Smith StuartSTUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. I would just like to say to the member Angie Warren-Clark who just took her seat who complimented the Deputy Prime Minister on his contribution that it would've been helpful if she had interpreted what he'd said for us because none of us understood it. Certainly I put the earpiece to my ear but it wasn't coming through on the translation unfortunately.I am very pleased to be speaking on the Climate Change Commission bill which as my colleague Scott Simpson said would be a more appropriate name for this bill. I think we should all be guided in fact by the speech given by our leader Simon Bridges who gave a great speech initially—Hon Members: Ha ha!STUART SMITH: —clearly they weren't listening—and by the principles that we would stand on: being science based. It absolutely has to be science based any action that we take on climate change and that is why I really wonder why there are targets put in this bill. We're setting up a climate change commission. That is essentially a group of experts who will look at the costs the implications and what the targets actually should be and which ones are able to be achieved. That is a far more sensible approach than to have somebody pluck a number out of the air quite clearly which is put into the bill now and that is just you know to me quite strange.To focus on innovation and technology because obviously innovation and technology are going to be the keys for us to make any progress on this huge challenge that we've got in front of us—and biotechnology has to be one of those answers. Yet when challenged and questioned in the House by Todd Muller the Hon James Shaw said he'd be led by the science but effectively the answer he gave was: only when it suits him. Biotechnology is one of the keys that will have to be part of the solution and it's just a pity that ideology is blinding some people on this particular subject.We need to take long-term signals to our economy and we have to send long-term signals. Business absolutely requires confidence when they make investment and if they're going to make investment to try—Kiritapu Allan: But you guys don't want to set targets.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! Order! Do not bring me into the debate.STUART SMITH: —and meet the challenge ahead for us they will need those signals. Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. We also will move with international partners and not in isolation. Yet we just heard from the previous speaker that we were going to be world leaders. Well that isn't actually the solution here. We need to work with other partners around the world because if we simply jump in with significant imposts on our economy and our producers then that production will simply go offshore and that will then be a net loss to the global climate and the emissions targets. So simply cleaning up your own emissions and—not yours Madam Assistant Speaker but lowering our economy's emissions—thereby increasing global emissions is missing the point completely. If we care about climate change we have to take a sensible approach.I think we've got a really good steer from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton and in fact his predecessor Jan Wright came out very clearly in favour of biotechnology being a part of the solution. But Simon Upton made some very clear points about having the use of forestry for an offset for carbon dioxide. Having methane as we have in our current situation not being able to be offset against forestry is giving the large carbon dioxide emitters a free pass and it's not changing behaviour. In contrast methane emissions will be charged at the processor so it will not change any behaviour inside the farm gate. It works very well—when you put a price on petrol people will of course find a more efficient means of transport to avoid the cost but you're not seeing that with farm emissions and that's wrong. It's driving forestry planting into the small towns of New Zealand. We're seeing a trickle of farms being bought up for carbon farming. That will become a tsunami and that will kill rural communities. It takes with it jobs it impacts on GDP that flows right through the economy and we will have ghost towns in New Zealand. So we have to be very careful—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! I apologise to the member; your time has expired. I understand this is a split call—you have five minutes David Seymour.