5. Question No. 5—Energy and ResourcesRACHEL BROOKING (Labour) to the Minister of Energy and ResourcesQuestion No. 5—Energy and Resources5. RACHEL BROOKING (Labour) to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What actions is the Government taking to make fuel markets more resilient sustainable and competitive?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources): This morning I announced a suite of measures to increase New Zealand's fuel supply resilience and sustainability and to ensure there is adequate competition in the retail fuel market. We're implementing the planned onshore fuel stockholding requirement delaying the implementation of the sustainable biofuels obligation by one year and introducing a regulatory backstop to protect consumers.Rachel Brooking: How does the onshore fuel stockholding increase New Zealand's resilience to international fuel supply shocks?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: We are improving New Zealand's fuel supply resilience with new onshore fuel stock obligations for the fuel sector as well as Government-procured diesel storage. The initiatives announced today enhance our resilience in the unlikely event of supply chain interruptions at no additional cost to consumers.Rachel Brooking: Has the Minister received advice on the impact of the refinery's closure on New Zealand's fuel supply resilience and what is that advice?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Yes. The advice points out that New Zealand's fuel supply has always been reliant on imports and that Marsden Point refinery was configured to refine imported heavy crude oil. It also says the refinery's closure improves our supply chain resilience—for example there are more frequent shipments of refined fuel from diverse sources. Our decision to hold more fuel onshore further insulates the economy and consumers from supply chain shocks. As a result of our fuel resilience New Zealand will now hold 28 days of diesel consumption—compared to 20 days before the refinery's closure—24 days instead of 17 days of jet fuel and 28 days instead of 26 days of petrol.Rachel Brooking: How is the Government responding to cost of living concerns through the fuel initiatives announced this morning?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: We know many households are struggling with the increased cost of living which is why we've cut fuel excise duty road-user charges and delivered half-price transport for all New Zealand. This morning's announcements to delay the implementation of the sustainable biofuels obligation further shields consumers from potential increased fuel costs while giving more time to the fuel sector to implement the changes. Rachel Brooking: How will delaying the implementation of the sustainable biofuels obligation impact the Government's climate commitments?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: The delay doesn't change the emissions reductions that would have occurred because fuel companies were preparing to pay the fines rather than meet the first year of targets amid the current global fuel conditions. The shortfall from the first year's targets will be made up by increasing the emissions intensity limits for fuel in ongoing years and other emission reduction opportunities such as our successful Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry Fund programme which is decarbonising the industrial heat sector. This pragmatic decision gives the sector more time to build the infrastructure needed for lower-cost sustainable biofuels such as ethanol. Rachel Brooking: What else is the Government doing to ensure our fuel markets are competitive and delivering fair prices for New Zealand consumers?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: The Government has already implemented a number of changes resulting from our market study into retail fuel to secure a better deal on fuel for consumers including improving monitoring of the market and increasing transparency of fuel company margins. Our next step is giving the Commerce Commission the ability to investigate intervene and potentially set fuel prices at terminals if they determine the market is not operating competitively.