Chadwick Steve: Climate Change Response Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Chadwick Steve: Climate Change Response Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:634;Page:6120] 
STEVE CHADWICK (Labour—Rotorua) 
: 
 I might disappoint the Opposition member by not being the Minister for the Environment or the Associate Minister but I want to say a few things about this bill today. Labour has a very large caucus that is very interested in green issues. I acknowledge that Dr Nick Smith does appear to be almost a lone voice over there in National. He is trying to convince his colleagues to adopt a more blue-green policy platform. I acknowledge that and I think it is very creditable. But it is a bit rich when the Opposition refused to sign up to Kyoto to carp and whimper in the House about New Zealand’s commitment to Kyoto and talk about a vacuum. The member opposite knows why we had to change our mechanism at the end of last year. He also knows that the election got in the way of what is a very good Climate Change Response Amendment Bill. 
I am very glad that the Nats are now starting to come around the table to discuss a sensible way forward for carbon trading and climate change. The poor Nats—and this is the fundamental problem—have never had a big group in their caucus to sign up to green issues so they have never been very keen to do anything about those issues. Carbon trading was Dr Smith’s position at the conference held just this month—in October. But his own leader—when we talk about leadership—Dr Brash said: “As you will be aware the document is just a discussion document at this stage. It’s not set in concrete and the proposals of the National Party we’re not saying we’re going to do them. We’re not saying we’re going to do A B and C.” That is what the Leader of the Opposition said when Dr Smith stood up with a good document and a way forward. Dr Smith was not supported by his leader this very month when he went to that conference. So where does that leave the Opposition? Slightly embarrassed I would have to say at seeing the Leader of the Opposition wearing his parka and out on a forest walk. That is not his natural territory for walking the talk but he had a go and it was a good look. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
STEVE CHADWICK 
: We have been talking about the Government’s commitment to address climate change and the acceptance of the reality of climate change. In this House there definitely is quite a moveable feast in terms of a commitment to address climate change. Government members accept that climate change is real and that we have to do something about it. We also accept that there were some delays in reporting this bill back to the House because an election got in the way of that. Dr Brash the Leader of the Opposition—for a little longer but spring is in the air and climate change is certainly showing us some weather pattern changes here that are very real and cannot be ignored—is still not convinced of the science on climate change. I think the Hon Dr Nick Smith has a little more work to do to convince his leader—his leader until the end of spring probably—that climate change is real and we need to do something about it. 
This bill amends the Climate Change Response Act 2002. With the amendments that have come through it certainly refines the functions of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions registry unit. What is important in this bill is that it sets up that registry. The Government is committed to the Kyoto policies on emissions as defined under the Kyoto Protocol. We have never swayed from that. National members have said that they are in favour of a “cap and trade” scheme for the electricity generation sector in which greenhouse emissions are capped and generators are required to purchase units for increases in emissions. That is quite a reasonable approach but I think National has to be just a little more patient. 
This bill is part of a subset of climate change announcements that have begun to roll out from Minister David Parker’s office and I think we will see a lot more work come out on this issue. It is important work it is detailed work and it is work that we need the support of the Green Party and other parties on to actually bind us all into it because it is very important for New Zealand’s future. 
The bill enables the establishment of a Permanent Forest Sink Initiative. That is to be applauded and it has been well received by the forestry sector. It will attract investment and enable better economic and environmental use of land. That has been a great concern for those farmers who have difficult aspects on their farms that they cannot farm satisfactorily and who would like to put that marginal land into forestry and also get some returns for doing that. That is very very important. We will find more and more tracts of our land that have been difficult to farm become afforested with this Permanent Forest Sink Initiative. 
The Permanent Forest Sink Initiative provides us with a world-leading opportunity and I am sure everybody in this House agrees that we need to do something like it. We felt great despair when we saw how readily people would convert good forestry land into agricultural land because of the exchange rate. That was not good around our area where we have seen the conversion of forest into farm land. It is also not good environmentally for our lakes and for sustainable lake water management. As a further incentive for afforestation owners will be able to harvest a proportion of the timber from their forests. The initiative will operate through contracts registered against land titles that specify the rights and obligations of both the Crown and the landowner. Not only does the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative provide economic and environmental opportunities for landowners but also it provides opportunities for domestic and international firms to better manage their greenhouse gas emissions by establishing new forests. With our commitment to the Kyoto Protocol that is what we need to see in this country. 
Lots of dividends will flow as a result of the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative. Landowners will get an economic stream that is quite diversified. At the moment they are often locked into either forestry or agriculture. From a climate change perspective the new forests that are planted under the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative are also likely to reduce stock numbers on marginal land thereby reducing some of the greenhouse gas emissions from stock. I think that is very important. It is what this Government tried to achieve last year when it brought in the emissions policy that was so soundly panned by the Opposition. 
I think this is a great bill. It is one of a subset of policy announcements that will come out from this Government which is working really well with the support of the Green Party and our coalition partners. Those announcements will aggregate up— 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: The member does not believe that. 
STEVE CHADWICK 
: Yes I do believe in the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative. I think it is fantastic and I am pleased to support this bill.