Shaw James: Climate Change Response (Removal of Transitional Measure) Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeShaw James: Climate Change Response (Removal of Transitional Measure) Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 26 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11411. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green):In conclusion one of the advantages of being cut off at the 10 p.m. bell and then resuming at the 9 a.m. one is that you have the opportunity to reflect overnight. It occurred to me overnight that the way that we were talking about this—about climate change—was in terms where people do not really get the gravity. We can talk about a 96 percent increase in our projected emissions over the coming 15 years. We can talk about a 0.7 reduction in those emissions from this bill. We can talk about the fact thatour emissions have risen 19 percent. But that is meaningless to the vast majority of people and so let me just reframe it slightly.When you think about the increasing frequency and depth and severity of the droughts talk to farmers about the 2013 droughtthat wiped $1.5 billion off our economy. When you talk about the increasing floods around the country talk to the people of Whanganui and South Dunedin whose houses went under water last year. When we talk about the increasing storms and the severity of those storms talk to the people of Island Bay whose whole sea wall was destroyed. They had to make a decision about whether to have a managed retreat of the Island Bay foreshore and sacrifice the road along that stretch of waterfront. Talk to the people of Hutt City who lost powerfor a week and the small businesses there that went under because they did not get electricity. Those are the impacts—that is what happens in our failure to address climate change.The Minister for Climate Change Issues Paula Bennett has said more encouraging words over the last 6 months than her predecessor did in 8 years. And I want to say this: if those are not just words if they are not just there to mollify and soothe us into submission if she actually wants to deliver on this if she actually wants to do what is necessary for New Zealand to deliver on its commitment to do our part in facing the global climate crisis then I say to the Minister let us know what we can do to help because that is our primary commitment.This is too big a task for petty partisanship. It is too important for petty politics. It is the single greatest challenge facing our society our economy and our civilisation today so we are committed to doing all we can to ensure that New Zealand plays its part. I say this to the Minister: we will do everything that we can to support her if she is truly committed to making a difference—“Girl you know it’s true.”In that we will be supporting this bill as we have said a number of times during the course of this debate. It is an incredibly small step but it is a first step and we hope to see more from the Minister in the very near future because this is a crisis that has been growing over the course of 25 years. We are way behind the eight ball on this. It is time for New Zealand to step up and do what is necessary. We commend this bill to the House.