Williams Andrew: Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWilliams Andrew: Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 04 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13301. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First): Thank you very much Mr Assistant Speaker. It is a bit like your own one. I take a call on behalf of New Zealand First and in this instance we have determined that we will support the Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Bill through its first reading and hope that it does go to a select committee. We do so on the basis that we feel that on such an important subject New Zealanders should be given the opportunity to have input and to have a good national debate about this particular subject.Although we acknowledge the noble intent of this bill we do still have serious reservations about its practicability. This bill would reinstate a 10-year ban on new coal or gas-fired baseload power generation. Such a ban existed briefly under the previous Labour Government. It has since been repealed by this House. New Zealand First reluctantly supported the original ban as part of an agreement we reached with the Labour Government in 2008 in respect of the emissions trading scheme. With the benefit of hindsight New Zealand First acknowledges the problems that that ban created. First of all it put in jeopardy the security of supply. On average one-third of our nation’s electricity generation comes from thermal power. During the winter months thermal generation can be as high as 50 percent. If it were not for pre-existing baseload gas and coal-fired thermal power stations such as those at Huntly and New Plymouth we could be at crisis point.Second of all it had an adverse effect on oil and gas exploration. Unlike the Greens New Zealand First is not anti-oil and is not anti-gas. We acknowledge the role that they have to play in a modern economy. Of course there must be restrictions on where and how drilling can take place and it must be done in a sustainable environmentally friendly way. These regulations need to be strengthened not weakened. The last thing we want is our own Gulf of Mexico situation. However that being said the oil and gas sector provides enormous opportunities for employment and regional development in all parts of New Zealand potentially. In Taranaki alone the industry contributes $1.8 billion in GDP and 10000 jobs. Possible new ventures in Northland and on the East Coast could provide similar rewards. The reinstitution of this ban could put in jeopardy any future discovery and development projects.Finally we do have some concerns that this bill if it was to go through could actually increase dependence on the use of back-up coal generation by banning new-generation gas capacity. Gas although not 100 percent clean is a lot cleaner than coal. Surely it is better to use gas than to have no power at all which is the dilemma we face when considering this bill. New Zealand First would rather choose the lesser of two evils than go back to the Stone Age which is where this bill could take us if the overall situation is not addressed. In this respect New Zealand First also has a policy whereby in a future Government we would be seeking to merge all the current State-owned enterprise power generators such as Meridian Energy and Genesis and move them into one single entity so that the security of supply and the security of future provision of energy sources would be under the one banner and controlled from one source rather than it being fragmented as it is today.We want to encourage however the greater use of cleaner greener more sustainable energy. New Zealand First certainly does support all endeavours to secure other alternative additional means of providing energy to New Zealand industry and homes. However let us allow democracy to take its course. We feel that this is a good argument and that the bill is worthy of being considered by the public of New Zealand. We are in favour of it going to a select committee so that the people of New Zealand can have their say on this important subject. It is the right of every New Zealander to have access to reliable power gas and energy and in that respect we support this going to a select committee for consideration.