On October 23rd last year New Zealand First leader Winston Peters announced that he’d chosen the most radical left wing coalition in this country’s history to become our new Government.
While those involved in previous MMP negotiations had rejected the idea of allowing the extremist Green Party anywhere near ministerial power, Winston Peters accepted they would have three Cabinet posts.
During his coalition announcement, the New Zealand First leader made the unorthodox decision to talk down our ‘rock star’ economy: “Our negotiations have taken place against a backdrop of changing international and internal economic circumstances which we cannot ignore. We in New Zealand First believe that an economic correction, or a slowdown, is looming, and that the first signs are already here.”
He said he was foreshadowing the downturn so he wouldn’t get blamed for it when it arrived. But whether he likes it or not, he is to blame – for choosing parties that advocated deeply radical left-wing and spendthrift policies to run the country, instead of the party that most people voted for, with its proven track record of responsible governance.
After only 6 months, the new Government’s policy agenda is now being identified as causing the economy to slow.
Last week economic forecaster Infometrics ‘slashed’ its outlook for New Zealand, explaining, “The prediction by Winston Peters of an economic correction or slowdown appears to be coming true.”
They forecast New Zealand’s economic growth slowing to 2.4 percent per annum by the end of this year and slipping below 2 percent during 2019. They also predict that our per capita GDP growth could fall into negative territory.
They say, “A range of factors have combined to drive the slowdown, many of which can be sheeted back to government policy”.
Included in the factors they identify are “the dumping of major roading projects in favour of rail and public transport”, “capacity constraints in the construction sector”, and a major “slowdown in migration” – from 68,900 in the year to March to below 17,000 by early 2021, resulting in more Kiwis heading across the Tasman, and “fewer New Zealanders coming home”.
These sentiments are reflected in a report by the New Zealand Institute for Economic Research, also released last week, which says, “Business confidence had fallen sharply in the December 2017 quarter in the wake of the new Labour-led government taking office, and this pessimism has carried over into the first quarter of 2018.”
Government policies of major concern to the business sector include changes to employment law and New Zealand First’s minimum wage increase to $20 an hour. Firms are worried that increases in the minimum wage are forcing up costs and constraining their ability to grow, since wage relativity in the workforce is requiring pay increases for other workers as well. As a result, many businesses say they are now investigating labour-saving technology to reduce their reliance on workers.
Is this what New Zealand First really wanted when they promoted their irresponsible $20 an hour minimum wage policy? And don’t they understand what a disastrous impact it’s having on the most vulnerable and unskilled in society, who are finding it increasingly difficult to get a job?
Last week’s shock announcement by the Prime Minister that she is banning all future deep sea oil and gas exploration in New Zealand – without any consultation at all with the oil and gas industry – will no doubt undermine business confidence even further.
Unbelievably, this radical policy was not part of Labour’s coalition agreement with the Greens or with New Zealand First, nor was it even part of Labour’s election manifesto. Instead it turns out that Jacinda Ardern has sacrificed the entire oil and gas sector for an extremist election pledge that was made by the Green Party: “The Green Party will not accept applications for new coal mines or deepsea oil and gas exploration and drilling.”
It appears the Prime Minister’s motivation for announcing this Green Party policy as her own – on the eve of her overseas trip – was personal. She wants to make an impact at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, where, just like at APEC last year, there will be opportunities for her to demonstrate that global warming is her nuclear free moment, and that through her radical climate change action, she’s leading the world.
But at what cost?
As the Mayor of New Plymouth described it, the Prime Minister’s decision is a “kick in the guts for the future of the Taranaki economy”. She’s put at risk the livelihoods of 11,000 people who work in the oil and gas industry – along with almost 120,000, who live in the Taranaki region.
While the Prime Minister justified her ban on oil and gas exploration as being necessary to put New Zealand on the path to achieve the coalition goal of zero emissions by 2050, the Business New Zealand Energy Council says her claims are a nonsense: “There will be no overall reduction in global emissions and potentially an increase in emissions as a result of this ban as global exploration from places with lower environmental standards fills the gap left by our reduced output.”
