Emissions Trading Scheme still set to hit household budgets
22 August 2008

UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne says the government’s emissions trading scheme will still hit household budgets hard, despite claims by the Greens and New Zealand First that they have negotiated improvements.

“New Zealand First’s claim that it has won concessions for power costs for the elderly is good for older New Zealanders, but does nothing for the vast majority of New Zealand families who will also suffer rising power costs under the ETS.

“The Greens’ promise to have won concessions about funding to make houses more energy efficient is fine, but it once again ignores the day-to-day increased costs families will face once the ETS comes in,” he says.

Mr Dunne says UnitedFuture has argued consistently from the time the legislation was introduced last December that for an ETS to be viable in New Zealand there has to be an effective compensation system in place for households, otherwise they will reject it.

“That was the government’s original position too, but it has backed more and more away from it as the debate has proceeded, to the extent that it is now clear that there will be no effective compensation, and the tax cuts starting in October will be as good as it gets.

“But as the international price per tonne of carbon rises, so too does the impact on household budgets.

“A recent study by the Business Council for Sustainable Development shows that public support for the ETS evaporates once the impact on the weekly household hits $40, and we are very close to that point now,” he says.

Mr Dunne says the government’s “absolute refusal” to face up to the issue of the impact on household budgets, and to tell New Zealanders the real story was the reason UnitedFuture withdrew its support for the legislation.

“It is clear from the talks still going on that the concessions being offered to New Zealand First and the Greens are at best peripheral, and will have no impact on reducing the additional weekly cost to New Zealand households.

“The best thing those parties could do right now to help New Zealand families is withdraw completely from their negotiations, leaving this ETS dead in the water,” he says.