Hon Nick Smith National Party Environment Spokesman

20 July 2006

Climate change: gumboot initiative speaks volumes

National's Environment spokesman, Nick Smith, says the Labour-led Government's latest climate change initiative shows that it has given up on the issue altogether.

"Labour's gift of a yellow child's gumboot to more than 600 mayors and councillors at this week's Local Government conference in Wellington shows it has totally lost the plot.

"This pathetic gimmick shows how bereft of ideas Labour are on climate change policy and how out of touch they are with practical New Zealanders on waste.

"New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions are growing at four times the rate of Australia and three times the rate of the United States, but still Labour has no policy.

"They have dropped the carbon tax, the fart tax, the incentives for clean energy and the negotiated greenhouse agreements.

"It is an embarrassment that the only initiative on climate change this year is a gumboot, gifted to mayors and councillors with the words 'Are you thinking about climate change?'."

Dr Smith says it's as though Labour is passing the buck to local government for action on climate change. "The Minister and Ministry for the Environment are showing appalling leadership with this sort of meaningless waste.

"This gumboot is evidence of a culture of extravagance, waste and shallow spin from this Labour Government."

ENDS

© Scoop Media