10. Climate Change Policy—Government Priorities and FundingEUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for Climate Change IssuesClimate Change Policy—Government Priorities and Funding10. EUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for Climate Change Issues: Ka whakaae a ia ki tā Te Kaikōmihana Pāremata mō Te Taiao e kī nei climate change is by far the most serious environmental issue we face"?[Does she agree with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment that "climate change is by far the most serious environmental issue we face"?]Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Climate Change Issues): I do agree in many respects that I think climate change is a very serious issue and one that New Zealand and the world face.Eugenie Sage: If the Minister says that climate change is a serious issue how can she say that when the Ministry for the Environment has only 1.4 full-time staff who are responding to the effects of climate change and providing advice on that?Hon PAULA BENNETT: Certainly within the Ministry for the Environment there are more people than that who are giving me advice as the Minister for Climate Change Issues but the work that is going on across agencies is also important. Whether it is through the transport portfolio and those working on public transport initiatives and electric vehicles; or there is work going on within science and research that is extensive as well on the urban cycleways to name some; and through AgResearch and others. There are a number of officials who are working on climate change - related issues across Government.Eugenie Sage: How can she say she is taking transport issues seriously in relation to climate change when her Government has done no substantive analysis in the past 2 years on the risks of sea-level rise to 2000 kilometres of low-lying roads in New Zealand?Hon PAULA BENNETT: I can say it quite simply because actually we are investing a record amount in public transport because of the investment that we are putting into cycleways and other ways of transport around this great country of ours. Although the analysis to the detail the member might want may not have been done certainly the forward planning and the future planning within transport has been looked at.Eugenie Sage: I seek leave to table an Official Information Act request of 24 May this year from the New Zealand Transport Agency showing it has done no substantive analysis in the past 2 years on the impact of sea-level rise other than a high-level—Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that particular document. Is there any objection? There is none; it can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Eugenie Sage: How can the Minister say she is taking climate change seriously when her Government has more than halved the funding for the very people in her ministry who are tasked with finding solutions to New Zealand's rising climate pollution?Hon PAULA BENNETT: Quite simply because we have an ambitious programme of work that is going on around climate change issues. Whether it is the changes we recently announced to the emissions trading scheme (ETS) where submitters will have to pay the full costs of their emissions by 2019; the second phase that is going on in the ETS review; the work that is going on within forestry with AgResearch and with sustainable farming which is actually better than anywhere else in the world; the work that is now going on as far as ratification of the Paris Agreement which will then mean that we have that momentum globally; or the assistance that we give internationally on emissions trading schemes and also on forestry and agriculture—I think this country takes it seriously and I think we have got a very ambitious work programme. Eugenie Sage: I seek leave to table an analysis prepared by the Parliamentary Library on 21 June that shows that between 2011 and 2016 the Government slashed funding for Ministry for the Environment officials working on domestic climate change policy.Mr SPEAKER: No. That information is freely available to all members if they want to go and analyse Budget documents."