Labor, Greens, media crying because New Zealand to resume oil and gas exploration

THE Guardian (of everything “progressive”) has noted that “despite an outcry from the opposition and environmental groups” New Zealand’s government has voted to resume oil and gas exploration.

Oh woe is us, the Kiwi greenies wail, oblivious to the fact that New Zealand has an energy crisis with electricity prices set to double in the next five years simply because of a shortage of supply. NZ has a mixture of hydro-electric, gas, coal-fired and some wind and solar.

Not only does New Zealand have an energy crisis, but an economic crisis, because energy and economy are the same thing, unbeknown to vast sections of today’s political class, namely Labor, Greens, Teals and a large chunk of the Liberals.

In 2018, the radical socialist Ardern and her Labour government banned the granting of new offshore oil and gas exploration permits as part of its “transition toward a carbon-neutral future” – the idiotic policy now being copied by Australian Labor with Greens and Teal support.

According the The Guardian, environmental groups “hailed the ban as a milestone in the fight against climate change”, and commended New Zealand for standing up to “one of the most powerful industries in the world”.

What these clowns fail to see is the elephant in the room: the fact that the energy industry is big and powerful because hydrocarbons are what every developed and developing economy in the world has been running on for at least the past century.

Last Thursday afternoon, the Luxon-led coalition voted 68-54 to reverse the ban after the third and final reading of the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill – a move it believes will alleviate energy shortages and high energy prices – and hopefully rescue NZ’s seriously ailing economy.

“The ban sent a chilling message to the investment community, halting the very exploration that underpins our energy security and leading directly to the supply constraints and price volatility that we see today,” Climate and Energy Minister Simon Watts told parliament.

“In times where renewable production decreases, it is clear that we need contingency options to ensure that Kiwis are not left footing a bigger bill, and to ensure that we have sufficient supply.” Watts’ comment was not rocket science, it was commonsense Economics 101.

According to The Guardian, the Bill formed part of the “minor populist New Zealand First’s coalition agreement with the larger centre-right National Party” and was “the latest in a run of controversial government policies that environmental groups believe threaten New Zealand’s unique biodiversity, natural resources and path toward a greener future.”

The Guardian report links to one of its features quoting some of the all-too prominent Kiwi greenies and making pie-in-the-sky statements such as: “For many living in New Zealand – where a deep connection to nature is regularly cited as being an important part of personal and collective identities – the mining strategy undermines a path towards a greener future.”

Does the regular Kiwi earning a living really believe in a future of fairy unicorns floating around in pristine fern forests? These greenies quoted at length by The Guardian apparently do.

“Kate Selby Smith strides through the undergrowth of a track on the North Island’s east coast when the bush suddenly thins to reveal a hidden treasure. “Welcome to my heaven,” she says, gesturing to a bend in the Wharekirauponga stream where a jade-green swimming hole has formed among the rocks and soft green ferns,” The Guardian’s introduction gushes.

The feature did at least mention the economic reality: “The country experienced the biggest contraction in GDP of any developed country in the world in 2024, due to high interest rates and unemployment.”

“In 2024, the government passed a law that could see contentious mining and infrastructure projects fast-tracked for approval, while in May, the coalition set aside $200m of its budget to invest in gas exploration. In June, New Zealand pulled out of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, an international coalition for phasing out fossil fuels.”

What The Guardian doesn’t mention is that any and every mining project in NZ has been contentious under its volumes of green and indigenous regulatory legislation. Australia is now fully entrenched in this anti-industry green mode under net zero policy.

The NZ coalition government plans to boost mineral exports to a modest $3bn by 2035, and at the same time has slashed funding to conservation and climate initiatives. The government has said these policies will enable economic growth.

But this $3bn only partly makes up the billions wasted by the climate clown Ardern on “green initiatives”. In 2022, Ardern unveiled what The Guardian called “the most significant announcement on climate change action in the country’s history” – $4.5bn for a climate emergency response fund (CERF) to try to drive a low-emissions economy and prepare the country for the effects of climate collapse.”

Think for a second about that term “climate collapse”. Do these people actually believe that the climate is going to “collapse” because economies across the globe run on hydrocarbon aka “fossil” fuels? What sort of “climate collapse” do they envisage that electric vehicles or anything else save us from?

Opposition parties were united against the bill, with Labour’s Megan Woods calling it “an ideological desire to look to the past instead of investing in the future ”.

Steve Abel, from the Greens, said the decision to restart oil and gas was “shamefully regressive” and efforts to bring back investors would be “futile”. So Labor and the Greens are apparently happy with economic decline and unaffordable energy prices.

The Guardian reminded Kiwis that the vote to restart fossil fuel exploration “comes just one week after the world’s top court ruled that states must tackle fossil fuels and failure to prevent harm to the climate could result in them being ordered to pay reparations.” Oh sure, let’s see how that goes.

And then they quoted Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, the chief executive of the aristocrat-funded World Wildllife Fund New Zealand, who called the legislation “egregious” and “deranged”. “We are yet again dangerously off track and putting our international reputation in the shredder,” she said. Tut, tut.