Mahuta Nanaia: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Mahuta Nanaia: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:665;Page:12704] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato) 
: 
 The Minister in the chair the Hon Gerry Brownlee may know or think he knows where the rubber hits the road but the problem is figuratively speaking that his tyres lack traction. He does not have a plan in the energy portfolio for what “forward” looks like and despite the fact that when he took on the energy portfolio he gave an undertaking that he would review the Energy Strategy it has taken him 18 months to release the draft Energy Strategy for consultation. On top of that he has given only 6 weeks for consultation. The draft strategy is light in detail. It reverses previous decisions made under Labour in favour of National’s preference—a greater reliance on fossil fuels and thermal generation. It is a backward step. It is not a step change and it is not a comprehensive or coherent strategy for the future. 
In fairness to the Minister I note that he spoke previously about reforms that were taken to ease economic development and I would have thought that he would apply the same argument to the mining sector. I am referring to the changes to the Resource Management Act. Well what did that do? Sure it sped up consents for significant projects but also it constrained public input into decision making. I do not think that is a step forward; it is a step backward. He continued to report a number of the gains made by the National Government—or was it a gain to remove the ban on thermal generation to remove the 5 percent biofuel obligation or to push out the intent of the 90 percent renewable targets to 2025? 
The whole aim of what this Minister is trying to do in the energy portfolio needs to be better positioned and discussed because his strategy is light on detail. The Minister chooses to ride the cart when the horse has already bolted. Kiwis want a responsible approach to dealing with the real issues concerning them. They do not want an irresponsible mining regime where proper protections and limitations are considered fully prior to consenting to deep-sea drilling. The Minister made the point at the select committee that observers from his ministry are over in the Gulf of Mexico looking at what had happened over there taking the lessons forward and considering that matter. Well why does the Minister not start to tell the New Zealand public or even this Parliament about what those findings are and what he is doing to put greater protections around deep-sea drilling in Aotearoa New Zealand? Those are the types of concerns that Kiwis want to know about. 
It is just as well the Minister finally did a U-turn after a march in Queen Street attracted a turn-out of about 40000 against mining on schedule 4 protected lands. Well did it need public consultation? Did 40000 people need to march when by virtue of the creation of schedule 4 the Minister already knew that people feel very strongly about those lands? How much was spent on that process? I know that the people in my electorate of Hauraki are very happy that the Minister listened to the common sense of what was already known when the development of schedule 4 took place. People feel very passionately about their natural heritage and their special and unique places in the conservation estate. 
Iwi want better consultation and engagement on mining applications where they have significant interests such as those in the Reinga Basin in Te Tai Tokerau and Raukumara in the East Cape. Just today there is an article in the  
Gisborne Herald 
 with the headline: “Outrage at latest mining application”. It states that the Minister “has ridden rough-shod over the mana of our people.” Another article has the headline: “ ‘No obligation’ to tell the public of applications”. I tell the Minister that that is a travesty as the public do have a significant interest in his mining agenda. 
Equally important household consumers want assurances on basic household impacts like power prices. What is the Minister’s track record on listening to these concerns? In December 2008 Genesis increased prices by up to 9 percent and John Key said he was disappointed. In February 2009 Meridian Energy increased power prices by 6.5 percent for 180000 of its customers. The Minister said that this was very very disappointing. 
In February of this year Contact Energy increased electricity prices by 5 percent for over 300000 households. Gerry Brownlee advised customers to shop around. This month Mercury Energy increased power prices by 3.3 percent for all its consumers and Contact Energy increased power prices by 3.2 percent for all its customers and by over 10 percent for some customers in Dunedin. What are consumers told to do? They are told to shop around. How do Kiwi households compensate for that?