Wagner Nicky: Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Wagner Nicky: Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 24 November 2009. Volume:659;Page:8070. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
NICKY WAGNER (National) 
: 
 I support the Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill because it is a common-sense response to an enormously difficult problem. After a couple of decades of debate discussion and policy making and after three select committee processes we finally have a practical and workable way to deal with New Zealand’s emissions. 
I thank Rahui Katene for her comments this afternoon. The Maori Party is a valuable and respected part of our Government and we enjoy working with it. I am also pleased that our Government has been able to sort out Ngai Tahu’s Treaty issues. We have come up with an intelligent solution—an intelligent solution culturally an intelligent solution environmentally and an intelligent solution economically. 
Although New Zealanders are very aware of and love our natural environment many of them have little capacity to financially contribute towards managing climate change particularly right now at a time of financial turmoil and recession. So for the first 3 years of this scheme as Kiwis learn better ways in which to deal with carbon emissions the bill will halve the costs for businesses and households. Labour’s scheme put a price on households of approximately $6 per week; National’s scheme will cost households about $3 per week. 
But the long-term motivation is to encourage all New Zealanders to embrace a low-carbon lifestyle and to modify their behaviour accordingly. The carbon charges will be a reminder and a stimulant for lower carbon use. Just as we saw a slow-down in the use of cars when petrol prices went up we expect the carbon charge to help people make better transport choices. To mitigate the increased costs of energy we have introduced the $323 million Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart home insulation scheme which has already within its first 6 months insulated over 20000 homes. Adding to that funding the provision for another 8000 low-income homes will mean that nearly 200000 homes will be insulated within the next 4 years. 
We are also making significant changes around industry allocation so that industry allocations are production-based and more closely aligned with the approaches of other countries particularly Australia. We do not want to cripple industries by making them uncompetitive with our trading partners. We need to challenge our businesses and organisations to embrace change and embrace new cleaner technologies but the key to this legislation is to support vulnerable trade-exposed businesses and to ensure that they and the jobs that they provide survive as the world transitions towards a lower-carbon economy. 
I have already discussed in earlier debates the lack of accurate information the partial information and the misinformation around this bill. Sadly we are still hearing it from the Opposition. I am prepared to accept faulty arguments when they are based on ignorance but there is no excuse for deliberately misleading the public. That is not right. 
In conclusion I reiterate five points about this bill. First the bill will ensure that New Zealand does its fair share in tackling the problem of global climate change. Second there is no taxpayer subsidy. Free international carbon credits that are allocated to New Zealand will be passed on to trade-exposed and emission-intensive industries. They will be used as they were designed to be: to support businesses to remain competitive internationally and to continue to provide jobs. The Minister for Climate Change Issues has already assured New Zealanders that the National Government will not be purchasing carbon credits to allocate to industry. Third the scheme will be fiscally neutral. There will be no windfall profits for the Government but also no long-term debt for the New Zealand public. Fourth the legislation is flexible. The first review is scheduled for 2011 and then every 5 years thereafter. In the face of international uncertainty and ongoing change flexible legislation is the key to a good outcome for New Zealand. Fifth this bill is the culmination of decades of discussion debate research and policy making. With the exception of ACT everyone in this House agrees that we need to take action to deal with climate change and that an emissions trading scheme is a reasonable way to go. The debate is only around the details. 
This is a good bill. It is workable and it is an affordable piece of legislation. It is high time that it was passed.