment causes crime\u201D myth, and I want to expand on that and go on to another point.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000356\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f57bc16865684f8da563dc42de070fa6\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: You quoted yourself in your last speech.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000357\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226015ac2cb5ee458f97d41ad9bbeca3e4\u0022\u003EDAVID GARRETT\u003C/span\u003E: This is a new speech, I say to Mr Hughes. He will not hear anything familiar. Those on the left say, and they have said it a couple of times, that the safe society of the 1960s was illusory. It was illusory because there was a huge level of unreported family and sexual violence. I was trying to follow Mr Goff\u2019s logic. If that is right, if in the past we had hidden violent crime because it was all happening in the home, that is a very easy argument to make. We can never prove or disprove it\u2014it was all hidden, so we did not know about it, if that is where it was really happening.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000358\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022187e4099-cc16-4bb8-8379-82c881af1724\u0022\u003EI heard the Hon Phil Goff a second ago ask what we are going to do about this terrible epidemic that is coming\u2014abused children becoming the next generation of criminals. There is a fault of logic there, because if that is the real cause, why was it not happening in the 1960s? Or does hidden violence only cause hidden violence? I do not know about that. It does not seem right. It is faulty logic. This bill is a good start and we have no problem supporting it, but it is no more than a good start.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022df788c48-b9be-42fd-b8f2-76629a5572b8\u0022 data-id=\u0022c55dcdd1b2ab4bc5991dcfadbdba3639\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000359\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022df788c48-b9be-42fd-b8f2-76629a5572b8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c55dcdd1b2ab4bc5991dcfadbdba3639\u0022\u003EHon Dr WAYNE MAPP (Minister of Defence):\u003C/span\u003E I was in the Chamber listening to the Leader of the Opposition, and I have to say that I think he lives in some kind of alternative reality. He should spend his time writing a book, because his speech would be the alternative reality where Labour did not actually lose the election, and where all of the claims he makes about the wonders of the previous Government would be miraculously absolved by the public not voting. All they would have to do is say: \u201CActually, Phil was right. Everything was wonderful under Labour.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000360\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022df788c48-b9be-42fd-b8f2-76629a5572b8\u0022\u003EI have to say to Mr Goff that when I was out in the community, I found the public to be deeply disturbed about the previous Government\u2019s record on crime. They wanted a fundamental change to that situation. They rejected Labour on this issue. The key reason for this was that there was a 47 percent increase in violent crime. Labour members should be ashamed of that statistic. Those members need to reflect on why violent crime increased so much in their 9 years in office. I guess they will say that it was all the fault of the previous National Government. But 9 years is too long to allow a Government to absolve itself of its responsibilities.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000361\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022df788c48-b9be-42fd-b8f2-76629a5572b8\u0022\u003EI will remind Labour of another fundamental failure on its part: prison construction costs. The former Minister of Corrections, Phil Goff, talked about building four new prisons. What he was not going to say, however, was that they cost more than $1 million per cell. [Interruption] Members opposite laugh about that. They do not care that it cost $1 million per cell; it is just a point of mirth for them. Well, the public was outraged that it wasted expenditure with the so-called new contracting system, and collaborative working systems, as if that would be the pathway to controlling costs. In fact, it proved to be the pathway to costs going completely out of control. It was yet another example, I guess, of the alternative reality that that party inhabits right now. Clearly we could do better than that. It is not so difficult to do better than spending $1 million on each cell.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000362\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022df788c48-b9be-42fd-b8f2-76629a5572b8\u0022\u003EThe Auckland Central Remand Prison is interesting. It has been hugely successfully managed privately for a number of years now. That prison was modelled on the standard US county jail. Obviously, the previous Government did not seem to understand that there are cost-effective approaches to building prisons. It went for the $1 million per cell approach. That prison houses about 230 prisoners. It cost about $50 million. Members should think of the difference in cost: less than quarter of a million dollars per cell.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000363\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022330f857e16974124a163fecf1e8d93a3\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Hey, the member\u2019s a fool. That prison was built by the public sector. It wasn\u2019t built by the private sector.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000364\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022df788c48-b9be-42fd-b8f2-76629a5572b8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002272a41a2db51d4a348c4409f972b1e07b\u0022\u003EHon Dr WAYNE MAPP\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, but it was based on a cost-effective method, and it was well managed by private contractors. I would just remind members on the other side of the House that there are much better ways than those of the failed former Minister of Corrections, who is temporarily inhabiting the role of Leader of the Opposition.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000365\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022df788c48-b9be-42fd-b8f2-76629a5572b8\u0022\u003EI will conclude by making some remarks on the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2). Yes, there are some things that the parties in Parliament can work together on. Clearly we need to monitor prisoners\u2019 mail, and we need to deal with the issue of cellphones, and so forth. Those are things that there is consensus on. Not every single thing that we deal with in Parliament divides parties.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000366\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022df788c48-b9be-42fd-b8f2-76629a5572b8\u0022\u003EI would just like members on the other side to understand why they are sitting on the other side. One of the very first things we learnt in Opposition was that, in order to change our situation, we had to be able to understand where we had gone wrong. Labour members clearly have a huge amount of learning to do in that regard, because they have spent the last 2 weeks telling us about how wonderful they had been, about how they had got everything right, and that nothing they had done was wrong. They simply do not understand why they are sitting where they are at the moment, and I suggest they will have to do some pretty deep thinking over the next several years to understand why they are there. I would say that that is a lesson particularly for the Leader of the Opposition to learn. He of all people, as a new leader, needs to reflect on his failures\u2014to reflect on why there was a 47 percent increase in violent crime and why prison spending got completely out of control. If he thought about that, then we would hear a little less bluff and bluster and a little more humility from him. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022 data-id=\u0022455a785a7b5a442297139853b68cb628\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000367\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022455a785a7b5a442297139853b68cb628\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E Before I begin, I would not mind reflecting for a moment on the speech made by Mr Garrett. We heard a lot in his speech about Arizona; I enjoyed his very comprehensive rundown of the system there. However, during my 6 months spent living in Arizona, I frequently noted along the highways where the prisons were located that there were signs\u2014as often as the signs we have here indicating speed limits\u2014that stated: \u201CDo not stop and pick up passengers. Prisoners likely to be roaming free.\u201D I do not know whether we would wish to make that kind of comparison. I will draw a comparison later on in my comments by noting that, in fact, there have in the past been similarities between our prison system and that of Arizona, based on the number of escapes, but I will come back to that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000368\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EBefore I begin my contribution on the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2), I will briefly review the history that this bill has gone through. As my colleague Metiria Turei pointed out, this is a novel bill for this new term of Parliament. I recognise that the Minister of Justice, Mr Power, may criticise the lack of speed. That is interesting, given our criticism that there has been too much speed from the National Government side of the House in the consideration of some of the bills we have had so far. Just in order to give a little lesson on Government process, I say this bill was introduced on 3 December 2007. We followed up, after the Christmas break, with its first reading on 21 February and, despite the widespread support for the bill and the fact that many members in this House agreed with what we were doing, we chose to send it to a select committee. The bill was referred to the Law and Order Committee, and now it has been referred back to this House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000369\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EHowever, I congratulate my colleagues in National on taking up this bill. I will restate what the leader of the Labour Party has clearly articulated, which is that when the Government puts forth legislation that we think is in the best interests of New Zealanders, we will support it. In this situation, given that we wrote the bill, we do believe that the policy it represents is in the best interests of New Zealanders. Hence it has our support. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000370\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI will just reflect on the context in which the bill was introduced. At the time of the introduction of the bill we noted that the Corrections Act 2004 was working well, and we are still of that opinion. We have seen, since the Act\u2019s introduction\u2014and well beyond that, in fact, as the Labour leader has already outlined\u2014that the number of prison escapes has dropped by a massive 84 percent. I say to Mr Garrett that there is no need to have road signs like those in Arizona in New Zealand, because when we compare this situation with the situation we had 10 years ago, we see that we have made massive improvements in that area. That has happened through taking proactive measures, like having a single point of entry and perimeter fencing at our prisons.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000371\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022efd9557a32464accb858c11e9a97652e\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Good ideas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000372\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a2d082a4becb4bf1b1c53db21bb53143\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN\u003C/span\u003E: Those are good ideas, which are working well. Drug taking is also something that I, like my colleagues, want to reflect on. It is far, far less common than what we saw in 1999. Let me throw out a number, because I do not want speeches from members on this side of the House to be full of empty rhetoric and wind. We do have numbers: 34 percent of prisoners were testing positive for drugs in 1999. We now have a much lower rate of positive testing. There has been a doubling in the number of drug-dog teams in our prisons, which has made a massive difference. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000373\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EPutting all of that into context is the fact that our prison muster has increased. It has increased, and now that National is in Government, the National members have acknowledged that. We have a higher prison muster than previously, and that is down to the reforms made by Labour while it was in Government. The changes we made to parole, sentencing, and bail have seen a greater number of people serving longer sentences in our prisons. Despite that, we have made miraculous gains in the way that our corrections system is operating. I would just like members to reflect on that. But being the humble Government that we were, we recognised that further improvements could be made, and that is why we put forward this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000374\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EWe believe that legislation needs to be based on objectives, and we had two aims when we put forward this bill. A novel idea, which I would like to share with members opposite, is that a Government can set out some objectives and principles before it puts forward legislation. I also invite them to reflect that it might have been useful to outline the problem they were trying to fix with the last two bills we have seen. We did that with regard to this bill. We said our No. 1 aim was to enhance the safety and security of prisons, and we wanted to do that through a reduction in the amount of contraband and the suppression of cellphone use. Our No. 2 objective was to improve the provision for agencies to share information about the highest risk offenders. We had a very good reason for doing that; it was about their reintegration into our communities. The No. 1 aim in all of our justice legislation, which members will see as they review it, was the safety of the community. [Interruption] It has always been our highest priority, I say to Mr Garrett. That is why we made provision in this bill for the sharing of information: to ensure that during reintegration we place greater emphasis on the safety of the community. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000375\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI am pleased to see that those principles were then turned into action. Members will note that the bill is quite a lengthy one, based on what we wanted to achieve. I know the National Government is trying to keep bills to one or two pages at best, but we thought we would broaden this bill out a bit. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000376\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d2711e1a64fb43739412a496f7802ac4\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: All their ideas together. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000377\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e7bb6ae7ec104b7083ea26b5a1e1443d\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN\u003C/span\u003E: That is right\u2014all of the National Government\u2019s ideas are contained in a maximum of one or two clauses, but we thought we would go a little beyond that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000378\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003ELet us take a quick look at what we proposed on contraband, at our attempt to reduce the circulation of drugs, alcohol, money, weapons, and electronic devices in prison. Our provisions allowed for the searching of staff lockers. They amended the definition of \u201Cstrip search\u201D, and provided for strip searching when a prisoner is to be retested for drugs and alcohol, and before and after parole hearings. They provided for retesting where a sample provided by a prisoner during drug and alcohol testing is diluted, tainted, or otherwise contaminated, and strengthened the provisions around tampering with a sample or possessing items that could be used to tamper with a sample. They introduced new provisions relating to unauthorised electronic communication devices, including making it an imprisonable offence for a prisoner to use or possess an electronic communication device without authorisation. They also introduced a new offence for any person to knowingly possess an unauthorised item while in prison. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000379\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EThat is quite a hefty list. I think members will agree it could not be confused with window dressing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000380\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d43be46be84a427a92d185cf30ccc57a\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s right. This is real. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000381\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226e73d4fe862a492888b60e099d7623b4\u0022\u003EJACINDA ARDERN\u003C/span\u003E: These are real provisions, and they were introduced to make real changes to our system. That is why I again congratulate the Government on taking on this legislation, which will genuinely improve our prisons and corrections system. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000382\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EI will very briefly reflect on some of the things that came back from the Law and Order Committee, because it is a novelty to have the opportunity to do so. I will take a few paragraphs from the second reading speech of the previous Minister of Corrections. I did ask his permission before reading these excerpts, and Mr Finlayson may like to take note of that. The committee notably strengthened the forfeiture provisions, so that a visiting justice or adjudicator may order the forfeiture of anything that has been used to commit an offence, and it also increased penalties. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000383\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022aa2209f1-1889-4c24-b51d-cb2aedc7aa93\u0022\u003EAgain, I commend the Government for taking on this bill. The bill has our support for good reasons, which are that we wrote it and we think it will improve the corrections system. In my closing remarks, I join the Labour leader in calling for a broader debate on justice and corrections issues. We looked beyond this legislation to the development of an employment programme for our corrections facilities. As the Opposition spokesperson on youth justice, I look forward to hearing the proposals from members opposite on what else the Government will do to ensure that our prison muster decreases, not because of changes in sentencing and parole but because the Government invests more time, energy, and resources in early intervention. