Smith Nick: Budget Debate 
Smith Nick: Budget Debate 
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Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 Budget 2011 will go down in history for two important reasons. The first is that this is a Budget in which the Government has backed the people of Christchurch in their hour of need. This John Key Government is committing $5.5 billion to the earthquake recovery of that city. That is right that is proper and I think that every parliamentarian should back the support in this document for New Zealand’s second-largest city.  
The second key element for which this Budget will be noted is that it will get New Zealand back in the black. The deficit will be halved in 2011-12 and halved again in 2012-13 and the economy will be back into surplus in 2014. I notice that a big line-up of Labour MPs have been wearing red ties. That is entirely appropriate because everything we have heard from Labour in this Budget debate has been about all the extra spending it would do and the greater degree to which it would drive New Zealand into the red. I challenge Mr Kris Faafoi because the only policy positions he announced were about spending more money. He is completely out of touch as are all Labour members in respect of New Zealand and the balanced position that we on this side of the House are taking. 
Much has been said in this Budget debate about how the Budget sets out to keep interest rates low how it increases real incomes for families and how it will build 170000 new jobs. It is about the focus on exports about the increase in investments that we will make in the productive part of our economy and about savings. 
I want to particularly put on record the very real gains this Government is making in respect of the environment despite these very challenging times. This Government is committed to a practical programme of significant environmental gains. Let me go through a few of them. We have invested $347 million in the hugely successful home insulation Warm Up New Zealand programme. That is 100000 New Zealand homes—2800 in my own electorate in Nelson. Members opposite ask where there is anything in the Budget about jobs. I invite them to come to any electorate in New Zealand and see the real New Zealanders who are out there putting insulation in homes and making a real difference. Take the billion dollars in this Budget for the electrification of rail in Auckland. 
Let us look at the issue of climate change. We are making real progress in contrast to the years of extravagant carbon-neutral promises made by the previous Government while our emissions went through the roof. Our well-balanced emissions trading scheme now nearly a year in place is delivering real benefits. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: Linked to productivity. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: For the benefit of Miss Chadwick let me compare the notes. In the last year we have seen over 1000 megawatts of new renewable generation consented—the highest ever. In fact in no other year has there been more than 300 megawatts of renewable capacity consented and we have consented 1000 in the last year. The average during Labour’s years in Government was about 200 megawatts per year and the great irony of course is that in those years more than double that amount was consented in respect of thermal generation from fossil fuels. The combination of the price signal from the emissions trading scheme our reforms to the Resource Management Act and the national policy statement on renewables is delivering the much-needed shift in New Zealand away from fossil fuel electricity generation to renewables. 
We have also seen a reversal in the deforestation that occurred so aggressively in Labour’s last years in which a record 30000 hectares of forest was lost. In our first year we turned the corner: a little bit of afforestation. Last year there were an extra 4500 hectares. This year we are expecting 5700 hectares and that is real environmental progress. We have seen in this Budget the huge commitment to the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases on reducing agricultural emissions and a commitment of $50 million for the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre. That research is absolutely crucial for New Zealand but crucial also for the globe in the sense of how we produce food to feed another 3 billion people expected by 2050 while containing emissions. The important balance this Government has struck with the emissions trading scheme is ensuring that New Zealand meets its Kyoto obligations at least cost that we start to make the transition to a low-carbon economy and that we pace ourselves realistically relative to the progress being made in other countries. It is interesting that at a conference I attended recently New Zealand was openly described as making more progress than any other country in the Asia-Pacific region with the balanced approach we are taking to the huge challenge of climate change. 
Another key area of work has been strengthening the national direction under the Resource Management Act. Last November we completed the new national coastal policy statement. In February we gazetted a national policy statement on renewable electricity and in May added that on freshwater management. We are currently consulting on a national policy statement on biodiversity. I note that in the 9 years of the previous Labour Government there was one national policy statement in 9 years. In the complete 9 years of the previous Labour Government there was one national policy statement in 9 years. We have done three in 1 year—three in 1 year and that is very real progress and equally so in respect of national environment standards. Last November we put in place national regulations requiring water metering. We cannot manage fresh water unless we measure it and we put those regulations in place last year. That will move us from 33 percent of water takes being measured to 98 percent by volume being measured within 6 years. In January I announced the new air quality standards including the introduction of offsets. Last week as part of our work with the Green Party I announced a new national environment standard on contaminated soils. These steps reinforce the stronger national direction that this Government is giving to resource management. 
The Budget makes provision for $15.2 million for the long overdue clean-up of the Tui mine. This is the largest clean-up project that has been undertaken since Mapua a decade ago. That project was not well managed by Labour and there is a real challenge for us to make sure that we do a good job of that clean-up. This Budget also contains a new contestable fund for clean-ups. It is interesting to make this comparison. Between 2009 and 2014 this Government is budgeting to spend $94 million on the clean-up of our rivers and lakes; $94 million. How much did Labour spend on clean-ups in its last 5 years in office? It was $16 million. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: $17 million. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: No check the Budget tables. We are spending five times as much on clean-ups of our lakes and rivers as was spent by the previous Government. I say to members opposite that words come cheap; financial commitment is what counts. 
If we look in terms of the commitment to the new Environmental Protection Authority that will take effect on 1 July the new legislation that we have brought together in respect of the exclusive economic zone and the new legislation dealing with a very practical issue of freedom camping we see that this is the sort of practical environmental blue-green progress that this Government is making in this space. 
I also note the appointments that we made to the Environmental Protection Authority and the board. I was astonished by the claim by the Green Party and I quote what it said: “None of the eight board members of the EPA love this country and want to look after it.” What absolute arrogant nonsense! How dare it say that a man like Anake Goodall the chief executive of Ngai Tahu has no love for this country? How dare it say that about the likes of Gillian Wratt a very experienced botanist who is the chief executive of the Cawthron Institute? That is the sort of arrogance we get from the Green Party. One does not have to be a card-carrying sandal-wearing Green Party member to love this country. That is evidenced in this Budget by a very balanced and strong commitment to our environment. This is a sound effective Budget that is appropriate for the times and the House should back it.