Ward Mike: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Ward Mike: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:619;Page:14675] 
10.  
MIKE WARD (Green) 
 to the  
Minister for the Environment 
: Has she made any representation to the General Manager of the Parliamentary Service to implement the New Zealand waste strategy within Parliament; if so what was the response? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 Yes I wrote to the Parliamentary Service on 27 July inviting it to join the Ministry for the Environment Govt3 programme which aims to help Government agencies improve the sustainability of their actions. Ministry officials are assisting parliamentary management with ideas to minimise the environmental impact of Parliament’s operations. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I am just about to ask a member to leave who has disobeyed my instructions. 
Rodney Hide 
: OK thank you. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Right. 
Mike Ward 
: Does she believe that it is important for the Government as the most visible face of central government to lead by example in terms of its resource use and waste production? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: I would not want to focus on just one Government agency because I believe that a school for example is the most evident Government agency as regards our students. But I am looking forward to the Parliamentary Service joining the Govt3 agency. 
Dave Hereora 
: What practical steps is the Government taking to reduce waste? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: I can give two examples. On Tuesday I will sign a new packaging accord with industry recyclers and central and local government to reduce the amount of packaging that gets dumped and the following week I will be highlighting activities of Government agencies that have signed up to the Govt3 programme to improve environmental sustainability. 
Mike Ward 
: Does she believe that Parliament is acting in accordance with the intention of the New Zealand waste strategy and is it leading by example when it refuses to purchase recycled paper for use in its printers and photocopiers? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: Under the Govt3 programme special topic groups have been set up. They cover such topics as office waste and office paper. 
Mike Ward 
: Does the Minister believe that Parliament is acting in accordance with the intention of the New Zealand waste strategy and is it leading by example when it replaces glasses in select committee rooms with plastic cups and when plastic containers in food outlets replace paper bags? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister has very little responsibility for that. The Speaker does and the member can always approach me. The Minister can give an opinion if she likes but it will be a very brief one. 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: The Minister is encouraging the Parliamentary Service to work closely in the Govt3 programme with the Ministry for the Environment. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: Is there is any prospect that the adoption of the waste strategy by Parliament could lead to a reduction in the unnecessary tabling of departmental reports answers to parliamentary questions  
Hansard 
 newspaper reports and the photocopying of material that is already available or has already been tabled? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: I live in hope. 
Mike Ward 
: What advice will the Minister provide on ongoing employer education and encouragement programmes to decrease resource use and waste production and what will the Minister do now to see that the performance of Parliament in respect of resource use and waste generation is improved? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Once again the Minister can give an opinion but she cannot comment on a department for which she is not responsible. 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: As I have said I am very interested in the Parliamentary Service joining the Govt3 programme in which Government departments work through a number of issues to do with the management of waste.