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022 data-id=\u0022c1bee765c5e24f6d885d16c927f569cf\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000384\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c1bee765c5e24f6d885d16c927f569cf\u0022\u003EHon MITA RIRINUI (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I congratulate my colleague Jacinda Ardern, who has just resumed her seat, for her opening remarks on Mr Garrett\u2019s experiences in Arizona. When she spoke I thought to myself briefly that either Mr Garrett was a very naive member, which is quite possible, or he went around Arizona with his eyes closed\u2014and Jacinda has just confirmed that possibly he did. When he said that he travelled with his former colleague Stephen Franks I thought \u201CWell, no wonder they saw nothing apart from the birds and the trees and the flowers growing in the gardens in Arizona.\u201D There was not much value in that trip whatsoever\u2014but back to planet Earth, and please excuse my manners, Mr Deputy Speaker. This is my first opportunity to take a call in the forty-ninth Parliament, and let me first acknowledge your appointment to Deputy Speaker, as well as the appointments of the Assistant Speakers and the Speaker, the Hon Dr Lockwood Smith. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000385\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003EIt has been an interesting debate around the quality of the parliamentary process in terms of scrutiny of legislation. As mentioned previously by a number of speakers on the Opposition side of the House, the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) is one of the first bills we have debated during this urgency that has been through the select committee process. Although I want to acknowledge the members of the Law and Order Committee, chaired by the former New Zealand First member of Parliament Ron Mark, I also need to acknowledge the contributions made by the current Minister of Justice, Simon Power, and the other committee members who were part of that process. I found it unusual that although three written submissions came to the committee, only one submission was heard. I think that means that only one asked for an oral hearing at the select committee. It is surprising what we learn about the real world when we allow the process to go its full course. We learn about people who are out there in the community and who have firsthand knowledge of what is actually going on in our corrections system, whether they are current or former corrections staff. Of course, it is very difficult for those people to approach a select committee. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000386\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003EI will say one thing about the select committee process. There is an assumption by a number of MPs and various parties in this House that they have the solutions to all the problems, and that there is no need to consult with our wider communities to give us some direction on how we should resolve these matters. I will give it to the former Ministers of Corrections and the Labour-led Government that we valued that process very, very much. Therefore it is only fitting for me to acknowledge the previous Minister of Corrections, Phil Goff, and his predecessors. I will mention them one by one: the Hon Mark Gosche, who was also a Minister of Corrections; the Hon Paul Swain, who was a Minister of Corrections as well; the Hon Damien O\u2019Conner; and the previous Minister of Corrections, the Hon Phil Goff. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000387\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d8b038cf6ac34e3382c5a535a6c5bae7\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: The member\u2019s left out the Associate Minister!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000388\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228862f55839474b4c9eb812bfb18171d4\u0022\u003EHon MITA RIRINUI\u003C/span\u003E: I was getting to the Associate Minister. The previous Minister of Corrections, Phil Goff, who is now the Leader of the Opposition, also played a very firm part in dealing with many of the problems within our corrections institutions. Of course, as the Opposition whip said, there was the role of the previous Associate Minister of Corrections, who outlived, I think, four of those Ministers. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000389\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022af6c117bccbd4f108e81fa1e8b04772e\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: There\u2019s a statement in that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000390\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a145a1933f1d42cd8992d7ad6c7e5a48\u0022\u003EHon MITA RIRINUI\u003C/span\u003E: I think that makes a statement about endurance and commitment to the job. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000391\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003EI am a former probation officer, and I was also Associate Minister of Corrections. During that period as a probation officer I had the opportunity to go into some of our institutions and get firsthand experience of what is actually going on within our prison system, to sit down and talk to corrections staff, and to talk to inmates through their appointed spokespeople. It is surprising what one hears. We have had a wide debate in the House today about the value of this bill. There is wide support across the House, although I think there is a bit of what we call \u201Ct\u014Dtara w\u0101hi rua\u201D on behalf of some people\u2014they are not too sure what they are supporting. It is interesting that in my view there is not a broad understanding within the House of what actually happens within corrections institutions. I think the new Minister of Corrections might benefit from paying a visit on regular occasions to our institutions to get a firsthand look and some experience of what is actually going on, and to talk to people within the institutions about problems they have and possible solutions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000392\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003EMy primary role as the previous Associate Minister of Corrections was to deal with M\u0101ori inmates, who are the massive majority of our current inmate population.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000393\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003ESitting suspended from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000394\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003EDebate interrupted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000395\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002289b9caf0186441539d2af583af773280\u0022\u003EMembers Sworn\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000397\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022c1763414db1c4f8ca992fab4144b6c67\u0022\u003EMembers Sworn\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000396\u0022\u003EMr Speaker administered the Oath of Allegiance to Timothy John Groser, who then took his seat in the House.\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000398\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022e836798430a04267b6c992a11d715a9e\u0022\u003ECorrections Amendment Bill (No 2)\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000399\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00225b77c72ca1bc4e6d8b6ccceedc1fd7e2\u0022\u003ESecond Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000400\u0022\u003EDebate resumed.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022 data-id=\u0022160e0d699a664cd7a2d2be63330ad873\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000401\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022160e0d699a664cd7a2d2be63330ad873\u0022\u003EHon MITA RIRINUI (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E Prior to the lunch break, as you said, Mr Speaker, we were debating the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2), and I had touched on a range of issues that I had experienced as a former probation officer, and as a former Associate Minister of Corrections. The fact that the Attorney-General felt it necessary to plagiarise the speech of the previous Minister of Corrections\u2014now the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon Phil Goff\u2014tells me that National is in full support of this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000402\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003EI was about to mention, prior to the lunch break, that in my capacity as Associate Minister I had the opportunity to visit a number of prisons around the country\u2014in particular, the M\u0101ori focus units, in which previous Ministers from the previous Labour-led Government had considerable input, in terms of the units\u2019 design and resourcing. I understand, and I read on a number of occasions, that the former shadow spokesperson on corrections, and now the Minister of Justice, the Hon Simon Power, visited a number of these institutions, and had a considerable amount of comment to make on the way they were structured and run. By and large, the comments were quite positive. I think that we in this House need to understand that our corrections staff work very hard, as has been mentioned in the debate this afternoon, yet get very little support from the wider community, because there is little understanding of the nature and extent of their responsibilities. In previous years, also, I have seen very little support from a number of political parties, particularly during debates. The work in prisons of these public servants is quite difficult, and is carried out under the worst conditions, yet they seem to manage to control the way in which prisons and penal institutions are run on a daily basis for the sake of public safety. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000403\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003EI make mention of the bill that is coming before us, with its need to block the use of cellphones within prisons\u2014[Interruption]\u2014and Parliament! On a number of occasions I have sat down with corrections staff and inmates, and I can tell members that it is amazing to hear of the level of intimidation that staff and inmates are subject to, as a result of the use of cellphones. Their families are intimidated and the wider communities are intimidated, but no one outside the institutions is aware of this, apart from corrections staff. So I think this bill is a major step towards overcoming the problem. We also find that Maori focus units become a place where inmates tend to draw to, for their own safety, and to be free of intimidation so that their families are not subject to threats any more. I think it is for that reason that former Ministers of Corrections have put a lot of energy into the development of Maori focus units. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000404\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003EI am aware that the co-leader of the M\u0101ori Party, now the Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs\u2014 albeit outside Cabinet\u2014has been one of those who have committed a lot of energy to the establishment of the Maori focus units. So I think there is value in having the units remain, although their staff have been subject to considerable political bombardment and scrutiny. That is OK; as public servants they need to expect that. But by and large the units do a very good job, and the safety level for inmates within the institutions has increased because they have found, within the institution, a place where they can feel safe. The Maori focus units have provided that safety for them. I am sure that the member for Whanganui will support me on that, given that he has had some experience in that particular field. But it needs to be appreciated that these people work very hard and get very little support externally. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000405\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002273f60731-048d-4a21-81c5-52d588de2325\u0022\u003EI am glad that the Minister of Justice is in support of this bill, and I also hope that the new Minister of Corrections will visit some of these institutions, to get some insight into how they are run on a daily basis. I have no more to add to this part of the debate. Thank you. Kia ora t\u0101tou.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022 data-id=\u002280ad64560bee4790b00e7c6796d40131\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000406\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002280ad64560bee4790b00e7c6796d40131\u0022\u003ECHESTER BORROWS (National\u2014Whanganui):\u003C/span\u003E It is true to say that most of the views around corrections policy as a whole are fairly similar, and it is not surprising, then, that the National Government would continue with this legislation that started under the Labour Government. It received good discussion at the Law and Order Committee\u2019s deliberation, and a bit of polish was put on it there. I am pleased to see that there is wide-ranging support for it across the House. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003ESome of the initiatives in the bill are those taking advantage of technology, and it is no surprise that gradually prisoners start expanding and gaining more and more latitude from advances in technology. Considering the size of a cellphone and where one can be jammed, it is no surprise, then, that we are finding more and more cellphones within our prisons. We know for instance that one prisoner may be smuggling one particular small cellphone into a prison, but several others need only a SIM card these days, so wide access is gained, and it is good to be able to see that the ability to jam cellphone calls will be something that will be initiated pursuant to this piece of legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000408\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003EWe have to admit that the comments made by ACT member David Garrett, and comparing us to other countries, I think, really just underline the fact that New Zealanders are pretty innovative. Even our criminals are innovative, and they get away with stuff because they are sneaky and bad. But they are not so sneaky that they do not get caught and end up in jail. But it is no surprise, then, that they push those boundaries, so we need tighter and tighter legislation, at a time when prisoners are receiving\u2014via human rights legislation and the New Zealand Bill of Rights legislation\u2014more and more freedoms. So there will be stricter control. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000409\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003EI take issue with comments made by the Green Party, as far as the lack of a need to fully scan prisoners\u2019 mail. I think that most people around the country would agree that in these times there is more of a need to keep a scrutiny on that. It has, right up until now, anyway, or until the implementation of this legislation, been far easier than it has ever been before for prisoners to have communication with the outside world. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000410\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003EWe have been challenged by members opposite as to what steps the National Government will take to bring down the prison population. I guess, just to give one indication, that an often-quoted statistic is the 83 percent of prisoners who have drug and alcohol dependency problems. Yet, under the regime that was run by the previous Government, prisoners could not get any rehabilitation schemes if they were in prison for less than 2 years, unless they were provided by the non-governmental organisation sector, which is where a call came from me when I was in Opposition\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000411\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ab460b417c3b4fdbaf80f111e8b3128b\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, that\u2019s just nonsense. We increased the places from 40 to 500\u2014more than tenfold; a tenfold increase in rehab places. The member doesn\u2019t know what he is talking about.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000412\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002281526450a74b4dbd995a1976edd6d44b\u0022\u003ECHESTER BORROWS\u003C/span\u003E: In the first 2 years. We had people who had serious drug and alcohol problems, but who were unable to receive any sort of help with those problems if they had been sentenced to less than 2 years, or until they had completed at least two-thirds of their sentence, and that was a real problem. Under the Auckland Central Remand Prison\u2014run by a private company, of course\u2014people on remand were able to obtain and receive benefit from rehabilitative programmes that were run there. But of course, they were not available on remand once that prison was taken over by the State sector. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000413\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003ESo we look forward to seeing an expanding role for rehabilitation services inside prisons. My own local example, of course, was that under a National Government a shoe factory was put into Kaitoke prison. It had good success in rehabilitating prisoners. Prison officers told us anecdotally, because strict records were not kept, that those prisoners who were working inside that shoe factory never returned to prison. They may have gone to some other prison, but Kaitoke prison was a local prison and one would expect them to go back to that. They never saw anyone who had been through that shoe factory come back into prison, and, of course, that prison was closed under a Labour Government because it was not making a profit\u2014a terrible shame. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000414\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003ESo we look forward to seeing the passage of this bill, with the support of almost the whole House, and an acceptance that corrections matters are largely apolitical, apart from the odd little point scored from time to time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00221a91fcf82326432b8ef1e3d1974ba255\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a second time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 113\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 58; New Zealand Labour 43; ACT New Zealand 5; M\u0101ori Party 5; Progressive 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 9\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EGreen Party 9.