4. Question No. 4—FinanceHon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 4—Finance4. Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green) to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement that our job is to make sure we have a fair and progressive tax system"?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Yes I do.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Does he agree with the recommendation of the Generating Scarcity report that was released yesterday that an excess profits tax should be levied on the four largest energy companies?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Having worked through that report at this point no I wouldn't accept that recommendation. The report focuses particularly on the lack of—or the perceived rather—investment in renewable energy generation. On that score I think we are seeing progress in that area. When it comes to the issue around excess profits—"windfall taxes" as they're sometimes called—we need to look at a specific event if that is going to occur; and I don't believe that's justified in this case.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Does he think it is fair that rising electricity prices are contributing to the cost of living crisis New Zealanders are struggling with while private shareholders are reaping the benefits with high dividends?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: In terms of electricity prices I actually think that what the evidence shows is that they've remained relatively flat in real terms. We do keep a very close eye on electricity prices. My take on reading the report is actually it is much more focused on whether or not those companies have been investing sufficiently in future renewable energy generation and as I say I don't believe that case has been fully made.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Does he agree with economist Joseph Stiglitz on windfall taxes that "It makes a great deal of sense at this current juncture—it's not as if the energy companies did anything to deserve it."?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I'm not sure whether Mr Stiglitz was speaking specifically about New Zealand energy companies per se. There are different experiences all around the world. Clearly what we've seen in places like the United Kingdom is very significant price increases associated with high energy profits and I presume Mr Stiglitz may have been referring to that.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Does he consider that the profits of the four largest energy "gen-tailers" in New Zealand are totally justified by their own investments in innovation?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The question around profits and the use of dividends and so on within our major energy companies are the responsibility of the boards of those energy companies.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Is he concerned that without a windfall tax supermarkets banks and energy companies will continue to make excessive profits while household costs are increasing?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Our view is that there are many things that we can do to deal with the situations where we believe that there may be excessive profits; for example in the supermarket sector. That's why we've launched a programme of reform to be able to reduce what we do believe there is excessive. We also saw the announcements last week around open banking another way that we can reduce costs and also the work that's being done in the energy sector that Minister Woods announced last week as well. So there are many different ways of addressing the issues the member raises."