Chauvel Charles: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Chauvel Charles: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:656;Page:5613] 
CHARLES CHAUVEL (Labour) 
: 
 It is interesting to have the opportunity to follow the Minister for Climate Change Issues and to take a call. It is a useful opportunity to make a few points in reply to what the Committee has just heard. The Minister I think ought to be much more careful about trumpeting the new Government’s environmental credentials than he has been because the record reflects that in fact there is nothing to crow about. Since November 2008 we have seen a number of retrograde steps be taken as far as the environment is concerned particularly in climate change policy. 
We have seen by an administrative announcement only—no legislation in the House; no respect for the dignity of Parliament—the emissions trading scheme be put on hold at the cost of significant investment in new planting in the forestry sector as well as potential leadership in the carbon registry business. That scheme was ready to go yet this Government for the sake of a political deal with the ACT Party said it would not put legislation through the House to suspend it as it had said it would but would just act as though it was suspended and stop the officials from undertaking the allocation plans that they should have been undertaking. Of course all of that led us to the situation last month where we had to assist the Government to get some legislation through the House in order to save people from being in blatant breach of the law. 
Then we have the restored significant tax breaks for offshore minerals exploration these at a time when that industry is doing very well thank you and where without a price of carbon yet being levied by the consumers of those minerals exports in developing countries we are actually cooperating in the fairly irresponsible action of sending fossil fuels to those nations prior to the time at which they will bear the price of carbon and an obligation to price those emissions. There is nothing environmentally friendly about enhancing our ability to do that. 
Then there is the repeal of the moratorium on the future construction of baseload thermal electricity generation plants. The Minister in the chair smiles but I do not think that is terribly funny because it jeopardises the ability to put in place the New Zealand Energy Strategy target of getting our electricity generation by 2025 to 90 percent renewables on baseload. Achieving that target is very important for getting the emissions down yet the Government takes it out of the law and says it is kind of committed to the New Zealand Energy Strategy. Gerry Brownlee made a speech back in February in which he promised to give the Government’s exact position on that strategy and we are still waiting for it. 
Then there was the phase-out of the old inefficient light bulbs. The cries of “Nanny State!” ring fairly ironic now. Given the legislation that we have seen presaged in the House on issues like the use of hand-held cellphones it seems that what is sauce for the goose is not necessarily sauce for the gander. 
Then there is the Emissions Trading Scheme Review Committee which the Minister refers to regularly and which I have the pleasure of sitting on. It has relitigated all these issues after last year’s hearing of them and no doubt we will relitigate them again when we get amending legislation through the House on the emissions trading scheme at some point. It is an interesting committee to sit on; let us hope it does not prove to be a total waste of time. 
Then we have had the replacement of Labour’s very carefully targeted home insulation package with a completely untargeted one and with all the nightmares that we knew would emerge from that. There are 4-week waiting lists in order to get a quote from a provider. That will not help families terribly much this winter; I fear we will see more of that. 
Then there is every possible excuse for coming up with a weak carbon pollution target. The first excuse as I recall it was that we had better wait until we got the most recent forestry data. Then suddenly the Minister decided it was absolutely vital to rush through a public consultation round yet it was quite obvious from the statements that were being made by Ministers that the Government had made up its mind on the target prior to that consultation. I think that those who participated in that round felt that very keenly. 
The Government has scrapped the Fast Forward Fund and the research and development targets—the list goes on. This Government does not have a proud record on the environment or on climate change. 
Vote agreed to.