At the present time, some 60 percent of New Zealand’s energy needs come from oil and gas. The oil and gas industry contributes over $2.5 billion to our economy and pays around 42 percent of all profits to the Government in the form of royalties and income tax – some $500 million annually.
At the current production rates, New Zealand’s natural gas reserves in the main Pohokura, Maui, and Kupe fields in Taranaki, will only last about 10 years. This has led to concerns that the ban on new offshore exploration will hit gas-dependent households and businesses hard. Around 265,000 homes rely on gas for cooking and heating, as do schools and hospitals along with other public and community amenities. Gas is used in the production of most of our exports – almost half of the energy needs of food processing, and a third of wood processing. It also plays an essential role in the production of methanol and urea fertiliser, and is crucial to the electricity system, providing backup generation when demand exceeds supply, or when the hydro lakes are low.
When it comes to oil, New Zealand produces just over a third of our needs. Oil is one of our top ten export earners, with almost all of the crude oil we produce of such a high quality, that it’s exported. To meet domestic demand for fuel, lower quality Arabian crude oil is imported and refined at Marsden Point.
Altogether, New Zealand has 17 sedimentary basins within our Exclusive Economic Zone that contain possible commercial quantities of oil and gas. Currently only one basin – the Taranaki Basin – is in operation with 20 oil fields.
It was always New Zealand’s ambition to become energy self-sufficient through exploration. Our untapped oil and gas reserves are said to be of a ‘world-scale’, and – like in Norway – they have the potential to transform our economic future.
Since Norway developed its oil and gas resources in the 1970s, it has experienced economic surpluses. The Oil Fund – now the Government’s Pension Fund – was established in 1990 to invest the surplus revenues of the Norwegian petroleum sector. It now has over US$1 trillion in assets, making it the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world.
That could have been New Zealand’s destiny. But thanks to this radical three party government, in the long run, we may have to rely on costly imported energy, not only for the future security of supply of our electricity system, but even to fire up our barbeques.
While the Minister of Energy has explained that the 31 active exploration permits, with mining rights that could last up to 40 years, won’t be affected by this ban, the problem is that the investment needed to produce commercial levels of oil and gas from wells, runs into billions of dollars and Labour’s announcement has sent out a clear signal to oil and gas investors that ‘your money is not welcome in New Zealand’.
A case in point is New Zealand Oil and Gas, which has a joint permit with Beach Energy to explore the Canterbury Basin off Oamaru. It’s an area of huge potential, but since it will cost over $50 million to drill an exploration well – with only a 20 percent chance of success – the companies would need investment partners prepared to take the risk. Then, if they do want to develop a field, a massive $6 billion dollars in infrastructure spending would be required.
Since long-term capital commitments are far less likely in a hostile political environment, the most probable outcome of Jacinda Ardern’s announcement is that oil exploration companies will take their activities to countries that are more welcoming. As long as there remains a demand for oil products, oil exploration will continue – it just won’t be in New Zealand.
As could be expected, the Green Party was jubilant at the Prime Minister’s announcement. A triumphal email sent out by the Energy Spokesman, Gareth Hughes said, “I had to pinch myself because I almost can’t believe we did it! Today our government has announced the historic decision to end all new fossil fuel exploration in our oceans. Ending deep sea oil and gas exploration has long been a key goal of the Green Party and today, in Government, we’ve delivered it. Without question it is our biggest victory yet. We’ve stopped the rigs.”
He went on to say, “I hope this is just the first of many major victories for our environment our Government will deliver.”
He may well be right.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards of Victoria University, believes that the recent election of Green MP Marama Davidson as the Party’s female co-leader – by 110 votes to Julie Anne Genter’s 34 – signals a radical move to the left:
“The Green Party membership have voted resoundingly to take the party in a more left-wing direction by selecting Marama Davidson as the new co-leader. That’s the consensus amongst commentators analysing the announcement. Of course, commentators differ over many other elements of the result – for example, whether it is progress, or a step backwards – but no one suggests that the landslide victory for Davidson is anything other than a resurgence of radicalism in the party…
“[Political reporter] Henry Cooke paints a picture of the Green activist base wanting to see a more radical and leftwing leadership than is currently being delivered by Shaw, or would have been provided by Genter. And as an example, he refers to Genter’s infamous desire to replace ‘old white men’ on corporate boards, saying that, in fact, ‘Many Green members don’t want to put more women in the boardroom, they want to destroy it’.”
