Clark David: Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeClark David: Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 05 March 2014. Volume:696;Page:16389. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North): I understand that it is going to be a 10-minute call not a split call.Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Well the member should inform the Speaker before the moment.Dr DAVID CLARK: We found out literally this minute and I nearly was distracted enough not to—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: All right. I will accept the member’s late announcement.Dr DAVID CLARK: Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. I am very pleased to speak to this bill the Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Amendment Bill because it raisesmore questions than it answers. It is an opportunity to ask what is really going on here in terms of the oil stocks and why this is such a priority for the Government. We can speculate a little bit on what the answers are. Why are biofuels included in the levy for example? We do not see this Government jumping up and down when it comes to our other international obligations. I think immediately of our climate change obligations.In a past life I worked briefly in the parliamentary environment to learn a little bit more about politics. I worked in Treasury as well for a longer period of time working on the emissions trading scheme. New Zealand was the first country in the world to adopt an “all gases all sectors” emissions trading scheme. That is a proud record indeed. But how sad it is now to observe that same emissions trading scheme having been watered down to the point where it is now the subject of international ridicule. New Zealand can no longer hold its head high and say that it is doing its bit in the world movement to try to address the worst effects of climate change.Those Government members over there are very quiet and well they might be. They might well hang their heads in shame at their record of winding back this piece of legislation. We should as a country be able to shift to renewables thus reducing the kinds of obligations we are trying to address in this bill far more easily than almost any other country on the planet. We have an abundance of natural resources. We have an embarrassment of riches of wind geothermal and solar resources. Our wind resources are close to our main cities we are only just beginning to tap into our geothermal resources in any kind of meaningful way and solar energy of course is an applicable resource certainly in Dunedin where we have an abundance of sun.Ian McKelvie: Ha ha! When did you have any?Dr DAVID CLARK: Perhaps not so in Mr McKelvie’s electorate but that may have more to do with the clouds that hang over this National Government I suspect. There are plenty of things that could be done to address the fuel needs that our country has and this Government seems to be sitting on its hands as it is in general around the issue of power.Of course the example that springs to mind—we have seen it just today actually—in terms of power prices is that David Shearer has put out a statement asking why we do not have a transparent arrangement. He has got a member’s bill that would address this issue. Suddenly the Electricity Authority is on board and good on it. Good on it for following the lead of this very sensible policy. But where is the Government? Nowhere to be seen. Of course we know that Simon Bridges thinks that the current market works perfectly fine. It has got a few hitches he said and it needs a little more “time to bed in” if I can quote him—it needs just a little more time to bed in. We have had the current market for 15 years Mr Bridges. A little more time to bed in is hardly a plausible answer.This is an electricity market that has failed New Zealanders. Increasing power prices and price gouging have been the norm. The Wolak report of course found that over 5 years there was $4.3 billion worth of price gouging in the New Zealand market. That was Professor Wolak’s best estimate as the world’s leading modeller on energy markets. He found that there was a lack of competition. Since that time the Government has done nothing—nothing—to address it and power prices have gone up and up and up. Occasionally it has done the odd thing to prop it up. It has given a bit of a subsidy to Rio Tinto a bit of corporate welfare here and there to help out its mates without any real request that jobs be preserved. But this Government has done nothing to address the concerns of ordinary New Zealanders.By contrast—by stark contrast—we have the Labour Party’s NZ Power initiative which will see ordinary folks see their power prices drop by about $300 to $500 a year which will make a very real difference in the household incomes of those people whoare struggling the most. It will also mean lower power prices for small businesses often around the 5 percent mark. I know that if most small businesses could get a 5 percent saving they would be pretty pleased with that. But this Government says that no the market is fine and that those profits going offshore with all the asset sales is just fine. There is no objection from this Government. You will not hear it making a peep. Even the Electricity Authority is ahead of it. It is no lightning bolt.Labour has also got other policies that would help save energy in this country. The KiwiBuild initiative which Labour has launched will see 10000 houses built in partnership with industry every year to address the housing crisis in New Zealand. In that policy we have also promised that we will make sure that warm homes become the norm for rental properties. Phil Twyford’s bill has been drawn from the ballot. We know that warm homes require less energy and that they also contribute to keeping the health of New Zealanders going. They contribute towards productivity and they contribute therefore towards the economy of New Zealand and to preserving the quality of life for our citizens.Of course the economy is something else that is drawn into question here because when we are talking about oil when we are talking about energy the main uncoupling has not yet happened between economic growth and energy supply. This Government is again showing its lack of vision in not looking to build the biofuels industry. It immediately rolled back the biofuels sales obligation when it came into office although it would have cost nothing at all but would have helped provide the security for those people out there taking the business risk trying to develop new technologies and new forms of energy.We saw the Government roll back the ban on baseload thermal generation although we know that it is not necessary in New Zealand and although we have seen none since. We know that this Government has done everything it can to oppose development in the energy sector. That is of course because it has a cosy relationship with the status quo. But it is not New Zealand’s future and it is not the right future for the world either.We need a Government that does have a vision for taking New Zealand forward and growing wages for New Zealanders. We need a Government that does have a vision to allow more money in New Zealanders’ pockets at the end of the week when their power bill gets paid. We need a vision for a country that does have warm dry homes for every New Zealander and when we compare National and Labour in this Parliament we can see that that vision is being supplied by the Labour Party and by the Labour Party only.We have seen plenty of other areas where the Government lacks vision. The Government will not bring in a capital gains tax. It says it is not interested in pro-growth tax reform; it is just interested in inching along. It will not address a universal KiwiSaver although a capital debt problem has been a problem in New Zealand for decades—for absolute decades. It is ostrich economics from National. I guess that is why since World War II there have been much lower growth rates for National-led Governments than there have been for Labour-led Governments. Labour has the prouder record on managing the economy although National will try to spin it otherwise.I wish that this Government would look more seriously at the issues raised by this bill. I wish that this Government would restore our country to a country where a full day’s work will cover the basics in terms of expenses—a country where there are more jobs and where wages catch up with prices; a country where New Zealanders pay for what is fair whether it is their power bill their tax bill or their grocery bill; and a country where every single child gets the opportunities they should have and gets the opportunities to start learning early and to fulfil every bit of their potential.That is the New Zealand we should have—a New Zealand we can all be proud of an economy that works for all New Zealanders a fair and just society where all NewZealanders can live in dignity and an environment we can protect. Instead we have this nonsense where we have concern for one part of our international reputation when it comes to oil and no concern for our climate. We have no concern for our environment for our children or for economic growth that shares its gains fairly with every single New Zealander and makes sure that every New Zealand child has the opportunities to get ahead—the opportunities we would all want for our children.That is the New Zealand that the Labour Party wants to build. We on this side of the House oppose the Government’s attempts to keep its head in the sand to take New Zealanders down and to manage decline in New Zealand and a shift of our residents to Australia.