Smith Nick: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Smith Nick: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:626;Page:21206] 
7. BRIAN CONNELL (National—Rakaia) 
 on behalf of  
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
 to the  
Convenor Ministerial Group on Climate Change 
: Has he received any reports about the amount of carbon sink credits New Zealand will have in the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol; if so do those reports contain different predictions than any previous reports? 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Convenor Ministerial Group on Climate Change) 
: 
 I need the indulgence of the House. The answer is yes and yes. I see many reports nearly always involving different projections and different methodologies. Two more were released today although the one reported in the  
Dominion Post 
 is a retread from last year. 
Brian Connell 
: Does the Minister stand by his assertion at the time this Government ratified the Kyoto Protocol that New Zealand would have 6 million tonnes of credits to sell and his statement: “New Zealand would stand to make a couple of hundred million from this. Would they set fire to a $200 million cheque?” 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The member will be aware that the projections on New Zealand’s net position are updated each year and are on the Climate Change Office website. I draw from that website and make statements according to the advice. 
H V Ross Robertson 
: Does the Climate Change Office publish annual updates on New Zealand’s net position including sinks; if so what is the trend line? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Yes. As I said they are on the Climate Change Office’s website and members are welcome to go and access them. The trend in New Zealand’s net position since 1997 is downward. The two main reasons for this are both changes in methodology but the fact that over the past 5 years New Zealand has been amongst the most successful economies in the Western World has also played a part. 
Rod Donald 
: Has the Minister seen any new reports from reputable sources particularly science bodies on the seriousness of climate change and the urgent need for action? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Indeed I have and I have one here. It is a statement entitled “Joint Science Academies’ Global Response to Climate Change”. It asserts that climate change is real and that the problem is urgent and it is signed by the scientific academies of Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Russian the United Kingdom and the USA. 
Brian Connell 
: What is the latest advice he has seen about New Zealand’s carbon balance for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: As I said I continue to get reports. The next report is due to be posted shortly. I expect it to have moved through the Cabinet process over the next week or two. We will have completed all the details around it and I will make it public as I do each year. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. You will give us the same old answer that we always get but the Minister earlier told the House that if we wanted to know about this stuff we should go to the website. Now he has just been asked what the latest information is and he has told the House that it is clearly not on the website. He obviously knows the information and I think it would be very much in the public interest for him to expand on the answer he has just given. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: The original question and the previous question were about general information and that is on the website. When the Minister was asked about the latest report he quite rightly said that it was yet to be completed and to go through the process and would be published. The Minister does not have to release a report until it has been through the appropriate processes. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The Minister did address that question. 
Rod Donald 
: What reports has the Minister seen on the views of senior American and British politicians on the seriousness of the threat posed by climate change? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The American President holds the view that: “The issue of climate change respects no border. Its effects cannot be reined in by any army nor advanced by any ideology. Climate change with its potential to impact every corner of the world is an issue that must be addressed by the world.” That is President George Bush. On the other hand another global leader said: “There are those who argue that the evidence that global temperatures are increasing is non-existent. I am one who thinks the science is still debatable.” That global leader was the leader of the New Zealand National Party. 
Brian Connell 
: When the Minister gets his next piece of advice should the carbon balance be negative—in stark contradiction to the key reason he used to justify New Zealand ratifying the protocol ahead of our major trading partners—will he take responsibility for that very costly error for New Zealand and do the decent thing and resign? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The member might reflect given that he comes from the east coast of the South Island that the effect of climate change on New Zealand in general and on our agricultural pastoralism in particular and on the agricultural pastoralism on the east coast of the North and the South Islands is likely to be severe or very severe unless we can knock the worst effects of it over. This is an issue that will not go away and the member must face that. 
Brian Connell 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I ask you to reflect on that answer. I asked the Minister a very specific question: if the carbon balance was negative in stark contradiction to his justification for signing the protocol would he do the decent thing and resign?. He never attempted to answer that question in any way. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: No but he did address the question.