A visionless National Party has stolen Government policy and rebranded it as their own.

“The National Party is bereft of ideas about how to tackle the climate emergency and has taken to reheating ideas directly from Government policy,” says the Green Party’s climate change spokesperson James Shaw.

“The centrepiece of the National Party’s announcement is already in the Emissions Reduction Plan the Government released last year.

“In fact, almost everything in this morning’s climate announcement is already underway. While I’m glad Mr. Luxon is copying our homework, the policy is unnecessary.

“On the one hand, I am pleased that National has finally accepted the need to decarbonise our energy system. However, this is also from a National Party that has pledged to restart offshore oil and gas exploration.

“Most people will see through a party that wants to both cut fossil fuel use and expand fossil fuel exploration.

“What today’s announcement does mean, however, is that we can expect nothing less than National Party support for the Government’s work on planning frameworks for wind and solar energy, both through the Spatial Planning legislation and review of national direction.

“For the Greens, it is important we do this in a way that is good for nature and good for the climate.

“Until now, National has opposed virtually every other Government climate policy. I hope we can look forward to their policies on the other hundreds of action points the government has already announced,” says James Shaw.

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