Govt strikes deal with Maori Party on ETS bill

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A deal between National and the Maori Party to push emissions trading scheme legislation through Parliament under urgency this week will see 8000 extra low income households insulated and a windfall for some Maori foresters.

Details of the deal were announced this afternoon by Prime Minister John Key, Climate Change Minister Nick Smith and Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples.

Dr Sharples hailed it as a win for all New Zealanders and said it would allow the creation of large-scale permanent forests.

Around 35,000 ha of Conservation land will be set aside for some iwi - notably big South Island tribe Ngai Tahu - to plant for  "carbon credits" under the deal, while other iwi will also work with the government to facilitate indigenous planting.

The deal on forests was necessary as redress to those tribes whose treaty settlements were unknowingly devalued by the Kyoto Protocol, the government says.

Other concessions won by the Maori Party in return for its support included measures the cushion the blow on low income families by halving power and petrol price rises in comparison with previous estimates, Dr Sharples said.

The Maori Party had also negotiated an extra $24 million in new money to insulate houses lived in by community service card holders.

Other key concessions included:

* A Treaty of Waitangi clause in the emissions trading legislation.

* The government paying for iwi representatives to travel to Copenhagen for world climate change talks next month.

*Agreement to continue funding the Enviro-schools programme

* A bigger allocation of carbon credits for the fishing industry and agreement that they will be paid to quota holders instead of fishing vessel owners. A number of iwi have large fishing quota.

Dr Smith said the deal struck the right balance in protecting the future of the economy and the environment.

It also protected the integrity of existing treaty settlements and ensured Maori - as major participatants in agriculture, forestry and fishing - were not disproportionately disadvantaged.

- © Fairfax NZ News