Fitzsimons Jeanette: Resource Management (Energy and Climate Change) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Fitzsimons Jeanette: Resource Management (Energy and Climate Change) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:615;Page:11321] 
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) 
: 
 It is not surprising is it that the planet is in a mess when we look at the level of ignorance even among members of Parliament. It is not innocent ignorance but wilful ignorance despite the information that has been put in front of them time and time again. We heard Shane Ardern say that we have signed the Kyoto Protocol ahead of all our trading partners. It will be news to New Zealanders that we do not trade with Europe Japan and Canada any more. They do not count. People who care only about America are prepared to dismiss the rest of the world as though it does not matter. They signed the Kyoto Protocol long before us—we are playing catch up. 
Ken Shirley thinks the answer is coal. Well I guess if one does not really believe climate change is a problem at all then of course one would say to burn coal—never mind the mess it makes in every other way. The evidence for climate change is now overwhelming even if there are some uncertainties about the rate of the changes. 
It is clear now how the Minister has persuaded United Future to change its vote. It was against this legislation in the select committee and it is now for it. It is clear that United Future has been persuaded by being promised that in the next term of Parliament it can have coal just as ACT National and New Zealand First wish as well. That is a shame because it is not as Paul Hutchison said premature to get into climate-change policy; it is probably too late. It is certainly too late to prevent some of the effects and it may be too late to prevent even worse effects. 
Local government has been asking for this legislation. It wants to plan to avoid the sorts of floods and disasters that have been plaguing the lower North Island recently. Nobody can yet say that those floods were caused by climate change but there is no doubt that that kind of effect is consistent with what we can expect if climate change accelerates. Local government wants the tools to plan conservatively to prevent that kind of effect and the Ministry for the Environment has already produced substantial guidance. We do not need to wait for a national policy statement the work has been done it is there now and local government is able to use it. 
I want to propose an amendment to clause 2 because there is a bargain at the heart of this bill that may not be kept. The bargain at the heart of this bill is that the tools that regional councils have to take greenhouse emissions into account when they are considering air emissions are to be taken away in exchange for there being a national instrument which is a much more effective way of controlling them. That national instrument under Government policy will be a carbon charge in 2007. I have always been a bit concerned about the 3-year gap in-between but I am much more concerned now that it appears possible that the Kyoto Protocol will not be ratified at all. If the Kyoto Protocol is not ratified at all there will be no carbon charge there will be no national instrument and the only mechanism that exists to control greenhouse emissions will be what regional councils have been doing—and in a couple of cases quite successfully. 
Two very successful agreements have been negotiated on two new power stations to mitigate their greenhouse emissions. I believe that the coming into force of clauses 6 and 7 which remove the powers of regional councils ought to be linked in time with the coming into effect of a national instrument. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I do not like to interrupt the speaker but we are on Part 1 and she is talking about clauses 5 and 6 which are in Part 2. 
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS 
: Speaking to the point of order Mr Chairperson I point out that my amendment is to clause 2 which is in Part 1. That is where the “coming into force” is provided for. Therefore I need to speak to my amendment to Part 1 which is where clause 2 occurs. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I thank the honourable member. Maybe she might like to continue. 
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS 
: It is worth noting in view of the things that have been said about carbon charges and the higher prices that they will cause that the money raised by a carbon charge does not go into a black hole and disappear from the economy. It is available to pay back in tax reductions elsewhere. Green Party policy is that we would lower income tax by the amount we collected from the carbon charge. We would pay a bit more for our fuel we would pay a bit less at the bottom band of our income—not at the top as ACT would like to do—by whatever we collected from the carbon charge. That money is available to go into the economy and achieve other things.