McClay Todd: Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
McClay Todd: Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 25 October 2012. Volume:685;Page:6221. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to rise and speak on this bill the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. It is hard to sit here and listen to the observations made from the other side when it comes to records around deforestation. Indeed I ask the last speaker in this debate Moana Mackey what Labour’s record around deforestation was—deforestation before we came to Government. It was absolutely appalling—absolutely appalling; the worst it has been in the country since records began. 
So now that they are saying what we are going to do well I am happy to speak to this. This piece of legislation meets a commitment we made to New Zealanders in the election last year to make sure that we did not impose greater cost upon New Zealand households that we protected New Zealand businesses that we continued with an emissions trading scheme that does our part—does not lead the world but so that New Zealand is doing its part—and that it secures jobs. 
You see during the select committee consideration of this bill when we were hearing submissions I remember members opposite talking about their great concerns. At the same time different parts of the Labour Party were screaming and yelling about power prices and the effect the emissions trading scheme was having upon jobs or could have upon jobs at the Tiwai aluminium smelter down in the very south of the South Island. So on the one hand you have got the Labour Party saying: “Do something about the prices of electricity we are losing jobs in the manufacturing sector.” and then somewhere else in the Labour Party they are coming to the select committee and saying: “Make these changes. Ramp up the cost upon New Zealand businesses. Forget about the jobs.” Well you cannot have it both ways unfortunately. We made a commitment to New Zealanders during the election last year that we would modify the emissions trading scheme to secure jobs to hold down the cost upon businesses and this piece of legislation does that. 
We have also heard from members opposite about the great rush that was going on at the select committee hearing. I want to give the House some facts around this as opposed to the rhetoric we hear so often in this place. The Finance and Expenditure Committee met and considered this piece of legislation on nine occasions. There were 803 submissions received from 758 submitters. We heard 19 hours of evidence. So for 19 hours the select committee sat and heard evidence from submitters—73 submitters in total. Some of those submitters were able to take up to 45 minutes of time with the committee because the committee was keen to have a full frank and open discussion. In total our consideration—after the submissions were heard—took therefore 8 hours and we met the time line that was imposed by the House to report back within 7 weeks. 
 Interestingly this is not the first time an emissions trading scheme has come before the House nor a review. When last the Finance and Expenditure Committee and the House considered legislation in this area in fact it did have longer to consider it but the number of submissions was about the same and the period of time to consider the number of submissions the hours to hear submissions was less. So I would suggest to this House that actually the select committee gave as much time as submitters wanted. There were 803 submissions received and 19 hours of evidence heard in parts of the country. We have taken this issue seriously we have listened to New Zealanders and we have given them the chance to come forward and discuss this issue with us—and this is not going through in urgency. 
I think this is quite different from the first piece of legislation which was put in under a Labour Government with the support of the Greens which we now know has been of great effect to the New Zealand economy did much more than they said it would at the time and has now imposed great great cost upon New Zealanders and upon New Zealand households. 
I want to touch upon just one part here that has been raised by submitters—and certainly the forestry industry and the last speaker in this debate—and that is around overseas carbon credits and their effect upon the New Zealand carbon market. Last year the price of carbon was much higher than it is now. I think it was around more or less $18 to $20 a unit. Today certainly it is down to around $3 to $4. It has moved; it has fluctuated a little bit. It is there for a number of reasons here in New Zealand. They include that we have a recession; the world’s economies are down. But it is also around overseas credits and their availability within New Zealand. 
The select committee looked at this in detail and considered the issue and our report says—and the report is correct—that it is possible to have an effect upon foreign credits entering the New Zealand market. That currently exists in legislation. It still is there in legislation and we believe that is an appropriate mechanism. There is an example where under this Government we have already limited some credits coming into New Zealand. So what I say to the member opposite who spoke last and the forestry sector is that we have ensured that the tools are here in this legislation to have an effect to have an emissions trading scheme that will be robust for the future and there will be more discussion around this. I commend this bill to the House. We have done our job properly.