Environmentalist irate over permits

A Northland environmental activist says Energy Minister Simon Bridges has sent mixed messages in a speech that announces new oil exploration permits but also refers to a grim international outlook for oil.

Rueben Taipari Porter is one of many Northlanders among thousands of environmentalists, Maori independence activists and campaigners who protested outside the Advantage New Zealand Petroleum Summit in Auckland earlier this week.

At the summit Mr Bridges announced a further issue of Government permits for onshore and offshore survey and exploration, including 186,000sq km in the Reinga Basin, off Northland's west coast. It is the third annual issue of new permits for that vast offshore region.

Mr Porter said the issue of new permits was "confusing" in light of Mr Bridges saying "the world must progressively transition towards a low carbon future".

Mr Porter also said the Government was ignoring the democratic process of consultation. He said iwi and the wider community did not support prospecting off Northland's coast.

"I can't emphasise enough how ridiculous the consultation process to date has been," Mr Porter said.

Announcing the new permits, Mr Bridges said energy diversity would be the key to achieving oil aspirations "in the right balance".

"This is why New Zealand takes a long-term view, with a mixed and balanced approach to our energy future, which sees us pursuing opportunities in both renewable and non-renewable energy," he said.

Oil was New Zealand's fourth largest export and produced significant incomes for thousands of workers - but currently very few of those jobs were in Northland, he said.

"Over the past 10 years, employment in the resources sector has more than doubled, with about 7000 direct jobs in oil, gas and minerals sector where workers on average earned $105,000, more than twice the average New Zealand salary.

"All of this comes from one petroleum basin, Taranaki, but we have 17 others that are underexplored - and I want to see that change."

The potential of the Reinga Basin was only now beginning to be understood but it had a lot in common with the Taranaki Basin, Mr Bridges said.

"New Zealand has built a strong, world-class regulatory framework to provide for economic opportunities, while also ensuring the necessary environmental and safety protections. The process for awarding permits is rigorous."