New Zealand First has given us a very extreme Government, with a very naïve Prime Minister. Any thought that Winston Peters will be a moderating influence on this Government is just wishful thinking.
In fact this is the third time in just two weeks that New Zealand First, as the self-proclaimed Champion of the Provinces, has rolled over.
Firstly, they supported Labour’s announcement that large-scale irrigation schemes would no longer receive government funding – even though they know that such schemes are the lifeblood of rural communities.
Secondly, they supported the ‘no-new-taxes-until-after-the-next-election’ Prime Minister’s announcement that all motorists will have to pay a new petrol tax of 12 cents a litre, with Aucklanders forced to pay over 20 cents.
And now, they have agreed to the wind-down of the oil and gas sector – even though it has the potential to bring real jobs and growth to the regions. This will no doubt bring about the further deterioration in our economic prospects that Winston Peters predicted.
Is this really what New Zealand First voters wanted?
THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
Do you think New Zealand First should have used their veto power to block the ban on oil and gas exploration?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| This is Winnie at his best Nothing but a liar | Neville |
| Mr. Peters should never get another vote from any centre or centre right voter. For all the values he spoke of to family first to, he has gone back on the minute he signed with Green and Labour who were opposed to most of them. | Dene |
| Winston has shown his true colours. He is a politician with his own agenda. Never again will I vote for NZF & I known many others who have the same sentiments. | Ana |
| A no brainer one would have thought | Sandra |
| They appear to be trying, desperately, to make NZ 101st rather than what their party name proclaims. | Ross |
| Green party need to be put out of power before NZF because they dangerously sabotage the economy. What did we expect when we have a bimbo PM who can stomach nothing except her pregnancy and climate change? Perhaps she will never return from maternity leave, then we’ll deal with Winston Peters PM – where the hell is he? The whole 2017 election is a great lesson in the treachery of MMP politics and Green ideology, Labour and Winston Peters betrayal. | Monica |
| Want to ruin your country: listen to the news media and follow the Politically Correct! | George |
| Miss Tooth Fairy Adern is just trying to grandstand on the International stage! She has never lived in the real world & like most theorists she works on the principle of “just because it doesn’t work in practice it doesn’t mean it won’t work in theory!” Unfortunately the poor regions & workers of this country will be shafted by idiot politicians once again. We better all pray that National get up to speed by 2020 although I won’t be holding my breath for that to happen with Bridges at the helm. | Rex |
| Of course. | Simon |
| NZ First is a dead duck. | Mitch |
| NZ First was voted into power to keep the National party in line. Winston Peters has betrayed all those that voted him and his party into Govt. | Wayne |
| Are they that insane? NZF members must be despairing for the way they voted. None would have seen this coming. | Dick |
| Absolutely | Graeme |
| i have just finished reading all the replies for this poll and wonder if these will ever see the light of day on any news or tv programs. at least when Mike Hoskins had his nightly show, he did try to make public of NZers feelings. the other thing that i think is: these people that oppose fossil fuels and such like, what do they use in their everyday life. | William |
| Judas Peters and UN Puppeteer Helen Clarke will have achieved their objective when they see NZ join the rest of the Third World on the eco-Marxist altar of globalism. Fight or emigrate, but don’t stay and do nothing. | Maurice |
| How can Shane Jones live with this? Surely his conscience must be hurting. | Alec |
| Why are labour and green MPs still flying and driving? That is surely hypocritical if they plan to squeeze oil production! | John |
| NZ First is the most traitorous party I’ve ever seen in my life. | JIN |
| Where do our stupid politicians think power etc is going to come from ?? This and their desire to become all electric vehicles by 2040 is simply nonsense. | Alan |
| we really must ban the greens from using any fossil fuels in their lives. and when they walk to the super market they must buy food that was grown and transported without fossil fuels | bryan |
