4. Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
Does he stand by his statement that “the Government has struck the right balance between its economic responsibilities and its environmental responsibilities.”?
Hon BILL ENGLISHHon David Cunliffe Link to this
Should the emissions trading scheme therefore introduce an incentive for emitters to reduce emissions and adopt clean technology alternatives; if so, why does the Government’s proposed “cap and trade” scheme have no cap?
As the member will be aware, there have been many years of discussion about the emissions trading scheme. The feedback I have had from the wider community and the business community is that regardless of whether they like the rules—and many of them do not—they think it is better to have some certainty so that they can get on with investment and creating jobs. That is what this Government is all about.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
Will that certainty include the giving of up to $1 billion in additional taxpayer subsidies to companies like Rio Tinto to encourage them to reduce emissions?
I do not agree with the member’s characterisation of the decision. He needs to keep in mind that a country that is, to quote the media today, “running chronic trade … deficits and which is up to its nostrils in debt to the rest of the world cannot afford to be cavalier about risks” of exporting our export industries, losing jobs, and losing export-earning capacity.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
If we cannot afford to be cavalier about debt, why does the Minister’s Government use a carbon price of $200 a tonne to reject calls for a 40 percent reduction target, and then give a price of $25 a tonne when estimating the cost to the taxpayer of the proposed changes to the emissions trading scheme? Who is being cavalier now?
Again, the member’s representation is, I understand, incorrect. If the member is really concerned about getting in touch with middle New Zealand, I invite him to go to the Rio Tinto smelter at Tīwai, address a crowd of 700 middle New Zealanders, and tell them he would rather see them working in a smelter in China.