7. Question No. 7—TransportSIMON COURT (ACT) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 7—Transport7. SIMON COURT (ACT) to the Minister of Transport: Does he agree with the Prime Minister's statement that the Clean Car Upgrade scheme was going to make a very very small contribution" to our emissions reductions and which of his other policies if any are going to make a very small contribution to reducing emissions?Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Transport): To the first part of the question yes. The scheme was modelled to reduce emissions by approximately 4.5 kilotons over the period of the first emissions budget. By comparison the Clean Car Discount and Standard were projected to deliver reductions around 35 times as large as the Clean Car Upgrade. I note for the member's benefit and the House's benefit that our Government's response to climate change is focused on reducing emissions but also adaptation and ensuring an equitable transition away from fossil fuels for Kiwi households. And so to the second part of the question some policies such as our extension of half-price public transport fares will indeed have a fairly small impact on reducing emissions but have many other benefits including supporting Kiwi households with cost of living pressures.Simon Court: How many tonnes of emissions are the Clean Car Standard and Clean Car Discount policies estimated to avoid and what will be the cost of avoiding those emissions?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: In the first three emissions budget period the total emissions abatement of those two policies the Clean Car Discount and Clean Car Upgrade is approximately 2.5 megatons—that's 2.5 million tonnes—across that period. The Clean Car Discount policy costs are net zero to the Crown as it is funded by a repayable loan and there are small overall costs for the administration of the Clean Car Standard. Both policies when they have been assessed on a cost-benefit basis are shown to save New Zealand money for every tonne of carbon that they reduce because the country saves so much by having a cleaner vehicle fleet because we don't need to bring in so much expensive foreign fuel.Simon Court: Why has the Government dumped the Clean Car Upgrade scheme on the basis it's not going to deliver bang for buck but not the Clean Car Standard or the Clean Car Discount the costs and benefits of which to the taxpayer he can quantify but not to the people actually paying the bills?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I gave a very clear account of the costs and benefits of those policies in my previous answer and I think the member might have been reading a pre-prepared question rather than responding to the information that was in front of him. If I can repeat again: the Clean Car Discount and Clean Car Standard policies will save 2.5 megatons of carbon emissions over the coming three emissions budget periods. The Clean Car Discount policy has no net costs to the Crown and both policies as per formal analysis that was provided as part of the regulatory impact process are shown to have net savings to New Zealand for every tonne of carbon that we do not emit under that policy. These are some of the most efficient policies ever to reduce New Zealand's carbon emissions and it's no surprise therefore that the ACT Party opposes them.Simon Court: Does he stand by his refusal to allow tradies and orchardists whose utes were destroyed by Cyclone Gabrielle to avoid paying the thousands of dollars in taxes that they would have to under the Clean Car Discount scheme in order to replace their utes and if he does stand by that statement on what planet is it compassionate to force cyclone victims to pay that tax when they've got no option of buying an electric ute?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I stand by the Government's full response to the victims of Cyclone Gabrielle including the significant support that we're providing to communities farmers and businesses across that period. I also stand by our transport policies which are designed to reduce the very emissions which are leading to the extreme weather events that are causing so much carnage. Unlike the ACT Party our Government actually sees the bigger picture here which is that we need to support communities that have been affected by catastrophic climate change but we actually need to do something to reduce the emissions that caused the problem in the first place.Simon Court: Well in that case is the Government still considering banning the importation of all internal combustion engine vehicles by 2030 and is this the Minister's idea of a "bread and butter" Government?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The Government is not currently considering that issue. And in fact the success of the Clean Car Discount and Clean Car Upgrade policies in cleaning up New Zealand's fleet means that we are well on track to have one of the cleanest fleets in the world. The Clean Car Discount policy has shifted New Zealand from being one of the worst-performing countries in the world for low and zero emission vehicles to one of the best performing countries in the world for low and zero emission vehicles coming into our country—another climate-friendly policy opposed by the ACT Party and the National Party."