9. STEVE CHADWICK (Labour—Rotorua) Link to this
to the Minister responsible for Climate Change Issues
What reports, if any, has he received on the establishment of a new contestable fund to help bring forward the use of alternative energy sources?
Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister responsible for Climate Change Issues) Link to this
Last night the Prime Minister launched a Low Carbon Energy Technologies Fund of $4 million per year. This will help bring forward the use of further renewable energy sources such as bio-diesel from algae and sewage, biomass, and deep geothermal. There is no doubt that this Government is taking many significant steps towards carbon neutrality.
Is the Minister able to confirm that the Low Carbon Energy Technologies Fund is additional to the marine energy fund launched with the Government’s draft energy policy?
Yes, I can. The low carbon fund is additional to the $8 million marine energy contestable fund. The $800 million worth of sustainability initiatives foreshadowed in the Budget are making a real difference. Yesterday’s announcement also added $2.5 million for dealing with the impacts of climate change on our primary sector and infrastructure—yet more progress towards carbon neutrality—and there are more announcements to come.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
Can the Minister confirm that the Government is months behind on its work in developing an emissions trading system, and that, far from introducing legislation in October as promised, we are again going to get another discussion document; and is not his reason for manufacturing these minor announcements to try to hide the nakedness of any comprehensive policy around climate change after 8 years in Government?
No, I cannot confirm the tenor of those comments. I can confirm, in response to the concern expressed by some, including the Greens, that what is going to be produced in respect of emissions trading was only going to be a shell, that the Prime Minister quipped that if it is a shell, then it is the heaviest shell she has ever seen. There are complex technical papers that lie behind it that would weigh down a truck.