Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:623;Page:18661] 
4.  
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Will she be raising Australia’s ongoing refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol with Australian Prime Minister John Howard during his forthcoming visit to New Zealand; if so what exact message will she be conveying? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 No. The positions of our respective Governments on this issue are well known. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Is the Prime Minister aware that Australia’s Kyoto Protocol target is the slackest in the OECD and allows a 7 percent increase in net emissions; if so how does she expect to strengthen Australia and New Zealand Closer Economic Relations in the future if Australia will not accept even those international obligations? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: To the best of my knowledge the Australia and New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement does not cover the Kyoto Protocol targets. What the Australian Government does in that respect is entirely up to it. 
Larry Baldock 
: Does the Prime Minister acknowledge that both Australia and the US are making significant progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions despite not having signed up to the Kyoto Protocol; if so does she accept that it is just as effective to have an internal carbon-trading regime rather than being tied to a bureaucratic and uncertain international one like the Kyoto Protocol that does not yet involve the developing world? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I am not responsible for the policies of those Governments but I would say that New Zealand as a very strong supporter of multilateralism across the board likes to be moving with the broad mainstream of international opinion. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Will the Prime Minister be pointing out to Prime Minister John Howard that some New Zealand businesses expect to gain a competitive advantage from the Kyoto Protocol as reported in today’s  
Dominion Post 
 or will she allow that advantage to be undercut by Australian businesses that are not playing the game? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I would think that businesses in the United States and in Australia will be looking very carefully at how they might be disadvantaged by not being part of the international trading system that comes out of the Kyoto Protocol. 
Larry Baldock 
: Does the Prime Minister agree with the statement made by the Hon Pete Hodgson yesterday in the House: “Cars and cows are where our greenhouse gases largely come from …”; if so what plans does her Government have to phase out inefficient polluting vehicles—ironically many of which have “GE Free” or “Save the Planet” stickers on them—and replace them with new technologically advanced more environmentally friendly vehicles that offer greater hope of reducing overall carbon dioxide emissions than all the Greens’ policies combined? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: One is tempted to quip that it might be easier to phase out inefficient polluting cars than inefficient polluting cows. However having resisted that temptation I will say that of course the Government in its overall policy is addressing the issue of emissions from cars but the reality is with regard to electricity generation that only 8 to 9 percent of our greenhouse gases come from there. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Will the Prime Minister remind Mr Howard that commitments from China India and other developing countries are dependent on the OECD taking action first and that the refusal of Australia and the US to ratify might give developing countries an excuse to remain outside the Kyoto Protocol for even longer? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Again I am not responsible for what excuses others might use for not coming into an international trading system. What I am satisfied of is that New Zealand has done the right thing in agreeing to be part of this very important multilateral initiative.