Maori Party to vote against ETS Bill

The Maori Party has confirmed that they will vote against the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading and Other Matters) Amendment Bill when it comes up for its second reading in the house.

Co-Leader Tariana Turia said “the emissions trading scheme was initially established to incentivise changes in behaviour for the sake of protecting the mauri of our environment. As the scheme has rolled out we have been gravely disappointed that not only have the environmental outcomes not been achieved, but that it has created another commercial market for speculators which has resulted in increasing the cost of living for our people.”

“The flood of cheap carbon credits from overseas has distorted the local market and slashed the value of forestry holdings, where Maori are major stakeholders.”

“Instead of taking bold measures to address the failings of this scheme, the legislation simply maintains the status quo for immediate respite of the few.”

Co-Leader Dr Pita Sharples said “we are concerned that the public is subsiding the costs of this scheme for the polluters, as some of the big emitters are still exempt. We are also concerned with the two-for-one credits whereby emitters are only required to offset one credit for every two that they are emitting.”

“When we voted for the original piece of legislation in 2009 it was on the condition that key initiatives were put into place to mitigate the impact of cost increases on whanau. We negotiated that the cost of increases in petrol and power be halved, that 20,000 low income homes be insulated to assist with reducing electricity costs, and that funding be reinstated to Enviroschools to support the next generation to adopt sustainable practices. All of these initiatives have now been established in recognition of the key concerns that we had with the original Bill.”

“We are not afraid to say that the current scheme has not gone far enough in shifting the behaviours of the big polluters.”

“We must remember that the whole drive behind this policy was environmental sustainability, and it if it is not working towards achieving this goal then we are compelled to vote against it.”

“We will be making no further comment at this time.”