| banning the oil and gas exploration is the worse thing that could happen to NZ and when or if will they come back?????? | Roy |
| Muriel Great article but note the mining permit is not given at the time of the exploration permit. It has to be applied for once the exploration is successful. | Ross |
| Absolutely | Cyril |
| Definetly. | Clark |
| Obviously Winston is not well and has lost his grip in the coalition . The future is of great concern | Tom |
| Prime minister had no mandate to go ahead just out of her head with no alternative positive solution | leo |
| The Prime Minister wishes to be seen worldwide as a populist leader showing the world how to remove the problems of Climate |Change, but destroying our NZ oil industry is not the way to go and the rest of the world will simply laugh and ignore us. Having a three party government with such disparate policies will simply leave us bankrupt and achieve nothing. Get rid of MMP and roll on 2020. | Chris |
| Of course they should. They ranted on how they were the champions of the Regions and they cocked it up. | Murray |
| I think that ALL they wanted was be in Govt. they NEVER cared about N.Zealanders as they,ve CLEARLY shown | Cindy |
| the outcome of this can only mean more and more Tax to be paid to make up the ever bulging tax bill | Ross |
| A naive Prime Minister and a gutless cabinet. | Ann |
| Oil and gas extraction and value adding is a large opportunity open to the regions and NZ. It is madness to signal to large investors we in NZ don’t want to welcome this. See the Norway story. | Stan |
| until there’s an alternative to oil we need to continue oil exploration, I think it was a very bad move | carolyn |
| If Winston had any brains or balls he would have blocked Jacinda and the Greens. Winstone is there for Winstone, certainly he has no thought to what the country needs. He is making the most his swan song, with his nose deep in the taxpayers trough | Lloyd |
| It’s time we faced up to the need to phase out fossil fuels. | John |
| That is the reason why I voted for NZ First . I was hoping that WP would use his and his party’s position in a new coalition to act not only as a safeguard against stupid Labour ( or National)Party decisions but also to implement policies as stated in the NZF party program. But what do we get.. TOTAL SILENCE—-. I am utterly disappointed and I think NZF will loose a lot of good will and support in the next election. I fear to the point that they will sink into political oblivion unless WP and his MP’s realize that they shoot themselves into the foot with this irresponsible stance and change their course of non action immediately. In any case— National can sit quietly and their victory is assured. Mark my words. | Michael |
| the country is doing to the dogs | richard |
| Economic Vandalism and Traitors to their fellow NZer’s. Shame Shame Shame | Kevin |
| Is this policy about what is good for the environment, what make Jacinda look good, or a ploy by the covert extreme socialists to undermine the NZ economy. | Gary |
| I don’t doubt that electric cars & solar panels will change the scene in the future but lets not rush it. When their costs come down and green energy becomes affordable they will gradually take over in a easy natural transition. | Eric |
| NZ First have lost their way they are a big disappointment where is Winston nowadays seems to drifted into the back ground to let the labour party start down the track of wreaking our economy has given the greens a boost so we are in for a rocky ride till next election when National get back to power | Russell |
| YES! | Martin |
| What we are seeing is a complete disaster in the realms of the governance of a nation. We are definitely being ruled by a bunch of losers. I fear for the future of this country, economically, socially and ethically. | Kevin |
| What happens when there is a significant meteor impact on the earth or when there is a major volcanic eruption either of which could block out sunlight for weeks or months? It%u2019s happened before and will happen again. Pv panels will be useless and there will be a huge demand for fossil fuels. I can imagine the Chinese or other major power helping themselves to our reserves! | Alan |
| Winston Peters EGO is bigger than his head. I wonder how many people that voted for him now regret it. | Rod |
| This government is going to put New Zealand back in the dark ages and all those compliant must be held to account one day! | Stewart |
