Smith StuartSTUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura): Thank you Madam Chair and unlike the previous speaker I won't reflect on your judgment on what's in scope for the debate or not. But the Minister did raise electricity prices. She has talked extensively about that but she's neglected to talk about industrial users. I know it can be a difficult concept for people to understand but industrial users the price that they pay and the cost that they bear actually flow through the economy—right through the economy.We're very aware and concerned on this side of the House about the cost of living crisis that we are currently in and actually the Prime Minister refused to even utter those words for a while but was forced into it because of us pointing out that we're living in a cost of living crisis. Energy is a major driver of the cost of living and I think everyone understands that. But what is causing those prices to rise and what is causing the uncertainty in the electricity sector? One of the major causes which Simon Court raised earlier is Lake Onslow. It's absolutely correct what he said about the likely blowout in costs in that. But what is of concern to us on this side of the House is the impact of that on the electricity sector and the uncertainty that it raises because anyone who goes out and talks to the electricity sector as I have and others on this side have knows that it's raised all the time as a major issue for them. It's driving their lack of willingness to invest in generation. This bill doesn't go anywhere near that. Why is that? I don't know.But I can give the Minister an example of where the projects like Onslow will go wrong. We only have to look at Snowy 2.0 in Australia which is a pumped hydro scheme first suggested by Malcolm Turnbull in 2017 and is expected to cost $2 billion and to be finished in 2021. This week they've gone back asking for another $2 billion. It's now likely to cost $10 billion and be completed in 2028. That is why the industry is so concerned about Onslow because that is what will happen here. It will be well over $10 billion and we can't afford it actually quite frankly although with the way the Government spends money who knows?But I'd like to move on to the regulatory impact statement and the ability to allow the authority to amend the code if the Minister is not satisfied with progress on specified matters. So the bill now gives the Minister the ability to force the authority to make regulations if the Minister deems it necessary. Now that is against the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) recommendation; they recommended the status quo. Why is that? So—Hon Judith Collins: Power and control.STUART SMITH: Well yes I think it seems that central control is what is behind all of this and you would really need the wisdom of Solomon to actually be able to stand up the top as a Minister no matter how talented the Minister is—or lacking in talent—and that Minister wouldn't have I believe the understanding of the intricacies in the market and we end up with unintended consequences.So my question to the Minister is: why is she going against MBIE's advice on that and why does she think she's in a better position to make these decisions rather than officials who are well qualified in this area and across it in great detail and what was the increase in industrial electricity prices which drives the cost of living for us all? I believe actually in her earlier comments I think she was talking about the total cost of electricity that users pay and as the former Minister the Hon Judith Collins will know that includes delivery cost that includes Transpower cost. What I'd like to know is: what is the increase of the actual electricity when you strip out the cost of Transpower and lines charges within those costs? So a couple of questions for the Minister.