Robertson Grant: Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Robertson Grant: Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:651;Page:836] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 I particularly want to make reference to the Hon David Parker’s two amendments that are on the Table. The first of them was the excellent idea that he picked up from my colleague Brendan Burns to rename this bill the “Bio-fools Bill” because that is a very accurate representation of what the National Party is actually doing here today. Its members are making fools not only of themselves but also of New Zealand as a country on the world stage. I know in my time as a representative of New Zealand overseas that we were often proud to stand up—including I might add under a National Government with Simon Upton—to talk about New Zealand’s record on the environment and how we led the way. Unfortunately under this “Bio-fools Bill” along with the other measures that have already been brought in by the National Party in this short term in Government we are not able to say that. It is not only that; it is the importance to our overall economy and to new industries that are growing here. 
David Parker’s amendment to omit clause 2 is to substitute it with the following: “This Act shall not be submitted for Royal Assent until 30 days after a regulatory impact assessment and the report on the financial and unemployment effects on New Zealand’s tallow to biodiesel industry have been presented to Parliament.” That is a very very good amendment because at this time we are rushing through this bill without the opportunity to understand the regulatory impact or the impact on employment or the finances and economy of New Zealand. As we have just heard this is going to have a major impact not only on the small community of Waharoa but also on the people of east Tamaki. The bio-diesel industry was an industry that was growing and taking off and this bill is gutting it. As my colleague said we could call this the “Gutting of the Bio-diesel Industry Bill” because that is what the bill does. I urge the Minister Gerry Brownlee to take a call and tell us whether he agrees with the Hon David Parker’s amendment. It would be an opportunity to take some time over this bill and assess its impacts on the industry. 
We have already heard today in quite a startling development that the Minister in charge of this bill the Hon Gerry Brownlee did not even read the information that came to him from the industry that would be most affected by it. That is an unbelievable situation when there is no select committee process for the bill. We have a situation where the Minister in charge of the bill is also the Leader of the House and he has a 100 percent record of putting bills through this Parliament that have not been to a select committee and have been taken under urgency. Here we have an industry that will go down the gurgler on this Government’s watch—an unbelievable situation. I urge Government members to at least take a call and tell us what they think of the Hon David Parker’s amendment. I think it is an excellent amendment. It will give us the opportunity to understand the true impact of this law on the economy of New Zealand and on its industries. 
I also say that at an international level this has been a week of shame for this country in terms of its environmental record and this bill represents that. We have been proud of that record rightly but it is also important to our economy. We know that internationally buyers for supermarkets overseas and consumers who are thinking of coming to New Zealand as tourists all look to New Zealand to see us as a sustainable country. Yet we have seen over the last 2 weeks the Government take steps to suspend the emissions trading scheme—we think; we are not sure about that—to get rid of the biofuels obligation and to get rid of insulation for homes. If we had those things then we would be able to stand up on the world stage and say proudly that New Zealand is a country that takes sustainability seriously. We could get over the tyranny of distance by saying that we are a truly clean green country. Yet we come here today to debate a bill that will repeal the biofuels obligation and remove the opportunity not only to create an industry in this area but also to continue to show that New Zealand is a country that is serious about addressing climate change. 
This bill shows that National is not serious about addressing climate change and it is certainly not serious about listening to the concerns of the industries affected by the bill. We can read the letter from Tom McNicholl which Mr Brownlee decided not to read and we can also hear from Sue Wood talking about Tom McNicholl. It is perhaps hard for Mr McNicholl to talk about how he feels about this bill but Sue Wood has very clearly stated that her client is devastated. The person she is working for is devastated. Yet Mr Brownlee was not even prepared to read the letter to find out what was going on behind the scenes in this industry and to make sure that someone like Mr McNicholl could contribute to New Zealand in the way he wants to.