KEY POINTS:
Business groups are accusing the Government of haste and bad faith in the way it is going about the design of an emissions-trading scheme.
The Greenhouse Policy Coalition, the Business Roundtable, Federated Farmers, Business New Zealand, the Road Transport Forum, the Chambers of Commerce, the major Electricity Users group and the Wood Processors Association have written to Climate Change Minister David Parker complaining about the timeline for the process he released last month.
"This timetable shows the detailed design of an emissions trading scheme is well under way and that it is only intended to engage with affected parties concurrently with the detailed drafting of the legislation for an emission trading scheme," they say.
"And this consultation is for a brief six-week period. This is not consultation in good faith."
Policy made in haste, with little idea of the costs and benefits, would not be durable and would fail to deliver the long-term policy stability business needs in order to plan ahead.
There were major issues which needed careful working through, and the timetable would not allow this.
Parker said the overall timeline, which runs until the middle of next year, including a six-month parliamentary process, was quite lengthy.
"Its starting point was extensive consultation papers, including on price-based measures. These submitters took the opportunity we wanted them to and provided us with very detailed submissions ... notably the Business New Zealand submission prepared by the New Zealand Institute of Economic research."
The Government was undertaking cost-benefit analyses on proposed energy and climate change policy. He envisaged a scheme covering all the greenhouse gases and all sectors of the economy.
The business groups say this is a good deal more ambitious than the European system, which took six years to bring in.