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EBill read a second time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000415\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00227595e0e1f2164533a31e2e39cfd8cb61\u0022\u003EAdjournment\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000416\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022334cd7bf405f4788a243a06bb2144616\u0022\u003ESittings of the House\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000418\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00224527ebf8b1f54a00a9d37b3f3ad9afe8\u0022\u003ESittings of the House\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022 data-id=\u00226a073b8e09e74dc997e3077247c86937\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000417\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226a073b8e09e74dc997e3077247c86937\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the House do at its rising adjourn until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 10 February 2009, and that the sitting programme for 2009 recommended by the Business Committee be adopted. It is unusual for Parliament to have two adjournment debates so close together. If members can recall, the last one was held before the general election. That does not mean we should not thank people who were thanked then but have had to work hard since, so on behalf of the Prime Minister, the Hon John Key, I thank all those staff in this complex who executed a smooth change of Government. As I understand it, over 1,000 people were shifted. Some were not shifted very far: staff in Dr Cullen\u2019s office packed up their boxes one day and a few days later unpacked them at exactly the same desk, as part of my office. From what I could see there was generally patience and persistence all around, which ensured that the shift went as smoothly as it possibly could. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000419\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EAn awful lot has happened since the last adjournment debate. As a result of the general election a tired, muddled, and scandal-ridden Labour administration was pushed aside with a decisive margin by New Zealand voters, and a pragmatic and fresh National Party was brought into power. Within a week, National created a Government that had the support of Parliament through arrangements with three support parties: the ACT Party, the M\u0101ori Party, and United Future. On behalf of Mr Key I stress to Parliament and to the country how committed National is to ensuring that those governing arrangements work. On his behalf I thank the leader of the ACT Party, Rodney Hide, and his board and MPs; the leader of United Future, Peter Dunne; and Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples, the leaders of the M\u0101ori Party. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000420\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EI thank Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples in particular for their willingness to grasp a historic opportunity, and for the gracious but direct way in which they negotiated the arrangements with a party that neither they not their supporters have traditionally had a strong relationship with. When the Government changes, the MPs tend to be locked up in the Beehive for a while, and I must say that after forming a Government and doing what we needed to do to get the Government up and running, I was very pleasantly surprised to get out of Wellington and out among the people who voted in the election. Among those who voted for us and against us there has been uniform support, if not pleasure, at the arrangement that has been made between the National Government and the M\u0101ori Party. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000421\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EThe one group that is not happy about it is the Labour Party, and that is for a very simple reason: it has to understand the hard, cold truth that many M\u0101ori voters have more aspirations than Labour was able to tolerate. They have more will to do better, more will to self-determination, and more will to escape the trap of dependence that they had politically on the Labour Party and on the Government and Government assistance, which they have had far too much of. I expect that the Labour Party will continue with its particularly nasty vendetta against the M\u0101ori Party. We do not always agree with the M\u0101ori Party, and I am sure that over the next 12 months as this Parliament gets busy there will be differences between National and the M\u0101ori Party. But in the spirit of the historic arrangements made in the week after the election, there will be a relationship of mutual respect that New Zealand will benefit from. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000422\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EParliament has also been busy passing legislation that is critical to helping New Zealanders through this recession and to raising our long-term growth prospects. We passed the tax cuts legislation, which is part of a very substantial stimulus to the New Zealand economy that started with the 2008 Budget presented by the previous Government and the 1 October tax cuts, and now includes the tax cuts legislated for 1 April. As was presented in the Budget Policy Statement this morning, that adds up to a $9 billion stimulus to the economy, which is as large as any stimulus package internationally.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000423\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e0192ed9-5715-4f6c-bd52-8db4f3466087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022057bc5a4d28a474287c6ad427389d453\u0022\u003EHon David Cunliffe\u003C/span\u003E: Three-quarters of it from Labour.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000424\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ee22fd8b23434ab2b676e4365430943d\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: Well, it has happened in less dramatic circumstances, because we have not had a banking collapse. We had a general election at a time when any incumbent Government would have been making these decisions. But it gives the opportunity to cushion people from the worst effects of recession. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000425\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EHowever, there is a price to pay for that stimulus, and again the picture presented in the Budget Policy Statement today is of forecasts of ever-increasing debt and substantial fiscal deficits. Those forecasts are unacceptable to the National-led Government, and we will be moving to take a longer-term view to ensure that future workers and taxpayers in New Zealand will not be overburdened by ever-rising debt. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000426\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EParliament will face some challenges next year, and I hope it will be able to rise to those challenges. The year 2009 will be a very tough year\u2014a very tough year. Unemployment is set to rise to at least 6.5 percent. The Government\u2019s books will be in the red for the foreseeable future. Families and businesses will have a growing sense of insecurity because of the loss of jobs and because of their vulnerability to international and domestic economic downturn. Parliament will be led by this Government to implement the plan to turn that round; it will start early in the new year with the Government\u2019s introducing legislation to amend the Resource Management Act.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000427\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EParliament can expect to see from this Government a sense of urgency in dealing with long-term issues that have sapped the confidence and the dynamism of the New Zealand economy. It was OK when the world was going fine and New Zealanders were spending up large, but the economic outlook now demands a sense of urgency, focus, and leadership. That is what the National Party will bring to Parliament next year. We will be looking to build broad coalitions of support in order to take every single step we can to improve our economic prospects and to build the confidence of those who will invest in the New Zealand economy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000428\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EThere will be a number of driving factors, but a simple one that I think even Opposition members can understand is that every New Zealander who loses a job will not get it back until someone invests in this economy. We will do every single thing we can to protect people from job losses in the short term and to lift the chances that they will get a new job from a dynamic and growing economy. If the Opposition with its petty politicking wants to stand in the way of a recovering New Zealand economy, it can. It will not matter, because the National-led Government has a sound majority in this House, and we will use that majority in order to improve the well-being of New Zealanders. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000429\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EI want to make one particularly important point, which was debated during the election campaign. During the election campaign National was committed to supporting the existing entitlements of beneficiaries, national superannuitants, and those on Working for Families. The Labour Party will find that its scare campaign was wrong. Despite the outlook, we are sticking to those entitlements and to National\u2019s promises. Next year we will execute that because that is what New Zealand needs.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022 data-id=\u0022bb9ee04edf63412bbf0f38b41d4e1f47\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000430\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022bb9ee04edf63412bbf0f38b41d4e1f47\u0022\u003EHon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition):\u003C/span\u003E That talk from the Deputy Prime Minister, Bill English, about protecting superannuitants was all a bit rich. He was the last man in this House to cut superannuation, which he did in 1998. I tell Bill English that the only reason why he might be able to assure superannuitants that their benefits will not be cut is that the man sitting just behind me, Michael Cullen, put aside more than $13 billion in the Cullen fund. The fund guarantees that they will get that payment and, for those who are about to retire, that they will have the entitlement they have been paying taxes towards.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000431\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EIt was an interesting speech from the Deputy Prime Minister. It started off with the normal party politicking\u2014\u201CIt was all your fault.\u201D, and \u201CWhat\u2019s the Opposition doing about the crisis?\u201D. Well, Mr English, you\u2019re in the Government now, and we would like to know whether there was a sense of urgency\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000432\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ae1427d3cab84448911cddb876231706\u0022\u003EHon Bill English\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My raising a point of order means that the member sits down. We have had a number of points of order in this session pulling up the Leader of the Opposition for a breach of the processes of this House that no one else is allowed to commit, and he has done it probably 10 or half a dozen times; that is, using the term \u201Cyou\u201D. Parliament has been around a lot longer than Mr Goff, and it has always had that rule. He should be required to keep to it, particularly when the Speaker has ruled three times, I think, on that matter in respect of him during this short 2-week session.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000433\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cb729f7bd8564d178288d495cccc3f28\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Speaker, you may recall me actually touching upon this point the other day, when I pointed out that there are three different ways in which the word \u201Cyou\u201D is used. If this Parliament is going to cut all of them out, then that makes a nonsense, because what Mr Goff said was: \u201CMr English, you\u2019re in the Government now \u2026\u201D. Nobody could possibly read that to mean a reference to you, Mr Speaker. It is a reference to Mr English, and that is normal English usage.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022 data-id=\u0022196b5fbc4d244c6690397c9b184da15c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000434\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022196b5fbc4d244c6690397c9b184da15c\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: In fact, the Hon Bill English is quite correct. The usage that is not allowed under the Standing Orders\u2014and I repeat this for the benefit of all members of the House\u2014is to say, for example: \u201CMr Bloggs, you did something.\u201D That is not disallowed because it includes the Speaker in the debate; it is disallowed because it leads to more personal debate, and that is unacceptable. The Standing Orders are quite clear: the only occasion on which members can use the word \u201Cyou\u201D is in a situation where one might be saying \u201Cone\u201D in older grammar. I remind the honourable Leader of the Opposition that it is not acceptable to address a member on the other side as \u201Cyou\u201D\u2014as in, \u201Cyou\u201D did something. That is outside of the Standing Orders. I invite the honourable Leader of the Opposition to continue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000435\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222c3738c6e0f144b6982ce584e52be6bd\u0022\u003EHon PHIL GOFF\u003C/span\u003E: After 2 weeks of urgency, we would have expected the Government to show some sense of urgency and to present this country and this Parliament with its plan for addressing the impact on New Zealand of an international economic downturn. There has been no such plan. For 2 weeks we have debated light bulbs and justice bills\u2014bills that experts in sentencing say will make no difference, at all. We have debated serious matters. We have debated matters relating to jobs, and to stripping away the right of working people to not be sacked without due cause and without due process to call upon. Yes, we have talked about job security, but this Government has been taking away job security. The member Mr English talks about investment and about jobs. The first thing this Government did in this Parliament was to undermine the emissions trading scheme and scrap $400 million worth of investment in forestry\u2014investment that would have created jobs right across provincial New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000436\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EThen there were those 46 jobs it has destroyed by undermining the biofuel industry in New Zealand. Gerry Brownlee brought the bill on that into the House. He had a letter from a former president of the National Party, Sue Wood, and one from the gentleman who ran BioDiesel Oils (NZ) Ltd, and he had not read either of them. I give credit to David Garrett from the ACT Party, who sat in the House, who listened, who probably read the letter, and who said: \u201CMy personal view is that the Opposition is right. This is a bad move, but I have to vote with my party.\u201D I suggest to you, Mr Speaker, that if Mr Brownlee had read that letter, if he had not been so lazy, if he had done his homework, and if he had understood that what he was saying about the unsustainability of biofuels produced from tallow was just nonsense, we would not have had that bill before the House, at all. I will come back to some of those issues.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000437\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EThe other thing I say to \u201CMr 20 Percent\u201D about investment is that, yes, he talked about investment in short-term jobs. He wiped out jobs in forestry and bio-diesel. He wiped out the thousands of jobs that would have been created by retrofitting houses to make them healthier. So in the short term he did damage, but in the medium term he did damage as well, because the key thing that would have turned round our economy in terms of our savings culture was KiwiSaver. This National Government has gutted KiwiSaver. Its members said their changes would make it possible for more people to invest in KiwiSaver, but when they were asked what money they had put aside for those thousands more people who would come in, the answer was zero\u2014absolutely zero.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000438\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EIf Mr English wants to talk about investment in the medium term, he should know that every industrial company in this country knows that research and development is vital to New Zealand being innovative and competitive in the world. We had two great funds for doing that. The first was the 15 percent tax credits that would have helped those information technology companies to get on their feet, be innovative, compete in the world, and be creative\u2014and the Government scrapped it. The second was the New Zealand Fast Forward fund. We know that, despite not mentioning agriculture once\u2014or was it once, I ask Mr Carter\u2014in the Speech from the Throne, this country relies on agriculture as its primary sector. We know that the fund would have enabled our primary sector to go forward into the future with real confidence, and to compete in the world on the basis of sustainability. But the Government undermined the sustainability part of the fund as well, and scrapped it. So it is just nonsense that Bill English should come into this House and talk about short-term jobs, which he has already destroyed, and the medium-term future, which he has totally undermined.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000439\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EI now begin more traditionally and thank all of those who work in this place and who help Parliament to function as it does. I thank those from your office, Mr Speaker. Through the Clerk, I thank the Clerk\u2019s Office. I thank the Hansard reporters for the job they do. They work very hard writing down things that sometimes do not make much sense\u2014even to the National members who say them. I thank the security staff and the messengers\u2014both groups do a great job around this place\u2014Bellamy\u2019s staff, the cleaners, and the people who, when we sit in urgency, are waiting downstairs to begin their job that supports their family at a low rate of pay, when we are going home. I also thank our executive, our clerical, and our electorate office staff. If we are sometimes so busy around this place that we forget to say thank you to those people more often, I ask them to please accept this as our acknowledgement of, I think, the whole House\u2019s appreciation of what they do for us.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000440\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EI thank the families of parliamentarians too. All of us are volunteers here; we are here because we want to be. Our families do not volunteer for our career choice, and sometimes they suffer because of it. I want to wish all the families of parliamentarians a peaceful and an enjoyable festive season\u2014hopefully, with their partners, or their fathers or mothers\u2014and one in which the families can have some quality time with them.