Auchinvole Chris: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee 
Auchinvole Chris: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee 
[Volume:647;Page:15980] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National) 
: 
 I am delighted to see that the Minister David Parker is here for this debate. It would have been really good if he had been here for the debate on Transpower but he may wish to field some of the questions that were asked then. 
The current power crisis facing us this winter brings into stark relief the failure of the Electricity Commission—the grand-sounding body that was set up in 2003 by the then Minister of Energy Pete Hodgson. He said then as did the Prime Minister that the commission would guarantee New Zealand’s security of electricity supply into the future. Much rhetoric was engaged in by Government Ministers as to their wonderful new creation and this is something we are getting used to. 
What a failure the commission has turned out to be. It seems that every year is now a dry year a famous one-in-60-year event where New Zealanders face the prospect of cold showers brownouts and industrial shut-downs. Already the commission is asking industrial users to use a little less electricity. Is this First World country stuff? We had an electricity crisis in 2004 and in 2006 and now we have another one in 2008. The commission was set up by this Government to try to avoid situations like this and it has singularly failed in its goal. It has failed to meet its mandate and the result is spiralling prices and industry cutting production. Goodness knows what it is doing in turning people off from ever coming to New Zealand to invest. 
Let us not be in any doubt that the commission is very much a creation of the Labour Government. It dreamt it up. It is and has been filled with Labour lackeys such as David Caygill a former Deputy Prime Minister and a deputy leader of the party; Stan Rodger a former Labour Cabinet Minister; and Peter Harris a former adviser to Michael Cullen. It has been stacked. Minister Rick Barker might be hoping for a future there himself. 
While the commission has failed to future-proof New Zealand’s electricity infrastructure it has also overseen massive residential price increases for consumers. It costs 48 percent more than it did 5 years ago to power the average residential home. Prices are heading upwards at the moment because of the lack of generation capacity. I do hope that the Minister if he takes a call will not say that they have kept the prices down. Goodness me! Prices are heading upwards at the moment because of the lack of generation capacity. Spot prices have trebled on occasions in the last few months. The ultimate insult is that the Electricity Commission while it has watched that happening to consumers has cost taxpayers $230 million since it came into existence—$230 million. There is very little to show for this massive transfer from taxpayers’ back pockets to yet another Government entity and a stacked one at that. 
The commission has also been woefully slow at confirming new transmission projects. Members will know that New Zealand desperately needs more transmission capacity and investment both because of a lack of investment in the past and because of new renewable projects coming online. However the Government has managed to create an incredibly confusing regulatory mess around transmission upgrades with the Electricity Commission Transpower and the Government all having a role to play. This is very important for the Minister. There are numerous examples of delays in necessary transmission upgrades because of this situation. 
I ask the Minister why it is that Standard and Poor’s says our electricity infrastructure lacks certainty of regulation. Why does it say that? These are real issues regarding the relationship between the Commerce Commission the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority and the Electricity Commission. This Government has been very keen on creating new statutory bodies but it is very much less keen on making sure that their jobs are properly defined and that they carry out their duties effectively. The Electricity Commission is a perfect example of this malfunction. We ask the Minister to lift the veil to see the reality and to be prepared to tell us about that reality. Thank you Madam Chair.