Deborah Coddington: Top Green in line for a windfall

MPS aren't allowed to describe their colleagues as hypocrites. That's against Parliament's rules and if they breach these rules, they have to stand, withdraw and apologise.

I once had to say sorry to Judith Tizard for calling her "Her Madness", but I haven't accused a fellow parliamentarian of being a hypocrite.

In the penultimate debate of the 47th Parliament, however, I came pretty close. We were passing what started life as the Members of Parliament (Pecuniary Interests) Bill but ended up as an addition to Standing Orders. Only NZ First and Act voted against it, so from now all new and returning MPs (as opposed to just Cabinet ministers) will have to declare everything they own.

Moreover, they'll have to tell the public every country they visit, who paid for the trip and what gifts they received, any major debts they owe or are owed, property, investments, trusts, land, cars, houses, boats, racehorses, greyhounds, Rolexes, Jane Daniels suits (if you're the Prime Minister) - and how many Manolo Blahniks are in the wardrobe. But not if you put everything in your wife, partner, lover or offspring's name.

So if you're sneaky there's an easy way to hide your assets. The trip-up will occur when some honest and conscientious MP diligently attempts to declare everything he or she has ever owned but forgets that cracker piece of dreamtime Aboriginal foot painting presented on a Speaker's tour of Kangaroo Island. In come the media and "Outski!" shout the headlines.

This addition to Parliament's rules was promoted by the Green Party, in particular co-leader Rod Donald. So it was curious that while the Greens supported this new standing order, they've been strangely silent on another standing order governing pecuniary interests: "a direct financial benefit that might accrue to a member personally, or to any trust, company or other business entity in which the member holds an appreciable interest, as a result of the outcome of the House's consideration of a particular item of business."

In other words, if there's legislation going through Parliament from which an MP might make a buck, you have to 'fess up.

Yet it takes considerable research to discover that the Greens' other leader, Jeanette Fitzsimons, is a major shareholder in Windflow Technology, a Christchurch wind-power company. Fitzsimons owns 30,000 shares (UK magnate Teddy Goldsmith, brother of the late billionaire Sir James, owns 50,000 and US tycoon Delane Wyeross has 79,000). The Green Party's taxpayer-subsidised superannuation fund has also invested in Windflow.

Rod Donald has called this "ethical investing" but in California, "environmentally friendly" wind farms kill more than 1000 birds a year - including endangered red-tailed hawks, golden eagles and burrowing owls. (A bit like a fishing fleet's bycatch - much abhorred by the Greens.)

Nothing wrong with good investments, you say, and you'd be right. But as a shareholder, wouldn't you be interested in keeping the share-price high? As I write, Windflow is listed as one of New Zealand's "top five rises", trading at $2.38 a share. And to do that, wouldn't you want electricity to be expensive? You bet you would. So best keep demand much greater than supply - in other words, ensure the country has an electricity shortage by doing your best to block any new hydro-power station.

Project Aqua? Canned. Dobson Dam upgrade? Resource consents opposed by DoC with the Green Party lobbying hard to make sure the extension is never approved.

Project Aqua is more sinister. The Government tried to move this along and sort out competing claims by proposing changes to the law. It went to the environment select committee, chaired by Jeanette Fitzsimons, and emerged with impossible delays for Meridian Energy, who promptly cancelled the scheme. Fitzsimons claimed the committee had "restored proper RMA processes and the importance of broad ecological and amenity values". On the Green Party website, under "achievements", is the boast: "Jeanette secures Select Committee changes to the proposed Waitaki Bill that make the ecological needs of the river paramount. A week later, Meridian Energy cancels the massive power scheme."

The Green Party has also staunchly supported New Zealand ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, and pushed for carbon charges on fossil fuels. A "key plank" in the Government's climate change policy is the Projects to Reduce Emissions - giving internationally tradeable carbon credits to businesses that cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Government pinched these credits in the first place from forestry owners, but that's another story.

And lookee here, who's one of the first outfits to get $10 million worth of carbon credits from the Government? New Zealand Windfarms, a subsidiary of aforementioned Windflow Technology, to set up a 60-turbine farm in the Manawatu. Just the sort of state-sanctioned confidence vote relished by a corporate to boost its share price and increase its bank balance.

As Kermit said, it's not easy being Green. But perhaps they're just capitalist like the rest of us.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY