Harawira Hone: Electricity Industry Reform Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Harawira Hone: Electricity Industry Reform Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:644;Page:13988] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. Kia ora tatou e te Whare. Earlier this year the Maori Party caucus had the opportunity to meet with the Aotearoa Wave and Tidal Energy Association. It was a most instructive hui where we were told that given Aotearoa’s likely energy demands over the next 10 years we needed to be creating a larger renewable energy “pipeline” now. The association reckons that wave and tidal power solutions or “blue energy” could start contributing to the country’s power supply within the next 5 to 10 years and eventually meet up to 20 percent of the nation’s energy demands.  
I was reminded of that meeting and the association’s passion for tidal energy as I worked on my speech for the Electricity Industry Reform Amendment Bill tonight because the association also felt that marine energy technologies were on the cusp of commercial development and that we should be capitalising on our world-class wave and tidal resources to test home-grown and overseas designs. So we urge energy leaders in Aotearoa to catch this wave of innovation if we are to optimise energy generation from renewable sources. The Maori Party has often raised in this House the need to confront the twin crises of peak oil and climate change. Indeed just last week I issued a press release reiterating the call we made back in 2005 and oft times since for the need for a cross-party parliamentary commission on peak oil.  
Everyone knows too that the link between oil consumption and climate change is a priority issue for everyone in this House. So we again repeat the call for broad-ranging options to serve our future power demands and to invest in new power generation options: blue energy hydro wind geothermal or whatever—just let us give it a go. We support the change to the definition of “new renewables” so that lines businesses can invest in all renewables including hydro and geothermal which had previously been excluded. We are well aware of the positive contribution that efficient geothermal generation can make to reducing carbon emissions. The New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development tells us for example that efficient gas-fired power generation in and around Auckland could replace our dependence on Huntly coal as well as reduce pressure on transmission capacity into the region.  
It is very timely that geothermal generation is included in this broader definition of renewables because just yesterday I was referring to the work of the Tuaropaki Trust which has just granted a 30-year licence to the Tuaropaki Power Company to generate power from its geothermal fields until 2027. We note that this bill also proposes to make it easier for lines businesses that carry electricity produced by others to sell the output of that part of the generation they carry thereby encouraging them and others to invest further and hopefully in renewable energy generation. Just a small but necessary word of caution though. We would hope that any such investment would include fair and just negotiations for those hapu and iwi within whose territories those resources lie. On another level this bill also proposes to narrow the scope of ownership separation requirements so that where lines and supply are not collocated line businesses can be involved in both generation and retail again to encourage more market investment in renewable energy generation and development.  
In closing then we can again raise the critical importance of our whole nation preparing to deal with a pending energy crisis and we challenge all sectors of our economy and the wider community to utilise our limited natural resources in a sustainable environmentally considerate manner so that all citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand can have access to affordable energy resources in a world of ever-increasing energy shortages and rising prices. Whatever our future might involve it must include efficient management of electricity and the Maori Party will be supporting the promotion of a range of strategies as part of those solutions. These include: the investigation of net metering and the viability of compulsory solar water heating in all new homes and buildings; the investigation of passive solar design as mandatory in all new dwellings; the retrofitting of all Government buildings with solar water heating and renewable energy power supplies where possible; tax breaks for approved passive solar new and retrofitted design buildings; and tax breaks for insulating solar heating and energy-efficient dwellings businesses and vehicles.  
We look forward to discussing these and a whole range of other proposals as submitters come through the select committee process in relation to this Electricity Industry Reform Amendment Bill. Accordingly the Maori Party will be supporting the bill at this reading. Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker.