Charles Chauvel

Difficulties the Australian Government faces in passing its Emissions Trading Scheme underline the folly of New Zealand forcing through its own legislation under urgency, says Labour Climate Change spokesperson Charles Chauvel.

"National's headlong rush to force through its ETS in so-called harmony with Australia is now exposed as even more of a folly because sadly Australia may not have a scheme in place before Copenhagen," Charles Chauvel said.

"Labour in New Zealand is deeply concerned at the prospect the Rudd Government's ETS may not pass because deep divisions in the Liberal Party Opposition mean the Bill is now struggling to find the numbers it needs."

Charles Chauvel said no one could take pleasure in what was happening in Australia. "As I told Australian Climate Change Minister Penny Wong in Melbourne on 25 August, Labour here is very supportive of moves in developed countries to introduce economic instruments to price carbon emissions as such moves make a global agreement on climate change much more likely.

"So we still hope that the Australian ETS passes, but if it doesn't it will certainly underline National's folly here in ramming through its legislation to harmonise with an Australian scheme that may well not come into being --- at least not immediately, and certainly not in the form planned when Nick Smith committed to harmonisation," Charles Chauvel said.

"National's headlong rush has not been in New Zealand's interests. One major reason for that has been National's insistence on alignment with Australia, despite the uncertainty there.

"Even as late as Wednesday last week, Climate Change Minister Nick Smith was insisting the Australian scheme would be passed. It looks certain that he will be proved wrong. How many other aspects of his rushed ETS will also turn out to be wrong?"