Norman Russel: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNorman Russel: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 22 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18246. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]2.Dr RUSSEL NORMAN (Co-Leader—Green) to theMinister of Finance: Does he stand by all his statements?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Associate Minister of Finance) on behalf of theMinister of Finance: Yes. He particularly stands by his statement which was originally made by the Prime Minister in fact that Budget 2014 is a confident Budget for a confident country.Dr Russel Norman: Does he stand by his statement in this House on 14 May last year that “It is important for New Zealand … that it is regarded as a good credit risk.”?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: That sounds like a very good statement that the Minister of Finance would make.Dr Russel Norman: Given his acknowledgment that a good credit rating is important for New Zealand is he concerned by the warning from Standard and Poor’s last week that New Zealand’s sovereign credit rating is at risk due to climate change?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: No and the reason for that is that the Government’s books which are the primary concern of the Standard and Poor’s organisation are moving positively into the black. We will have the opportunity to repay debt and we will reduce our debt as a percentage of GDP to 20 percent by 2019-20 on schedule. In relation to any concerns about climate change this Government is undertaking a very strong programme to mitigate the effects of climate change and become a less carbon-intense economy over time while not jeopardising our ability to raise moneys and pay off debt.Dr Russel Norman: Is he aware that Moritz Kraemer Standard and Poor’s chief sovereign risk analyst has identified climate change as one of the century’s two defining macroeconomic trends that are likely to put downward pressure on countries’ sovereign credit ratings?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: That would depend on how the countries respond to those risks. Countries always have risks. If the member wants to go and look at some of the more recent data he will see that New Zealand’s carbon intensity is continuing to decline. In other words the amount of carbon we produce as our economy grows is reducing as a percentage of GDP. That is a good thing and suggests that we are doing a good job as a country in mitigating the risk identified.Dr Russel Norman: Given the Minister’s answer can we assume that he is not aware that Standard and Poor’s has listed New Zealand’s credit rating as particularly vulnerable to climate change because of the proportion of our population living on the coast and because of agriculture’s role in our economy?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The answer to the first part of his question is that no we cannot assume that. Secondly if the member is suggesting that New Zealand knock the agricultural economy on the head to meet the needs of climate change I imagine that Standard and Poor’s would have a view of that and it would not be positive.Dr Russel Norman: Will he now finally acknowledge the seriousness of climate change for New Zealand when not only are the world’s leading climate scientists saying that our environment and our communities are at risk but one of the world’s largest rating agencies is also saying that our credit rating could suffer as a result of climate change?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I reject the implicit arrogance in the member’s question that the Government does not understand the importance of the risks of climate change. Actually this Government is focused on meeting all the fiscal risks that New Zealand faces and if he goes and has a look at the data he will see the reducing intensity of New Zealand’s carbon emissions as a percentage of our GDP. That is something to be celebrated and I am confident it will continue under this Government.Dr Russel Norman: Has the Minister gone to look at the data—for example the Ministry for the Environment’s most recent data—which shows that the projections for New Zealand’s net emissions are that they will increase by 50 percent over the next decade under current settings of this Government and does he believe that that is a responsible projection for New Zealand?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: We discussed in the previous question the issue of projections. What I can tell the member is that what has occurred under this Government is a decreasing intensity of carbon emissions as our economy grows. The member may not like to know that but that is true. We also have an increasing percentage of for example our electricity generation in renewables and this Government’s record on the environment—again not something the Greens want to talk about—is very good and compares favourably with the previous Government.Dr Russel Norman: In light of official reports from his Government showing a big increase in projected emissions ahead will he take advice as to what should be the response of the Government to the Standard and Poor’s report which has identified New Zealand as vulnerable due to the number of New Zealanders likely to be impacted by sea level rise and due to the large contribution agriculture makes to our economy and that agriculture is particularly vulnerable to climate change?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Well this Government takes advice on those sorts of risks every day and we have for example in the Business Growth Agenda a group of Ministers in the natural resources area who grapple with these issues on an ongoing basis and actually make decisions every day that mitigate those risks and we will continue to do so. But if the member is suggesting as I believe he may be that we quickly shut down the agricultural industry so as to avoid that risk I suspect that is not something we will agree about.