The government says the oil and gas exploration ban needs to be reversed to deliver energy security, but the opposition parties say the bill is a giant step backwards. File photo. Photo: Supplied / Greenpeace / Geoff Reid
- A bill reversing the former Labour government's ban on new oil and gas exploration has passed its first reading
- The coalition has promised to lift this ban by the end of this year in light of energy security and affordability concerns
- The legislation has attracted intense scrutiny from opposition parties worried about its climate impacts
Legislation reversing the ban on new oil and gas exploration off the Taranaki coast is off to Select Committee, having passed its first reading.
The bill has polarised parties across the House, with the coalition arguing new exploration will deliver energy security, give investors certainty and create jobs.
On the other side, opposition parties have slammed the bill as a step backwards that will damage the environment and the country's progress on its climate commitments.
Resources Minister Shane Jones said the coalition had inherited a "dire" situation, with a tight gas supply and demand that grossly outstripped it.
"New Zealand must look after itself before it cares for the planet. Without secure energy, without affordable energy, we are going to see the closure of industry in New Zealand just as the last regime closed down the only refinery in New Zealand."
Jones said the former administration's ban had made the country a "hermit kingdom" and bringing oil and gas exploration back would attract investment and shore up energy supply.
"We remain dedicated to an energy transition but not at the point of hollowing out jobs and de-industrialisation. That type of fuzzy communist thinking has no place on this side of the house.
"Natural gas is critical. It will have a place until at least 2050. Increases in emissions from from gas supply is vastly preferable to our reliance on coal but the reality is, we need all of the options if we are to deliver affordable, secure energy."
'Showing their true colours'
Labour's resources spokesperson Megan Woods said it was "a dark day" for New Zealand, calling the coalition "a three-headed monster of a government".
"All three parties in this coalition are showing their true colours today and they will be judged by their actions for generations to come.
"This is a bill that certainly does not put New Zealand First; it puts New Zealand at risk. This bill is quite simply climate denying, populist right wing virtue signalling."
Woods said there was no guarantee investors would return and, even if they did, it would take an average of 16 years to get from exploration to production.
The Green Party's resources spokesperson Steve Abel said the coalition was in "rapid denial" of the science of climate change.
"The minister spoke about the rights of the industry. What about the rights of future generations to a liveable planet? The head of the United Nations Antonio Guterres talks about sentencing future generations to untold human suffering.
"That will be the consequence if we do not avert the worst effects of global heating by the end of this century, where we start heating towards three degrees of heating, that is why we must make a transition."
Te Paati Māori MP Tākuta Ferris said Māori had a long history of being "the vanguard" of resisting oil and gas exploration and 80 coast hapu had signed a declaration unanimously rejecting all seismic testing and oil exploration.
But the ACT Party's resources spokesperson Simon Court said the former Labour government was "insane" for banning new offshore oil and gas exploration.
"No government in the world has said they care so little about progress and people that instead of promoting the use of minerals and resources that make people wealthier, they would just manage them, whatever that means."
"Gas and mined minerals deliver for all of our society. New Zealanders need better jobs, they need higher incomes, the businesses they work for need to get back on the productivity cycle and that is what mining minerals and oil and gas for energy and raw materials offers New Zealand."
In a short speech in support of the bill, National MP Dan Bidois said the ban had harmed the country's economy.
"This bill is about energy security. It's about economic growth, improving productivity, lowering the cost of living and helping us transition to a low carbon future."
The Crown Minerals Amendment Bill forms part of New Zealand First's coalition agreement with the National Party.
It passed its first reading on Wednesday afternoon with support from National, ACT and New Zealand First; with Labour, the Greens and Te Paati Māori opposed.
