When the Greens confronted the government about their shameful position at the Vienna climate change talks, Climate Change Minister David Parker began his non-denial denial by quoting the opening lines of the New Zealand delegation's plenary statement at the conferance:
First, I would like to reiterate New Zealand’s readiness to take on new quantatative commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions...The statement was subsequently tabled in the House, which was a mistake, because it shows just how deceitful the government has been on this issue. The lie behind Parker's claims is laid bare in the final paragraph where our representatives stated:
there would be little sense in trying to finalise mitigation ranges at this meeting.So, the Greens and NGOs were right - we opposed the indicitive 25% - 40% target range, hardly what you'd expect from a "100% pure", "clean and green" country pursuing carbon neutrality. As for Parker, while he hasn't technically mislead Parliament (in the same way that Bill Clinton didn't technically lie when he said "I did not have sex with that woman"), he certainly did his utmost to give Parliament and the public an utterly misleading interpretation of New Zealand's position. Which simply confirms it: Labour is two-faced on climate change.
