Parliamentary Report
Third Reading ~ New Zealand BIOFUELS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
The third readings of the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Amendment Bill (No. 5) the Customs and Excise Amendment Bill (No. 5), the Tariff Amendment Bill (No. 2), and the Local Government Act 1974 Amendment Bill (No. 2), previously parts of the Biofuel Bill, took place on 2 September. Hon. David Parker, the Minister of
Energy, explained: “The legislation introduces a biofuel sales obligation, and makes other legislative changes to provide for biofuels in the New Zealand fuel market. “Record oil prices have compound- ed the environmental imperative to facilitate alternative transport fuels. The challenge of responding to cli- mate change means that those fuels must be sustainable. Oil companies will be obliged to sell biofuels as a proportion of their overall fuel sales, starting at a rate of 0.5 per cent by calorific value this year, and rising to 2.5 per cent by 2012.… This legisla- tion will provide sustainability requirements, and will ensure that biofuels qualifying for the obligation will reduce greenhouse gas emissions relative to fossil fuels and avoid nega- tive impacts on food production and biodiversity.” John Carter (National) said: “The
government is asking tonight for this country to embark on a great big unsubstantiated experiment and is ask- ing this Parliament to support it”; and according to Rodney Hide (Leader— ACT New Zealand):“It is typical that in the dying days of a teetering govern- ment…we are rushing through legisla- tion that sets down—to the hundredth of one per cent,graduated over time— how much biofuel we are to have in our fuel.”
The legislation passed by 70 votes to
50, with National,ACT New Zealand, and the Independent MP Gordon Copeland voting against.
Speaking on 10 September in the third readings of the Climate Change
Response (Emissions Trading) Amend- ment Bill and the Electricity (Renew- able Preference) Amendment Bill, divided from the Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill, Hon. David Parker, Minister responsible for Climate Change Issues, said that New Zealand had “risen to meet one of the great challenges of our time—that of cli- mate change. “We are taking our place among the large number of countries that are adopting emissions trading schemes as a measure to control cli- mate change. Our scheme is advanced in that it includes all green- house gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol, and, over time, it will encompass every sector of the economy”. However, Hon. Dr Nick Smith (National), explaining why National did not support the legislation, com- plained that it was “not in a state for us to be putting it on the law book. It requires additional work if it is to be workable legislation that we do not end up amending over and over again in future years”.
The legislation passed by 63 votes
to 57, with National, the Maori Party, United Future, ACT New Zealand, and the two Independent MPs voting against.
MEMBERS’ BILLS TO GOVERNMENT BILLS
Two Bills that started life as Members’ Bills and became government Bills had their third readings in September, and were passed unanimously. Speaking to the third reading of the
Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill,
Hon.Phil Goff, Minister of Corrections, thanked Sue Bradford (Green) for having previously brought the Bill into the House as a Member’s Bill,and said that it was “really about act- ing in the best interests of the children of women offenders. It is about improv- ing the life chances of some of our most vulnerable citizens”.
368 The Parliamentarian 2008/Issue Four
Hon. Damien O’Connor, Minister for Rural Affairs, speaking to the third reading of the Walking Access Bill, passed unanimously on 25 Septem- ber, described the Bill as important because “it goes to the heart of what most New Zealanders regard as their fundamental birthright—that is, the right to walk in, and enjoy, the great outdoors.
“The Bill builds on the legacy of public access established over the last century and a half, and it creates the New Zealand Walking Access Com- mission to clarify, promote, and extend walking in New Zealand. “A fundamental issue was the con- flict between public aspirations and private and private and public proper- ty
rights.This Bill extends opportuni- ties for the public to enjoy walking access to the countryside while pro- tecting the rights of property owners”.
Sue Bradford explained that the legislation would, amongst other things, mean that “some mothers in prison will be able to keep their babies with them for up to two years, rather than the six months currently allowed”. The Waste Minimisation Bill, having been first introduced as a Member’s Bill by Mr Nandor Tanczos, a former Green MP, received its third reading on 11 September. Ms Nicky Wagner (National) explained that although National had originally opposed it, because it had been “excessively detailed and overly prescriptive”, the Bill had now been “completely and comprehensively reworked”.
Dr Russel Norman (Green) described it as “perhaps the most comprehensive and significant piece of waste legislation to come before Parliament, and it is about time”, and he itemized “key elements”, including a levy “which disincentivizes waste generation”.
WALKING ACCESS BILL
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