Genter Julie Anne: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGenter Julie Anne: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply Debate[Sitting date: 24 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18821. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green):I rise to take a call on the supplementary estimates on behalf of the Green Party. I came to Parliament because I am really passionate about the opportunity that New Zealand has to become a much smarter greener place to live. I think it can be an even better place to live. Before entering politics I worked as a transportation planner because I was interested in finding smart solutions to some of the traffic problems that we face in Auckland and also because I know that in 2014 it is the time for us to be investing in the infrastructure that is going to help future generations reduce climate emissions and respond to the many challenges that are facing us. I can tell you that there is no technical barrier to responding to the challenge of climate change to resolving some of our worst congestion problems in our biggest cities and to reducing the costs of transport and yet for some reason there is a big political barrier.This National Government has shown us in its Budget that it has no vision for New Zealand; it is here simply to defend the status quo and look after its mates. The solutions that it is providing for us are going to do nothing to reduce the transport costs that households face every day they are going to do nothing to reduce our reliance on imported oil or reduce our $8 billion oil bill and most of all they are going to do nothing to help us respond to the most pressing issue of our time which is of course climate change.Recently Lord Stern the world’s most authoritative climate economist issued a very stark warning that the financial damage caused by global warming will be considerably greater than the current models predict. So we have a very stark choice. We can continue to do things the way that we always have in which case we will get more greenhouse gas emissions and catastrophic climate change which is going to cost us a whole lot of money. But it is also not just the economic costs that we are worried about; it is actually the threat to our children and their children. So the reality is that we have to face upThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Sorry to interrupt the honourable member. The time has come for me to leave the Chair for the dinner break.Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.JULIE ANNE GENTER: We live in an interesting time. The world is changing and we need fresh ideas and modern thinking to solve old problems and to seize new opportunities. The biggest change that we face of course is climate change. Before the dinner break I mentioned that Lord Stern the world’s most authoritative climate economist recently issued a stark warning that the financial damage caused by global warming will be considerably greater than the current models predict. So we have a stark choice here in New Zealand. We can continue to do things as we have always done in which case we will get more greenhouse gas emissions and catastrophic climate change and that is going to cost us a huge amount of money. And it is not only that; it is a threat to the future of our children and their children.Unfortunately this National Government is definitely on track with its Budget to continue the status quo. Its vision for New Zealand stopped in the 20th century. For example its vision for New Zealand is a few more motorways—which will just lead to more congestion and more pollution more mining and drilling—and an economic strategy that is linking us to increased carbon emissions in the future right at the time when we need to be decreasing them.National likes to talk down New Zealand when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. Little New Zealand is only a small percentage of global emissions so we do not have to do our share! I have news for John Key. A group of 4.4 million people anywhere in the world would be only a tiny percentage of emissions but in most parts of the world outside New Zealand 4.4 million people generate far fewer emissions than we do here in New Zealand. We are the fifth-worst in the rich world per capita and we are second-worst in terms of the growth of our emissions since 1990. That is down to a failure of successive Governments through the 1990s and the early part of the 2000s. But we are now on track to have a major emissions blowout and that is down to the lack of vision from this National Government.We know that the countries that embrace a low-carbon future first will enjoy the greatest benefits—the greatest economic benefits social benefits and environmental benefits—of embracing that change. I believe that New Zealand can be a leader. We are small but we punch above our weight. The truth is that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain from greening our economy and it takes just a few simple steps.How do we do it? Firstly polluters have to pay the cost for the damage that they cause. If polluters do not have to pay they will free ride on the rest of us. That is just Economics 101. If businesses are making a profit off greenhouse gas pollution or water pollution or any other type of pollution they have an unfair advantage over those businesses that are trying to make a living responsibly which is not fair. That is why the Greens proposed the climate tax cut which has been praised by a wide range of commentators. We put a price on climate pollution but we give the revenue back to households and business. So polluters pay for the damage that they cause but most important they have an incentive to clean up their act. Households and businesses get to keep the rewards if they save energy and reduce climate pollution. It is win-win.But it is not enough just to put a price on pollution. The Government needs to be supporting business and itself investing in infrastructure for the future—infrastructure that is not going to tie us in to high carbon emissions. For some reason this National Government is completely stuck in the 20th century particularly when it comes to transport. Just when everyone else in the world is starting to realise that more motorways just cause more congestion this Government is throwing a colossal amount of money at a few expensive uneconomic motorways that will only make congestion worst and increase overall transport costs to households and businesses.I do not know what the worst part of these motorways is. Firstly they are not going to reduce congestion. We know that. That is a fact. It has been proven all around the world that new motorway lanes do not reduce congestion in the medium term. Yes sure you can build a road and for a few years there might be a reduction in congestion but if you make it cheaper and easier for people to drive more people end up driving and ultimately there is no reduction in congestion. You can look at any city in the Western World—anywhere in the Western World where they have put money into roads—but the congestion reduction lasts at best only a couple of years so it is a total total waste of money.But the worst part is that motorways increase the overall costs of transport to the economy because households and business without other choices are locked in to the high costs of having to pay for vehicles and fuel to run them. The motorways are not going to reduce congestion. They are not going to help business. They are not going to reduce carbon emissions or our huge $8 billion oil bill which contributes to our current account deficit. They have a huge opportunity cost because that is billions of dollars we are not spending on the infrastructure that Kiwi families need to get around.The National Government likes to say that the Greens are against everything. I have to say that that is entirely untrue. We have been campaigning for smart cost-effective solutions across a range of areas. Perfect examples are our solutions for home insulation which this Government has unfortunately discontinued but they did manage to insulate hundreds of thousands of homes. That was a Green idea that had not only energy efficiency benefits and job creation benefits but most of all health benefits. Those are the kinds of smart Green ideas. The Greens have been campaigning for the City Rail Link which is the next essential step in completing Auckland’s transport network. We are here and we have practical ideas for the future that are not only going to look after the economy but actually going to create a better planet and a better place for all New Zealanders a fair society where all children have a go. We have practical solutions to address child poverty to address some of the failures in our education system and to build the infrastructure that is going to enable us to respond to the challenges of climate change and to have a successful future for all New Zealanders. Thank you.