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000441\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EFor me, the last fortnight has been remarkable in one particular positive respect, and that is for the quality of the maiden speeches given by Labour\u2019s 13 new parliamentarians. Their speeches were both passionate and sincere. They told the House of their journey through life, of how they came to be in this place, and of the support they had from their families. They told us about their values, their beliefs, and what they wanted to accomplish by being here. I think the Labour class of 2008 is a truly remarkable, talented, and diverse group. But what stood out for me were the things they had in common, such as a strong belief in and a commitment to a fair and a decent society, a tolerant and an inclusive community, and New Zealand as a country that enables and encourages every one of our people and every one of our children to rise to their full potential. They talked about promoting opportunity and achievement, they talked about not leaving the disadvantaged behind, and they talked about a sustainable environment. Those maiden speeches were the highlight of this last fortnight.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003ESadly, the only other thing the past 2 weeks will be remembered for is that a new and arrogant Government came in here and immediately abused parliamentary and democratic procedure. There was no reason for most of those window-dressing bills to have been forced through this Parliament without the normal scrutiny of a parliamentary select committee, and without the democratic right of New Zealanders to participate in legislation by being able to make their voices heard on what was proposed. That was not window dressing; that was creating the perception of action where, in fact, no action was occurring.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000443\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003EI say to Mr English that in the Budget Policy Statement, he himself\u2014if those were his words\u2014set out that the previous Labour Government achieved the best fiscal position of any country in the OECD: the lowest levels of debt and the best opportunity to get out there and protect New Zealand jobs and New Zealanders. The new Government has squandered these 2 weeks. It has had no plan, and it has acted arrogantly by forcing through legislation that does not advance the interests of New Zealanders but that sets them back. Despite all of those things, I want to wish New Zealanders the best Christmas that they can have. Thank you very much.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022ff09052b0d644e3991c8570bab091047\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000444\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ff09052b0d644e3991c8570bab091047\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House):\u003C/span\u003E That very cheery Christmas message was from the Hon \u201CPhil-in\u201D Goff, who is in the last stages of his honeymoon as leader of the Labour Party. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000445\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002240dec706d9c04755a333dcbb5b26289a\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I would have thought you would get to your feet yourself when members are addressed in that manner. Proper names are to be used.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000446\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022af7c46e53bca4596832059750f4e0efe\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I apologise to the Hon Trevor Mallard, but I was distracted and I did not actually hear that. Now if the Hon Gerry Brownlee did improperly address another member, I would ask him to correct that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000447\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224f2e72bc9282419a83af4b5ce4c29a7e\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I did, Mr Speaker. I apologise for that, but I ask for some licence in a debate like this. [Interruption] No, I withdraw and apologise. There you are; how touchy Opposition members are about the future prospects of the Hon Phil Goff.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000448\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dccf7f2db98c4a9db9577f8cdbad8103\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sure you are aware that members cannot refer to points of order that have been ruled on. You have ruled on a point of order, it has been dealt with, and the member cannot go back to it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000449\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002278a2ab0bdb2a40a783726604267092fc\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Speaking to the point of order. I was simply responding to the heckling I was getting from the other side of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000450\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002287392a5d50d74d0cbd381377af8ec0c3\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I say to the Hon Trevor Mallard that I think we can, at times, be a little too pedantic. His point is correct, but I did not think the honourable member was being particularly disrespectful in his comment. I invite the Hon Gerry Brownlee to continue his speech.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000451\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223d8e81747a7a4f3197e5f8c28ef8f1dd\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: The basic thread of Mr Goff\u2019s message to the House this afternoon was that the Labour Party cannot believe that there was an event on 8 November that left them on the Opposition side of the House. He stands here, attacking the Government today, and mouthing some sort of Homer Simpson defence for his party\u2019s own appalling performance. That defence essentially is: \u201CI was not there. It did not happen. It can\u2019t have been me.\u201D The fact is that Labour members were there, it was them, and it was a Labour Government that got the boot on 8 November because New Zealanders did not like the sort of arrogance that Mr Goff so ably just displayed, backed up by Mr Mallard, who, of course, cannot stand the fact that even though the party has had a huge reshuffle he still sits on the second bench of the Labour Opposition. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000452\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThis week has been an interesting week, insomuch as all that the Labour Opposition members have been able to do is to speak about why their policies were so good and how arrogant it was for National to dare to consider changing them. I can tell members that it will be a long 3 years for Labour members as the legacy they have left this country\u2014the dreadful figures that have been documented\u2014is dealt with by National. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000453\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI want to talk about the comments Mr Goff made about KiwiSaver. Anyone listening to him would assume that the entire workforce of this country had somehow had something taken off it. Far from that being the case, most members of the workforce in this country were not part of KiwiSaver under the Labour Government\u2019s regime. But I tell members that in 3 years\u2019 time most of the workforce in this country will be part of the KiwiSaver regime that National strongly, strongly supports. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000454\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI would like future Labour Party speakers in this debate to explain the huge gaping hole in accident compensation\u2014the huge gaping hole that Labour just missed, the huge gaping hole in the funding that somehow Labour did not see, the nearly $4 billion of underfunding over the last few years that Labour apparently knew nothing of. That was the middle line of the Homer Simpson defence: \u201CIt did not happen.\u201D Well, it did happen, it is real, and Labour is responsible for it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000455\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI hope a Labour speaker this afternoon talks about the dreadful state of the deficits in our health boards. There is no comment. There is not a whisper. There is not a whimper. Labour members know what a terrible mess they have left inside those health boards. As we go through the weeks ahead picking apart the various programmes that the previous Government had in place, I am sure we will discover more of those sorts of little snippets that will have a huge effect on the economy all the way through. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000456\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThis week we heard Mr Goff say that the National Government had destroyed the opportunity for New Zealand to have a more sustainable economy. This Government has introduced two bills in that respect: the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill and the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill, which dealt with the thermal ban. Both of them were designed entirely to improve the carbon dioxide output figures for New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000457\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EOne of the interesting things is that the previous Labour Government presided over some of the biggest increases in carbon dioxide emissions for this country, yet throughout that time it was telling New Zealanders that the Government had a sustainable message. There were massive increases over those 9 years. David Parker, the previous Minister of Energy, sits there smirking. He was the Minister responsible for renewable energy, but thermal energy massively increased under his watch. Members opposite have an arrogant view that if one could trundle on to the world stage and talk about how good one is, people will believe it. Well, the record is very, very poor indeed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000458\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI also join with other members of the House in offering congratulations to you again, Mr Speaker, and also to extend Christmas wishes to the long list of people that Mr Goff read out. That was the only good bit in his speech, when he recognised all the many people around this Parliament who work to make the place run on an even keel. We thank all the staff who help us in our various capacities. As Mr Goff mentioned, there is also a great need to thank our families back home, because they make it possible for us all to be here. I say to the National new members who gave their maiden speeches this week that it was, in political party terms, one nil. I say it was well done, guys; it was absolutely superb! Their contribution will be to the smooth running of government over the next few years, and I am sure they will enjoy it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000459\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c9e54a84384545da9c82a52b7a69d119\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Tell us about your poor management of the House this past fortnight.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000460\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d7b20150c795438cb9e50f01eb3a3840\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: If the member wants to make those sorts of comments, that is not adroit of him, because the one thing I notice is that whatever this Government puts on the Table, it manages to pass without any difficulty whatsoever. In the new year, we will see whether my 100 percent record is interrupted in some way. This is also the time of year when the sorts of petty comments that come from the other side of the House need to be set aside.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000461\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI make the following comments, because there may not be another occasion for me to do so. I would like to\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000462\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022444ce109b520416891605769e8c67a5c\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: The deputy leader of the National Party isn\u2019t going to maintain his position on the front bench, in my view.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000463\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d2f456096188429dac1a500be704a00c\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Is that right? Well, Mr Goff, all I can say is that if you are still here at this time next year\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000464\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022183d885ae94645c2955b3581a4816683\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000465\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229f62d9824a81471e924e5734691e2514\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Unfortunately, we are now not to use the term \u201Cyou\u201D in any circumstance apparently, and I am afraid Mr Brownlee did just that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000466\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221ef556911f40454e85256a8ea73ef349\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Hon Dr Cullen is absolutely right. The honourable member must not use \u201Cyou are\u201D in that sense. I ask the member to desist from that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000467\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022360bea76f47a46808a55fc6a34c5681b\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you, Mr Speaker; and I thank Dr Cullen, too, for his continued tutelage. I learn so much from him, day by day. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000468\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI was about to say that these occasions are not ones where we should rap our opponents over the knuckles, and because there may be no other opportunity to do so, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the former Prime Minister, Helen Clark, and to acknowledge her former deputy, Michael Cullen. Although we have these scraps across the Chamber and hold quite strong policy differences, it is not unreasonable to acknowledge the considerable amount of work they have contributed to the running of this country over a period of years. I extend to both of them my sincere Christmas greetings and all the best for the New Year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000469\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EIt remains only for me to turn to the Clerk and say\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000470\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c18b40b6145348aba8e52e729ef086c3\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: What about the rest of us?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000471\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002261469a8ddcea4ea1b4ada63e13830a5d\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Well, Dazza, I\u2019m sure you have been a really good boy this year, and on the 25th if you don\u2019t get up too early\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000472\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002202c673f1d4cf407b9c7dbc301b2603fa\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sure you know what my point of order is. You heard that, and I know that the Deputy Prime Minister would want you to pull the member up. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000473\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220a35aafe42b147849258871fac9fd726\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member will desist.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000474\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226eed1058512a45e185b0aa1a8914b09d\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I accept that, Mr Speaker, and I will put it this way. I say to the Hon Darren Hughes that I notice that he has been a very good fellow throughout the year and I am sure that on 25 December, when he wakes up in the morning, goes down and looks under the Christmas tree, Father Christmas will have brought him\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000475\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228943a1fdad3445b9bdcf8c100abe6c78\u0022\u003EHon Darren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: You will have eaten all the chocolates!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000476\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022afe5bc4025174f02916fc70202b1fbb6\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: That was good. I was simply going to say I am quite confident Father Christmas would have brought him another pair of long pants. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000477\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI wish the Clerks all the best for the Christmas period. Their work in the House is very considerable, as I know only too well, as well as is that of the other agencies that help to run things. To you, Mr Speaker, I say: all the best, and a very merry Christmas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022 data-id=\u002296801e12ce4a4d409d7fec0d94b96ad2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000478\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002296801e12ce4a4d409d7fec0d94b96ad2\u0022\u003EHon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader\u2014Labour):\u003C/span\u003E The year 2008 has been a roller-coaster ride for many New Zealanders and probably for many members of this House. Certainly it has been for Gerry Brownlee in the last 2 weeks; he has not known whether he is Arthur or Martha. But 2008 has seen many highs and many lows, celebrations and sorrow, and the funny and the sad.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000479\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EThe year 2008 started with New Zealand mourning the death of Sir Ed Hillary, the greatest New Zealander of our time. Although conquering Mount Everest is what he is remembered for by many people, his achievements are much, much more than that. In fact, I believe he came to epitomise the values that New Zealand holds dear: courage, compassion, leadership, and loyalty. His famous words \u201Cwe knocked the bastard off.\u201D are now part of the New Zealand vernacular. I also think they are part of our New Zealand psyche, because all over the world, when we go out and compete as a small nation, we like to think that we too can knock the bastards off. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000480\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228a390f29eb06484f9e20d7cc03d5627a\u0022\u003EHon Gerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: We did on 8 December.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000481\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224b69e8a4c5b245febb9802e50da3c8a8\u0022\u003EHon ANNETTE KING\u003C/span\u003E: I can assure Gerry Brownlee that there is one more of them that Labour will conquer in 2 years, 10 months, and 5 days.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000482\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EThere were a number of very sad deaths in 2008. I want to acknowledge the death of two New Zealand police officers who died while in the service of their country, and also to acknowledge the tragic death of Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald, one of New Zealand\u2019s foremost road safety campaigners, who was killed on his bike a few months ago.