11. Question No. 11—Energy and ResourcesJONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) to the Minister of Energy and ResourcesQuestion No. 11—Energy and Resources11. JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) to the Minister of Energy and Resources: Does she stand by all her statements policies and actions?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources): Yes in their correct context.Jonathan Young: Does she stand by her statement that the Government has an ambitious goal of 100 percent renewable electricity by 2035 in a normal hydrological year?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Yes.Jonathan Young: Can she confirm that the Interim Climate Change Committee has advised her Government that the Government's renewable target will push up electricity prices by between 14 and 39 percent?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I am not going to comment in detail on a report that hasn't been released but what I will do is answer more generally that we have a target that is 16 years in the future. We make no apologies for the fact we are ambitious. We make no apologies for the fact that we are aspirational. But we also make no apologies for the fact that we are setting policies within the framework of carbon budgets that will have five-yearly check-ins.Jonathan Young: Can she confirm that a 14 percent rise in residential electricity prices equates to a $300 a year increase and will disproportionately impact on vulnerable families in poor-quality housing who can least afford it?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I'm not going to quibble with the member's mathematics there but what I am going to quibble with is the fact that he is talking about a report on a report that is yet to be released. What we are talking about is a target that is 16 years in the future. If I looked back 16 years to where technology and the energy industry was I would not have been able to predict where we are today. We are a Government that's putting in place the futureproofing and forward-planning to make sure we are planning for the kind of future that will deliver New Zealanders the most affordable forms of electricity and that is renewable energy.Jonathan Young: Why won't she release the report or her response to it considering 13 papers across this nation yesterday had written commentary or editorials on it?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Because the editors of 13 papers don't dictate when Cabinet releases reports. We are currently considering the Government's response to that report. This is an important piece of work. We are a responsible Government that is giving due consideration to our response and I can assure that member it is imminent.Jonathan Young: Well does the Minister think that retail prices will see an increase considering wholesale prices for the 2020 year have climbed 40 percent over the last 12 months?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I think that member is once again showing his lack of understanding of how it is that retail pricing works. That will not flow through to the retail pricing. What that member needs to understand is that this is a Government that is setting our country up—and the people in it—for the most affordable forms of energy. Let's have a look at those levelised costs of electricity again: in 2020 8c a kilowatt hour for solar 6c for wind and 20c for gas. I'd like to fast forward to 2035: 6c a kilowatt hour for solar 6c for wind and 25c for gas.Jonathan Young: Isn't it hypocritical of the Government to be conducting a review—SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member can start again.Jonathan Young: Isn't it incoherent of the Government to be conducting a review of electricity prices when her own policies are set to increase electricity prices by up to 39 percent?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: No. This is a Government that has a great deal of coherence especially when it comes to its energy policy. We are a Government that is not content to let consumers face the kind of tangle that has led to the rise in retail electricity prices that that member's Government oversaw for nearly a decade.