Charles Chauvel
Climate Change Spokesperson

22 September 2009 Media Statement
National needs to come clean on true costs of ETS

With billions of taxpayers’ dollars at stake, the National-led Government must release the true cost of its climate change policy decisions, Labour's Climate Change Spokesperson Charles Chauvel says.

"Labour Leader Phil Goff asked seven questions in Parliament today about the effect of the deal that National has reached with the Maori Party to amend the ETS, and I asked Climate Change Minister Nick Smith four.

“At the heart of the questions was a request for the cost and duration of the taxpayer subsidy to two major emitters - Rio Tinto and Methanex. Both of these companies are likely to be able to increase their emissions while attracting a massive subsidy from taxpayers under the National-Maori Party deal.

"After trying to evade answering, Nick Smith finally said he did not have the figures to hand for either of these major emitters.

“This lack of detail, with a potential cost of billions of extra dollars over many years to hardworking Kiwi families, for no benefit to the environment, is of major concern.

“The Government is creating a financial black hole for Kiwi families and they deserve to know the details. Either Nick Smith does not know the answer – which would be a worry – or he is too embarrassed to tell the public the extent to which they will be forced to subsidise two big polluters for a very long time to come.

"The document he went on to table was of little use.

“It uses a much lower carbon price assumption ($25-$50/tonne) than the analysis used by the Government last month to justify its weak 2020 pollution reduction targets ($200/tonne).

“In addition, the document, which is a snapshot of only the first four years of the scheme, fails to reveal that the National-Maori Party subsidy for polluters lasts much longer, and is therefore much more expensive to taxpayers, than under the existing scheme.

"National is going to have to come clean about the massive transfer of wealth from taxpayers to polluters as part of the deal they have done with the Maori Party. If they won't do it in Parliament, Labour will make sure they do it in the coming select committee process,", Charles Chauvel said.

ENDS

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