Documents released under Official Information Act reveal National Government systematically denying appropriate response to IEA warning

Kia ora !
Alan Preston here up in Mangawhai, Northland for Save Our Rail Northland and The Way Forward 2011

I have been sending this out widely to Candidates ( on the 'left' ) press media, radio ( talkback and RNZ National, Unions, Transition Towns networks et al. National candidates need to be challenged on this.

Read more on the link at the bottom of this e-mail and I've attached the Bolland Report and The Ministerial Briefing on Oil Prices and Resilience in the Transport Sector.

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New Zealand's energy security and the National Government's approach to provision of ( or deprivation of ) transport infrastructure are major issues of strategic urgency that need to be debated in the lead up to this election.

• During the current National Government's term in office, the public of New Zealand have been denied access to two very important documents which have since been released to us under the Official Information Act:
In 2009 the National Government was presented with a document called the 2009 Ministerial Report on Oil Prices and Resilience in the Transport Sector which outlined some of the vulnerabilities that New Zealand faces.

In 2010 The Ministry of Transport commissioned the Bolland Report to provide independant advice on the costs and benefits of rail vs road for freight transport - which found in favour of rail.

'The National Government of New Zealand is currently pursuing its 'Roads of 'National' Significance and the KiwiRail Turnaround plan - which includes the 'rationalisation' of 5 regional railway lines. thereby increasing New Zealand's vulnerability, decreasing our resilience and contravening our obligations to reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol.

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• In May 2011 the International Energy Agency announced , following its study of 800 of the world's oil fields, that they now believe the peak in conventional oil production actually occurred in 2006,
that unconventional sources (natural gas and tar sands) are extremely unlikely to make up the shortfall, concluding that 'the age of cheap oil is over'
and that consequently governments around the world urgently need to reduce their vulnerability to increasing fossil fuel prices.

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Q.1. Is the National Government aware of this advice from the International Agency ?
( Acting Minister of Energy Hekia Parata, in her 21 June 2011 reply to this question reveals that you aren't )

Q. 2.How is National's intention to spend $11billion of our public funds on its Roads of 'National' Significance and to close down several of our strategically essential railways, consistant with this advice ?
Q. 3.And why did the the National Government use the Official Information Act to deny access to the previously mentioned documents ?

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For more background on this issue : Documents released under the Official Information Act reveal National Government systematically denying appropriate response to IEA warning

What has also been of great concern to New Zealanders involved in advocating for more appropriate energy, transport and climate change responses is that our media organisations and elected representatives seem to be collectively extremely reluctant to deal with these issues.

We trust that at this pre-election juncture , you will understand the gravity of this issue and give it the exposure it deserves.

N.B. see .pdf files attached below.

ENDS

Bolland_Report_April_2010.pdf
MinisterialbriefingOilpricesandtransportsectorresilience_Sept_2009.pdf

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