Wed, 18 Nov 2009 5:50p.m.
By Sia Aston
Prime Minister John Key is continuing to defend himself against a cloud of demands over his government's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Today he met with farmers - who want it gone altogether - and celebrities, who offered him a free flight to Copenhagen as Labour continues to build pressure over Mr Key's secret deal with iwi.
Known to many as Xena, Warrior Princess, today Lucy Lawless was on the warpath at Parliament, hunting down the Prime Minister to give him a $5000 cheque raised by Greenpeace - just enough for a flight to Copenhagen's climate talks next month.
He turned it down.
"Unfortunately there isn't anybody available," said Mr Key.
Ms Lawless says when prime ministers from the UK and Germany are going to the talks, he should too. But Mr Key says he won't go, and he is not worried about causing offence.
"That's the way life goes, isn't it sometimes?"
Labour is also on the warpath, over National's preferential forestry deal for iwi in return for the Maori Party supporting its ETS.
The deal applies only to iwi which signed multi-million dollar treaty settlements, but later found the ETS would affect land values. They claim the Crown knew, and should have told them
National says the forestry deal will deter a potential court case, but some Crown law advice says iwi have no legal basis to sue the Government anyway.
"Is he therefore using potential legal action simply as a smokescreen so that he can do a secret and dirty deal that can't be justified?" asks Labour leader Phil Goff.
"Just because one lawyer puts up a view doesn't mean it's right," says Mr Key.
The attack came from all directions. Earlier Mr Key fronted up to farmers calling for the ETS to be dumped because of the cost once agriculture is phased into the scheme, in five years' time.
"The average cost is $3000 on a farm in 2030," says Mr Key. "That is a long way away, that is not going to cripple a farm."
Mr Key says farmers should understand international consumers won't buy goods made here if our environmental credentials don't stand up.
"We've already got the highest moral ground in terms of food production ethics," says Federated Farmers' Don Nicholson. "Subsidy-free farming, we have low carbon footprints, our production systems are world-leading."
National feels it has the high moral ground on its ETS, but it is having a hard time convincing others.
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