Smith Nick: Climate Change Response Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Smith Nick: Climate Change Response Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:635;Page:6216] 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
: 
 If we ever needed a bill before the Committee to show the mess we have in respect of climate change policy then the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill is it. This afternoon in Parliament I tabled New Zealand’s forestry planting figures and they show an appalling track record from this Government. What we know is that for the first time in 50 years New Zealand has net deforestation—that is in 2005 for the first time under the stewardship of the last 12 Prime Ministers we had net deforestation. More trees had been cut down in New Zealand than had been planted. This trend has occurred in each and every year that this Government has been in office. We have gone from having an average of 60000 hectares of new forest right through the 1990s to a period during which there has been a complete collapse in the numbers of trees planted. I note that the Minister of Forestry is in the Chamber. I would like to know from him why his Government has presided over such a plummet in confidence in the forestry sector. If we look across the Tasman to Australia we see substantial planting of new forests—tens of thousands of hectares’ worth. While Australia’s graph is going up New Zealand’s is going down. 
That should worry every New Zealander for three reasons. The first is that forests absorb carbon. It is one of the best contributions we can make to solving the problem of climate change. The reason New Zealand is in such a pickle over the Kyoto Protocol is the collapse in the planting of trees. The second reason is this: we have huge areas—about 800000 hectares—of highly eroding hill country for which our best hope is to plant trees. We know from the recent Manawatu floods the consequence of the huge soil erosion that occurs when we do not bind those soils with sensible forestry. The third reason we should be concerned about those plummets in the levels of our forestry is our economy. The forestry industry is New Zealand’s fourth-biggest export earner and there is a collapse in confidence in that industry. That is bad news for jobs; that is bad news for exports. 
In this bill the Government states that it will give recognition for indigenous forest plantings that are permanent forest sinks. I say to the Committee that that is a good thing but it is a very small contributor to solving the overall problem. What is particularly bizarre about this bill is that the Government is saying it will give carbon recognition only if the forest is useless. If people want to harvest the trees then they will be denied any recognition for the carbon absorption done by those trees. If there was ever a dumb policy this is it. It is like saying that we want people to plant trees as long as they are not planted for any useful reason. Well that to National seems quite bizarre. 
So National supports the proper recognition of indigenous forests but if people believe that that is an answer to New Zealand’s appalling greenhouse gas emission figures then they are kidding themselves. We need a far more substantive package than this one. What appals me is that when National challenged the Prime Minister on her conference speech she said that New Zealand would become carbon neutral. Well what a fantasy! We have a set of figures from the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi taking place right now that show that New Zealand is doing worse on greenhouse gas emissions than almost any other country. I have heard the Prime Minister and the Minister responsible for Climate Change Issues bag George Bush and the United States. They have been damning of John Howard and the Australian Government. Well let us look at the figures. New Zealand’s emissions according to the figures released today have gone up by far more than emissions in the United States and Australia have.