| Yes, but why would they? They have already given way on a number of issues, so one more concession makes no difference. If exercising the veto power is perceived as a possible threat to NZ First sometime in the future, then it just ain’t gonna happen. Political expediency will always override moral rectitude. Thanks to Winston and the three-headed monstrosity he has bestowed upon us, our once proud nation is now up the proverbial creek, big time! | Scott |
| They certainly should have but Winnie has got has baubles and is now out to lunch. | Ronmac |
| Typical behaviour from the changeable and unreliable Party Leader. | Catherine |
| Absolutely | John |
| Exploration for oil and gas can be done sustainably with minimal risk. New Zealand’s economic future depends on it. | Alan |
| Winston Peters clearly doesn’t care about anything or anyone but himself so long as he can continue to ride high on the hog courtesy of the tax payer. | Richard |
| A vote of ‘no confidence’ in this MMP coalition Govt. P L E A S E. It’s a disaster for NZ | Carolyn |
| Peters would have been too busy looking at himself in the mirror to know what was going on | Mike |
| New Zealand First is finished. They no longer have any credibility. Peters has ensured that they will go with him to his political grave at the next election. We are now ruled by a bunch of Marxist lunatics thanks to Winston Peters … he is testament to the reality that SH#T truly does breathe, walk and talk. | Steve |
| It is clear WP has no intentions to work for the good of New Zealand or its people. No confidence in this Government to protect democracy and treat all citizens the same regardless of ethnicity. . | Sam |
| Perhaps should of but what can you expect from a party that was prepared to drop its “Bottom Line” requirements to gain a seat on the treasury benches. The left have blocked nuclear power, and now in order to bring about Jacinda’s 21st century “Anti-Nuclear Campaign”, we have placed bans on hydrocarbon exploration with a view to restricting their use. And yet not one of the Coalition have declared how they propose to bridge the energy generation gap that is to result. NZ First should have blocked the action but a party without principals would never do it. | Michael |
| NZ First Party Philosophies state that they will put *New Zealanders and New Zealand First, *Export-led Economics, *Employing New Zealanders. However by not exercising their veto they have not supported any of the above philosophies and yet again proven themselves to be a bunch of corrupt politicians that have lied their way into government | John |
| Economic stupidity. We need oil exploration. But then the Greens don’t place the economy any where the top of the list. | Neil |
| Absolutely! | Mark |
| Undoubtedly so. But I strongly suspect that is the cost Peters has paid for his appointments in government. To hell with what is best for this country and its wellbeing. | chris |
| When Winston Peters retires very soon, his legacy will be that at the end of his term he deliberately assisted the closet Marxists to turn NZ into another Cuba. | Rex |
| But he has let us down in a number of ways since taking his place in this coalition. He was going to get rid of the Maori seats in Parliament, now appears to have walked away from that. Deeply disappointing! We are hardly ever hearing anything from him at all! | Hugh |
| Oil and gas exploration is vital to the future energy needs of New Zealand. If these raw materials are so good that we can export them, then we should we should increase exploration for them | ernest |
| That ghastly little trougher and his mates showing their true colours ,More fools the general population for not seeing the media promotion of Winnie now AWOL queenmaker | Phil |
| NZ First are missing in action. It seems that a vote for NZ First in the last election was a wasted vote. | Frank |
| NZ First has betrayed its voters and the country. They won’t be around after the next election | Steve |
| NZ First are finished. What a let-down to it%u2019s supporters . | Alan |
| Do we have any more dunderheads available to join this group of impracticals to running our beautiful country into the ground??? Where is Winnie the Pooh now, he seems to have his revenge and run away to hide. What a man!!!! A hero. Help. | Elizabeth |
| Once more he goes with the flow except this time it’s an oil slick | Tony |
| Of course they should, but aren’t you forgetting that NATIONAL were the idiots who signed the Paris Climate Accord. As for Marama Davidson; another brown person to make up the 50per-cent ‘indigenous governance promised with the U.N. agreement signed by ‘Sharples’ & ‘Key’…. | A.G.R. |
| Government aiming towards a third world future for NZ | Jim |
| Yes – And they shouldn’t have folded on their get rid of Maori Seats Policy. | Gary |
