Donald Rod: New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Donald Rod: New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:609;Page:6280] 
ROD DONALD (Co-Leader—Green) 
: The Green Party supports the Government’s role of encouraging New Zealand businesses to be internationally competitive. We have no issue with that. We have always supported that role. 
Hon David Carter 
: Including the Warehouse? 
ROD DONALD 
: I will come to the Warehouse later. The issue we have with the framework of this bill is that it puts economic activity above and beyond the environment and society. The Government may claim that it is concerned about sustainable development just as we are. What we are inviting the Government to do is to back that rhetoric with some substance by amending this bill to ensure that the Government takes a sustainable development approach to the activities of the new organisation New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. The title itself is a mouthful but I understand what the Government is trying to achieve with that title. What it is not doing is ensuring that the purpose of that organisation is not only to support the development of internationally competitive New Zealand business but also to support New Zealand business that engages in ecologically and socially sustainable activities. 
That is the first amendment we will be putting up to this part because we are committed to a sustainable development approach. We would have thought the Government would have been too. We find it extraordinarily ironic that in January the Government can launch its  
Sustainable Development for New Zealand: Programme of Action 
 and that in March the Hon Marian Hobbs can launch a programme for the implementation of triple bottom line reporting on our environmental economic and social performance but that when it comes to the Government’s economic engine-room—the vehicle the Government is using to drive economic growth—it is not prepared to incorporate its rhetoric in the legislation to set up this organisation. It is happy to do something around the edges. It is happy to do the soft-focus stuff by bringing in the sustainable development strategy for fresh water for sustainable cities for renewable energy and for child and youth development as the Minister for the Environment said in question time today but it is not prepared to come in at the sharp end and to say that it is committed to supporting industries enterprise and business initiatives that are not only economically viable but also ecologically and socially sustainable. 
 That is the challenge we put before this Government. We cannot support this bill unless the Government takes up that challenge and backs its rhetoric with some substance. At the moment this bill truly represents the gulf between the talk the rhetoric and the substance. Even in Industry New Zealand’s own glossy publication 
 Venture 
 it talks about sustainable development. In a recent issue in March it said: “Sustainable growth has become a catchcry but the wider goal of sustainable development is the more important target.” Despite saying that the Government is not prepared to change the purpose of this bill and it is not prepared to incorporate sustainability principles in this bill. That is our second amendment: to introduce sustainability principles. 
The principles we have put in our amendment are identical to what is already in the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act. It is not new to the Government. It just seems to be happy to do it when it comes to energy conservation and efficiency but it is not prepared to grasp the nettle when it comes to economic development. The principles are very similar to what the Government has put in the Local Government Act. So the Government is happy to put in the purpose of the Local Government Act that local authorities need to play a broad role in promoting the social economic environment and cultural well-being of the communities by taking the sustainable development approach but it is not prepared to apply the same approach to its own economic activities. 
That indicates to us that this Government is engaged in “greenwash”. It is happy to strut the world stage claiming that New Zealand is a leader in sustainable development but when it comes to putting its money where its mouth is back home it backs off fast. 
Hon Ken Shirley 
: Is that “greenwash” or hogwash? 
ROD DONALD 
: Well I would say “greenwash” but Mr Shirley can talk hogwash when his turn comes. Our issue is “greenwash”. Our issue is the Government living up to the statements it makes about sustainability. Our issue is to get the framework right so that we can have some confidence.