Graham Kennedy: Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Graham Kennedy: Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Sitting date: 06 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6322. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM (Green) 
: 
 I feel obliged to take the floor once more because I have just submitted an amendment to the Clerk. Effectively under clause 1 the title clause it would change the name of the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading and Other Matters) Amendment Bill to the Climate Change Response (Emissions Encouragement) Amendment Bill. Although the Minister for Climate Change Issues and his colleagues might be disposed to dismiss that as a bit of light-hearted fun that could be seen as possibly wasting the time of the Committee I would demur and suggest that he and his colleagues recognise that it is not quite as mischievous as it may seem because in fact the way the amendment bill is crafted it actually will have the effect of encouraging emissions. 
I want to draw the attention of the Minister once more to the Emissions Trading Scheme Review Panel which was set up with a view to advising the Government of the day as to which way the emissions trading scheme should go and advanced its recommendations most of which have not been incorporated. The review panel—and I refer again to figure 2.1 of the report—makes it clear that both gross and net emissions of New Zealand are projected to increase on the way the emissions trading scheme is currently structured. Any further weakening by this Government of the current structure can only make figure 2.1 worse. It can result only in further increases in gross and net emissions. It cannot reduce them. 
If you as the bill plans continue the price cap without change continue the one-for-two surrender obligation indefinitely refuse to allow any restriction on the trading of units coming in from overseas and defer agriculture indefinitely you cannot in logic— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: Order! 
Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM 
: Sorry Mr Chair—the Government cannot in logic say that that is strengthening the scheme. It is unavoidably weakening the scheme. If you weaken the scheme the emissions go up. You are encouraging the emissions. So the title actually has to be the Climate Change Response (Emissions Encouragement) Amendment Bill. 
I will finish by just reiterating a request I made before dinner to the Minister to address before both this title clause and the bill go to the vote the figures that I quoted earlier—I will not cite them again—and explain to the Committee to the satisfaction of all New Zealanders how the amendment bill as it is structured can provide a critical path to emissions reduction. Even with the Government’s own figures of 10 to 20 percent with a mid-point of 15 percent and setting aside the Green Party’s Supplementary Order Paper 147 figure of the mid-point of 25 to 40 percent—33 percent—take the 15 percent and explain to the Committee in all honesty how this weakening of the principal Act can conceivably do other than encourage emissions and result in increasing gross emissions.