Guy Nathan: Biofuel Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Guy Nathan: Biofuel Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 02 September 2008. Volume:649;Page:18290. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
NATHAN GUY (National) 
: 
 I wish to make a contribution to the debate this evening on the Biofuel Bill. I tell those who are listening that we are sitting in urgency—13 hours of urgency today right through to midnight. This bill is obviously a priority for this Government. It is in its urgency motion. It obviously wants to get it through the House. When reading the bill—some 100 pages; no it is 97 pages; I knew that it was close to 100 pages—one realises that it is all about the Government’s political survival. 
Those listening and those in the House will recall that the Prime Minister’s statement to the nation last year was all about sustainability. In her speech she mentioned it 17 times. Then she said that the Government will sell all the Ford Fairlane Crown cars because it wants to have less of a carbon footprint. Well lo and behold they have been replaced by BMW 7 Series cars and the former Ford Fairlane Crown cars are now being driven around Auckland. In terms of the Government reducing our carbon footprint and in terms of the Prime Minister’s statement about the Government wanting New Zealand to be more sustainable well it has not happened at all. It was yet another political stunt. 
I am interested to see that the legislators are still struggling to define what sustainability really means. The important point about Part 2 is that it is all about taxes and regulations. We have seen that over the last 9 years—more and more taxes and regulations. They affect hard-working people and families in New Zealand. There have been 2000 regulations passed in the last 9 years under this Government. This Biofuel Bill requires only 0.5 percent of biofuels in the first year. The environmental benefits of this legislation can be debated until the cows come home. Members should just think about it. The figure I hold in my head is 230 kilograms of corn to produce enough ethanol to fill up the family car for one trip but 236 kilograms of corn produces enough bread on the table to feed mum and dad and two kids for the whole year. How can ethanol be sustainable when we analyse those facts? That is the important thing. This is a case of the Government wanting more regulation. 
On this side of the Chamber we say that yes we want a more sustainable environment and yes the public will determine where they want to go with biofuels but they do not need the Government and nanny State legislation to tell them they shall have biofuels—but by the way they are only half a percent. It is a bit like telling mum and dad and the kids in the morning after they wake up and go to spread butter on their toast: “Oh by the way half a percent has to be margarine.” We have some real concerns about these regulations and the costs they will impose on hard-working families that are currently struggling with mortgage rates. Fuel is actually starting to come down in price in terms of the price per barrel in US dollars. That is a positive sign. 
I think New Zealanders now as we go into the election will think hard about this Labour Government and all the legislation it has passed. We are in the dying days of this Clark-Peters Government. It is starting to be incredibly fragile. Today we are sitting for 13 hours under urgency we are sitting until midnight tonight to pass a bill and even those on the other side of the Chamber do not know how it will be implemented. 
The important point about this bill that I also want to take particular note of is that the standards will not have been set so the fuel companies will have to invest considerable amounts of money before they actually know the rules about specific biofuels. Will it be bio-diesel? Will it be ethanol? The list goes on and on. Tallow is another example. National has some concerns about this bill in its current form and that is why we are opposing it.