Cosgrove Clayton: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations  and State Enterprises — In Committee 
Cosgrove Clayton: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations  and State Enterprises — In Committee 
[Volume:631;Page:3068] 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Associate Minister of Finance) 
: 
 That was for the benefit of those— 
Eric Roy 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I understood that our party was to have three calls on this matter. Does the Minister’s response indicate this is the conclusion of the debate? 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: No certainly not. 
Brian Connell 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I was seeking another call and it is normal practice in the Chamber that when a speaker seeks another call he or she gets it. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I understand Mr Connell. You can actually have another call. The calls do not have to be taken together. I have already called the honourable Minister so the reality under the Speakers’ rulings is that he will take precedence in this case. But I have recognised that you do want to take another call. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: For the benefit of those out in the real world who did not know whom that was I will say that was the “bard of Christchurch” Brian Connell. After that speech which was bereft of any detail—he could not get his demand and his supply curves quite right and mixed them up—is it any wonder that he has been dropped not only off the back row in the Chamber but right off the cliff? 
We do not have a blackout power crisis. It may be in Mr Connell’s interest of course to scare the living daylights out of every pensioner in his electorate of Rakaia for his political gain but here is the truth. If Dr Brash and Nick Smith went back to the lake and stood behind the foot-by-foot measure in the same place where they had that infamous photo opportunity then they would be drowning. They would be underwater. Dr Brash is of course drowning—politically that is—but the truth is that Dr Brash and Nick Smith would be underwater. Of course that is a bit like walking the plank. There is not a lot of detail. National will whip an idea out to see whether it flies. It takes a risk and in that case that backfired. 
Now let us look at Genesis Energy—a very very solid performer. I can confirm for the benefit of the National Party that unlike it we have no plans to sell the assets and no plans to sell the State-owned enterprises. Genesis Energy has quite prudently of course as a countermeasure to any blackout—mythical or otherwise—that may occur stockpiled coal at Huntly in order to ensure that New Zealand’s power needs can be met if there is a low flow into the lakes. To that end in 2004-05 the stockpile was running at 780000 tonnes. That is not a bad countermeasure I would say and it will assure ordinary New Zealanders that if there are low lake levels—and there he is Dr Smith the man who if he stood in the lake with Dr Brash at the same place as he did a couple of weeks ago for the photo opportunity would be underwater. Some would say that he may be underwater now given the way he carries on. 
Genesis Energy paid $23 million in dividends to the shareholder the Crown—the custodian of that company on behalf of the taxpayer—which is money that we can use in other areas. That company is also building E3P—a crucial power station next to the Huntly station that will generate I am told 385 megawatts of power through its gas-fired station. That station will be ready by the end of December. That is a massive investment of $530 million and it is all good stuff. 
So I say to the National members as they attempt to scare the living daylights out of every pensioner as I said by saying there will be a mythical blackout that this Government has put in place new hydro generation. This Government through Genesis Energy has got the coal stockpiles under way. We can look at what Keith Turner is doing in respect of the massive wind generation proposals that are being planned for and rolled out. 
Brian Connell 
: You said he was an alarmist. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: No I said you were an alarmist actually. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Please do not bring the Chairperson into the debate. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: So we have here a Government that went through a low flow and low lake level power crisis some years ago—it inherited a basket case of underfunded State-owned enterprises—and then put in place decent countermeasures. I pay tribute to the boards of Genesis Energy and Meridian Energy— 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: And Mighty River Power. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
:—and Mighty River Power as my colleague Mr Hodgson points out for the solid work they have done in progressing decent countermeasures. 
Again for a bit of historical context I contrast that with the previous Government’s policy which of course brought us to the situation we have now in terms of the “Mad Max” Bradford reforms. Again—and it is a bit like the previous Government’s Crown research institutes policy—no one knows National’s policies on the State-owned enterprises. On some of those enterprises that Government went to the country and said it would sell them then it backed off that because it might have been slightly unpalatable to the country and now no one knows its policy. The best the Opposition could do was to have Dr Nick Smith behind his leader as he walked the plank and beside his leader as he stood at an empty lake—which would have filled up 2 weeks later to a level over Dr Nick Smith’s head so that he would have been floating like a dead carcass on top of the lake along with his leader today. Well we know the status of the dead carcass in political terms. The body bags are out.