Hughes Gareth: Estimates Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHughes Gareth: Estimates Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 31 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:12171. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]GARETH HUGHES (Green):Kia ora Mr Chairperson.Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora. In this Vote Energy debate I would like to talk as part of the estimates report around the issues contained in this report which is the National Government’s power price rises and the National Government’s fossil fuel extraction agenda. I guess you can summarise the Government’s agenda as being more power price rises more excuses more blame game across the Chamber more fossil fuels being dug up more drilling more mining and more fracking Aotearoa. What we have heard in this debate is a whole bunch of excuses. We have heard a whole bunch of blame between the two successive Governments. What we have not heard a lot of is a lot of vision a lot of plans or a lot of going forward. We have heard a lot of going backward.So what I want to talk about is what my vision is for energy in New Zealand: cheaper cleaner smarter energy. It is a strategy that focuses on New Zealand’sadvantages our strengths it goes forward it builds the economy it grows jobs it is about putting the power and the profits back to the people of New Zealand; it is not this blame and excuses we hear from the two old parties. So the Government’s dirty old agenda which we have heard over and over again in this debate is all about subsidising polluters by over a billion dollars a year in emissions trading scheme credits. It is about handing out $46 million a year in tax breaks to deep-sea oil drillers—already one of the largest and most profitable industries in the world—and it is about telling Kiwis this winter as they open up the envelope with their power bill in it and see their power prices rise that all they have to do is wait for Max Bradford’s reforms to finally bed in.What we see from the National Party in its vision—or lack of vision—and in its agenda is an age of 19th century fossil fuel and crony capitalist inspiration. That is where it is looking whereas the Greens are looking to the future. So what I want to talk about is three things: cheaper cleaner smarter energy. The first is New Zealand power. What we have seen since the Bradford reforms is that New Zealand power prices have increased 72 percent in real terms while across the OECD they have seen a 6 percent reduction on average. We have now had the fifth-highest power price rises in the entire developed world and under National what we have seen is our bills going up 400 bucks a year for Kiwi families. So the so-called market clearly is not working for New Zealand consumers and the long-run marginal pricing model for electricity sees cheap hydro paid for decades ago being charged at the most expensive unit. It is at $700 million a year in excessive profits being taken out of Kiwi businesses being taken out of Kiwi consumers’ wallets which is a serious drag on our economy.It has got real world impacts too because what we know is that a quarter of our New Zealand families are in energy poverty spending more than 12 percent of their weekly income just to stay warm. We know Kiwis elderly and renters are going without power they are going without food to get power they are getting cold they are getting sick and it is a serious drag on the New Zealand economy. So that is why we propose New Zealand Power as a smart cost-effective efficacious solution to sit between the generators and the retailers. Like Pharmac New Zealand Power will drive down the price of electricity encourage competition and encourage energy efficiency.So I guess what I tell people around the country is that at this election they are going to get a real choice when it comes to energy because Labour is on the same card as the Greens. What we are going to get is a real choice. Under National what we are going to get is more excuses more power price rises and more of our assets being sold off. Under the Greens what Kiwis are going to see is 300 bucks a year in savings for the average family.The second thing I want to talk about is clean energy because in New Zealand we have got a wealth of clean energy options but you would not know about it by listening to the Government benches. In fact you would not know about it looking at the statistics because we are not on track to meet the 90 percent renewables by 2025 target. In fact we are doing worse than we have ever done before. We have got a lower percentage of renewables as a total percentage than we had in 1980. We have got a lower percentage than we had in 1990. So while all the Government’s attention is being lavished on foreign oil drilling companies we are missing out. The smart money internationally is looking at clean energy. In 2011 net international capital investment in renewables was larger than all the fossil fuels all the nuclear energy combined. That is where the smart money is going yet National is spending all its time talking to major foreign oil-drilling companies.The PricewaterhouseCoopers report says there is a $22 billion economic opportunity in clean energy for New Zealand. The Pure Advantage group of successful business people said there is a $6 trillion clean energy green-tech sector our country should begetting a slice of. It is a business opportunity that is staring us in the face yet the Prime Minister is going round opening up fossil fuel power peaking stations and getting international media attention for wanting to drill Middle Earth.I want to give the Government a bit of credit where it is due. It is doing something about solar power. The problem is that the only thing it is doing about solar power is in Tokelau and Tonga and it is putting up all these barriers for New Zealanders who want to be able to produce their own power and export it.