Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:613;Page:10015] 
1. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister for the Environment 
: Has she or her ministry received draft legislation from Meridian Energy Limited on the allocation of water in the Waitaki catchment; if so will this form the basis of Government legislation? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Leader of the House) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister for the Environment 
: Yes and no. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Will the Minister guarantee that this Government will never agree to Meridian Energy’s proposals which aim to turn 35-year resource consents to take water into permanent tradable property rights to a valued public resource and does the Minister agree with Meridian Energy that the Upper Waitaki River should be removed from the catchment plan because in its view it already owns all the water? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: Yes. The legislation will not provide for permanent tradable property rights and secondly of course the legislation will provide a framework for the allocation of water. The Government will not prejudge that one way or the other. 
Dr Ashraf Choudhary 
: What is the basis of the Government’s legislation for allocating the water in the Waitaki catchment? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The Government is committed to an outcome that meets all needs—economic social and environmental—and that leads to a more strategic approach. The legislation is designed to provide a framework to ensure that the best decisions are made for using water in the Waitaki. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: Why is the Government abrogating its responsibility to draft the legislation and instead getting Meridian Energy the one group that will benefit from this to do the job for it? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The member should have listened to the primary answer which was brief and to the point. No the draft bill prepared by Meridian Energy does not form the basis for the Government legislation. It is being treated merely as a submission on the Government’s proposals. 
Hon Ken Shirley 
: With regard to the draft legislation prepared by Meridian Energy and also the Government’s own review of water allocation what options is the Government considering other than an administrative allocation based on first in time first in right as against a market allocation based on a tendering process and price? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: There is a huge range of options between first in time first in right and a pure market allocation. The Government will be in part of that last territory. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Is the Minister concerned that Meridian Energy’s behaviour is undermining the community’s confidence that the law will be applied fairly to all water users? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The Government would be concerned if people believed that Meridian Energy was running this process. I have consulted the shareholding Ministers in Meridian Energy and they concur with me that in fact Meridian Energy will not be running this process. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Is this just a case of a State-owned enterprise getting too big for its boots or is the real problem a regional council that has never in 12 years developed a catchment plan for water allocation and a Ministry for the Environment that has just allowed things to drift? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I think it is fair to say that the lack of development of proper water allocation plans is part of the root of the problems underlying how to deal with the Meridian Energy proposal.