| Let’s just think of it as another of Winston’s “bottom lines”. Easily forgotten after the votes have been counted. | Martin |
| Peters is a despicable, bottom feeding mongrel, who calculates self-serving decisions for his own benefit. The most despicable aspect of which, is that he, compared with other members of this dysfunctional government, actually understands the ramifications of his actions. | George |
| Very worrying times, with this arrogantly thick govt. What’s worse, they were not put in there democratically…..welcome to the gulag, comrades! | Sharen |
| Of course they should have, but when has their esteemed leader ever done the logical and sensible thing since before the last election? | Terry |
| I believe that the veto power is a liability to decision making, certainly as witnessed in the UN. However whether we like it or not Winston has the power and in a real world should have used it in this instance. The problem is that the veto would have damaged his prediction of a slow down. The economy is in danger due to the lack of a bit of “Think Big” poor old piggy will be spinning in his grave and Kiwi Keith looking down with distain at the self serving antics of wankers. (end rant) | Bill |
| I lost all trust in Peters when, after the election, he announced that he would do nothing about trying to sort out the Maori seats and the undemocratic way in which council seats can now be allocated to local iwi. These were two of his main election planks which he ignored once he was elected. | richard |
| This government is hopeless as are the people who voted it in how long can this stupidity last | Peter |
| NZ First supporter | Alan |
| Pure left wing green politics. Totally irrational in that it will make no change whatsoever to the outcome they seek. | John |
| And I voted for them as a proposed slight restraint on the Nats and one law for all. The latter is the only policy issue left to be shafted as well by them now. | Dick |
| Coalition has been in Govt 6 months. Miracles don’t happen overnight. Give them a chance to clean up Nationals stuff ups before expecting them to be world beaters. | Errol |
| Is Jacinda’s “nuclear moment” snuggling up to the French nuclear arsenal and the French nuclear electricity networks? | Francis |
| And ban should’ve included public lands like forest parks. | Tony |
| well done back flip Peters you’ve shown your true colours | john |
| Winston flaked as usual. | Brian |
| no brainer | david |
| they are ruining this country willing and knowing. What are they thinking?! | konrad |
| Could NZCPR now provide discourse on reversing the ban!!! The only other place this may happen is on the Leighton Smith show on NewstalkZB. | Paul |
| Yes, but with Winnie heading the party, he probably is now the dog being waged by the tail. He is Yes, but that was not going to happen when Winston sold out just so he could become the next best thing he could get as deputy prime minister. It has become the situation where the dog is wagging the tail, poor Winston, not being the leader he wanted to be. He will have to live by what he has created to the detriment of good Kiwis. Shame on you Winston | Audrey |
| Winne is just done another UTurn on what he promised us naive voters who believed him but it turns out he just another parasite politician who cannot seem to be true to his word | Greg |
| Yes of course but all they wanted -well all Winston, wanted was the power-rpomise anything to get there. | Roger |
| Yes, Yes, Yes. But then again, can you trust anyone in New Zealand First. NO ! | Darryl |
| Did you notice Peters was nowhere to be seen at time of announcement. This decision would have been part of NZ First coalition deal which the public was never allowed to see. Peters wants calm waters while he parades himself as a %u201CClayton%u2019s%u201D PM and while he enjoys the perks of Government knowing that the public will boot him out come the next elections .along with the Jacindajoke. | Don |
| is Winston falling left as well!! | RICHard |
| Where do we find a party and leader with long term vision for the country instead of short term vision for their ego and personal retirement fund. Such a shame these left wing looneys minorities get to run the country. Democracy has been hijacked by these fascists. | John |
| Yes of course, what are these dumb jicindarella people going to offer as a replacement fuel when oil and gas is terminated? In the future. Rubbing sticks together might be the answer? Of course we all hope the looney lefties will be ousted sooner than they think. | james |
