The ACT Party is coming for the Climate Change Commission again. It has revived its policy to get rid of the commission - and I personally hope ACT actually follows through on it this time if it makes it into Government after November because, by any measure, it's a waste of money.

The Climate Change Commission is one of those Government departments, and we've got heaps of them now, that spends most of its time writing reports. My general rule is that if a Government department exists mainly to write reports, then it needs to be scrapped because we don't have the money for that kind of thing.

Keep the ones that provide services. Keep the ones that give you surgeries, put people in jail, police the streets, collect your taxes and teach your kids. All the ones that provide a service you can actually quantify in your life, keep them. The ones doing the budgeting for the Government, keep them.

But the ones that just write reports that most of us will never read? In an age where AI can collate data and produce similar reports, dump them. We don't need them.

The Climate Change Commission is a prime example. That's especially true when the advice it has been providing is so unbelievably nutty that no one's ever going to do it.

Do you remember the time they said the way to reach our climate target was to cull the dairy herd? That was in 2021. It wasn't that long ago. Cull the dairy herd in a country that provides food for the rest of the world. Did they check that with anybody before they went public with it?

They also suggested banning new gas connections. That was nutty too. There was no need for a ban like that. The market is doing it anyway because we're running out of gas.

But this kind of nonsense costs us about $15 million a year. Since the Commission was created, it has cost us around $100 million and counting.

For what?

For paperwork that no one takes seriously.

Of course, an announcement like this from the ACT Party is going to drive the climate lovies nuts because they'll be wedded to the Climate Change Commission, not because of what it actually does, which is nothing, but simply because it's the Climate Change Commission and it's got "climate change" in its name. Therefore, it must be important.

Good on ACT for taking this on again. But here's my challenge to ACT: instead of just campaigning on it because it sounds good, then abandoning the idea when it comes to the crunch in coalition negotiations, how about campaigning on it this time and then actually getting rid of it?

LISTEN ABOVE

The ACT Party is coming for the Climate Change Commission again. It has revived its policy to get rid of the commission - and I personally hope ACT actually follows through on it this time if it makes it into Government after November because, by any measure, it's a waste of money.
The Climate Change Commission is one of those Government departments, and we've got heaps of them now, that spends most of its time writing reports. My general rule is that if a Government department exists mainly to write reports, then it needs to be scrapped because we don't have the money for that kind of thing.
Keep the ones that provide services. Keep the ones that give you surgeries, put people in jail, police the streets, collect your taxes and teach your kids. All the ones that provide a service you can actually quantify in your life, keep them. The ones doing the budgeting for the Government, keep them.
But the ones that just write reports that most of us will never read? In an age where AI can collate data and produce similar reports, dump them. We don't need them.
The Climate Change Commission is a prime example. That's especially true when the advice it has been providing is so unbelievably nutty that no one's ever going to do it.
Do you remember the time they said the way to reach our climate target was to cull the dairy herd? That was in 2021. It wasn't that long ago. Cull the dairy herd in a country that provides food for the rest of the world. Did they check that with anybody before they went public with it?
They also suggested banning new gas connections. That was nutty too. There was no need for a ban like that. The market is doing it anyway because we're running out of gas.
But this kind of nonsense costs us about $15 million a year. Since the Commission was created, it has cost us around $100 million and counting.
For what?
For paperwork that no one takes seriously.
Of course, an announcement like this from the ACT Party is going to drive the climate lovies nuts because they'll be wedded to the Climate Change Commission, not because of what it actually does, which is nothing, but simply because it's the Climate Change Commission and it's got "climate change" in its name. Therefore, it must be important.
Good on ACT for taking this on again. But here's my challenge to ACT: instead of just campaigning on it because it sounds good, then abandoning the idea when it comes to the crunch in coalition negotiations, how about campaigning on it this time and then actually getting rid of it?
LISTEN ABOVE

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Let's hope ACT can actually get rid of the Climate Change Commission this time

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/a62610ca-293b-402a-92e0-b4b2006c2e29/transcript