17 June 2005
IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Another Mistake in the Making

The Government gets it wrong on Kyoto, saying we made a billon dollar mistake.

The surprise – for some at least – a change from an annual gain of half a billon, to a loss of half a billion shows these large matters are hard to predict – after all mistakes happen, don’t they?

“Manufacturers have been saying for years that Kyoto was a bad idea, the framework was never going to fit New Zealand’s growing population,” said John Walley CEO of the Canterbury Manufactures’ Association. “Unless our GDP per capita was set on a downward trend.”

“With falling populations and a switch from coal to gas, Kyoto suits Europe but not New Zealand, Australia or the USA. Which is the odd one out from that group?”

“Mistakes are made and we all pay. The Kyoto problem was negotiated in the 90’s and ratified recently, it was no overnight decision; Government had lots of time to think.

“We do not have to look too hard for other blunders in the making; the glut of high-speed FTA’s with low cost countries has manufacturers sounding the warning again – will anyone listen?”

“On the Government’s numbers, the gains from trade with the PRC over a 20 year period are about half what was being predicted as the annual gain from Kyoto – another mistake in the making?”

ENDS

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