1. CRAIG FOSS (National—Tukituki) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
How does Budget 2009 help New Zealanders improve their household energy efficiency?
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) Link to this
The Budget allocates $323 million over 4 years to a campaign to fit homes with insulation and clean heating devices such as heat pumps and approved woodburners. The scheme was launched today by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Energy and Resources, and the Green Party’s energy spokesperson. We welcome the cooperation of the Green Party on this matter. More than 180,000 New Zealand homes will have access to grants, and the scheme will get under way from 1 July. I can advise the House now that it looks as if the scheme will be very popular.
The Government is offering to pay a third of the cost, up to $1,300, of installing ceiling and underfloor insulation in all homes built before 2000. Homes with sufficient ceiling and underfloor insulation may access $500 for clean heating devices. Additional Government funding will be available for holders of community services cards. The Prime Minister confirmed today that all main trading banks have agreed to waive their fees for top-up loans that homeowners get for insulation retrofits.
I think the benefits of this type of scheme are pretty well understood. The scheme will reduce health risks for New Zealanders, too many of whom live in cold, damp homes, and particularly will reduce health risks to our most vulnerable—that is, children and older people. The scheme will create jobs for New Zealanders involved in the installations, and it will provide substantial energy-efficiency gains for householders.
Charles ChauvelDoes the Minister believe that low-income households should be a priority for home insulation refits; if so, why do community service cardholders have to pay up to $100 more for an insulation refit under National’s scheme than they did under the scheme that was in place under the previous Labour Government, and what incentives are there for landlords to make rental properties more energy efficient?
The Labour scheme promised much, but the funding for it was very little. A fairy tale about a billion-dollar scheme evaporated under the scrutiny of the new Government.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My question was a specific question about whether the Minister agreed that low-income households ought to be a priority under the scheme, and, if so, whether two aspects that would address low-income households would be dealt with. That question was not addressed in the answer.
Mr SPEAKERIf the honourable member really wants to pin down the Minister, he has to be more precise with the question. I was thinking, as I heard the member ask his question, that he was giving the Minister plenty of opportunity to give a range of answers, which the Minister did. If the member wants a more precise answer, he has to be more precise with his question.
When the Minister says that $323.3 million will be allocated to home insulation and heating over the next 4 years, can he confirm that $100 million of the money has been taken from Vote Health, and that $80 million is existing Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority funding, with the result that the new money available is only $143 million per annum, which is a $1,800 grant per home, and will provide for only 20,000 additional refits per annum at a time when the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority estimates that 900,000 Kiwi homes have substandard insulation?
The Labour members cannot get out of the habit of complaining about anything positive. Thousands of homes will get insulated. Low-income New Zealanders are a priority. They will get a bigger subsidy. This scheme is a product of a constructive relationship between the Government and Labour’s former friends the Greens. Those are three great things.