Prime Minister Helen Clark has labelled National "fair weather friends" when it comes to climate change legislation, saying Labour is talking to smaller parties to get its emissions trading scheme (ETS) through Parliament.
National leader John Key yesterday called for a delay to the ETS.
He told the National Party Lower North Island regional conference he still supported an ETS, but the rushed timetable for its design and the select committee process was "reckless".
Climate Change Minister David Parker said today a delay in the ETS could cost taxpayers "hundreds of millions of dollars".
Under an ETS, polluters face limits on how much planet-warming greenhouse gas they emit, and pay for each tonne of carbon that is over those limits.
Mr Key today told Radio New Zealand the fact the prime minister had delayed the introduction of liquid fuels in the scheme showed there was "no time pressure whatsoever" on getting an ETS .
The ETS should be delayed until New Zealand saw the shape of the one Australia was proposing, he said.
Mr Key's announcement was another blow to the controversial legislation, which has come under fire from business groups for its potential economic costs and from environment groups for not going far enough.
Miss Clark told Breakfast TV today that the Government was not relying on National to get its legislation through Parliament.
It was talking to the smaller parties, as it did with every bill, given it was a minority government.
She had spoken personally to leaders of some parties since returning at the weekend from an overseas trip.
"The Greens are keen to keep talking. New Zealand First is keen to keep talking. They see the issue has got to be dealt with," she said.
"I think there's good will to doing something. I don't think other parties want to just turn tail like National and ignore the problem."
She told NewstalkZB that National's support was "never relied on" to get the ETS legislation through Parliament.
"They are very fair weather friends when trying to do something about climate change."
New Zealand could be a world leader on sustainability - an issue which was on the lips of world leaders such as in Japan and Korea, where she had just visited, Miss Clark said.
"National wanted to follow Australia into the Iraq war, it wanted to follow Australia in not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol in the first place. Now they're saying `oh well, because Australia's thinking about a scheme, let's follow them'."
Mr Parker said that without an ETS, emissions in the economy would increase in the first Kyoto Protocol commitment period -- of 2008 to 2012 -- costing the taxpayer between $300 million and $900m.
Without the ETS, deforestation emissions would race ahead, causing at least $200m cost in the first 18 months, Mr Parker said.
Mr Key said National was committed to an ETS as that was the "mechanism of choice" being adopted by trading partners Australia and the European Union, and others.
"The issue is not about National's commitment to emissions trading scheme, we've had that right back to the 1990 Cabinet, but what we are concerned about is the pace at which this legislation is being forced through," he said.
Mr Key did not want to put a timeframe on when legislation should go through under a National government.
