Smith Nick: Resource Management and Electricity Legislation Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Smith Nick: Resource Management and Electricity Legislation Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:627;Page:22321] 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
: 
 I want to commend my colleague Richard Worth for highlighting the way that this Government will trample all over the Standing Orders. 
Hon Mark Burton 
: But the House did it by majority. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Oh but the House did it by majority he says. That is what I mean by cheating. The Government is always cheating on the rules; it is always ahead of the play. That is why I have in front of me a press release from the Minister in the chair Mr Benson-Pope stating that we need to consult more with regard to the Resource Management Act and electricity but he does not apply that to himself. We have Supplementary Order Paper 389 in the name of the Hon David Benson-Pope which includes 134 changes on which there has been absolutely no public participation consultation or anything. In fact we received that Supplementary Order Paper only today and that Mr Chairman is a disgrace. 
What is even more extraordinary about this Government is that this bill is so radically different from the version introduced by the Minister. The Minister brought a bill to the House and said he had done all his homework he stood by the bill and he had got it right yet very little has survived of the significant proposals that David Benson-Pope introduced in this mashed bill. 
The provisions in this part relate to changes to the Electricity Act. We rightly ask why the Government is sneaking through some changes regarding electricity in a resource management bill. Actually Dr Cullen has let the snake out of the bag. He said that Labour knows it is going down the tubes and that if it does survive by the skin of its teeth it will be with the Green Party’s support. There is no way the Green Party would ever support these sorts of draconian measures so Dr Cullen said Labour should bang them through the House–ram them through the House. 
Darren Hughes 
: Ha ha! 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: That is what Dr Cullen insinuated at a public meeting that included Business New Zealand. He said Labour had to ram these changes through before they get dished up to—[ 
Interruption 
] Government members want to talk about everything but that which is in the bill. I understand the reason for that. If I were a Government member in my last few days in Parliament as Clayton Cosgrove and Darren Hughes are the last issue that I would want to talk about is the mess that the Government has made in terms of electricity and resource management. I would be so embarrassed that I would be like the rest of their colleagues who are hiding in the corridors. 
The reality is that the Government has made such a complete hash of this area of law that the changes it is making to the Electricity Act are nothing more than a panicked reaction at the last moment before an election. The Government knows that it is in trouble. It knows that from the reports of electricity crises throughout the country. It knows that because it has rejected initiatives like the Dobson River scheme and Project Aqua and because it has refused over and over again to make changes to the Resource Management Act this country is lining itself up for a very serious electricity crisis. The Government has nobody but itself to blame for that and that is one of the many reasons why it will go in 51 days’ time.