Young JonathanJONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth): Thank you Mr Speaker. The Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee did spend considerable time going through the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill and we received 11 submissions to it. It may not sound to be a large number but in fact there are a very small number of participants in this industry in New Zealand and that number is reducing because of this Government. However can I say that this piece of legislation is an important piece of legislation. It actually addresses as the Minister Megan Woods said some gaps. That gap is when there is a change of operator control around an activity.In this case the situation which brought this to bear was the change of ownership regarding an offshore exploration and production operation. In fact a couple of years ago I was notified by concerned members of the industry that a change of operator had taken place and they were concerned that this happened without information and notification to the Minister of Energy and Resources. They felt that that should happen simply because yes there are high risks in this industry but I'd have to say this industry set the standard set the mark and set the benchmark when it comes to health and safety and environmental concerns because they know that their social licence is tenuous and so they work very very hard.So when one company was going to exit New Zealand and sold their interests through a share sale for the amount of around about US$1 million—and that could exclude them from decommissioning costs of US$90 million—there was concern in the industry that this could be perceived as exiting without responsibility and that this was not a good thing for the reputation of the industry and also the concerns about any expenses that would have to be picked up by the taxpayer. So I'd have to say that the person who approached me who was an industry leader in the country at that particular point in time was concerned genuinely about this matter and wanted to see that there would be a more robust process by which change of control took place.Bernie Napp wrote about this. He has given information. He has named companies. I know the company who have bought this interest. I won't name them but I want to assure the people of New Zealand that this company has been purviewed by New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals and has been deemed to be effective responsible and capable in actually taking over control of a field in offshore Taranaki and they do as the Minister said have expertise in the end-of-life production of an oil and gas field. There are companies around the world who have this specialist skill and activity. They understand what technologies are available and how to deploy those technologies in order to be able to achieve those sorts of results.But can I say that it was the concern of the industry that raised this matter and so there are responsible people who feel that there just needed to be a next step. There needed to be information that was proffered to New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals and to the Minister of Energy and Resources so that when there is a change of control they don't learn about it after the fact but they actually go through a process as if they were the original company asking for and applying for a permit. So they have to go through the rigours of being able to prove that they have financial capability and that if they need to come to a decommissioning at the end of life of a field they have the capability and the financial resources to do that and they can also ensure they have full health and safety compliance issues regarding the safety of their employees.This is the intent of this industry and I think we could in New Zealand be proud of this industry in terms of its health and safety record. In fact it was Rob Jager who was the head of Shell who had nothing to do with this particular situation but who headed up the task force looking at what sort of response the Government should have regarding the Pike River tragedy. He was the head of Shell New Zealand and has a reputation around the world—as Shell does—of having the highest standards possible regarding health and safety.So there was this level of commitment that was strong enough to raise it with the local member of Parliament for New Plymouth who then took it to the then Minister of Energy and Resources the Hon Judith Collins who then spoke to her ministry and sent a team offshore to meet and discuss with this company who wanted to acquire this resource and this operator control to ensure that they had the capability in order to satisfy the concerns of New Zealanders. It is from this actual event—this actual transaction that took place—that we see this bill come to the House in its substantive matters regarding it. I'm pleased that the Minister of Energy and Resources the Hon Megan Woods has continued to process and enhance and continue on with this piece of legislation because it's very important for New Zealand.What it does is it gives confidence to New Zealanders that this industry which operates offshore and onshore in New Zealand operates to the highest of standards—the highest of international best practice—and I think New Zealanders can be assured and ought to be proud that this Government does hold this industry to account and that this industry does willingly and with great commitment commit themselves to continue with best practice when it comes to care for the environment and also care for their employees. It's great to see that whenever I visit different installations—particularly around Taranaki—offshore and onshore in terms of the high level of compliance to health and safety and environmental concerns I can attest that this industry applies those. What this bill does is close that gap—that a company cannot come in through a share acquisition process become a controlling interest and become an operator in a field without the prior approval of the Minister of Energy and Resources and that is an appropriate level of regulatory oversight that any Government ought to exact in this industry.So the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee looked at this case and looked at this bill with a very I would say responsible attitude and worked together to continue to support this bill and it brought some—as the Minister spoke of—improvements to it. One of the improvements—well one of the I guess conditions that we looked at or one of the situations that we reviewed was what if a company had applied for or had entered into a transaction to change the control of an operating field prior to this bill going through?And we have had that happen here in New Zealand in this very year. We know that Shell New Zealand Ltd have sold their fields their assets to OMV an Austrian company who have been operating here since the year 2000 who invested $2 billion in their work in New Zealand and are now the largest holders of permits in this country. And they have had a transition process that takes many many months and if they were to have to wait until this bill passes and then go through the process of seeking permission from the Minister of Energy and Resources then that would create incredible costs and delays to that process. This bill gives them an exemption.But what I can say in these final few seconds is that New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals have said OMV are an exemplary company—SPEAKER: Order! Order!JONATHAN YOUNG: —and they have agreed to that exemption. Thank you sir.