Copeland Gordon: General Debates 
Copeland Gordon: General Debates 
[Volume:608;Page:5186] 
GORDON COPELAND (United Future) 
: 
 Yesterday in this House I asked the Minister of Conservation the Hon Chris Carter whether he would be prepared to look at changing the provisions of the Conservation Act to permit the Dobson hydroelectricity scheme on the West Coast to proceed. To my great disappointment his reply was in the negative. New Zealand is now in a critical situation with regard to the supply of electricity. I regret to inform the House that the supply shortage could continue beyond 2003 and possibly reach 2005. I have seen the graphs and they clearly indicate a gap between electricity supply and demand over that period of time. It takes a long time to bring new generating capacity on stream. 
If I am right about that then this is a matter of the utmost gravity for the people and economy of New Zealand. All facets of our life from processing and manufacturing right across to telecommunications information technology and the ability—particularly in the South Island—simply to keep warm during the winter are heavily dependent on the reliability of electricity supply. I believe that time and research will show that a major part of the blame for this situation lies with the Conservation Act. 
The Department of Conservation controls 33 percent of all New Zealand land. That includes all New Zealand rivers lakes and streams. The department has 13 conservatories and each one of those has its own separate conservation advisory board. People on those boards have been appointed by successive Ministers of Conservation and for the most part they can be described as people who are committed to preserving our rivers and lakes plus their surrounding catchments in pristine condition. They appear in practice to have virtually veto powers. There is no overall national policy concerning how to handle requests for hydro schemes on Department of Conservation - controlled land. There is no standard manual. I am advised that for years now companies and individuals have approached their local conservatories and advisory boards and have been given a flat “No”. I believe that relates to hydro schemes set on the Rotorua lakes and the Mohaka Motu and Raukokore Rivers in the North Island and in the South Island the same thing has happened concerning schemes at Karamea Ngakawau and Dobson which are all on the West Coast. However this may simply be the tip of the iceberg. We really do not know how many schemes have so far been declined. 
All of that amounts to a major systemic problem. It is unbalanced and it is unacceptable. Water constitutes cost-free energy for generating electricity that is perpetually renewable and sustainable. Many hydro schemes easily meet the criteria of conservation which are the protection preservation and careful management of natural resources having regard to environmental outcomes. Against those criteria hydro schemes must rank well ahead of the generation of electricity by importing oil or burning coal. Yet that is exactly what we are doing to get ourselves through this winter and through the next couple of years. 
Today I want to appeal to the Government and to all members of this House on a non-partisan basis to make the solution of this a No. 1 priority. If we have to change the Conservation Act so be it. The people of New Zealand will be angry when they realise that the present electricity crisis could well have been avoided if we had had in place—as they have in Western Australia—proper policies and procedures to enable hydro schemes to be advanced and to be advanced quickly. I have asked myself how this scandalous and serious situation could have been allowed to develop under successive Governments. It is because we have been burning Maui gas as if there were no tomorrow. Well tomorrow has arrived and we have foolishly failed to provide an alternative. If we do not sort this issue out I predict come election day that the anger of New Zealanders will be expressed dramatically through the ballot box.