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000483\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EOn a lighter note, New Zealand had some wonderful achievements in sport. We got gold medals at the Olympics. The All Blacks are back on top, where they ought to be. New Zealand is the world champion in rugby league. And we had the almost-win by Wellington in the Air New Zealand Cup. That comment was especially for Ruth Dyson.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000484\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EBarack Obama is the US President-Elect, and he has brought hope that the war and the conflict in Iraq will be brought to an end. He has turned on the light in the US in relation to climate change, just as the National-led Government in New Zealand turned the light off.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000485\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EBut perhaps the greatest worry for New Zealanders in 2008 has been the deteriorating global economic situation. The reality is finally hitting home that this little country at the bottom of the world will not somehow or other avoid the fallout. And it is hitting home that the previous Labour-led Government left this country in a very strong position to get through the downturn. Those are not just the words of members of the Labour Party; those are the words of commentators and economists around New Zealand. Dr Cullen took the jibes and the sneers from John Key and Bill English when he applied fiscal prudence in this country, when he reduced our debt, when he invested in our infrastructure\u2014in roads, rail, and public transport\u2014when he invested in our schools and our hospitals, and when he set New Zealanders on a road to saving. Helen Clark took the jibes and the sneers when she insisted that we invest in our social infrastructure in this country, as well\u2014when she insisted that we put in place policies that support our families.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000486\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003ENo amount of gilding the lily by the National Government about the shape of the economy now in New Zealand will wash, because National went into the election campaign with its eyes wide open. In fact, the New Zealand Herald\u2019s Porkometer had National spending $2 billion more than the Labour Government had promised this year\u2014$2 billion more. National members went in with their eyes wide open.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000487\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EOn 8 November New Zealanders had the chance to choose a new Government, and they have spoken. We have the new faces that so many people said we need, but, by Jove, they are ageing fast. After 2 weeks in Parliament, John Key has gone from being the Energizer Bunny to being Bugs Bunny. He is saying: \u201CWhat\u2019s up, Bill? What\u2019s up, Bill?\u201D. The bags under the eyes have appeared. The 5 o\u2019clock shadow has become permanent. After just 2 weeks in the House, the National members are starting to look like last week\u2019s leftovers. I say to those who are watching today that they should tune in in 1 year\u2019s time and have a look at what those members look like then.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000488\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003ELabour members have promised New Zealand that we will keep the National Party in Government honest. National members promised the people of New Zealand a brighter future. We ask whom this brighter future is for. I do not believe that when the voters of New Zealand looked at those billboards up and down New Zealand proclaiming a brighter future, they knew there was a caveat on it: a brighter future except if one is a KiwiSaver; a brighter future except if one is a worker; a brighter future except if one is a low-paid New Zealander; a brighter future except for the forestry industry; a brighter future except for anything made in New Zealand; a brighter future except if one is an innovative business; and a brighter future as long as it has nothing to do with addressing climate change. I think that a brighter future is fast becoming a dimmer, dumber present under a National-led Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000489\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EWe had National\u2019s Speech from the Throne. It was to be the blueprint for the next 3 years. But where was the vision? There was no road map for the next 3 years. Do members know what it turned out to be? A pot-pourri of the political scabs that the National Party has been scratching for the last 2 years. We got a whole lot of political scabs that National has been scratching up and down New Zealand. That is what National members said was a vision.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000490\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EWe were promised 100 days of action. What did we get? We have had 100 days of reaction. We have gone from going for growth to going, going, going, gone. Up and down New Zealand hundreds of jobs have been lost after just 2 weeks of the House sitting under the National-led Government. Heaven help New Zealand! What will we have in 3 years? Let us have a look at where the jobs have gone. In 2 weeks this Government has got rid of jobs in forestry. In 2 weeks it has got rid of jobs in the biofuels industry. In 2 weeks it has got rid of jobs in insulating and retrofitting houses. After 2 weeks I make this prediction: National will destroy KiwiRail. I suspect that Bill English has already been to the board of KiwiRail and told it there is to be no more money, no more borrowing. What does that mean? It means that KiwiRail in New Zealand is doomed to failure. Just 2 weeks is all it took to start destroying New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000491\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EWe have spent 2 weeks in this House passing legislation that is unnecessary. As Phil Goff said, it was nothing but window dressing. It was flimflam and a whole lot of blatherskite. [Interruption] And we are hearing a fair bit of it from that end of the House right now. I listened to speaker after speaker from the National Party promise New Zealanders that when the Bail Amendment Bill was passed we would see the end of violence on our streets\u2014that we would not see another senseless murder of the likes that occurred this year in a dairy in South Auckland. I tell National members that it is our job to keep them honest. We will be watching everything that happens in New Zealand. The National Government has made those promises. It has led New Zealanders to believe that the actions it has taken in these 2 weeks mean that this Christmas New Zealand will be the safest place in the world\u2014because it has passed an Act that does absolutely nothing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000492\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EI conclude by joining Phil Goff in saying how much I have enjoyed working with so many people in Parliament this year, including my own staff, but also, of course, the many, many people who serve us as members of Parliament. I make particular mention of the press gallery. When in Government we say that we love to hate them, but in Opposition we hate to miss them! So I do want to mention the press gallery. Finally, I want to say a big thankyou to two very important people in the Labour Party, Helen Clark and Michael Cullen. We say thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the wonderful work and the service you have given New Zealand over the last 3 years and before. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022 data-id=\u0022235a9eb8318d4db8a19470ca78b90b4c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000493\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022235a9eb8318d4db8a19470ca78b90b4c\u0022\u003ESUE KEDGLEY (Green):\u003C/span\u003E On behalf of the Green Party I congratulate you, Mr Speaker, on your new role. I thank the Clerk\u2019s Office for its excellent management of this House. I thank our brilliant and hard-working staff, everyone who supported the Green Party this year, the activists we work with on many issues, and all of the staff in Parliament who support us in this place\u2014the travel office, security staff, select committee staff, Hansard reporters, messengers, Bellamy\u2019s staff, cleaners, and, of course, the wonderful librarians in the reference library. We wish them all a wonderful and well-deserved Christmas break.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000494\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EOn behalf of the Green Party I welcome all new MPs who have joined us in this House. We welcome the commitment and passion they bring. Parliament feels energised by their presence here. The Green Party has already signalled its intention to work constructively with all parties in this House wherever we can find common ground. We intend to be a positive, principled political force in this House, focused on the future and the world our children will inherit rather than the next election cycle.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000495\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EBut we have been alarmed, frankly, at some of the undemocratic goings-on in this House over the past few weeks\u2014bills tabled in the dead of night, introduced before MPs have had the opportunity to read them, and rammed through the House without any select committee scrutiny. We hope this does not signal a new and unwelcome pattern of undermining democratic processes of this House that former colleagues fought jealously for. We need to remember that our Parliament does not have the safeguards and checks on the abuse of power that other Parliaments have. We do not have a written constitution, a second House, or formal separation of powers between the executive and legislature. That is why under the old first-past-the-post electoral system many democratically elected Parliaments ended up as elected dictatorships. MMP, with the presence of a range of parties in Parliament, is a safeguard against a Government\u2019s ability to ram its agenda through Parliament in an undemocratic way. So the Green Party will vigorously campaign to keep MMP next year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000496\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EThe year 2008 has been a good year for the Green Party. We have emerged strengthened and invigorated by the presence of three more MPs in the House, and pleased to be the third-largest party in our Parliament. We have clocked up many impressive achievements this year, such as the passage of the Waste Minimisation Bill, and, of course, we had five members\u2019 bills passed into law in the last term. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000497\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EBut we are worried at the continuing focus of the House this year on short-term issues at the expense of long-term threats to our very survival. We are worried that this was a year when the global financial meltdown crowded out debate on all other issues and put climate change on the backburner, when the reality is that the meltdown of ice on the North and South Poles will have far more impact on our future than any banking collapse. The American Government has spent more than US$4 trillion this year in response to the financial crisis, but meanwhile 40 million more people have been plunged into chronic hunger this year as a result of the global food crisis. The money that Governments have pledged to bail out the banks would have financed the world\u2019s Millennium Development Goals many times over, but instead of meeting them, many Governments have failed to meet even the commitments they pledged at the World Food Security Conference this year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000498\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EEarlier this week I attended a conference in Asia on climate change and food security, along with three colleagues from this House. It was a chastening experience to represent New Zealand at a conference on climate change. Our clean, green image is pivotal to our identity as New Zealanders, as well as being worth billions of dollars to our economy. It was, frankly, offensive and embarrassing to have to admit that our Government was backtracking on climate change and has not even decided whether it is real, and that our much-cherished clean, green image is fast becoming something of a sham.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000499\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003ELet me assure this House that Asian parliamentarians are not sitting around debating whether climate change is real; many Asian countries are experiencing the reality of climate-induced natural disasters on a routine basis. Floods have destroyed crops in many countries this year, Indonesia and Viet Nam are experiencing six to seven major climatic disasters every year, and the Himalayan glaciers are rapidly receding, which is affecting rivers and water supplies throughout the Asian region. The Viet Namese Government is well aware that climate change could devastate the most fertile food-producing areas of Viet Nam and affect 20 million people living in its low-lying coastal areas. Bangladesh knows that a 1 metre rise in the sea level would inundate 17 percent of its country, destroy much of its food bowl, and displace 15 million people, while people from the Maldives islands told us that climate change will cause their low-lying country, like many Pacific nations, to disappear off the face of the Earth.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000500\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EAsian parliamentarians are not sitting around discussing whether climate change is real. They know that once global warming really kicks in, no country will be immune from its effects, and they know that millions, or more likely billions, of poor people living in developing countries will be the hardest hit. They will suffer the terrible consequences of a problem they did not contribute to, and they will have no choice but to continue to live in disaster-prone areas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000501\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EThere was an interesting debate at the conference about the idea that countries with high per capita emissions, such as New Zealand\u2014with the sixth-worst carbon footprint in the world\u2014should have added global responsibilities for combating climate change and assisting low carbon emitting countries, and a special obligation to take in the millions of climate change refugees who will need somewhere to live. So even if we were to follow the advice of Rodney Hide and put our collective heads in the sand, we would not be immune from the devastating global effects of climate change. We will be called to account by future generations, and we will be called on to assist the billions of people who will suffer if we do not respond quickly enough, not to mention the large numbers of climate refugees who may turn to New Zealand as a safe haven to escape to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000502\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EBut instead of thinking about these issues, we are debating in this Parliament whether climate change is real. How embarrassing! Our Government is trying to weaken the post - Kyoto protocol regime, systematically overturning all the progress we have made on sustainability issues and climate change, undermining our renewable energy industry and our biofuel industry, and getting rid of the billion-dollar home insulation fund, to name but a few. Frankly, I cannot understand why the Government is doing this. Members of National and ACT have children, so why are they condemning their children to an uncertain and perilous future? How will they explain to their children that when they were in Government they procrastinated and dithered in the face of the greatest threat the world has faced?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003ELet us face it: the world is in a precarious state. The glaciers are melting, the oceans are becoming more acidic, the bees are disappearing, and everywhere there are signs of ecological collapse. Our forebears did not realise the environmental consequences of many of the actions that they took. They did not realise that pesticides would poison our earth and our rivers, or that chlorofluorocarbons would destroy the ozone layer. But we do. We know that all too well. We are fully aware of what will happen if we do not reduce the impact of climate change. We will have no excuses to fall back on. Let us hope that after our much-needed Christmas break, when, hopefully, we will all be refreshed, this Government will have a change of heart, and that 2009 will see New Zealand back on track again, able to hold its head high in global conferences and meetings around the world, meeting our global obligations and our obligations to our children, and facing the challenge of climate change head-on.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022 data-id=\u002259f360fc642a4c05a534f896c90a633b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000504\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002259f360fc642a4c05a534f896c90a633b\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE (Leader\u2014ACT):\u003C/span\u003E Merry Christmas, everyone.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000505\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022667739568637446d96fa270f3a470e8d\u0022\u003EHon Parekura Horomia\u003C/span\u003E: Where\u2019s your jacket?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000506\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002217f44e53411749e5bc52488d59df9723\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: Sadly, the police have it and are doing forensics on it as we speak; so merry Christmas, everyone. It is a very special time of year, because we who are fortunate enough to now have a break and spend time with our family and our friends get to value it, but we also get reminded about what a wonderful country we live in. We get to reflect on the past year, and for each of us, and for our country, on the year ahead. It is interesting, also, even in the context of this debate and of the election campaign, when we reflect on the arguments and the debates that we have, that it is easy to focus on what divides us. But when one looks across New Zealand, including New Zealand politics, what we agree on is far greater than what we disagree about. It is well to remind ourselves in New Zealand how much we share a view of our country, what is important, and what we need to achieve. Of course, there is a political debate about how best to go about that, and we are so lucky to live in a democracy where we can actually have that debate out in the open and let the people of New Zealand decide on that every 3 years. