Brown Peter: Electricity and Gas Industries Bill — In Committee 
Brown Peter: Electricity and Gas Industries Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:620;Page:15717] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 I welcome the opportunity to comment on Roger Sowry’s two amendments. I think he has put his finger right on the button. I am surprised—actually I am a bit embarrassed—that we did not pick these things up at the select committee. They are very obvious things and I compliment the member on bringing them up. 
With due respect to the Minister the clause that he referred to does not cover the issue and these two amendments should be given serious consideration by the Government. They are fairly innocuous really and simply state that there is an obligation to consult and we will support them wholeheartedly. The Hon Richard Prebble either wittingly or unwittingly illustrated quite clearly how badly the market is failing in this country in terms of electricity. I say to members of the Committee that it is not acceptable to the average New Zealander living in the 21st century to have to pay extra to have access to their power all the time. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: They do it elsewhere. 
PETER BROWN 
: They might do it elsewhere but that is moving back to the 19th century. That member should get into the 21st century. We want power at the flick of a switch at reasonable prices and that is the problem that MPs must face up to. The question that New Zealand First has asked is whether this bill does that. The answer unfortunately is no it will not do it. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: Well you’re right about that. 
PETER BROWN 
: I am right about that and I am right about the other one. That member should ask any members of the public whether they want electricity any time of day at a reasonable price. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: Win Lotto! 
PETER BROWN 
: He is comparing wanting electricity with winning Lotto. I would suggest to Mr Prebble that average New Zealanders see the winning of Lotto as something that is extraordinary but when they go home at night on a cold day they want to be able to put the fire on and the lights on. I know that the average New Zealander is accommodating and would say: “Well I don’t want all the lights on. I’ll turn them off in this room if I’m only using that room.” People do not want all their lights all at the same time but they do want access to electricity 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. 
I believe that people want that electricity delivered at reasonable prices and that is the challenge that we in Parliament must face up to. That is the issue that the public wants us to address. Will this bill do it? New Zealand First says that it will not. Will a competitive market deliver reasonable prices to the average consumer to the business consumer and to all consumers? The answer is that if there is a working market then it will but we do not have a market that is working to the fullest extent. Can we get there? This bill will not help us get there. In the view of New Zealand First it will not encourage investment in sufficient quantity to develop capacity supply and generation. 
We need to face up to the fact that we have billions of tons of coal in this country and use it at a reasonable price to generate electricity. The amount of carbon dioxide that would go into the air or wherever is negligible on a worldwide scale. We sell it to India and to China. They burn it with impunity and we restrict it here. I say to the Minister in the chair Mr Duynhoven that he should think again about the use of coal. Wind will go so far—we can get so much wind power relatively cheaply—but to get the full amount of electricity we need will be very very costly. Cheap gas is running out. We know we have to find an alternative and it is sitting there. We have enough coal to supply electricity to this country for hundreds of years but we prohibit its use for ideological reasons. I say that is daft. New Zealand is a relatively small country with a very small population on a world scale. We should be using coal to generate electricity at reasonable prices. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: The member is right again. 
PETER BROWN 
: I am right on about five things. 
Gordon Copeland 
: I think so too. 
PETER BROWN 
: United Future agrees. I think I might have a re-think now! I say seriously to the Minister that this is not a joke. We are using electricity on an ever-increasing basis.