Are Warmer Homes on the Post Election Chopping Block?

The TV3 documentary: Inside Child Poverty, highlighted the importance of having warm healthy homes for the good of our kids and yet we at ECan in Exile are hearing worrying rumours from within industry that energy efficiency home upgrades may be in next line for the government razor gang, post-election.

Our information suggests that, if the current government is returned, funding to some energy efficiency incentives will be cut very soon after the election and no new work for affected programs will be authorised after 30 June 2012.

If true this is very worrying to us in Canterbury because we have many already cold, damp homes made worse by the effects of earthquake structural and ground damage. Also, this governments ECan commissioners have already axed our warm home retrofit scheme in Christchurch because, they say, the government is providing and funding an adequate energy efficiency home retrofitting scheme.

The confusion is highlighted in the National Party's 2011 Energy & Resources policy statement which seems to be indicating that it wants to pull back from government funding of retrofitting and upgrades, despite also committing to completing existing upgrades:

" What we will do next…Work to encourage third-party participation in funding and special home-insulation projects so more families can have warmer, drier, healthier homes."
- National Party 2011 Policy Link  (page 4) -

Now either industry insiders are not being properly briefed on this issue or perhaps we are perhaps getting the rosier view before the election but may be subject to quite another attitude once our votes are safely in the ballot box. Whatever the reason for the confusion, we say our kids deserve much better than double talk and sleight of hand policies from any of our political parties and representatives.