Tanczos Nandor: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Tanczos Nandor: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:637;Page:7447] 
NANDOR TANCZOS (Green) 
: 
 When I heard the Prime Minister’s speech my first reaction was to think that nothing shows that Green ideas have come of age more than to hear them expressed repeatedly in the Prime Minister’s statement at the opening of Parliament. She was absolutely correct when she said that New Zealand’s future is dependent on long-term sustainable strategies and that also we face increasing pressure on our trade and tourism from competitors who are all too ready to use against us the distance our goods must travel to market. She said that by lowering our carbon footprint we strengthen our position against that kind of protectionism. The obvious question is what are we doing to reduce our carbon footprint. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons has already pointed out the stupidity of the Government’s road-building extravaganza. Why on earth would the Government at the same time as it is saying that we must lower our carbon footprint be so determined to build masses of new roads especially when we consider that transport emissions are the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions from New Zealand and that a fraction of the road-building budget would have an enormous impact if it were spent on rail shipping buses and other transport modes? 
Of course New Zealand’s single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions is not transport; it is actually methane from farm animals. Is the Government any more committed to reducing agricultural emissions than it is transport emissions? Au contraire! The State-owned enterprise Landcorp Farming Ltd is currently in the process of clearing 25000 hectares of carbon-fixing forest near Reporoa and turning it into pasture for dairying. It kind of negates the Prime Minister’s proud announcement of the investment to develop 30000 hectares of permanent forest on NgatiPorou land on the East Coast. It is kind of like the sequestration square dance: “Take your partner by the hand. One step forward one step back. Plant some forest and clear more land.” It is just bizarre. 
But let me move to a warmer note. I was very pleased to hear the Prime Minister acknowledge the real importance of waste minimisation in regard to the environment. Of course it has particular implications for climate change because of the methane emissions from landfills. She said that the Government will work with the Green Party on refinements to my Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill which is currently before the Local Government and Environment Committee. She said that the Government wants effective legislation for some form of waste levy to help fund better waste minimisation infrastructure and I welcome that. 
She also expressed support for that legislation to include provisions for a regulatory backstop for product stewardship. These were very important statements and I welcome them wholeheartedly. In particular product stewardship or the related concepts of extended producer responsibility is vital if we are to reduce our waste mountain in this country because it means that business has to take responsibility for the waste generated over the life of their products—that is to say businesses have to start internalising the cost of their waste rather than externalising those costs and forcing ratepayers and taxpayers to pick up the tab. This is what is happening to date in this country and is why we have no way of getting on top not just of recycling waste but of minimising the amount of waste being generated in the first place. 
Particularly interesting around product stewardship is that what is actually a cost when it is externalised on to the ratepayer often becomes a source of significant saving in a business when extended producer responsibility is introduced because waste by its very nature is an unnecessary cost. So I welcome the statement of support for the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill. I welcome the Government’s new-found commitment to sustainability and I very much look forward to seeing them work with the Green Party in making that commitment real. 
Just in the last few seconds before I finish I want to say that I think it is important in light of the discussions around sustainability to reflect on the people who first raised these issues decades ago—people who suffered ridicule harassment discrimination physical attack and in some countries even murder including by State agencies simply for trying to wake people up to the realities our planet is facing today. So lastly I pay tribute to those brave and hardy souls who forged a path for us all. Kia ora.