Parliament Archive

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  Now we see the hidden costs of the ETS - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Last night’s briefing on the ETS finally revealed the two missing columns from the curious page of numbers tabled in the House on Tuesday by Nick Smith. That table, to the extent it was comprehensible at all, showed there would be a $415m cost to the taxpayer from now to 2013; a saving between 2013 [...] read more
  September 24, 2009 10:32 am - 10 Comments
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  ETS makes us the seventh state - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  It is clear from the minister’s briefing last night that the main purpose of National’s changes to the ETS is to make us effectively the seventh state of Australia. The bill mimics exactly the bill the Rudd government has been trying (unsuccessfully) to get through the Australian senate. So a bill that has been twice [...] read more
  September 24, 2009 9:17 am - 8 Comments
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  Is Methanex poised to rort the taxpayer with National’s help? - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Methanex could get $87 million in free credits each year. Under the Labour scheme Methanex would have paid for their growth. Under National’s scheme, taxpayers do. read more
  September 20, 2009 10:09 am - 21 Comments
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  Parliament mined, fossils detected - by frog

  
  
  
  I glanced out my window this afternoon and was alarmed to see Parliament lawn swarming with menacing figures dressed in white suits and armed with metal detectors, seemingly prospecting one of New Zealand’s finest heritage sites for minerals. read more
  September 16, 2009 4:13 pm - 18 Comments
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  An open letter to Phil Goff, on reading Friday’s Herald - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Dear Phil, I am deeply disappointed you are letting Nick Smith’s electioneering define the Labour party, and apologising for that definition. It is hard to see how Labour will ever have an independent identity if it leaps to deny sensible policy whenever National attacks it. Even using their term, “nanny state” fails politics 101 – never repeat your opponent’s terms of abuse. read more
  September 12, 2009 5:17 pm - 180 Comments
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  Government takes baby step on Biosecurity, in face of need for giant stride - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  In the face of massive threats, Government has moved to cut the Budget for biosecurity by 11% (and 54 jobs), and is moving from universal biosecurity screening of incoming passengers to a “risk profile” based selective screening. This is certain to increase biosecurity incursions. read more
  September 11, 2009 6:25 am - No Comments
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  ETS: No majority = FAIL - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  The really interesting question now is, where is National going to get a majority for its amendments to the ETS in the House? Peter Dunne on his own hasn’t got the votes. They need one more party. The Maori Party’s minority report makes it clear they do not support an ETS at all, and if there is going to be one they do not support intensity based allocation. They have a simple principle: the polluter should pay. So National can... read more
  August 31, 2009 10:58 pm - 45 Comments
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  ETS: Four minority reports = FAIL - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  The long awaited report of the special select committee to review the ETS – yes, that one with the terms of reference that didn’t even mention reviewing the ETS – you know, the one forced on the government by a coalition partner who then mostly didn’t even turn up to occupy their place on it – yes, THAT one – has finally reported. read more
  August 31, 2009 10:50 pm - 42 Comments
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  The time has come for provocation - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Sometimes the time is just right for an idea. There have been calls for many years for a repeal of the partial defence of provocation in charges of murder. This was the defence argument run unsuccessfully by Clayton Weatherston, but successfully in the killing of Ronald Brown. This successful case was only the most recent [...] read more
  August 20, 2009 11:52 am - 16 Comments
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  NZ Government to censor the internet - by Metiria Turei

  
  
  
  Thomas Beagle sent me an email about Net censorship which has taken me a while to respond to. But since the issue is so significant, I thought I would respond here. Thomas has exposed the issue publicly though an OIA and provided significant information about it. The Department of Internal Affairs has undertaken a trial [...] read more
  July 17, 2009 3:32 pm - 43 Comments
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  Using the Force? Make sure it’s legal - by frog

  
  
