Dunne Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Dunne Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:646;Page:15477] 
1. Hon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future) 
 to the  
Minister for State Owned Enterprises 
: Is he satisfied that all State enterprises are showing a sense of social responsibility and having regard to their communities as part of being a successful business as required by the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister for State Owned Enterprises) 
: 
 Generally yes. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Does he consider that Meridian Energy has properly discharged its social responsibilities to the community of Ohariu Valley with regard to the proposal to develop a wind farm at Mill Creek when that community feels strongly that it has been lied to and misled over the development of the project; if so in which specific ways has Meridian Energy shown a sense of social responsibility to that community? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think it is fair to say that the Mill Creek approach has been an unusual one in that there was longer than normal consultation in relationship with the landowners and a shorter period of discussion with others before the resource consent application was lodged. It does however have to go through the process as determined by the Resource Management Act 1991 and I am sure that during that process the people from the area who were very eloquent will have their say. 
Hon Mark Gosche 
: Has the Minister seen any reports about State-owned enterprises and their responsibility to the communities they operate in? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Yes I have. This Government formalised a framework for corporate social responsibility in November last year. I have however seen a report that would mean those requirements would not apply because Bill English indicated last year that the National Party’s asset sales policy is a policy the party has had for some time now. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Can local Ohariu Valley residents conclude from the Minister’s silence in his capacity as both Minister for State Owned Enterprises and Minister for the Environment on this issue that he has full confidence in the way that Meridian Energy is handling the Mill Creek project and that he supports its actions to date; if they cannot draw that conclusion what conclusions can they draw about his and the Government’s attitudes to this project? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think they can conclude that the Minister can understand the difference between an operational matter and one that is not. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: With reference to another of the Minister’s State-owned enterprises Landcorp can he tell the House how many tonnes of greenhouse gases will be released by its actions as a contractor in clearing tens of thousands of hectares of forest in the central North Island for conversion to intensive dairying; is that the sort of social responsibility we should expect from a business owned by a Government that wishes to be carbon neutral and the first sustainable nation in the world—or is that just hogwash “greenwash” and spin? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: To the first part of the question I say no I cannot; I do not carry that figure around in my head. To the second part of the question I say that members I think all know that in this case the ownership is not by Landcorp. It is acting as a contractor and if it stops work someone else will do it.