regions to give them heart that this message has no
I call the Hon Judith Collins. Madam Speaker, there is
no sadder Member of Parliament today than the
Hon Shane Jones. We
heard him just tell us how happy he is and he couldn't
crack a smile. He couldn't crack a
smile because he knows he let down
the people who put faith in him
and in his leader to at least keep some
semblance of sense with
the
been deeply David Parker may find it funny that people will lose their
jobs in Taranaki and
elsewhere in New Zealand. Apparently
they will all be trained, they say
in
infrastructure going to be for if people won't be there
infrastructure going to be for if
Taranaki has one of the highest levels of income in the
country and they are taking that away
levels of income in the country and
saying here that Taranaki also, in the oil and gas industry,
pays double the average
wage or double what is the average wage in
New Zealand.
what is the average wage in New Zealand. It is one of the
highest earning sectors in New Zealand and
yet
earning sectors in New Zealand and
First government wants to take that away. Last year I was privileged to
be the
be the Minister of Energy and Resources. It was
interesting to find that crude oil exports
from New Zealand to Australia are our single
biggest, our second biggest
single export earner to Australia. Until
2012, when it was our single
biggest export earner to Australia. So it
earned us in those days around
billion a year and now it's around
just off the one basin that we use out of the 19 recognised
basins in New Zealand. We have the most
immense wealth. We could be the
Norway of the Pacific and instead we
now have a government that is intend
in turning us to the Nauru
of the Pacific
in turning us to the Nauru of the
look at child poverty and by goodness are we sick and
tired of listening to how we will end
child poverty, but by goodness, we can't
work out what it is, define it, but
we want to end
work out what it is, define it, but
resource industries and encourage natural gas, our oil
industries. Those are industries that
pay well but they are industries that
have a remarkably
remarkably excellent environmental record in New Zealand.
We
We look
We look at oil, yes, it is certainly one where there is a lot of
other countries
one where there is a lot of other remarkably
countries actually going after their oil too. I don't know that any of
them do it as well, as efficiently
or environmentally soundly as
we do in New Zealand. Yet, we are being
told we can't do that anymore. Look
at natural gas, natural gas
is not just an issue of fuel, it
is an issue of energy. Natural
gas accounts for around
issue of energy. Natural gas
our energy generation. So last year, for instance, we had a
very dry year when it came to
our hydro lakes. That meant that our hydro likes,
we needed a lot of extra help with
that. We couldn't just go and buy
some rain. So we had to actually
use more natural gas. We used more
coal. I
more natural gas. We used more coal. more
more natural gas. We used more coal. I well remember
television New Zealand reporters asking me
about this. They have been set up by the
Labour Party to ask
about how we were going to have brown outs
during the winter period right
before the election. Brown outs we
were going to have. I
was confident to be able to
to have. I was confident to be able
coal. We have natural gas, we are geothermal. We have hydro. We
have
people, which with all due respect to Iceland is
the size of Christchurch, and number 2 is
Norway, the sixth biggest oil
producer in the world. Norway
supplies gas into the UK. It
supplies gas into France. And they
use underwater pipelines
to do so. So when I hear Dr Megan
Woods wanting to think so small andmiserly
about
wanting to think so small andmiserly
say Norway, a population just like say Norway, a population just like
that, just like us quite a
way away from other big country, but a
country with
country with remarkable resource. That is why Norwegians are
the richest people in
the world per capita because they have
a sovereign wealth fund from oil and gas.
That is why. And they are able to choose
what they invest in now. They
are now the biggest investors
in the whole of the EU. The
biggest investors. That could be us. But we
are not going to be having that now.
I want to say to that side today and I want to say to that side today and
the people of New
Zealand, who actually think that we should
be looking to New Zealand and New
Zealand's interests, I say this
looking to New Zealand and New
emissions and one of the ways that we can make that even better is
to have more natural gas rather
than coal, for instance. But we do
have
Rubbish! That's just wrong!
We do have coal and we will use it We do have coal and we will use it
when we need to. I would like to say
to this Government in power at
the moment with their New Zealand First
Government,
Government, so when we have brown outs and blackouts because
we don't live
outs and blackouts because we don't
just stick align across to another just stick align across to
another country, we can't
do what Switzerland is doing and
saying they are getting rid of their
nuclear power plants because they will get
their nuclear power from
France, we can't do that. We have to is
supply. Megan Woods may well call out and say she is happy for us
to import, import, empower. There
is only so much we can import. We
import our crude oil and
refine it at the Marsden refinery at the
moment and export our crude
oil from Taranaki. We do that because we
get a higher price for our crude
oil than what is paid for
what comes into New Zealand. That is why
even though we are a net importer of oil
we also export a significant amount.
That is not going to last forever
from one field. What's going to be
next
from one field. What's going to be
sheet. Are we going to go after all the extractive industries. We
already know, and James Shaw
is looking very happy at that idea. Who
is going to pay
looking very happy at that idea. Who
going to get the four tonnes of copper that goes into every single
wind turbine. Four
tonnes of copper, where is that going to come
Who is going to pay for the gold and silver and rare earth
involved in all of our mobile phones
and everything else we use in the
modern day life. Who is
going to pay for that and where it is going
to come
happening in the environment of happening in the environment
of those country which will, in fact,
a country that has immense wealth. We are sitting
back from this Government and saying,
We are sitting back from this
can do is what we are doing now except
During the election debates Megan Woods and I were involved
in some debates on energy and resources
and not once did she ever
debates on energy and resources and
renewables. You know why she didn't, is
renewables. You know why she didn't,
the time the same as I did, because to have
the time the same as I did, because
and the length of our country would mean having a huge over supply of
hydro and every other
form of renewable energy. I well remember
the hydro plants being built,
the dams being built back
in the '70s. It was a terrible thing. The
precursor to the Green Party, if
Values Party were the ones out
campaigning against them
and here they are today championing
them but they are still
they are today championing them but
renewable energy so what is going to happen for the
renewable energy so what is going to
you going to put some more wind turbines up with all the concrete
turbines up with all the concrete
that goes in
turbines up with all the concrete
Are you going to do that too, Mr Are you going to do that too, Mr
already about to destroy the steel already about to destroy the steel
industry, you are already about to
do that by taking acoal, which is
needed to
do that by taking acoal, which is
is needed to make steel. We have a Government now that shows what
happens when the toddlers
are in charge of the kindergarten. It is
an absolute disgrace. The Hon
James Shaw. As again
dollen remarked in the importance of being
Earnest, there are times when it creases to
be a moral duty to speak
ones mind, it becomes a pleasure. I
would like to start by responding to some of
the myths pedaled by
to start by responding to some of
by the Hon Judith Collins. She by the Hon Judith Collins. She
started her contribution
by saying that New Zealand was just a small