Offshore exploration Bill passed
WELLINGTON: A controversial Bill banning future offshore oil and gas exploration has passed its third reading in Parliament — but the National Party has vowed to reverse it.
The Crown Minerals (Petroleum) Amendment Bill passed last night with the support of Labour, New Zealand First and the Green Party, while National and Act New Zealand opposed it.
The Bill followed a truncated public submission process and gives effect to the Government’s announcement in April that it will cease offering new offshore oil and gas exploration.
Energy Minister Megan Woods said the passing of the Bill was a line in the sand and represented a transition away from fossil fuels and towards affordable, renewable energy.
‘‘New Zealanders want to see a future for their country where we take action on climate change . . . where we have the courage to look beyond the threeyear political cycle,’’ she said, speaking at the third reading.
She noted the Bill preserved the rights of existing exploration permits, which cover an area of about 100,000sq km — roughly the size of the North Island.
‘‘Those permit holders will have the same rights and privileges as before the law comes into force.’’
Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Kate Simcock said the Bill meant about 4 million sq km of the Earth’s surface would be offlimits to oil and gas companies.
National Party energy spokesman Jonathan Young said National would reverse the Bill when it returned to power.
He lamented the lack of consultation and official advice before the policy was announced.
‘‘When the minister was asked for evidence, for research, she was unable to present it,’’ he said at the third reading. ‘‘They did not seek analytical advice or information around the cost. They did not seek environmental evidence. They did not seek any consultation with the industry.
‘‘All of the advice and analysis has come after the fact of the decision. It’s an embarrassment.’’
Mr Young said it was a ‘‘dark day’’ for the energy sector.
A GROUP of activists delivered a climate change report to a bank in Dunedin yesterday to protest its continued investment in fossil fuels.
Climate activism group 350 Dunedin undertook the protest against ANZ in response to an Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) report released last month.
The report outlined what its authors called the ‘‘farreaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society’’ required to limit global warming to 1.5degC, along with the widereaching benefits of doing so compared with allowing a rise of 2degC.
Activists targeted ANZ because research from Australian environmental nonprofit Market Forces found it had loaned more than $7 billion to the coal, oil and gas sectors, the most of the big four banks.
Local 350 Dunedin supporter Liz Palmer was one of about 15 activists who gathered in the Octagon yesterday before marching to a George St ANZ branch to deliver a copy of the report.
‘‘We’re delivering the IPCC report, just in case they haven’t got it, which states we’ve got about 10 years to make some really fast changes away from fossil fuels,’’ Ms Palmer said.
An ANZ spokesman defended the bank’s commitment to the transition to a lowcarbon economy, saying it shared the activists’ ambition for a lowcarbon future.
ANZ had been cutting lending to the oil, coal and gas sectors and did not directly finance oil or gas exploration, he said.