Court SimonSIMON COURT (ACT): In response to a question from the ACT Party just a few weeks ago about the risk of energy shortages the Minister said that she's considering a range of projects through the New Zealand Battery Project. That's a project that doesn't even exist yet. It doesn't have a business case and the most optimistic outlook for construction starting is 2024. But that probably doesn't factor in getting consents to build a dam in a UNESCO-level wetland. There's no way it would be operating before the end of this decade. Yet in reply to the question from the ACT Party the Minister said that is one of the options that they're considering to mitigate the risk of energy shortages in a dry year like we're having now. We've heard the Minister say that fortunately the dams in the South Island are full yet Lake Taupō the source of hydroelectricity in the North Island where most of the users are and where the blackouts occurred is still at a fraction of its normal levels. So the Minister's claim that the South Island hydro lakes are somehow full and that we should all be happy about that is frankly disingenuous. This Government is focused on everything except price and energy security. We've heard a climate emergency declared. There was a housing crisis declared. They can't solve those problems and they sure as on earth can't solve a problem of electricity security of supply at an affordable price. Now the lights went out last night and the people of the Waikato were asking Why isn't the Onslow battery project here to save us?" Because that's what they'd been promised. They are also asking "How much wind and solar was there at 8.30 p.m. last night when the lights went out?" Well that is a mystery—how to get wind on a still night and solar in the dark.Now when this Government announced a ban on oil and gas exploration in 2018 there was no backup plan to ensure that New Zealand had a secure and affordable energy supply. But even without the ban on oil and gas exploration New Zealand faces increasing demand for electricity and energy. The Government has forecast it. The Climate Commission has forecast it. Industry has forecast it and every householder who's installed a heat pump in the last few years knows how much electricity that uses and how much that costs. So there is a real risk that at peak times even when the weather is certain we will continue to need a wide variety of energy supplies including natural gas and geothermal energy—energy systems which do not depend on the vagaries of wind and sun and rain. Now the Government is carrying out a $30 million feasibility study into the Onslow pumped hydro project. That would be New Zealand's largest hydro dam—and yes flood a UNESCO-level wetland in the South Island. Storing water reserves for a dry-year risk in hydro dams does have merit but that must be close to where the people who need the electricity live. That water can sometimes be held for years without generating any power or any revenue for the dam operator and that's why electricity generators are waiting for the results of this Government's business case investigation before deciding whether to invest in further renewable or other backup generation. They're asking "Why would the private sector invest in new electricity supplies when this Government might build an enormous dam and put them out of business and strand their new assets?" So what New Zealand families and businesses are asking for now is affordable secure reliable electricity. That's why the ACT Party asks the Minister what actions should or could have been taken to avoid these blackouts? What actions will the Government take to ensure that electricity supplies are secure and these blackouts don't happen again? And how on earth will the Onslow project bring more electricity closer to where it is needed Minister?"