6. GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam) Link to this
to the Minister of Energy
Is he satisfied with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority’s annual report; if so, why?
Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister of Energy) Link to this
Yes; the report is the work of a conscientious agency, currently working hard on the updated Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy, due to be released the week after next.
How can the Minister accept the annual report from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority that begins with its chief executive stating in the foreword: “I am particularly proud of ECCA’s operational achievements this year.”, when the recent Government report found that the percentage of energy from renewable resources is falling, and concluded that a minuscule 0.4 percent had been gained under Labour’s energy efficiency strategy—which is far less than when Labour had no strategy at all?
Far from that being the correct position, I am advised that International Energy Agency statistics show that for the period 1990-98, the annual energy efficiency gains in countries like the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, the UK, and Germany were all lower than New Zealand’s.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. How can you let that answer stand, when the Minister was asked a question about an organisation’s annual report that he signed off but has immediately told the House now is wrong?
Madam SPEAKERAs the member knows, the member cannot require a specific answer to the question. The Minister did address the question.
Charles ChauvelWhat recent Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority initiatives are performing above expectation?
Quite a number of them. This year, for example, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority received a Budget vote for retrofitting insulation to 6,500 pre-1977 homes. It has overachieved that target, out of that same Budget allowance, by retrofitting over 8,800 houses. That is 25 percent more than was achieved in the previous year, and is a record the previous National Government came nowhere near to achieving.
Does the Minister have confidence that the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority can improve its performance by the 500 percent it needs to achieve, just to meet its current energy efficiency goals?
I am confident that the average annual energy efficiency gains in New Zealand in recent years have been higher than in most European countries. But they are also less than have been achieved in the USA and Italy, for example, and for that reason we will be more ambitious about what is achieved in years to come than we have been in recent years.
Why does the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority claim that four staff motivation seminars were held in the past year, with 150 participants attending, when the authority employs only about 70 people; or was that number achieved because of the staggering 17 percent staff turnover in the authority—and, noting, that, is the Minister certain that the authority is not running staff demotivation seminars?
Why did the Minister say that the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority is not reliant on securing funding from a partner in order to undertake research projects on energy efficiency in buildings, when the annual report states that no research projects on energy efficiency in buildings were undertaken because funding from other partners could not be secured?
I am not sure whether I have caught the import of that question correctly; perhaps the member could repeat the question.
With all due respect, Madam Speaker, we are in a bit of a difficulty here. We are working off a report the Minister has signed off, and in his first answer today he said that it is wrong. I am simply asking him—
No. Would you please just ask the question. The Minister asked you to repeat the question; would you please just repeat it.
Why did the Minister say that the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority is not reliant on securing funding from other partners in order to undertake research into energy efficiency in buildings, when the annual report states that no such research took place because the authority was unable to secure funding from other partners?
Much of the research into energy efficiency in buildings is actually conducted by the Department of Building and Housing, under the auspices of the Hon Clayton Cosgrove.
Is the fact that the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority has failed so miserably on this goal—that is, the goal to do research into energy efficiency in buildings—the reason that it has now set such a low goal for home rating systems: namely, that only 1 percent of middle to high income earners are voluntarily improving energy efficiency in their homes under the Minister’s current energy efficiency strategy?
As I have already outlined to the House, the rate of energy efficiency improvements in New Zealand has actually been higher than in many European countries—