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000507\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EI particularly congratulate all the new MPs. Yes, I thought the 13 new Labour MPs were fantastic in their maiden speeches, but I thought all new MPs gave outstanding speeches. They are in a funny place and they will be able to reflect over Christmas on what they are in for. I wish each and every one a fabulous year next year, because they are very privileged to be parliamentarians on whatever side of the House they are on. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000508\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EI particularly, again, acknowledge the Rt Hon Helen Clark and Michael Cullen. I think we should respect people who attain high office in New Zealand, and who have done so for so many years. We had a lot of disagreements about policy decisions, but never about their commitment to New Zealand or, indeed, their intelligence or ability to work hard. I wish them a good break, and also congratulate Annette King and Phil Goff on assuming the leadership. I think they showed us in our Parliament, and in our politics, how these transitions can occur with dignity and with a sense of renewal for the Labour Party. I wish them\u2014well, not too much success\u2014a good break. It is important, as Phil Goff often remarked in the House, that we have a good, robust Parliament. So I wish them success in Opposition in order to test the Government in every way.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000509\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EMr Speaker, I wish you every success. I think your job will be a challenging one\u2014it always is. The Speaker sets largely the personality of Parliament, and makes such a difference to the way Parliament acts, the dignity with which our Parliament operates, and, indeed, the way in which New Zealanders reflect on our Parliament. We have been fortunate with Speakers past, and I think we will be fortunate with you, sir. I wish you and your team a very, very merry Christmas. We look forward to working with you in the new year. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000510\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EThis year has been John Key\u2019s year and the National Party\u2019s year. They came through with a fantastic election campaign and election result, and I think they have made a good start\u2014an excellent start\u2014as the new Government. Also, due to the nature of MMP, they have support parties: the M\u0101ori Party, United Future, and the ACT Party. So far it has been an interesting and a positive experience to work with the different political parties. I think National has learnt from Labour about MMP and about how one needs to work with the other parties in order to get a good result to hold and to have a stable and secure Government. John Key and his team have learnt that, indeed, from Helen Clark and Michael Cullen. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000511\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EI wish the Greens well. It must be disappointing that yes, they did well, but, again, they did not quite make it to Government. I tell them not to worry\u2014we know how that feels. I look forward, again, to working with the Green Party, along with the other parties, in order to get a better result. I look across, particularly, to my friend Keith Locke. We have done a lot of work together in Epsom, and long may that continue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000512\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003ELooking ahead to next year, New Zealand confronts some economic challenges. As New Zealanders we all wish the best for the country. We will have some robust debates about the best way forward, and that is as it should be. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000513\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EIt is important for the new Government that we have set a target to close the income gap with Australia by 2025, and to have a productivity growth of 3 percent per year. That is a big stretch, but it is clear that we have set a goal, which is to bake a bigger cake and to achieve prosperity. The question I will ask when we are looking at whether policies are a good idea or a bad idea is: will they make the waka go faster? Will they actually expand the cake or will they make it smaller? That is a good first question that we should ask ourselves of what we recommend: will it actually help New Zealanders prosper and succeed in the world, or will it hold us back? Clearly there is much to do. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000514\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EWe all have an interest in local government. The royal commission will be reporting\u2014that was something the Labour Government set up\u2014and that will be a challenge for us, for Auckland, for Parliament, and for me as Minister of Local Government. I look forward to reaching across the House and talking about the results of the royal commission, and trying to make Auckland work, not only for the good of Auckland but also for the good of New Zealand. Again, I think we all have an interest in local government that works, and works well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000515\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EFunnily enough, we also largely have agreement\u2014although we might debate this about particular legislation\u2014about the need for good legislation, and agree that often in the past we have not done as well as we might have. In fact, with my Regulatory Responsibility Bill the best help I got was actually from\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000516\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220c94bc1100804c8e97b864493d604748\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: What about the last 2 weeks?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000517\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227a560e6297224bb69cc3bf1c98167e9b\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: Sorry?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000518\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002228c3e5d0949a47a1924383c91c81022b\u0022\u003EHon Ruth Dyson\u003C/span\u003E: You didn\u2019t start very well in the last 2 weeks. Where were the regulatory impact reports?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000519\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a826dc079ccf4b8ca2204b7e18bb4ba4\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: Well, it is interesting to ask about the regulatory responsibility reports. I was quite interested in getting one on the emissions trading scheme, which we never saw\u2014I never saw it. So we have all been guilty of this.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000520\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002219def7cd354048d7b3a94b1ddb128f89\u0022\u003EHon Clayton Cosgrove\u003C/span\u003E: Well, you\u2019re the Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000521\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b175527723974ec1afb604da6824b7f3\u0022\u003EHon RODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: Clayton Cosgrove calls out that I am the Minister. He is actually right: he is not the Minister. I thank Labour for the help I got at the Commerce Committee in considering this issue, and for the recommendation from National and Labour to set up a task force. Again, it must be in our best interests to provide, if we can, a better framework for the making of laws and regulations in New Zealand. It would be great if we could work as a Parliament in order to get a better result. I think we can do better, and I am not pretending that we have all the answers. I think that as a Parliament we can work towards that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000522\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EAs is traditional, I thank all the people who work in Parliament. There is almost an army that is silently and politely looking after us. I particularly thank, of course, the ACT team. It has been a challenge for our staff to move into Government and get up to speed with the processes and systems we need to be in Government. We have not found that easy, but we have been blessed with some staff who were trained by the previous Government. I thank Dr Cullen for that; he did a good job. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000523\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EI also acknowledge and thank all the candidates who stood for the ACT Party in the 2008 election. It is very selfless to stand for a political party with no hope of getting elected, but simply to fly the flag because one believes in the cause. I think that is also true for the M\u0101ori Party and for the Green Party, particularly because we are smaller parties in our representation but we put up a lot of candidates who stand for what they believe in. They know they do not have a chance of getting into Parliament. I certainly thank them and all our members and supporters. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000524\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003ELet us hope that all of New Zealand has a great Christmas and a safe one. We recognise that, yes, we face tough economic times. But is it not amazing at this time of year to reflect on the fact that all the things we really cherish at Christmas time are actually not about money but about family, friends, and a wonderful country that we live in and share? We truly are blessed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000525\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EI also address the gallery to wish all the journalists a merry Christmas. The party that the press gallery put on last night was a bit quiet, but I think that might have been a consequence of TV3\u2019s broadcasting tapes that were made secretly of MPs at a party. It has had a chilling effect on nights out! But to all the journalists who are eagerly up there reporting our speeches, I say merry Christmas. Thank you very much.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022 data-id=\u0022bd4ec734fa24477cb059ede8dd488c96\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000526\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022bd4ec734fa24477cb059ede8dd488c96\u0022\u003EHon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader\u2014M\u0101ori Party):\u003C/span\u003E Last Saturday night we celebrated the M\u0101ori Sports Awards in Rotorua. A blond-haired young man took the stage and was awarded Disabled M\u0101ori Sportsperson of the Year. Eighteen-year-old Ng\u0101puhi man Cameron Leslie stunned us all with his gold medal swim at the Beijing Paralympics a few months ago. Cameron has a quadruple limb deficiency\u2014missing both legs below the knee\u2014so he relies completely on his upper body strength to do the laps. But \u201Cimpossible\u201D is not a word in his vocabulary. In accepting his award, Cameron said: \u201CI may not look the most Maori here but if it wasn\u2019t for the Maori in me, I wouldn\u2019t be the person I am today.\u201D It was a wonderful moment. The skills, the success, and the whakapapa of this young paralympian made it truly a moment of pride for us all; pride that knowing who one is, having the cultural strength of one\u2019s identity, is to be cherished as a foundation for our lives.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000527\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EIt is the inspiration of stories like this that sustains us in this House, giving us the determination to make a difference; to make a difference to the lives of New Zealanders so that they can achieve their aspirations, so that they can experience the sweet taste of success, and so that they can be assured that their hard work can reap rewards. The adjournment debate is a time to acknowledge the toil of those who take up the seats in this Chamber.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000528\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EI start by acknowledging you, Mr Speaker, the boy from Matakohe Primary School who has been elected by the House of Representatives as its highest officer. The role of Speaker is vital in progressing the programme of Parliament, and implicit within that is the need to command the respect of the House. You have made a very good start this term, and we look forward to your leadership in the debates to come.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000529\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EI acknowledge, too, the calibre of your deputy and assistant Speakers; the expertise of Mary Harris, the Clerk of the House; the staff of the Office of the Clerk, including those who assist us in the Chamber, the Hansard service\u2014t\u0113n\u0101 korua to the two sitting there\u2014and the Table Office; legislative counsel; the incredible team of librarians; and all the other staff who help to make our work in this House so efficient.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000530\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EThe last month has meant an avalanche of work for those involved in relocating MPs and their staff to new offices\u2014the furniture, the phones, the computers, the photocopiers. We wish to thank them all for taking such good care of us and our treasures in the move.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000531\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EThe M\u0101ori Party pays particular tribute to our interpreters, who assist in bringing te reo rangatira to the floor of the House. Ng\u0101 mihi ki a koutou.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000532\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EIn fact, we thank everybody involved in ensuring that we can do our job, including the cleaners who daily come into our rooms.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000533\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EThe year 2008 was the year in which we lost Rangitihi Rangiwaiata Tahup\u0101rae, the first officially appointed Kaum\u0101tua o te Whare Parliament. We will greatly miss Tahu. His knowledge of whakapapa, his mastery of spiritual, cultural, and historical dimensions, and his capacity to provoke thought were legendary and contributed greatly to our reputation as a Parliament. Tahu used to say: \u201CNever let anyone finish your words.\u201D It is a statement that we could well remember in the debates in this House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000534\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EWe acknowledge our respect for all those who serve as members of Parliament, including those who have not returned to this House. The sacrifice that each made on behalf of New Zealanders is enormous, and we appreciate the dedication they gave to their role in this Chamber, on select committees, on reviews, in ministerial offices, and even on the rugby field as part of the parliamentary team. In particular, we recognise the person whom we regarded as the elder statesman of the House, Winston Peters, who has been such an influential figure in politics for well over 30 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000535\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EWe have a saying: \u201CMate atu he t\u0113t\u0113 kura, ara mai r\u0101 he t\u0113t\u0113 kura\u2014when one fern frond falls, another rises.\u201D The last fortnight of maiden speeches has stunned us all\u2014I heard most of them from my room\u2014with the vivacious energy of the youth, the rich fabric of people nurtured in their culture, and the impressive and diverse range of skills that have already been introduced into the Hansard record.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000536\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EBut there is one commonality that stood out for me in those speeches: the profound respect and gratitude that each member expressed for the enduring loyalty of their loved ones, their partner, their children, their parents, and those who have passed on but will forever provide a guiding light to the members of the House. We must always stay strong to our pledge to our families\u2014that wh\u0101nau ora remains uppermost in our actions for all New Zealanders, including our own nearest and dearest. Wh\u0101nau ora is the culmination of all that we would want for our families: to be living life to the fullest, free of any form of violence, educated for every challenge, thriving not just surviving.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000537\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EIt was the commitment to wh\u0101nau ora, to eliminating poverty, to social justice, and to advancing M\u0101ori social, cultural, economic, and community development that gives M\u0101ori Party members every confidence in our relationship agreement with the National Government. We have signed up to a relationship in which we trust there will be every opportunity for the aspirations of our people to be heard. We acknowledge there will be challenges\u2014this first fortnight has already brought some of these to the fore\u2014but we also recognise and respect the leadership exhibited by the Prime Minister in inviting us to participate in the decision-making process. We are sure that there will be many opportunities for us to consider the \u201Cagree to disagree\u201D provisions, and we thank John Key for helping to make this happen.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000538\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EThe ministerial pathway feels like a steep learning curve for us at this point, but one that we are absolutely committed to in our passion to serve our people well in M\u0101ori affairs, education, health, the community and voluntary sector, justice, and social development.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000539\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EI take a moment to acknowledge Tariana Turia, Hone Harawira, Te Ururoa Flavell, and Rahui Katene for their constant dedication and sacrifice on behalf of the M\u0101ori Party. They, in turn, know that their strength is founded on the commitment from their staff here in Parliament, their electorate staff, and, of course, the 23,500 workers of the M\u0101ori Party, who this year gave so much for the kaupapa of a strong and independent M\u0101ori voice in Parliament.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000540\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EThe M\u0101ori Party in Parliament appreciates each and every person who walks in through these rubber doors: the messengers; the security staff, who watch out for us; the Copperfields and Bellamy\u2019s staff, who feed us; and the ministerial and Parliamentary Service staff, who pay us. They keep us happy and meet our every need. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000541\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003EHei k\u014Drero whakamutunga m\u0101ku, ka mihi ahau tuatahi ki a John Key me t\u014Dna t\u012Bma. N\u0101 koutou te tatau i huakina kia riro ki a m\u0101tou te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori \u0113tahi t\u016Branga mahi Minita, n\u0101 reira, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 koe John. Atu ki t\u0113n\u0101, ka mihi ahau ki a Helen Clark r\u0101ua ko Michael Cullen. Kua oti pai \u0101 koutou mahi i ng\u0101 tau kua pahure ake, e Helen t\u0113n\u0101 koe. Helen Clark, you have done our country proud\u2014thank you. Ki ng\u0101 mema katoa o t\u0113nei Whare, t\u0113nei taha o te Whare, t\u0113r\u0101 taha o te Whare, ki ng\u0101 mema katoa kei konei kei roto i te Whare, kia pai \u0101 koutou r\u0101 Kirihimete. Ko te t\u016Bmanako ka noho wh\u0101nau koutou katoa i t\u0113nei Kirihimete, t\u0113n\u0101 koutou, t\u0113n\u0101 t\u0101tou katoa.