  
  A bit of culture jamming is what you need to show that people are, in fact, paying attention. So it was when Scoop’s Gordon Campbell wrote up Kennedy Graham’s International Non-Aggression and Lawful Use of Force Bill, which was released last week. I’m not sure who to credit for the photo, beyond scoop, but if [...] read more
  July 13, 2009 2:57 pm - 30 Comments
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  Super-City Hearings Day Two: The Elephant in the Room - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Phil Twyford and I both agreed that there could only be one title for our blogs today. The emerging elephant is the shadow of the yellow power jacket beneath the sweetness and light at the Select Committee. Today we heard another series of passionate and coherent submissions. The committee is receiving these as if there [...] read more
  July 8, 2009 9:27 am - 49 Comments
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  Catherine Delahunty and ‘Dave’ talk tropical timber - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  In Mid June Catherine Delahunty’s Sustainable Forestry Bill was picked from the ballot. Shortly after the Bill was drawn Catherine met up with someone just as keen as she is to make forestry sustainable. Dave, an Orangutan from the jungles of Sumatra whose forest home is under threat. Here’s a slightly silly video take on [...] read more
  July 7, 2009 10:47 am - 4 Comments
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  From little things, big things grow… - by frog

  
  
  
  There was a recurring riff behind National’s opposition to two very different Bills on Members’ Day Wednesday. One commonality was that both Bills were voted down by National, Act and United Future, and supported by Greens, Labour, Progressives and Maori Parties. But the riff I want to highlight is the idea that the problem is [...] read more
  June 19, 2009 11:33 am - 7 Comments
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  When are subsidies sustainable? - by frog

  
  
  
  That is not a trick question, nor an economics one. The National-led government has decided that a biofuel subsidy is preferable to a sales obligation, no doubt on ideological grounds rather than economic grounds. We now have the Biodiesel Subsidy Scheme, which pays biodiesel producers in New Zealand up to 42.5 cents per litre to [...] read more
  June 16, 2009 2:10 pm - 15 Comments
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  MP travel: offsetting the carbon cost - by frog

  
  
  
  A frog reader suggested we remind readers of the Green MPs carbon offsetting arrangements. Yesterday, they declared their travel spending since the beginning of the year, and committed to do it annually. Parliament is considering standardising such disclosure – great! In 2006 the MPs measured their emissions from air travel to create a baseline. Air [...] read more
  June 5, 2009 5:00 pm - 45 Comments
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  Private polar bears good, public bears bad? - by frog

  
  
  
  Minister Browlee launched a “hug a polar bear” ‘National tourism energy efficiency programme’ on Friday. Hang on, didn’t the Government bag the bears recently? A Greens showed a month ago that: “The Inland Revenue Department made a profit from sustainability initiatives last year, cutting energy and travel spending by over one million dollars.” Yet this scorned as “hug a polar bear” and dumped. Go figure! Maybe private polar bears are more huggable than public ones? read more
  May 18, 2009 1:41 pm - 28 Comments
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  Farming and the ETS – the latest from the select committee - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Yesterday we heard all the farming related submissions. Federated Farmers continued to be the most extreme – agriculture should be entirely left out of the ETS because food production is important. But in NZ methane and nitrous oxide from farming are the large half (51%) of our emissions. Leaving them out means taxpayers fork out a hefty subsidy to farming, or other energy users pay twice as much as they otherwise would. read more
  May 6, 2009 7:30 am - 112 Comments
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  When is fair fair in the ETS? - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Yesterday’s select committee hearings on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) were a lesson on how to do it. We had invited all the iwi submitters to present in the early afternoon, just as we have grouped other like-minded submitters. But instead of each taking their individual 15 minutes for presentation and questions, they organised themselves [...] read more
  April 29, 2009 2:15 pm - 14 Comments
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  Sue Kedgley debates Auckland Governance - by frog

  
  
  
  Here is Sue K’s contribution to the urgent debate on Auckland governance last week: read more
  April 17, 2009 5:09 pm - 47 Comments