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Speaker 1: More climate change material for you with the release to

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Speaker 1: day of this one hundred and thirty two page sit

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Speaker 1: aside some time for that today. It's one hundred and

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Speaker 1: thirty two pages, maybe over sandwiches at lunchtime. One hundred

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Speaker 1: and thirty two page emissions reduction plan, it's the second

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Speaker 1: of its kind, outlines our emission budget from twenty six

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Speaker 1: to twenty thirty. Our government was on track to meet

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Speaker 1: all the targets through to thirty six, but that's changed.

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Speaker 1: We're likely now to miss by about seventeen million tons. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: the Climate Minister Simon Watts is with us morning, not

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Speaker 1: at all. What do we get today? Do we get

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Speaker 1: targets or do we get reality? Are we going to

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Speaker 1: get there or are we not going to get there?

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Speaker 2: Look, we get both. We get a plan that is

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Speaker 2: backed by initiatives that we've been are going to be practical,

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Speaker 2: maintain our economy while also reducing emissions. And we're making

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Speaker 2: sure that the initiatives that we're going to do are

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Speaker 2: going to support our economy through what is a difficult

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Speaker 2: phase now while also doing what we need to do

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Speaker 2: in the future. And that's the balancing act that we're

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Speaker 2: having to do do you.

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Speaker 1: Run the risk of having so many targets, so much

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Speaker 1: paperwork that people lose interest.

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Speaker 2: No, we've tried to do as much as we can

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Speaker 2: to simplify by this plan. Our plan this time is shorter,

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Speaker 2: it's more concise. It's focused on the big dots that

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Speaker 2: are going to move us in the right direction, and

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Speaker 2: that's around doubling renewables. It's about the work that we're

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Speaker 2: doing around giving farmers a tool to reduce submissions in

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Speaker 2: the agg space. And we're confident that our plan is

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Speaker 2: going to allow us to get to the targets that

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Speaker 2: we're seeing. It's going to be challenging, but we're being

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Speaker 2: pragmatic around the process to get there.

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Speaker 1: When you say farmers, they're not in yet.

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Speaker 2: Look, the difference between the last plan and our plan

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Speaker 2: is that pricing isn't going to be coming in first

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Speaker 2: January of next year. But also the reality is is

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Speaker 2: that we're not going to be decimating the agricultural sectory

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Speaker 2: because that was going to be the outcome under the

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Speaker 2: last plan. But for us, we're giving tools to the

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Speaker 2: farmers to be able to reduce submissions and we've got

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Speaker 2: some examples in modeling around some of those tools within

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Speaker 2: our plans.

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Speaker 1: And where does the science come into this? And how

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Speaker 1: do we know what science is going to do? Is

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Speaker 1: it not possible? Science will save us all? And therefore

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Speaker 1: we don't need to panic now?

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Speaker 2: Well, look at our view, is that actually agricultural science

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Speaker 2: breakthrough is going to be that we've given some examples

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Speaker 2: around low methane genetics, We've got methane inhibitor examples that

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Speaker 2: we've modeled, and while they're preliminary modeling, there are some

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Speaker 2: pretty significant upsides around that. New Zealand is a significant

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Speaker 2: opportunity in that space. We back our farmers and that's

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Speaker 2: why we put more money into R and D, which

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Speaker 2: we think is the key area to reduce emissions, not

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Speaker 2: putting in pricing without giving them the tools.

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Speaker 1: How tangible is the actual model in your view? In

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Speaker 1: other words, if you look at a Peter Dutton in Australia,

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Speaker 1: he says, this Paris thing is pie in the sky

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Speaker 1: and we're getting out of it. Why are we so

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Speaker 1: hell bent on trying something that may or may not work,

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Speaker 1: knowing full well that a US and India or China

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Speaker 1: aren't going to get there. We know we're not going

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Speaker 1: to get there and even if we don't get there,

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Speaker 1: nothing actually happens.

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Speaker 2: Well, Look, the difference between New Zealand and Australia is

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Speaker 2: we've got an abundance of renewable energy. We've got significant

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Speaker 2: oportuy unities within our own economy to be able to

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Speaker 2: realize more, particularly renewable electricity, which will allow us to decarbonize.

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Speaker 2: We've got all these assets and resources at our advantage

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Speaker 2: and we need to use that. That's the way that

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Speaker 2: the economies are transitioning, and we're well positioned to do that.

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Speaker 2: But we have to balance the realities of our particular

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Speaker 2: ad sector as we go on that journey, and we've

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Speaker 2: aimed to try and maintain a bit of pragmatism in

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Speaker 2: terms in terms of that plan. But as I say,

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Speaker 2: we are on track to hit our domestic targets based

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Speaker 2: on the plan that we've published today.

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Speaker 1: All Right, appreciate time. Simon wants Who's the Climate Minister?

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Speaker 1: For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, Listen live to

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Speaker 1: news talks that'd be from six am weekdays, or follow

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