Marcroft JennyJENNY MARCROFT (NZ First): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. It's an absolute privilege to stand and take a call on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. For almost 30 years as a newsreader I read stories about global warming; those stories I read to the nation. So today I am very proud to stand here and take my call on behalf of New Zealand First as we pass this historic legislation into law.Climate change poses a very real and imminent threat to the survival of humankind; I know this we all know this in this House and New Zealand knows this. As the kaitiaki of this big beautiful planet—the jewel in the cosmos—it is our responsibility to absolutely avoid a climate calamity. Concern has seen a mobilisation of record-breaking protests around the nation. In our schools with the strikes for climate justice a tsunami of young people have marched in the streets.The imminent threat of being nuked into oblivion heard a rallying cry in the 1970s. It was in the 1970s that the baby boomers knew that we needed to stop nuclear weapons and so we ensured that we would have this nuclear-free fight—and we won that. So we know that young people of New Zealand know how to take a strong stand and we saw that with our baby boomers back in the 1970s. I'm a baby boomer; only just you may be surprised. I know I look like I'm Gen X—at least Gen Y maybe. So today's youth and the youth of the 1970s of which I proudly claim myself we are fighting for the survival of humanity. It's not just about New Zealand; it is a global fight and a global battle and we are playing our part. New Zealand First in our coalition agreement with Labour sought that we would have the creation of an independent Climate Change Commission and that we would introduce a zero carbon bill. We understand that New Zealand is a food basket to the world and so from the outset of our climate change negotiations we had the interests of the agricultural sector at the heart of our conversations. We wanted to provide as much certainty to the agricultural sector as was possible. So we ensured that the Climate Change Commission would not have the statutory independence of the Reserve Bank. New Zealand's unique methane profile was acknowledged by splitting carbon dioxide and methane gases in the policy; setting a methane target of a 10 percent reduction from 2020 to 2030 to provide certainty to the agricultural sector as it transitions to a low emissions future. We stripped away unnecessary advisory groups supporting the Climate Change Commission.So New Zealand First is very pleased to have achieved these common-sense moves and also to provide necessary balance to the zero carbon bill. We thank the Minister the Hon James Shaw for working so diligently with New Zealand First.Climate change is evoking a dangerous feeling in the Pacific and that feeling is fear. That fear has been echoed through our young people that marched in the streets. In Warkworth near where I live the largest Kiribati community lives. They have a salt incursion coming up within the aquifers. At some point they will not be able to go home.The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which was written by more than 100 scientists—some New Zealanders some Australians and some from the Pacific—looked at over 7000 scientific studies. What they concluded is that the oceans are warming at such a drastic rate that the very chemistry is being altered. That means that our marine ecosystems are in disarray the coral reefs are dying and our fish will no longer be able to breed and thrive.Our Pacific islands our nations in our Pacific who are our neighbours they are the frontline of this warming planet and it is our duty to do our bit to ensure that our neighbours live in a space where they are able to keep living in their own homes. This legislation is ambitious and far reaching and it is with great pleasure that New Zealand First commends this ground-breaking law to the House.