Hide Rodney: Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Hide Rodney: Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:651;Page:902] 
Hon RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 It is with much pleasure that I rise on behalf of the ACT Party to support the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. This bill is a direct consequence of the relationship built up between the National and the ACT parties. I am very pleased that we are going to have some economic sanity and some sanity in energy planning and supply in New Zealand as a consequence. 
Putting a ban on the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity in New Zealand was a mad idea cobbled together at the last minute. It shows that the previous Government’s policy on climate change global warming and the emissions trading scheme was cobbled together and not well thought through. If that Government had been committed to and had believed in an emissions trading scheme—and I have to say I do not believe in it—it would have priced the emission of greenhouse gases and it would have allowed people to get on with it reflecting the price. That is the whole logic of having a tradable scheme. That is the purpose of such a scheme. One does not need to tell people how to do it when to do it and why to do it; one lets them get on with it. But the previous Government being of the meddling variety that knows best and tells people what to do was not content with just jacking up the price of everything to every business and every homeowner in the country; no it wanted to go a step further. 
I listened carefully to Jeanette Fitzsimons’ speech because I am always open to the possibility that we could be wrong and that reversing the ban might be a mistake. I have to say I heard no reason to suggest that the Government is wrong in going with this ban. Jeanette Fitzsimons said—and I remember her saying the same thing at the time the ban came in—that the ban was toothless that it would not achieve any result and that anyone who wanted to could get round it. Well is New Zealand so short of legislation that we should be passing legislation that has no effect? I do not think so. If Jeanette Fitzsimons does not think the ban achieves anything then let us get rid of it. I guess the hallmark of this Government is that it is honest about what it is doing. I think that what we saw previously was a lot of hot air— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: What about the member’s select committee on climate change? That won’t achieve much either. 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: That member Darien Hughes who lost his seat at the last election is calling out that he knows everything he knows all about the select committee that will meet for the first time tomorrow and he knows what the result will be. That is how clever that man is who lost his seat. Mr Darien Hughes was a member of a Government that rammed through the emissions trading scheme without actually considering the options and without doing a regulatory impact statement. I was very very interested to hear Darien Hughes and others call out that the Government is passing stuff to remove unnecessary—[ 
Interruption 
] What did I call him? [ 
Interruption 
] Oh I get confused. I heard Darren Hughes calling out that the Government did not do a regulatory impact statement to remove red tape. Where was the regulatory impact statement from the previous Government on the implementation of the emissions trading scheme? Where was it? It did not happen did it? 
Let me go back to Jeanette Fitzsimons who I was discussing before I was rudely interrupted by the man who lost his seat. Jeanette Fitzsimons wants to ban— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: How many MPs have you got? 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: The member wants to know how many MPs I have. I know that for those in the Labour Party it is tough to count. I have five. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: How many when you took over as leader? Nine! 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: Oh the member is saying I went from nine to five. Yes but here is the interesting transition that occurred. When I took over as leader we were sitting where Darren Hughes is. When he came into the House he was sitting on this side of the House. Now he is sitting over there somehow claiming victory and not able to count. Look I like the member— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: It took you 12 years. 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: Oh yes but good things are worth working towards. I did not have to slip into another party. We actually had the courage the discipline and the focus— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: To destroy your party. 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: —to start a party. Actually the Labour Party has had more success at destroying political parties than any other party here. Let me go through the list. It destroyed the Alliance party it destroyed the New Zealand First Party it destroyed the United party it tried to destroy the Maori Party but did not succeed and it will probably destroy the Green Party. That is how the Labour Party operates. I am sorry— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Watch those words it will happen to you! 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: I am just explaining it. Darren Hughes calls out that it is going to happen to the ACT Party. Maybe but I tell Darren that that will be up to the voters. I know he does not like the voters having a say but it will be up to the voters just like— 
Chris Hipkins 
: Through the select committee maybe. 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: What is that? 
Chris Hipkins 
: Send the bill to a select committee and let the voters have a say. 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: I have seen Labour operate select committees. Does the member remember the select committee on the Electoral Finance Bill? The public got to have a say. I tell Mr Hipkins that I remember what the public had to say. I have a memory of what the Law Commission the Law Society and the Human Rights Commission had to say and now that member’s own leader says “Oh we got it wrong.” Well that is what the select committee told Labour. I come back to Ms Fitzsimons. These young pretenders who are not allowed to speak in the House try to get into  
Hansard 
 by interrupting the famous leader of the ACT Party and MP for Epsom. Let me get back to Ms Fitzsimons. I can remember Jeanette Fitzsimons giving a seminar at the University of Canterbury many many years ago. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: You were at Lincoln. 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: I have actually been to more than one university. 
Hon Member 
: Including the university of life. 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: Yes. Ms Fitzsimons’ concern was that we were running out of fossil fuels. She even put a date on it—1992. News flash! We did not run out of fossil fuels in 1992. In fact it turns out we have so many fossil fuels to power the future of New Zealand that now Jeanette Fitzsimons wants to ban their use. The Green Party predicted that we would run out of fossil fuels more than 15 years ago. We did not run out of fossil fuels and their having failed to run out the Green Party now wants to ban their use. What is the Green Party and the Labour Party policy? Are we going to run out of fossil fuels or do we have to ban their use? 
I say to the Labour Party and to the Green Party that our concern has to be the cost to New Zealand of powering business of keeping our houses warm and of actually succeeding as a nation. All that these sorts of bans do—and bans are always the response of the Labour Party and the Green Party—is put up the costs of the very people whom they claim to represent and care about. That is why I am so pleased to be standing in this House to support the repeal of a very stupid and very misguided ban. Phil Goff has said that the Electoral Finance Act was a mistake; I am looking forward to the Labour Party members saying that this ban was a mistake too.