SpeechHon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future): I want to note the extraordinary irony that we are having this debate today while the remnants of Cyclone Cook bear down upon our country and it was only a couple of weeks ago that we had another such event. We used to call them once-in-a-hundred-year events; now we recognise they are the manifestation of climate change in our part of the world. So for anyone who ever retains a doubt I say to them look at contemporary history for your answer. I am very proud to be a member of the New Zealand executive of GLOBE-NZ and I want to acknowledge immediately Dr Kennedy Graham for his leadership his chairmanship and his gentle but persuasive manner in making sure that this project—which at the time it was explained to me sometime last year seemed fanciful—has come to fruition. We should not underestimate the significance of the fact that we are having this debate in Parliament today. It has been many years since Parliament has set aside its time for a debate of this nature on a special topic of interest and it is appropriate that this should be the occasion. The report from the Vivid Economics group paints four scenarios for New Zealand for the future. We need to consider those we need to debate them and we need to pick from them the best way forward. I say we" because this is a parliamentary responsibility. This is not in my view a responsibility limited to the particular Government of the day. It is a parliamentary responsibility and we as parliamentarians have to take control of it and drive it forward because the goals that New Zealand sets for the next 50 years the next 100 years and beyond will go long beyond all of our time in this place. It is not just the responsibility of this particular Government or those that will follow. I draw the contrast with the British House of Commons where the House of Commons as a House voted to determine what the United Kingdom's priorities in terms of its emissions profile ought to be. I believe that this report gives us the opportunity to start to move in that direction in terms of New Zealand's policy response for the future. One important step that has already taken place has been that the GLOBE-NZ group has recognised that the achievement of this report is if you like the end of the beginning but the next phase is now upon us. We have to move as a group collectively but we can move only at the pace that the movement itself will allow. I was a little concerned I have to say earlier today during question time not so much about the exchange of questions with the Minister for Climate Change Issues but about the fact that there were attempts being made to elicit a Government response at this early stage. I think that is unfortunate. I think we need this process to unfold and for the discussion between parties to occur and for us then to be in a position to move forward collectively if we are to make sustainable progress. I must say I think the signs are very promising. We have a Minister for Climate Change Issues at the moment who is I think extraordinarily interested in this subject and has shown a very strong sense of willingness to work alongside—and I use that word advisedly—GLOBE-NZ. We have had Ministers in the past who would have felt that in such circumstances their role was to advise GLOBE-NZ what its position should be. The current Minister wants I think to work in step with GLOBE-NZ and the provisions of the report. I think the members of the executive committee despite our very wide political differences have a common view that we ought to be able to make some progress here. If I can draw him into the debate—he has not spoken yet—I want to pick up a point that the Hon David Parker made in an earlier discussion which is that talk is very well up to a point but there does need to be sustainable action to follow. I agree with that but there is a sequence of events as well. We need to do the preparatory work. We have the baseline from the GLOBE-NZ document we now need to have the discussions between parties and then we need to have a clear and defined course of action that all of us can sign up to and that we can expect to be implemented regardless of the relative positions that parties occupy in this House. This is a momentous event. We should not let it pass unremarked. We should commit ourselves as a Parliament to now work together collaboratively to give effect to the best-possible climate policy for New Zealand in the years ahead."