MacLeod DavidEnvironment SectorDAVID MacLEOD (Chairperson of the Environment Committee): Thank you Mr Chair. I'm pleased to talk to this environment review for the appropriations bill. The Environment Committee has recently received a number of agencies within the environment sector for this respective 2022-23 year and I'll now provide a very brief overview of each.The Ministry for the Environment saw James Palmer come into the role of chief executive. He replaced Vicky Robertson in this role in March 2023. The ministry saw a significant increase in revenue of 39.2 percent accompanied by an equally significant expenditure increase of 33.4 percent for the review year. In recent years alongside policy development it has increasingly supported policy implementation. At the time of reporting the ministry employed 1010 fulltime-equivalent staff—an increase of 21.9 percent since the previous year. We heard that the ministry has considerable capacity to carry out environmental monitoring data collection and analysis allowing it to provide better-informed advice. They have also completed a review which resulted in a new organisational structure that the ministry hopes will support it to perform its core functions more efficiently. During the review of the Department of Conservation we heard that DOC manages one third of New Zealand's land area also that it is the largest provider of visitor activities in New Zealand. In June 2023 DOC had 2663 staff working at more than 100 locations across the country. This was an increase of 99 staff since the previous year. DOC's revenue of $661 million was a 9.9 percent increase from the year before with an expenditure of $607 million providing a larger surplus than anticipated which included the receiving of a large bequest of $13.6 million. We heard that DOC feels spread too thin and that it is not currently financially sustainable for the work it is asked to do. DOC is undertaking an in-depth review to provide advice to Ministers on options that would put the department's work on a sustainable funding path.In the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) review they reported a total revenue of $36.8 million and total expenditure of $38.7 million. This represented an 18.2 and 10.3 percent increase respectively on the previous year. At the request of the Minister for the Environment at that time the EPA set up a Resource Management Act (RMA) taskforce focused on sedimentation pollution around the country. The taskforce was created to assist local authorities in their work not to overrule them. And it spent considerable time building positive relationships with regional authorities. We heard that the taskforce was successful in its work and it has since been absorbed into the EPA's broader RMA compliance scene which grew in the past three years to 30 staff.In the 2022-23 year the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority's (EECA) total revenue was $168.6 million—a 30.2 percent increase on the previous year. And its total expenditure was $147.2 million—a 19.8 percent increase. We heard how EECA supports people and organisations to switch to low-emissions transport technology and fuel. It financially supported 45 low-emission transport projects and helped fund the instillation of 60 electric vehicle charging stations. This included work on New Zealand's first public charging hubs with multiple high-speed chargers available alongside amenities like bathrooms and dining facilities. There is now roughly one fast charger per 75 kilometres of State highway network.And the last entity I'd like to talk to is the Climate Change Commission which saw a 26.2 percent increase to their revenue to $15.8 million and a 45.5 percent increase to their expenditure to $15.3 million. As an advisory and monitoring body the commission does not implement policy or run programmes. The commission's performance measures relate almost entirely to the quality and effect of its advice and analysis. The commission worked on several pieces of advice including two to the Government on the New Zealand emissions trading scheme (ETS) unit limits and price control settings for the 2023 to 2027 and 2024 to 2028 periods. With the emissions auctions failing to sell any units in 2023 the commission advised that the ETS may not achieve its goals without substantial change. I trust this brief overview is helpful to the House.