Lees-Galloway Iain: Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLees-Galloway Iain: Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 11 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1485. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North):It is a pleasure to take part in this Committee stage of the Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Amendment Bill. The purpose of this bill is that it seeks to amend the Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Act 1989. That is because New Zealand has an oil stockholding treaty obligation under the Agreement on an International Energy Program. The bill proposes to expand the purpose of the petroleum or engine fuel monitoring levy to include the cost of meeting the oil stockholding treaty obligation. Although it is important to meet our international obligations it is also concerning that this could see petrol costs rise higher and it highlights the Government’s inaction on developing alternative energy sources.We know that we need to have security of energy supply and we appreciate on this side of the House that that is what this bill seeks to achieve: to ensure that we have a stockpile of fuel resources in the event that some crisis should befall us and our supply of fuels and energy is somehow cut off and that we have an appropriate stockpile of fuel so that the country can carry on. In the interests of good economic management this is a treaty that New Zealand has signed up to. So yes we have been happy to work alongside the Government to ensure that we do meet our international treaty obligations. We have had situations in the past where this Government has failed to move quickly enough on international treaty obligations. Of course probably the example of that that the public knows best is the CV Rena disaster when we ended up carrying far more cost that we ought to have had we passed legislation to ensure that we met our treaty obligations.This is an important piece of legislation. It is important because it secures our economic well-being and it is important because it ensures that New Zealand is a good international operator and that we meet our international obligations. But it is a bit of a concern that it may force fuel prices up. Right here and now your ordinary New Zealander on the street might not think that that is too much of a concern because as we drive past BP Mobil and Caltex we are seeing some numbers up there that we have not seen for quite some time—numbers that do not start with a 2 which is probably quite pleasing to the New Zealand public. I have not yet heard the Government try to take responsibility for that. I am sure it will at some point in time because it is the only good economic news that any New Zealander is seeing right now. But the price of fuel is certainly lower than it has been for some time. So a little bit of an increase in the price of fuel might not be something that right now is too much of a concern.But of course we know that this Government has hiked the fuel taxes up to pay for its unaffordable roads of national significance that in recent times fuel prices have been extraordinarily expensive and that an increase in the price of fuel can be a significant constraint on our economy and it can put a lot of pressure on families particularly vulnerable families whose income is unstable and insecure and who need to know that they are going to be able to afford the basics in life such as being able to fill up a car so that they can get the kids to school. So although it is important that we do meet our treaty obligations and although it is important that we do have security of supply we do note that one of the consequences of passing this legislation could be the rising cost of fuel. We implore the Government to ensure that ordinary working families have enough income and stability of income to be able to afford those types of additional costs that come with the passing of legislation like this.New Zealand does have a treaty obligation under an international energy programme to contribute 90 days of net oil imports to the Agreement on an International Energy Program oil stockholding. The collective stockholding mitigates the market power of oil producing countries and releasing stock during an Agreement on an International Energy Program - declared oil supply emergency helps to moderate extreme oil price spikes. As I said the price of oil does move around quite a lot. It is not too bad at the moment but when OPEC decides to exert its power that can have significant impacts on the New Zealand economy.