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000542\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000543\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219767ece-60f1-4014-9855-74afaa34e699\u0022\u003E[To end my address, I acknowledge John Key and his team in the first instance. You opened the door to ministerial roles for us, the M\u0101ori Party, and we thank you for that, John. Further to that, I pay a tribute to Helen Clark and Michael Cullen. Your work in the past years has been completed well. Thank you for that, Helen. To all members of this House, on this side and that side, to all members present, may your Christmas Day be a good one. The hope is that your family remain as one at this Christmas; greetings to you, and to us all.] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022 data-id=\u0022e4c1157079914d97832120118a1f6240\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000544\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e4c1157079914d97832120118a1f6240\u0022\u003EHon PETER DUNNE (Leader\u2014United Future):\u003C/span\u003E I begin my expressing my warmest congratulations to you, Mr Speaker, on the way you have carried out your duties as Speaker in the short time that you have been in the Speaker\u2019s Chair. One of the earlier speakers made reference to the fact that the Speaker provides a tone for the House. I think that the tone you have provided in recent weeks bodes well for the future during this term of Parliament. I extend that sentiment to your fellow presiding officers. It has been a comfort to see the sure-footed way in which you have all gone about your duties in a time when everyone has been getting to grips with new responsibilities. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000545\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EIn the short time that this Parliament has been together there has been a particular highlight for me, and that has been listening to all of the maiden speeches from new members right around the Chamber. I think that we have seen not just a high standard of performance, and not just an energetic standard of performance or a commitment from people who have a particular perspective to bring, but we have seen the next generation of political leaders in this country emerge. The things that struck me as most fascinating were twofold. Firstly, there is the point that Dr Sharples alluded to: the vigour and the passion with which they told their stories. Secondly, I remember that when I gave my maiden speech many years ago, we were encouraged not to talk about our individual backgrounds but to talk about our electorates and some of the issues that affected our constituents, and about what we hoped to achieve on their behalf. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000546\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EHearing the new members talk about the reasons why they are here, the experiences they have had, and the diversity of those experiences sets a new tone, and I think it gives a real flavour to this House and its future. It makes it clear that although the new members have their political boundaries and their political convictions, they also bring a perspective that extends beyond that. I think that bodes very well for the system of Government that we will have. I congratulate every single one of the new members on what has been a sterling performance, and I say to their elders in their respective parties that the new members have served notice that they are to be forces to be reckoned with in the years ahead. I give my congratulations to all of them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000547\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003ETo colleagues who have returned after the general election, I give my congratulations. Most of us find ourselves sitting in different places. I do not actually do so, funnily enough, but it has been interesting to watch everyone adapt to a new role. And despite the vigorous differences that there have been in the last few days on particular legislation, I sense there is a greater spirit of preparedness to cooperate in this Parliament than there has been in previous Parliaments. I may well be proven to be wrong on that; I hope I am not. But I get a sense that people now see that the MMP system, which has been criticised by a number of people for a long time, does work, is here to stay, and can be made to operate constructively. I pay particular tribute to my colleagues in the M\u0101ori Party, the ACT Party, the Green Party, and the Progressive Party for the way in which those of us who are in the self-styled MMP parties have cooperated and worked successfully together in the last Parliament. I look forward, despite the new configurations, to that type of relationship continuing in the future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000548\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EWhile we are here today to debate the issues of concern and are now debating, as we always do in this rather arcane way, whether to have a Christmas break, the rest of New Zealand outside this building is getting on with life. If we go out on to Lambton Quay at lunchtime, we find a throng of pleasantly panicked people who are not worrying about the bills before this House or the great issues that we worry about, but who are worrying about whether they can get the Christmas shopping done in time, whether the holiday arrangements will be made, what will the weather do, and what sort of a year lies ahead. I think sometimes we need to take that reality check ourselves, because every single one of us, to some extent, faces those same issues. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000549\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EThe staff whom we take for granted, in the nicest way, to assume the running of this Parliament\u2014the messengers, the Clerk\u2019s Office, the media, the Hansard staff, our own staff, the catering staff, and the security staff; all of the people who make this village of Parliament tick\u2014will have those same pressures upon them. Some of us might be in the privileged position of, theoretically at least, knowing when these sagas will come to an end and when the House will rise. We used to be able to rely on Jonathan Hunt\u2019s Christmas bookings for that; some of us now need to know that in more sophisticated ways. But the staff who serve us, those who are always here to clean up afterwards, figuratively and literally, do not know that. They are on call and they are guessing all the time, as they try to plan not just their work lives but their own lives, their home lives, and their family lives around that. I think we should acknowledge them and thank them for their forbearance and their patience. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000550\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EWith regard to our own families, who, as I think the Leader of the Opposition said, did not sign on for this job but came to it often by virtue of a press-gang, and who have to endure our comings and goings, our peculiar mood swings, and our pressures, this is a time not just to thank them for their support but to say we really recognise and commend them for their courage, their steadfastness, and their determination in giving us the opportunity to do what we do. I think we should salute the parents and the families of all members of Parliament for that commitment. And we should salute the children also, who certainly did not choose this environment. I remember, when one of my children was very young, that one of his friends apologised to him, saying how sorry he felt for him about me. When the reason for that was teased out, it was that I had only one set of clothes, a dark suit, because that was all his friend had ever seen me wear. We realise then how abnormal our lifestyles must appear to be to many other people, yet we expect our families to be there for us. We often disregard the impact that this environment has on our children, and I think this is a time just to think on that, to say thank you to them, and to wish them the best that we can for the year ahead. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000551\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EOther speakers have alluded to the fact that this country faces enormous challenges over the next little while. I do not think this is the occasion to go into those challenges in any great detail, save to say that the Government and the Opposition will have parts to play in helping this country to work its way through all of them. The Government will put forward a programme to Parliament, Parliament will debate it, the Opposition will test it, and in time the Opposition will put forward its own alternative programme, which then can be subject to test and debate. That is the nature of the democratic process. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000552\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EOne of the things we should be proud of in this country is that we are able to go through that process in a relatively civilised way. It is extraordinary to me that the fact that we have seen most reference made to regarding the change of Government related to the physical shifts that it imposed. It suggests to me that the process of democratic change in this country is relatively smooth when the biggest obstacle is the physical one relating to people shifting offices. Other countries change Governments at the point of a gun or go through a huge upheaval, such as we are seeing in the United States at present. In New Zealand it comes down to a significant number of shifts being made in one complex over a weekend. Although that is not to diminish the effort of those who pack the boxes, who carry the boxes, and who unload them, I think it puts the consequences of democratic change in New Zealand into perspective. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000553\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EI conclude by simply wishing all members of the House a very peaceful and happy Christmas. It has been a long year, and for some members it has been a more rewarding one than for others, but it is a year that I think we can look back on with some satisfaction in the course of our history as a country. We can mourn the loss of great leaders like Sir Edmund Hillary and the loss of the many of our own friends and family members who perhaps have passed away as well. But we can come back here in the new year, hopefully refreshed, reinvigorated, and dedicated to continuing to do, all of us, the very best job that we feel we can for this country. If we are able to achieve that, then the people of New Zealand who are out there at the moment doing their shopping or getting ready for Christmas will have much more to thank us for than all the bills we could ever pass, all the questions that could ever be asked, and all of the performances that take place in this Chamber. I wish everyone has the very best Christmas, and I give my best wishes to all members.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022 data-id=\u0022f44c4c04b70a444689373ec7da54a073\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000554\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f44c4c04b70a444689373ec7da54a073\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I join my colleagues in thanking everyone who works on behalf of all of us around this place. I particularly thank my own and my colleagues\u2019 former ministerial staff. We often talk about the trauma of Ministers transferring and leaving office, but it is actually just as bad for many of the staff, as well. I am grateful that nearly all of my non-political staff have found new appointments. Perhaps it is a pity that the one who is working for Rodney Hide did not go to work for Gerry Brownlee instead. He might have been saved quite a lot of errors over the last couple of weeks. Indeed, when I heard Mr Dunne referring to Parliament as a village, I was tempted to interject and ask what that would make Gerry Brownlee, but I will leave it at that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000555\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EI also say that there was a slightly surreal air when listening to Mr Dunne talk about the trauma of a change of Government. Of course, Mr Dunne\u2019s perpetual political career of a highly leveraged political buy-out continues unabated under the term of this Government. Let me assure him that there is a difference. When Government members leave office, their staff pack their boxes. When they arrive in Opposition, they unpack the boxes themselves. That is one of the key differences that occurs almost immediately in that regard.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000556\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003ELet me congratulate the National Party upon its election victory, which was a comprehensive one in the election campaign this year. But I think its members should be very careful about misinterpreting the basis of that election victory. The election victory was based on what one might call, slightly indelicately, the \u201Cunderwear principle\u201D; that is, it was time for a change. It was not won upon the basis that one wanted different underwear; it was simply a time for a change of underwear. What that meant was that one cannot claim that people were voting for a 90-day provision in employment law, or that they wanted higher-energy-using incandescent light bulbs, or whatever it may be.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000557\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EIn fact, practically none of those issues were ever mentioned by all the people I met. There were two issues that by far dominated the debate. One was just that people felt that it was only right and proper in a democracy that the Government should sometimes change. They felt it was bad for democracy for the same Government to continue for ever in office. It was as simple as that. People had no particular reason, and were pushed to find reasons when asked to do so. The second issue, undoubtedly in Auckland in particular and especially amongst ethnic communities, was of law and order. Everything else was way down below that in terms of the issues that people were deciding upon in this election campaign. It is not a mandate for any particular policies that National has put into operation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000558\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EToday, with the release of the half-yearly economic and fiscal update, Government members got a serious reality check. Their response was to curl up into the foetal position and hope it would all go away. The National Party lived through this year in a self-created bubble of fantasy, one in which New Zealand did not have a debt problem. Well, that is news! Who created the debt problem? New Zealanders created the debt problem, over a long period of time. New Zealanders are the people of New Zealand, and we have one of the highest rates of debt in the world as a proportion of GDP because we have not been saving. I do not know who said that. I think it was\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000559\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e27e143638f740e8a4bbce5fb1296750\u0022\u003EHon Annette King\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Hayes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000560\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c663acab2ab74c2bae2d94ad0f564786\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: It was Mr Hayes, was it? Who created it? If he was referring to Government debt, this outgoing Labour Government left one of the lowest debts as a percentage of GDP in the developed world. We halved the debt that we found, despite the National Party criticising every Budget I presented for actually running too big a surplus. So members should not talk to me about debt and who created it, and where we are going in that regard.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000561\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EThose members went around saying that the economy was in such a good state that they could promise whatever they liked, and they out-promised the Labour Party by well over $2 billion. That was not according to us but to the New Zealand Herald\u2019s running total, which it then abandoned because it became too embarrassing to keep running up the total as the National Party\u2019s promises continued to pour out. How is Mr English paying for these promises? He is paying for them out of the $1.75 billion annual allocation that he now says was not there for a prospective Labour Government. He keeps saying that we had allocated every precise promise, year by year\u2014no. Some were coming out of the $1.75 billion annual allocation, just like all of those members\u2019 promises were supposed to be coming out of that allocation. Even after the briefing the Government got after the election, Mr Key said there was nothing to worry about, the Government did not need to change a thing, it was not Armageddon, and everything was all right; it would just carry on and everything would be sweet and lovely.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000562\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EThat self-delusion seems to continue unabated now that those members face the stark reality. The numbers in today\u2019s release are already out of date. The mid-point forecasts in today\u2019s release are already out of date. The assumption of trading partner growth is actually very close to the bottom scenario. That means that gross debt will rise within the forecast period from 17 percent when we left office to 38 percent of GDP. That is higher than what the previous Labour Government inherited in 1999. In the projection period beyond that, it is forecast to rise to 57 percent of GDP\u2014right back to where we were in 1990. No wonder Mr Muldoon was Mr Key\u2019s boyhood hero! This is a Government whose current fiscal projections look like what we should have had under Muldoon. But, of course, he never gave us proper fiscal projections, because he was scared to do so as he knew what they would mean.