9. CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka) Link to this
to the Minister of Energy and Resources
What criteria will be used to determine which households could receive free home insulation?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Energy and Resources) Link to this
As I reported to the House yesterday, in just 2 months of the scheme 60 percent of the households receiving assistance have been occupied by community services cardholders, and in most cases they will have paid nothing for that insulation, due to the third-party funding that has been attracted by the scheme.
Was Dr Sharples correct when he said that as part of the deal with the Māori Party to support the changes to the emissions trading scheme, the Government would provide free home insulation to 2,000 Māori households?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
I think that is a very, very loose and somewhat interpretive recycle of what Dr Sharples—
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
We all know that one does not believe everything one reads in the papers. I tell the member that Dr Sharples has raised an issue, and we are discussing that matter with him. In any event, well over 2,000 Māori households will be advantaged by this scheme over its lifetime—well over.
Dr Cam CalderHas the Minister received any reports on the success of the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart scheme; if so, what do those reports say?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
Yes. As I advised the House yesterday, in just 8 weeks more than 8,000 houses have received retrofits under the scheme. This figure compares with 9,000 that were done under the previous Labour Government in the entire 2007 year, and the 11,000 done by the previous Labour Government in the 2008 year. At the moment we are on track to beat those numbers some time during the next month.
If Dr Sharples is incorrect, was Tariana Turia correct when she said that the Māori Party had secured free insulation for all low-income households as part of the Māori Party’s deal to support the proposed changes to the emissions trading scheme?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
I am struggling a little to work out why the Labour Party finds it so difficult to accept that the National Government, with the Māori Party coalition arrangements and the ACT Party coalition arrangements, is providing an opportunity for community services cardholders—low-income New Zealanders—to access free insulation.
Does the Minister think it is fair to prioritise free home insulation for households in Northland and the East Coast—some of the warmest places in New Zealand—while low-income households in places like Wellington, Invercargill, Dunedin, and Christchurch will miss out on free home insulation?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
The member leaps to a conclusion that, on the statistics that I have in front of me, is quite unreasonable. Firstly, Canterbury had the largest uptake of the scheme during the last 2 months—the only 2 months the scheme has operated—at 22 percent. Other areas in the South Island have been similarly quick to accept the scheme. I want to know why the member thinks it is OK for poor people to be cold in those parts of New Zealand.
Will there be any new funding for home insulation as part of the deal with the Māori Party to support the emissions trading scheme, or does the scheme just bring forward spending of the $323 million announced in the Budget, therefore not increasing the overall number of households receiving insulation under the Government’s scheme?