Robertson H V Ross: Electricity Industry Bill — In Committee 
Robertson H V Ross: Electricity Industry Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:667;Page:14156] 
H V ROSS ROBERTSON (Labour—Manukau East) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Chairman. I am thankful for the opportunity to address the Electricity Industry Bill. First of all I would like to acknowledge the members of the Finance and Expenditure Committee for the work they did in bringing this legislation back to the House and those select committee personnel who also did such a sterling job. Scrapping the Electricity Commission is a move by the Government to improve efficiency. That is a laudable and commendable thing to do but I have to say that I have seen it all before in the pursuit of productivity and best practice. It happens about every 20 years. The synopsis basically is that after a certain amount of time the officials in charge—especially if everything is based in Wellington—say: “Let’s put things out into the community where we get more direct contact and we can actually improve the efficiency of the resource we have back in head office.” Then about 20 years later they say: “Oh things have got out of control. We have to pull it all back to Wellington so we know what’s going on.” It goes on and on. 
The commentary to this bill states: “The Electricity Industry Bill seeks to reform various areas of the electricity sector and is intended to increase competition in the electricity market and ensure security of supply.” There is nothing wrong with that; it is commendable. It goes on: “The bill would modify governance arrangements in the industry provide for specific regulatory changes and alter the overall structure of the electricity sector. Specifically the bill would disestablish the Electricity Commission and replace it with an Electricity Authority”. That comes back to the whole issue of the fact that it is about productivity and the pursuit of excellence in all we do. That is important but this will not be the end. I guarantee members that in a number of years maybe another 10 or 15 we will get changes again because that is what happens. 
I want to put a number of questions to the Minister in the chair the Hon Phil Heatley. I ask the Minister what analysis has been done on the costs or benefits of the proposed relocation of roles amongst the authority the Commerce Commission Transpower the Security and Reliability Council the Ministry of Economic Development and the Minister. What analysis? I tell the Minister in the chair to get up on his hind legs and take a call instead of just sitting there and ignoring the Opposition. That is what the Minister is doing. He is refusing to acknowledge the concerns of the Opposition on this side of the Chamber who have genuine concerns and want to know why the Electricity Commission is being done the way it is. What analysis? If the Government is going to scrap the Electricity Commission and replace it with two new quangos that in itself can be seen as being inefficient. I ask the Minister to justify that to the Committee to the country and to the Opposition who want to know. What research has the Minister carried out what cost-benefit analysis has been done and what benefits are there to the consumer? Surely we want to see that we govern in the best interests of our consumers our voters because after all as members of Parliament we are supposed to be here to serve the public. I want to know whether the Minister in the chair will take a call and answer any of the questions that I have asked. I am asking those questions on behalf of my voters my people and I would appreciate the Minister taking a call because they are important issues for members on this side of the Chamber—very important issues. 
I will just finish with this because I think it is important that we read it in. We on this side of the Chamber believe that the Electricity Industry Bill fails to address the major issues facing the electricity sector. It will not deliver even on the priorities that the Government has set out for itself. In fact it is likely to exacerbate the problems we have putting pressures on supply and electricity affordability. As Opposition members looking to become a future Labour Government we are saying that we will repeal this legislation and replace it with a legislative framework that ensures New Zealanders have a secure supply that one is affordable; two is price-predictable; and three can be produced and used sustainably. Those are the concerns we have and I would appreciate the Minister taking a call and answering those questions on behalf of the people whom I represent in Manukau South Auckland. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: The question is that Part 2 stand part but before we do that we have a number of amendments— 
H V Ross Robertson 
: Take a call. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: I am going for the vote. The member should know that votes are taken in silence. He is a former Assistant Speaker; he should know what the rules are. 
The question was put that the amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 163 in the name of the Hon Nanaia Mahuta to clause 17 be agreed to.