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000563\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EAccording to today\u2019s projections, the entire fiscal progress made by Labour over 9 years will be more than wiped out in the next 4\u00BD years, and the Government has no plan to deal with this at all\u2014no plan. It says it will bring infrastructure forward. The only thing those members can cite is an extra $1.2 billion over and above what we were spending on broadband. For what? To bring fibre-optic broadband to the home. Why? To drive productivity. What does bringing fibre-optic broadband to the home have to do with productivity in business? How does granny downloading photos of the kids faster increase productivity? How does helping those people who use the Internet for pornography to download it faster have anything to do with productivity? How does helping people to play computer games on the Internet faster have anything to do with productivity? It could, theoretically, actually lower productivity in the New Zealand economy, if that is where we are going. And of course\u2014[Interruption] I may have just sparked off some personal reflections in that regard; if so, Mr Speaker, I withdraw that particular element.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000564\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EThe one thing the Government announced is that it will not proceed with increased investment in rail. It sort of said it would review it, but did Mr English go to the KiwiRail board yesterday and say: \u201CNo more money for you, and no more borrowing for the KiwiRail system.\u201D? What was the advice that the Government should have got, and that I got? It was that if there was no further increase in investment over the next year or two, within a year KiwiRail would not be able to deliver existing services to existing clients, because its rolling stock would be so out of date. It is older than Mr Hayes, in terms of the useful life of that material. There is a massive investment programme that we would have brought forward, because investing in rail increases efficiency, increases productivity, and saves us greenhouse gas emissions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000565\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EWhat has the Government done about skills? It has not brought forward the integrated skills strategy in the workplace. It has done one thing; it has removed the requirement for national standards to be reviewed by the Regulations Review Committee. That is its entire contribution to upgrading New Zealand\u2019s skills. It has withdrawn KiwiSaver savings; it has demolished that. It has withdrawn innovation funding. That is the programme of growth.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000566\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EThere is no plan, other than the promise: \u201CThis will be addressed in the 2009 Budget.\u201D So Mr English is already going out and getting himself measured for the tracksuit for the \u201CFather of all Budgets\u201D in May 2009. National members should never have been so foolish in the lead-up to the election. They did not tell people what they must have known was true, that the\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000567\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225443d5028a1b41a197529a180353b03e\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: Like you didn\u2019t tell us about ACC!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000568\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002226a0e33077f44bf5b848f55af7f977ee\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: I was being more pessimistic than the National Party about the future of the economy. I heard debates where Mr English said: \u201CNo, it\u2019s all right. Don\u2019t worry about that. We don\u2019t need to worry.\u201D Well, let me paraphrase something I once said that is often misquoted. Let me say that it is now National members\u2019 problem. They won. We lost. Digest that and come up with a plan!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022 data-id=\u0022776bccbb5f7f4782b626889736fabe81\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000569\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022776bccbb5f7f4782b626889736fabe81\u0022\u003ECHRIS TREMAIN (Junior Whip\u2014National):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. It is interesting to see Labour\u2019s legacy cast in the Economic and Fiscal Forecasts December 2008.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224a35dea3b316475eb4f0598e3c421a58\u0022\u003EHon Members\u003C/span\u003E: Oh!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000571\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002215f8f57b020f4401aeb809aafc892c6e\u0022\u003ECHRIS TREMAIN\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table the Economic and Fiscal Forecasts December 2008, which show deficits of\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000572\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ddce0b9c0939484883b8ce06b744ad46\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member will sit down for a moment. I alert the member to the fact that when he raised the point of order he did not actually start speaking to a point of order. That led to disorder. I will allow the House a moment to settle down, and invite the member to commence his point of order again.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000573\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221368ba6c-25be-40f6-a2a0-8f81e1f78b79\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cdcdb81e83e549c491b49d521df31ee2\u0022\u003ECHRIS TREMAIN\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table the Economic and Fiscal Forecasts December 2008, which show the legacy of the Labour Government\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000574\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022836a55f189224aada1d1d76e5bc49757\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought to table the Economic and Fiscal Forecasts December 2008. Is there any objection?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022 data-id=\u0022d425905ce0b44c8cb2bcd0b2320c353c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000575\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d425905ce0b44c8cb2bcd0b2320c353c\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Can I just clarify that this is a document that is going to be tabled by the Minister of Finance in any case.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000576\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229a6bb561a3ea4eee973bfc3615db1584\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave has been sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000577\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022 data-id=\u002293dc7ba15a284ec7b1e0a7af56f52a6e\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000578\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002293dc7ba15a284ec7b1e0a7af56f52a6e\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I acknowledge the kind thanks that members have extended to the many people who make the efficient functioning of Parliament possible. I also pay a brief tribute to them myself. First, I offer my real appreciation to my Deputy Speaker and Assistant Speakers\u2014Lindsay Tisch, the Hon Rick Barker, and Eric Roy\u2014for their commitment to the job. I think that they are making a pretty darned good team. I offer our thanks to Madam Clerk and her office for all the services they provide for the sittings of this House and here at the Table, and for the processing of the bills passed by the House. I thank the compilers of Hansard, and the interpreters who assist us. As I mention the interpreters, I acknowledge our late kaum\u0101tua, John Tahup\u0101rae, who sadly passed away before the opening of this Parliament. To the radio and TV technicians who produce the radio and television coverage for all sittings of the House, I offer our thanks. To the clerks of the select committees and the other committee support staff, I offer our thanks. They do a great job for all of us.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000579\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003ETo the Parliamentary Service\u2014to General Manager Geoff Thorn and his team\u2014I offer our thanks. They had a huge job to do following the election. The new members\u2019 induction, as has been mentioned by other colleagues, was a massive logistical exercise of shifting almost every member, I think, in the complex to new offices. To the security staff, to the Serjeant-at-Arms, Brent Smith, and his team, and to the Chamber and gallery officers\u2014especially to our Serjeant-at-Arms team for helping to facilitate the access of guests to the gallery during the maiden statements of new members\u2014I say that I appreciated the way the effort was made to find room in the galleries for the guests who had come so far to hear those many fine maiden statements from our new members. With regard to the Parliamentary Library staff, I just acknowledge their ongoing brilliance. The Parliamentary Library is a gem.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000580\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EI offer our thanks to members\u2019 support staff, to the reception and visitor services, and to the telephonists and travel staff. Today I was told that the average number of times a single travel plan is altered in this House before the member travels is eight times. To those long-suffering travel office staff, I offer our thanks for the work they do. To the Bellamy\u2019s staff, I offer our thanks for looking after us. To my own office staff\u2014to Beryl, Trish, and the incomparable Roland\u2014I extend my sincere thanks. Beryl is in her 23rd year of working with me, which is an extraordinary commitment. Sometimes I wonder\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000581\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227f19f6380cb64126ab56af8e66c8105e\u0022\u003EHon Ruth Dyson\u003C/span\u003E: Don\u2019t ask.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000582\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022293bae516ded4100a3715d6f8d71aa65\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I accept the member\u2019s oral advice.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000583\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EI also thank the Leader of the House, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, and the shadow Leader of the House, the Hon Dr Michael Cullen, whose knowledge of process and procedure\u2014not to mention the Standing Orders\u2014contributes very significantly to facilitating the business of Parliament. To all whips and leaders of the other parties, I say that the public often does not see the cooperation and work that goes on behind the scenes to facilitate the work of this Parliament.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000584\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EHonourable members, may I say it is a very real privilege to serve as your Speaker. I thank you most sincerely for the generous respect you all have accorded me in my new role as Speaker. Although the debates have been at times robust and\u2014as I think we have seen this afternoon\u2014quite impassioned, they have at all times been of very high quality. At a time when things can get quite testy and ill humoured during urgency, I thank the House for the good-humoured way that it has conducted itself over these past 2 weeks. I think it brings credit to you all. To you and all your families, have a very happy Christmas, an enjoyable and safe holiday season, and go well\u2014but not just yet.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000586\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00226894756e65d34f5cb923365f8b1a720c\u0022\u003EStanding Orders\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000587\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022364613f6cb864802ad929a3264494da1\u0022\u003ESessional\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u002263acbb03e7734615934e9fe4a0efd6a0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000588\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002263acbb03e7734615934e9fe4a0efd6a0\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House):\u003C/span\u003E Further to discussions in the Business Committee this week, I will now seek leave for a number of procedural matters relating to House business. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000589\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI seek leave that the Clerk of the House of Representatives, when reprinting bills at any stage during their passage through the House or when preparing them for the Royal assent, after consultation with the Chief Parliamentary Counsel or (as the case may be) the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, may make amendments to bills currently before the House or its committees\u2014(a) to incorporate the changes in drafting style adopted by the Parliamentary Counsel Office referred to in the document Changes in drafting style: List of proposed changes in drafting style in legislation, presented to the House on 15 March 2006; and (b) to amend bills by omitting where applicable any clause 1(2) (relating to the principal Act) and substituting a new clause that describes the principal Act being amended\u2014but, in each case, not so as to alter the meaning of the provisions of those bills.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000590\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002281b92ea9edbd4a4fb99961a207a027b0\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that course being followed? There is no objection. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000591\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bb9fbc16914845cda7c57b856a72b531\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave for the Abortion Supervisory Committee, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and Air New Zealand Ltd to be public organisations for the purposes of the Standing Orders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000592\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ffab3b7b0b0541179b2b9b1767d1caa6\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that course being followed? There is no objection. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000593\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224b61187d19ba4f95badc2d326e90347d\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave for the financial review debate to be held on 7 April 2009, notwithstanding Standing Order 338(5).\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000594\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c6978afe00e942cfaffaee4ecf80681c\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that course being followed? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000595\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e792045c47774c41a519b49d5f34f1f0\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave for all parties to be allowed to comment on ministerial statements, despite Standing Order 348.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000596\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226b61293f91104b8aa4694e1b043de9a6\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that course being followed? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000597\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b3bfd5a805634b52b53bcebd62dec024\u0022\u003EHon Dr Michael Cullen\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I confess that we did not raise this at the Business Committee, but I think that in the past we have not allowed 5 minutes for those parties that do not have six or more members. I think we have allowed, rather, a 2-minute speech for members of small parties, who do not qualify under the Standing Orders to comment on a ministerial statement. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000598\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003EI should explain to the House that the current Standing Orders provide that basically only three parties qualify at the moment to comment on such statements: National, Labour, and the Green Party. This would extend the privilege beyond that, and it would seem to me that a 2-minute speech is more appropriate than a 5-minute speech for the very small parties. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000599\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002243a0a709c2524376bfbad4fa18ad93ef\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Would the honourable member seek leave again.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000600\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226e8460a2a143422488e4a623de349b8d\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Notwithstanding Standing Order 348, I seek leave for all parties with membership of five or less to be able to comment, with a speech time of 2 minutes, on ministerial statements. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000601\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c699e7c6-53b9-470c-a14a-378cb6fc8a04\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002206f5536bbd4840aab484ecddbc3e8fab\u0022\u003EHon Phil Goff\u003C/span\u003E: Five or fewer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000602\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022712cb01f66fa4dfa92bee0cfab276415\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: Five or fewer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000603\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022288b274f828447a8b8e4056f1359c0dd\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I think the House has understood the leave being sought fairly clearly. Is there any objection to that course being followed? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00222c289a7c37bc45c3ab87f911b913d062\u0022\u003EParliamentary Service Commission\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000605\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00221f8b40d9de8441d59893c27f185dd06f\u0022\u003EMembership\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u0022f7edf7717b6e4edabf7292e0581a92c2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000606\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f7edf7717b6e4edabf7292e0581a92c2\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House):\u003C/span\u003E Further to discussions at the Business Committee last week, I seek leave to move a notice without motion or debate relating to the membership of the Parliamentary Service Commission. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000607\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac169d29-4849-42c2-a4a7-f344fd416503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c6ef382d83544357a4f8893570e3017e\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that course being followed? There is no objection.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000608\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fe5c65d0e7574d1ab46b1f0cc1fbe153\u0022\u003EHon GERRY BROWNLEE\u003C/span\u003E: I move, That, pursuant to section 15(1)(d) of the Parliamentary Service Act 2000, the following members be appointed as members of the Parliamentary Service Commission: Nathan Guy, Hon Darren Hughes, Metiria Turei, John Boscawen, Te Ururoa Flavell, and Hon Jim Anderton.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000609\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2008121633cd31e70e84441db21818891a768829000610\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe House adjourned at 3.55 p.m. (Thursday)\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n  \u003C/body\u003E\n\u003C/html\u003E"