Prebble Richard: Electricity and Gas Industries Bill — In Committee 
Prebble Richard: Electricity and Gas Industries Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:620;Page:15723] 
Hon RICHARD PREBBLE (ACT) 
: 
 I deliberately waited until after the United Future party had spoken to this part because I was interested to learn how a party that claims it is centre-right could support such legislation. Let me say to that party that this is one of the most socialist bills I have seen—and I have been in this House for 26 years. I saw Sir Robert Muldoon’s legislation and I know this is Stalinist centralised command-and-control legislation. Then we found that the United Future party boasted that it had a role in the bill. Yes it has managed to persuade the Government to lift the generation limitation for lines companies from 25 megawatts of power to 50 or from 10 percent of their load to 20 percent. Somehow that is a justification for United Future to vote for the bill. Then the member gave us another extraordinary justification: he said that if somebody does find some gas we will whip a new bill through Parliament. 
Gordon Copeland 
: Why not? 
Hon RICHARD PREBBLE 
: The member asks why not. I ask the member given that that party says it is principled where the principle is behind voting for this legislation and where the principle is—whether economic religious or from any ideology of any nature—that states it is evil for a lines company to generate 51 megawatts of electricity and it is evil for it to generate more than 21 percent of its load. 
I could understand a split between lines companies and generation if the limitation was set at zero. Or if we are to say that lines companies should get into generation why can it not be set at 100 percent? I say to the United Future party that I realise it likes to suck up to the Government and its members like to be able to get up in the Chamber and say that they made a tiddly little change so they are good boys. 
Gordon Copeland 
: More than you can say isn’t it? 
Hon RICHARD PREBBLE 
: The member says it is more than I can say. I say to Mr Copeland that at least one knows the ACT party has a rational point of view. We have a rational point of view and we are asking why if lines companies are to be allowed to get into generation the limitation is set at 50 megawatts? Is there a law that states that generators that generate less than 50 megawatts are efficient? If one listens to Mr Copeland’s own words—which is more than he does—one can hear that he is arguing for a 150-megawatt station to be built by Solid Energy but not by a lines company. Now I ask Mr Copeland what is wrong with that? He cannot give us an answer to that because the United Future party is on the far far left of New Zealand politics. It does believe that the Government and the Minister ought to interfere with the industry in that way. United Future does believe in command and regulation. It is on the left in terms of its views and it ought to be upfront and admit that. United Future ought to be upfront and say that the Government would not be able to introduce this socialist legislation without the support of the United Future party. 
It is no good for the United Future members to come along to the Chamber and say that they made a minor variation to the bill and therefore this socialism is OK. Either one is in favour of the free market and believes in free enterprise—in which case one would vote against the bill—or one does not and is a socialist. I say to Mr Copeland that he is a socialist. He is on that side of the paddock and he ought to be proud of it. He should go out there and tell small-business people that he does not vote in favour of deregulation but that he gets up in Parliament and supports a Stalinist bill. Yes the United Future party does belong with the Labour Party. Mr Dunne has not changed his stripes; he is a socialist. He does believe he knows better than other people and that he can tell investors what they should do. That party believes it knows better than other people and it is telling the lines companies that it is evil for a lines company to generate more than 20 percent of the generation in its area. I do not know what that evil is because Mr Copeland has not got around to telling us what it is. Apparently it is terribly inefficient to generate 51 megawatts but we are told that if gas is found then all Mr Copeland’s principles will go out the window and he will come down to the Chamber and rush new legislation through.