The fund would help increase Māori, community ownership of energy assets.
본문
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi during a policy announcement in August. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Te Pāti Māori says a $1 billion fund to increase Māori and community ownership in energy assets and to kick start an almost decade-long plan to transform the energy sector will be a bottom line during coalition negotiations if elected.
The fund is the centrepiece of the party’s
energy policy, released today, which also includes strengthening the Commerce Commission and Electricity Authority to crack down harder on high power prices.
Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the fund would “help our people become owners in the new renewable energy economy” because “when you own the asset, you don’t just get cheaper energy, you build wealth”.
“You build resilience and you create opportunities for rangatahi and the economic benefits stays in the communities.”
The fund would “build productive energy assets owned by our people”, the policy document said. A panel of experts, such as from the industry or iwi, would decide on which regional or urban projects were worth investing in.
That could be, for example, solar panels at a marae or on papakāinga, or iwi “owning parts of wind, hydro, geo-thermal and solar developments” that would provide “an income stream that benefits generations”.
“Imagine regional communities owning renewable energy infrastructure rather than simply hosting it,” he said.
“It is capital to help our people become owners in the new renewable energy economy. We want to help finance solar, batteries, community energy, marae energy systems, papakāinga, iwi and hapū renewable projects.”
Waitti said there was “no legitimate reason why we are paying mega-dollars for our power and petrol when we can harness the power of renewable energy”.
“If we replace fossil fuels with renewables but leave ownership and profits concentrated in the same hands, we haven’t transformed the system. We’ve just changed the technology.”
And Te Pāti Māori was also promising to develop a “whole-of-system National Energy Plan” that included “generation, storage, transmission, distribution networks, household electrification, transport, industrial demand, resilience, workforce development and Māori and community ownership,” the policy document said.
The party would also beef up the Commerce Commission and Electricity Authority to investigate excessive pricing and profits, and to increase market competition.
“We will ensure regulators have the power to intervene more structurally if regulation does not deliver fair prices, genuine competition, consumer protection and fair access for Māori and community-owned generation.”
The party has set 2035 as a deadline for “energy sovereignty” and by when much of this work, such as increasing Māori ownership in the sector, should be complete.
Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said, “our whenua, wai and resources have generated wealth for others for generations”.
“We will not allow that history to repeat itself under a green label.
“We want whānau generating power, marae storing it, iwi owning generation, Māori businesses building it and the wealth staying in our communities. Other parties want to build more power. We want our people to own it.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
