Kaye Nikki: Third Readings — 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Kaye Nikki: Third Readings — 
[Sitting date: 11 May 2011. Volume:672;Page:18592. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) 
: 
 I am delighted to speak on this legislation. I am particularly delighted as a Bluegreen from Auckland. We need to remind ourselves of why we need this legislation. The reason we need this legislation is the years of the 2000s when our environment was trashed. That is right; under the last Labour Government under a red-green Government we had significant environmental degradation. I will take us through some of that.  
In many areas we have had to redress the degradation. In the area of deforestation New Zealand lost 30000 hectares under Labour’s years in office. We turned this around in 2009 and 2010. In the area of renewable energy there was more generation from coal oil and gas under the last Labour Government than in any time in our history. Under this National Government more than 32000 gigawatt hours of electricity was produced from renewable sources in 2010.  
Ruth Dyson mentioned the emissions trading scheme. The irony of Labour members mentioning the emissions trading scheme is that under Labour’s watch emissions significantly increased. The other massive irony of Labour members mentioning the emissions trading scheme is that they constantly talk about our most disadvantaged. There is such hypocrisy in that because the emissions trading scheme that Labour would have passed would have doubled the cost to low-income families.  
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The member opposite used the word “hypocrisy” relating to some Labour policy. I take offence at that remark. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Yes it is out of order to use that word. I ask the member to withdraw that comment. 
NIKKI KAYE 
: I withdraw and apologise. This legislation is about creating a national independent environmental regulator. This legislation will finally provide a one-stop shop for the environmental regulatory functions of consenting monitoring and providing technical advice. This legislation is about providing a much more professional framework for how we manage our environment in New Zealand. That is sending a very clear message that we value our environment.  
In the area of the economy for a very long time we have had a professional framework with a very clear split with Treasury as a policy adviser the Reserve Bank having the regulatory functions and the Auditor-General as the auditor. By ensuring that the Ministry for the Environment can be a policy adviser the Environmental Protection Authority a regulator and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment an auditor we are showing that we really value our environment.  
We on this side of the House understand that our environment and our economy are inextricably linked. Despite the history of Labour—its degradation and trashing of the environment and the “greenwash” that comes from that side of the House—we have done many things under this Government to show how much we value our environment. 
The benefit of this legislation is also in the area of efficiency. We will be bringing together regulations across Government agencies including the Ministry of Economic Development the Environmental Risk Management Authority and the Ministry for the Environment all under one roof. The merging of these technical and regulatory skills will severely reduce inefficiency and will lead to much more robust and informed decision-making.  
There are benefits in the area of national consenting as well. The Opposition constantly raises issues of certain consents but one area where the Environmental Protection Authority will really help is the area of renewable energy. We know this because an application is currently before the Environmental Protection Authority for Contact Energy’s $1 billion Tauhara geothermal station near Taupo.  
I acknowledge the support of certain environmental groups for this legislation. There is a very good quote from Gary Taylor from the Environmental Defence Society. He stated: “The EPA is to become the national environmental regulator and it’s vital that it is free from political influence.” We are pleased to see the continuing evolution of the Environmental Protection Authority as a national independent environmental regulator.  
Finally I will touch on the issue of political neutrality that has been raised by many Opposition members and I just remind members what is in the legislation regarding this issue. The Environmental Protection Authority is an independent Crown entity. It will be free from political influence and that is really important. It is really important that we finally have a much more professional framework for our environmental issues because this country values our environment too much to allow what happened in the “noughties”—as I refer to them—under the last Labour Government to happen again. That is why this legislation is part of a significant amount of reform that our Government has done to ensure that we can properly get good information about what is happening in our environment and properly manage things like our consents in order to ensure that big renewable energy projects are happening.  
This legislation is important not just for current New Zealanders but also for the future New Zealanders who will come after us. This legislation is part of our Bluegreen approach that will enable environmental issues to be considered in a much more professional independent accountable and transparent way. In passing this legislation we are sending a clear message to New Zealanders that this Government highly values our environment.