Woods MeganCROWN MINERALS (PETROLEUM) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources): I move That the Crown Minerals (Petroleum) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.I am proud to rise in support of this bill which makes a strong statement and a transition away from a reliance on fossil fuels and towards affordable renewable electricity and energy. But first I would like to acknowledge the Environment Committee for its consideration of this legislation. I thank the members for considering more than 7000 submissions that were lodged and I would like to thank those who took the time to lodge a submission and those who appeared before the committee. The submissions came from a wide range of sources: from those in the oil and gas industry from environmental groups from community groups from iwi from students from businesses and from everyday New Zealanders. The vast majority of those submissions were either in favour of the bill or felt that it did not go far enough.Those submissions sent a very clear signal. New Zealanders want to see a future for their country where we take action on climate change where we have a long-term economic plan for our country and where we have the courage to look beyond the three-year political cycle and plan for the next 10 20 30 and 40 years. That is the time frame we are talking about for the changes that this legislation will bring.This bill will not end oil and gas exploration overnight nor will it halt existing production. Existing rights and existing privileges for permit holders are being explicitly preserved within this legislation. This preservation of rights is about ensuring a managed transition to a low-emissions economy and easing the impact on affected businesses communities and workers. There are 100000 square kilometres of permits out there for exploration. That's about the size of the North Island. Indeed there are a number of exploration wells due to be drilled in the coming years and one is currently being drilled. If they are successful those permit holders will have the same rights and privileges that they do before this legislation comes into force.I would like to take this opportunity to address some of the issues raised by submitters during the select committee process and highlight some of the changes subsequently made in the final form of the bill. The first of those was clause 4 the interpretation clause. The issue was raised about the definition of the onshore Taranaki region"—in particular that this area follows the political boundary of the Taranaki region rather than the geological boundary of the Taranaki sedimentary basin. I would like to make two points in response to that. The first is that the area in the bill catches all areas of current onshore petroleum production. The second is that the intention around allowing exploration to continue in onshore Taranaki is to support a transition which includes the potential for new discoveries to make use of existing production and transmission infrastructure.Clause 6A—the grant of a permit—was also something that received a great deal of attention from submitters and I'd like to highlight one of the changes recommended by the Environment Committee. Clause 6A has been inserted into the bill which would prevent the Minister from granting new permits outside of the onshore Taranaki region. It eliminates the scenario where an application is made inside the onshore Taranaki boundary but a future Minister might in considering where the petroleum resources are likely to be located decide to grant a permit that extends beyond this boundary. This change reflects a belt and braces approach and I support it and thank the select committee for their work on this issue.Clause 8—restricted access to conservation land—was also an area in this bill that received some attention. A number of submitters raised concerns around the provisions that will apply to access to conservation land for new permits inside the onshore Taranaki region. Some considered that these provisions might decrease the protection from mining activities that applies to Egmont National Park or other high-value conservation land. This is not the case. The bill does not make it easier to obtain access to conservation land for activities associated with a petroleum permit; it will only make it more restrictive for some kinds of conservation land which do not already have a high level of restricted access. Egmont National Park itself is already excluded from any petroleum permitting.The Environment Committee made a number of technical changes to the new clauses 22 and 23 in new Part 2 of schedule 1 to be inserted by the schedule. These changes clarify the Government's policy position that the changes in the bill are only intended to apply to new petroleum permits and not to existing permits. The policy intention of the bill is to ensure that those with existing petroleum permits subsequent permits to those existing permits and applications relating to either are unaffected by this bill. As such new clause 23 was amended and new clauses 23A and 23B were inserted to make sure that that was made crystal clear. That is important because this bill does preserve the rights and privileges of existing permit holders.The passage of this bill today will be a proud day for New Zealand. It continues our long progressive history of leading on the world stage. New Zealand has shown time and time again through the years that it's not afraid to make the hard decisions to raise our sights and to do what is right. This is what this bill does.It helps to set us on a new path. It doesn't say "It's too hard. Therefore we should not try." It's a path towards a low-emissions economy where future generations will have the chance of inheriting an environment that hasn't been wrecked by the decisions that our generation refused to make. We are taking action right now to help move New Zealand's economy in the right direction. The just transitions unit has been established within the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment to help prepare for a future that will look different from the world we live in today. We've already invested in the Taranaki region. The Provincial Growth Fund has already earmarked more than $21 million in funding for that region including almost $1 million in support for developing hydrogen as a zero-emissions fuel and storage facility as well as support for other clean-energy technology projects.As our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said climate change is this generation's nuclear-free moment—our chance to make a stand draw a line in the sand and lead the world once again. It's our chance to raise our sights as a country to chart a new course for our economy and to do our bit to protect our planet. I commend this bill to the House. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker."