Bridges SimonHon SIMON BRIDGES (Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues): The Government is very proud of what it is doing in relation to climate change. I want to pick up from where Paula Bennett was speaking and can I say not only is the Government proud the country should be as well. Today Paula Bennett has announced the early ratification by this country of the Paris Agreement at the end of the year. We will be one of the first countries that are doing this. Hon David Parker: That's not correct.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: I was in Paris—well it is actually correct David Parker. I do not live in the land of theory. I went to Paris—I saw the momentum that was there. We could be sitting there sitting back waiting to see what happens but we are ratifying this agreement. We are going through the legal process. We are taking the INDC" the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions and we are getting rid of the "I". It will be a nationally determined contribution. We are making a difference and New Zealanders should be proud of that. We are ensuring that the momentum that there has been continues—that it keeps going. It is real leadership from this Government and from this country. Indeed we are a country at the bottom of the world with the most comprehensive emissions trading scheme (ETS) in the world. We have at the moment the highest carbon price in the world because we have effectively gone in there we are reviewing it we have taken away the two for one and we are seeing the carbon price at a level where we will start to see action from foresters and from others and we should be proud of that. Of course other policy settings will have to change over time to help us reach our ambitious target and to change the economy for good—and I mean that in two ways: to change it for good but also to change it for the positive. As I say the ETS is the main tool for incentivising change—there is no doubt about that—but there are many other things we will be doing and we are doing. I am and I know Nathan Guy and Nick Smith are working incredibly hard. It will not be easy—Paula Bennett said this—because of course we have as a developed country a very unique profile. We are a renewable superpower. Actually at the moment—the last 3 months—around 90 percent of our electricity is from renewables. If we look overseas at Australia across the Ditch—what is it at the moment? It is at about 13 percent. So we have that unique part of our profile. We also have of course the agriculture sector where we are unique really in the developed world—to have such high agriculture here. We are doing it more efficiently per unit than anyone else but that of course is something that has to be factored in. All are going to need to be involved in New Zealand. This is not just a problem of Government: civil society cross-party—and we have heard Paula Bennett reach out on that today—and all New Zealanders. I have got important portfolios in this regard and I take the responsibilities in this area seriously. That is why in energy I am proud to have seen the renewables in electricity skyrocket over this tenure of Government—from 65 percent to well over 80 percent now. But we cannot rest on our laurels because we know—and I do not mean to make a party political point here but we know when David Parker was running electricity it was a shambles. Actually they went backwards in terms of the carbon emissions in that area but today electricity is only 6 percent of the emissions in this country. It is not the real game. So we need new energy targets and I am working on that. We have been consulting on that with the wider energy sector. So we are working in industry and we are working in transport to make a real difference and to move that renewables advantage into those areas. We are refreshing our Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy because that has got a big role to play in this regard as well to make sure that as I say it is not just about electricity but it is about electric vehicles. It is about seeing coal boilers go into gas become a more efficient—and actually into bio-energy as well. There are a number of programmes there that we can build on. And in transport we are investing more in public transport than ever before in New Zealand—more busways more interchanges. We are investing more in rail—over $4 billion in the life of this Government into commuter rail. Look obviously there is a lot more to come but also into freight and in cycleways which will make a difference. Finally in electric vehicles a comprehensive amount—some $200 million in a package—is going to make a difference and change the way that New Zealanders drive personally in the future. So this Government is proud of its record in climate change and what it is doing and New Zealanders should be too."