Cabinet ‘told of decision about oil’

Cabinet has made no decision on ending oil exploration, documents being released today will show, with April’s decision made on the basis of a political agreement between the coalition parties.

On April 12, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern led a group of ministerial colleagues into the Beehive theatrette to confirm news that the Government had decided it would offer no new offshore permits for oil and gas exploration, with onshore permits offered in Taranaki for as little as three years.

Although the news was delivered by ministers affected by the decision and in a forum usually used to discuss rulings made by Cabinet, politicians made the decision in their roles as party leaders.

Today the Government will release a series of documents generated in the making of the oil and gas exploration decision.

However, it has already confirmed to Stuff that no Cabinet paper was created and that Cabinet members have not voted on the matter.

‘‘There was no Cabinet decision,’’ a spokesman for Energy Minister Megan Woods said.

‘‘The decision not to offer future offshore oil and gas exploration permits was made between the three coalition parties.

‘‘The minister [Woods] was simply notifying Cabinet of that decision as well as noting that future Cabinet decisions would be required to implement that decision.’’

The spokesman added that there was no requirement for Cabinet ministers to make a decision but a Cabinet paper would be developed on implementing the decision.

‘‘Officials are currently drafting advice on implementing the offshore decision and, alongside this work, we’ve also begun discussions with industry about protecting rights of existing permit holders.’’

In a statement, Ardern defended the handling of the decision but said it was not how most decisions would be made.

‘‘The decision on future oil and gas block offers was a political decision made by the government parties. It was consulted on and agreed between the parties and taken to Cabinet for confirmation,’’ a spokesman for Ardern said.

‘‘This is a normal decisionmaking process when it comes to coalition-wide matters but does tend to be the exception rather than the rule.’’

National leader Simon Bridges described the process as ‘‘governing by decree’’ making decisions which would affect the productive sector without properly considering the impact.

‘‘It’s certainly no way to govern,’’ Bridges said, adding that he had suspected there had been no Cabinet paper on the decision.

Bridges said he had been told by officials that they were expressly instructed not to provide advice.

‘‘It’s this vibe that they go on, rather than decisions, because they don’t seem to understand the effect these things have.’’