| We will soon see just how expensive items become —all that uses oil and gas in some form will have to recoup their expenses and we will be the ones to foot the Bill—-many of us are struggling now –they forget those that live in rural areas and do not have alternative transport to shop etc | marylin |
| They are toast! | John |
| Despite what PM says there will be many people put out of work because of this decision. | Murray |
| Where is the Minister for Rural Development hiding or out to lunch. Boy a National Govt will be cancelling a lot of the COL nonsensical policies. | Frank |
| It will cost them votes by not using their veto. | Tony |
| Don’t expect NZ last to act in the country’s best interests they have lost all credibility | chris |
| looks like Winston has lost the plot but is he waiting for Jacinda to resign so he takes over full time so then we will see the “old Winston” return and kick those green idiots into touch for good before we really do end up a third world country. | richard |
| I believe that the prime minister has made the right call. | mary |
| bloody fools | danny |
| I will never let a NZ first person to visit my house again. | Rex |
| This Government (illegitimate as it is) is proving an even worse disaster than anyone thought. I have difficulty understanding how people can vote to have their feet shot off with a 12 gauge. How stupid can people be and how politically naiive can seemingly sensible people be, with their careless use of their opportunity to vote for who will run our country. I was appalled at Winston Peters decision to join with Labour and the Greens (read reds) to form a Government. The Electoral Law needs to be changed to ensure that the Party who receives the most votes, gets to form the Government. | Dianna |
| Yes, but they are far two-faced to make decisions that will benefit New Zealand in the long term. | Peter |
| I’m afraid that Winston is hell bent on destroying N Z as he hates National and all that it stands for even those who voted for National he loathes. The man has developed a hate for any thing that is good for N Z and wants to leave this as his legacy. Winston is mentally unstable. | ken |
| I voted (party vote) for NZF expecting ‘they’ would go with National and am now bitterly regretting that action. With the benefit of hindsight…..! | Roger |
| Most definitely – what’s been proposed by the ban is going to cost our Country dearly | fraser |
| She is ticking all the wrong boxes. | joyce |
| Unreliable and lazy Winston sound asleep again. | Murray |
| Absolutely . He and his party will be booted out at the next election for this economic stupidity and hopefully the idiotic greens as well | Colin |
| Cowardice in the face of bubbles. If NZF cannot face down an economy destroying and Nation destroying move such as the vainglorious selfie enacted by Ardern over ongoing Gas and Oil supply, Can it continue to assume it has a right to remain in Govt and support an Acting PM. I SAY NOT. Change is URGENT. | Richard |
| Why do they bother calling themselves NZ First. | Chris |
| No further comment needed. This is insanity and the first time in my life I have felt like demonstrating politically to rid our country of evil | Frank Donald |
| Just goes to show how NZ First runs with the hares and hunts with the hounds. It will probably get worse when Winston becomes Prime Minister! | Stuart |
| Climate change is a major global influence whether u believe it or not. NZ has to act at some point. | Annemarie |
| Gutless mob that they are. | Alan |
| Having campaigned for years, as the party of rural / heartland NZ this failure is a kick in the guts. It is ludicrous for a small nation like NZ to be trying to “lead the way” on such a contentious and risky path. | Lionel |
| Very misguided policy from Labour. | David |
| Our broader economy still requires investment in oil exploration? How do the “greenies” get to work ? I bet they don’t walk or bike? Oh by the way it takes oil to make a bike go! | Andrew |
| Energy and Power is essential to the economic future and independence of any country. The future will prove Labour being the downfall of NZ. Will we be able to take action against those individuals who contributed to this?? | Pierre |
| Is this part of a deliberate plan by NZ First to sabotage our economy? I, for one was misled into voting for NZ First which I certainly won’t at the next election. | Dennis |
| what a bunch ill informed idiots | barry |
| This government has caused irreparable damage to New Zealand%u2019s long term stability and prosperity. The Green party have demonstrated that they are unfit to play any role in the governance of this country and the sooner they are consigned to the dustbin the better. Never destroy Plan A until Plan B is up and running. | Greg |
