Sage Eugenie: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSage Eugenie: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 12 April 2016. Volume:713;Page:10374. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]12.EUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for Climate Change Issues: Does she agree with the statement made by GNS Senior Scientist Nancy Bertler that sea-level rise of 30cm in 30 years is “incredibly certain” and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s analysis that a 30cm rise would result in 1 in 100-year high water levels in Wellington happening every year?Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Climate Change Issues): In part yes but I would point out that even the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and the scientist mentioned in the question disagree.Eugenie Sage: Would she discourage a first-home buyer from taking out a 30-year mortgage today on a home in a low-lying coastal area given the risks facing such properties over the next 30 years?Hon PAULA BENNETT: It would depend on where it is what mitigation happens over the next 30 years and what adaptation local councils are taking responsibility for.Eugenie Sage: Does she believe that councils are giving homebuyers enough information on the effects that rising sea levels may have on future property values in areas like the south coast of Wellington south Dunedin and Napier’s low-lying suburbs?Hon PAULA BENNETT: Not consistently no. I do not think they are giving enough information.Eugenie Sage: When rising sea levels cause worse flooding in coastal communities leaving some homes uninsurable will the Government be ready and willing to step in and compensate homeowners as it did with homeowners who were affected in the red zone after the Canterbury earthquakes?Hon PAULA BENNETT: That is not something that we have been looking at at the moment so I do not have an answer to it but it is not in our reckoning. I think we have got a big programme of work to do particularly after signing the Paris agreement and then working towards what ratification actually looks like and I am encouraging really looking at having a task force that includes business NGOs academics and agriculture and then bringing the public along as well so that we can seriously look at how we not only meet our obligations as far as the 2030 target but also bend that curve and become more of a lower-emission economy. So that is the target and I think if we get that sort of stuff right we can start addressing some of the concerns that the member raises.Eugenie Sage: What action has she taken if any to support her statement that New Zealand needs “a longer-term carefully developed plan on the financial implications from rising seas”?Hon PAULA BENNETT: As I just outlined I have been meeting with and talking with a lot of different groups particularly around businesses and NGO groups and others so I think what our focus needs to be on now is whom do we get together over the next couple of months to then work over a much longer term—and I think beyond 2030—to look at how we lower our emissions in New Zealand. So we are still working out exactly what that looks like and what the right forum is but we are really keen to see that be an in-depth process that is very transparent and open.David Seymour: Does the Minister believe that managing risk from sea level rise is the responsibility of central government local government or property owners?Hon PAULA BENNETT: In some contexts all of the above.