Foss Craig: Electricity Industry Bill — Second Reading 
Foss Craig: Electricity Industry Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:665;Page:12478] 
CRAIG FOSS (National—Tukituki) 
: 
 In the normal course of events during the second reading of a bill we talk to some of the amendments the select committee has made to the bill that was originally introduced to the House. This is the first opportunity that members and particularly members of the Finance and Expenditure Committee have to comment on the changes that have come from the select committee process. The process for the Electricity Industry Bill was very robust and I think it shows the select committee in action. I say in respect of the previous speaker that Labour has put in a minority report but overall as we went through the process I think some good changes which the Minister acknowledged were put through. I acknowledge the hard work of my Finance and Expenditure Committee and the officials who got us to this place including some members on the Opposition benches who were subbed on and off because it was their particular area. 
We called for submissions on 15 December and they were open for a long time until 26 February 2010 just after Parliament resumed. But interestingly as we went through the bill some issues arose from the submissions. We received a letter from the Minister that pointed us to a Supplementary Order Paper that made some changes to the original bill which he intended to bring to our committee. The committee decided to reopen for submissions particularly but only on this Supplementary Order Paper as intended. 
Once again it is all credit to the process because from the submissions on the original Supplementary Order Paper that was before us further changes were recommended by the Finance and Expenditure Committee. I am sure members who are from down south will be talking about the various issues in relation to Waitaki which I will speak about during another reading of this bill. It was very interesting and I have learnt a lot about that part of the world. I acknowledge the changes that have been alluded to in the commentary and throughout the bill. 
I want to make a couple of points in particular. I note that this bill balances essential priorities in the energy sector. This bill adds equity and environmental protection and imposes coherent policy solutions to a very troubled sector. We saw increases of 72 percent in the cost of power when members opposite were in power. This bill implements proposals that have been properly evaluated. Goodness me the previous Government had 9 or 10 years to evaluate various solutions to the problems it now seems to acknowledge but it is now suddenly saying that it will vote against this bill which tries to fix some of those problems. I do not know what is up there. 
It is quite correct that this bill will not control price increases. It is not intended to do so. This is not the socialist nirvana that perhaps some members opposite might want. But what this bill will do is provide the opportunity to at the very least start to slow down the crazy increases we have seen in the price of retail power and business power over the last 5 years or so. In the last 6 or 7 years the increase has been 72 percent which is absolutely outrageous. A previous speaker had the audacity to talk about pensioners being pinched without even acknowledging or apologising for—which would have been more polite—the fact that those same consumers were faced with increases of 72 percent during Labour’s term in Government. I point out that those superannuitants are now better off. A married couple on superannuation are better off by $78 per week as a result of the tax changes and indexation of superannuation that this Government has brought forward to help those people cope with some of the increases they face such as electricity price increases. We all acknowledge that some consumers face a difficult time in meeting some of these obligations and this bill is about trying to address some of the structural problems that have led to this sector becoming out of control. 
I have yet to hear—but perhaps we will hear it from other speakers—apologies from members opposite for the brownouts and the threat of blackouts that we had during their term in office. Every winter there were publicity schemes to tell us to turn off our power because of the total mismanagement and structural inadequacies that the previous Government did not address in relation to electricity. I look forward to discussing this bill and these amendments further as we move it through the House.