| …all forms of ENERGY are the Fuel of Civilization… Gone are the “caveman days”…Get REAL and GET DRILLING again…!!! | CHowes |
| This lot have to be voted out for the sake of the future! | Joan |
| Back to the ‘Stone-age’ | Geoff |
| Clearly, MMP, which was intended to give a voice to minor parties and temper the potential excesses of major parties is having the opposite effect of giving an undue say to cranks in minor parties who governments are obliged to make compromises with. Indulgence of this kind is not democracy at all! | Greg |
| Regrettably NZ First has lost all credibility. To become sycophants of the Green Party is the worst possible position to be in. | Lee |
| Labours attitude is based on the theory that that CO2 emissions lead to global warming, for which there is no scientific evidence. | Bryan |
| Winnie, you’re failing us! Extremely disappointing. | Peter |
| It would be in keeping with his election promises. | Brian |
| Will create serious problems in the economy. | June |
| What’s happening inside this coalition? | Graeme |
| This policy will be a disaster for Taranaki and New Zealand as a whole. Ardern has bowed to the loony left and Greenpeace. | Doug |
| Why vote at the next election let us just ask what Winston Peters wants? | Pat |
| I voted for Winnie the Pooh because I stupidly thought he would hold either governing party back from some of the Maori claims excesses but dear oh dear what have we got now. I thought wrong big time. What a shambles. | Tim |
| This is looking like a 3 year govt and we are talking about a 30 year plan. | Christopher |
| More backward steps. Only question now… how long before China buys us in a “garage sale”. | kabe |
| Of course they should have, but they are showing that they do not care for anything other than themselves. | Willy |
| Is Winston ok? Heard he was suffering from Parkinson’s, does he have early onset dementia as well? | Mike |
| There is no plan or proposals of what they are going to replace oil with. Fuel for – Aviation, shipping, railways, heavy transport, construction machinery? No idea. One third of oil is used in petrochemicals, every thing we use, plastics, chemicals, paint, electronics etc. No idea what is to replace these | John |
| Of course they should have used their veto power. They are an utter disgrace and I seriously misjudged them, thinking they would do the right thing. Through aiding these idiots in to run our country NZ First can take much of the blame for the inevitable mess seeing they enabled them to get into power. Winston will go down in history in a very bad way – quite the opposite to what he was expecting, I’m sure. | Helen |
| I am ashamed to admit I supported NZ First last election. I will NEVER make the same mistake again due to their support of radical socialism, a failed ideology by the way | Tracy |
| Winnie the POO doesn’t care anymore … he’s got what he wants! | Des |
| Unfortunately we will need some oil and gas to manufacture the wind turbines and solar panels etc. But as a token reminder the comments from Govt “banning” exploration in later years is a reminder that reduction of emissions is SERIOUS. | Jo |
| Even with electric cars they still need oil to lubricate them | Arthur |
| But they didn’t and their stance on these matters were always going to be spoken with a forked tongue. No surprise. | Barry |
| Should have but no doubt Winston was overseas. | Robert |
| Bunch of wallies | David |
| And to think I once thought Winston might have been worth voting for! I will be glad to see him gone in the next election. | Robbie |
| Nz first is a huge disappointment, they sold their voters a lie and now NZ will suffer as a result. Winston, please retire! | Steve |
| NZF misled voters. The coalition negotiations were all about which leader – National or Labour – would elevate Winston Peters the highest. It was never about the good of the country. Despicable. | Jude |
| This is the most ridiculous move I have ever heard of. We have a bunch of radical loonies running the country. And I include Winston Peters in that since he was stupid enough to put them into power. | Simon |
| Yes, of course he should have vetoed the ban. I can’t believe the industry wasn’t informed. What a hypocrite Jacinda Ardern is turning out to be. | Glenda |
| Winston Peters is a shocker. He’s to blame for this fiasco. | Rodney |
| NZ First has become a lap dog to this government. It has become excruciatingly awful watching politics these days. | James |
| Of course Winston should have vetoed the ban. It was a ridiculous decision that will do huge damage to the country. | Murray |