English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:608;Page:5547] 
3.  
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Minister of Energy 
: What is his response to energy consumers such as Becky Ashe of Mission Bay who is unhappy at being blamed for power shortages and said: “I don’t like the way this is all being blamed on the household consumer … We did our bit last time—and that wasn’t so long ago—so why is it happening again? I don’t want to spend nights at home in a cold dark house because something is happening that is not my fault.”? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister of Energy 
: The Minister of Energy is presently announcing a new 80-megawatt wind farm in the Wairarapa which I understand will provide nearly enough power for the entire Wairarapa. Nobody is blaming consumers such as Mrs Ashe for the prospect of power shortages and nobody is asking her to spend nights at home in a cold dark house. The information on power savings being provided in the target 10 percent campaign shows how savings can be made without such drastic measures. 
Hon Bill English 
: Does the Minister believe there are other New Zealanders who take the same view as Becky Ashe of Mission Bay or does he have some other explanation about why the campaign he is running has fallen so far short of its target of 10 percent; and what is he going to do about it? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I might say that a more unified and nationalistic approach from the Opposition would be a good way to start. There are a number of things people can do. For example people who turn off towel rails would on average save the 10 percent with that action alone. People who turn off appliances at the wall would with that one action save 5 percent. There is a lot people can do that is reasonable. I just ask the National Party to get in behind and stop whingeing. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You have just allowed that member to have a lash at the National Party when that answer has nothing to do with the question. I take the leave of the House for the Minister to be able to tell us on what occasion the National Party has ever said anything about the savings campaign other than offering full support for it. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought for that. Is there any objection? There is not. [ 
Interruption 
] No the member cannot take leave on behalf of someone. He can ask a question. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I took leave of the House. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member cannot take leave for another person. The member has leave to ask a question which will not be within the allocation that he has been granted by the House. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Can the Minister name the occasion and give the statement when any member of the National Party caucus has suggested anything other than encouraging New Zealanders to support the savings campaign fully? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think one could look at the tone of questions for oral answer—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No I am listening to the answer first; then I will hear the comments. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: If the member wants an example of whingeing then he should look at question No. 3 from the Leader of the Opposition. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. This question is not like a normal question. It is a question allowed by the House very specifically and the Minister should give a specific answer. Has there been an occasion? Is there a quote? If the answer is no he should stand up and say so. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No an ordinary question was allowed and the answer addressed it. 
Mark Peck 
: Can the Minister assure consumers in areas such as Southland and Otago which are achieving significant power savings that their efforts are worthwhile when other regions are saving less at present? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Yes the efforts made by consumers such as those in Southland are very much worthwhile as they will help avoid more severe disruption to power supplies. I urge consumers in other parts of the country to follow the leadership shown by Southland and increase their efforts to reach that 10 percent target. 
Dail Jones 
: What is his response to other energy consumers such as Max Peers of the Waitakere Gardens Retirement Village in Henderson a volunteer driver for the Cancer Society who on his night off will also have to suffer a reduction in warmth both externally and internally arising from the power shortages and an increase in the price of The Old Masters rich cream sherry from $12 to $18—being a double blow to himself and to other New Zealanders of a similar age? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think anyone who has any sort of medical knowledge at all knows that the warmth provided by alcohol does not last for very long. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: Is the Government concerned that the spectacular failure of its call for power savings might be because the public perceives this Labour Government as blaming everyone else for the failure except itself—with another example of that occurring today when apparently it was the fault of the Opposition—and has the Government considered that if the Prime Minister were to go on television and accept responsibility personally the Government might get a better response from the public? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: If there was one person in this House with more responsibility for the mad excesses of the free market—which includes this area—it is the Hon Richard Prebble. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The member might like to authenticate that answer. I have not been a Minister for 12 years. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member raises a very very valid and interesting point. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Surely it cannot be acceptable for a Minister to give that answer totally irrelevant as it is and in the case of Mr Prebble totally wrong as well because he surely cannot be responsible— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Please come to the point—do not make interlocutory comments like that. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Just relax; I am getting to the point. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member is not going to have any more comments— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: There is a Standing Order that states I have the right to make that point of order. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No. Please be seated. [ 
Interruption 
] The member will leave the House if he is not seated. He has the right to make a point of order but I have the right to intervene when I think it is not a point of order and it was not because of the member’s remark. Please make a point of order. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: There are two material issues about my point of order. One is that the Minister made no attempt to answer the question and worse still in political terms he set out to make a character assassination on a member who could not be held responsible. I thought it was your duty to get up and make him answer the question which is what would be expected in any other democracy. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: As far as I was concerned I heard the question I heard the answer and I then heard the member’s point of order. I thought there was a good spirit in the House and he was taking it in that regard. I thought that that was where the matter ended. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister confirm his view that Becky Ashe of Mission Bay is whingeing—to use his word—when she says “I don’t like the way this has all been blamed on the household consumer.”; and when is he going to figure out it is precisely because of the Government’s attitude that the power crisis is everyone else’s fault that the savings campaign is failing? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: At no stage did I indicate she was whingeing. It was the tone the member used that whinged—nearly as much as the two people next to him. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: Has the Minister seen the article in yesterday’s  
Dominion Post 
 “How and why the power crisis happened” which stated: “There is a shortage of electricity-generating capacity. The demand for electricity continues to grow but no new large hydro power station has been permitted or built in New Zealand for more than 20 years even though there is an identified hydro-generation potential of about 20000 megawatts of which 10000 was considered to be economic and environmentally reasonable to develop.” and can he explain to the House why Richard Prebble is responsible for the situation? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Obviously the Hon Richard Prebble has had an enormous influence. We know that during the 1990s he was running Ruth Richardson and others on a string. On the— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I want the Minister to come to the particular question that was asked. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: On the question of permits I tell the House that 1300 megawatts of new generation has received resource consents since 2000. The reason it has not all been built has not been uncertainty about the resource management process but uncertainty about gas supply. 
Hon Bill English 
: What action does the Minister intend to take to improve the rate of power savings going from under 5 percent to somewhere near the 10 percent target the Government has set bearing in mind that if we do not reach the 10 percent target we will be facing blackouts in the winter? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think the member means we may be facing blackouts during the winter. There are factors such as when and where it rains that are also relatively important. 
Hon Bill English 
: Too late. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: The member says it is too late for rain. The Government is looking at ongoing and developing campaigns for power saving in the area and if the member—[ 
Interruption 
] Gerry Brownlee should just wait and see.