Heatley Phil: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Heatley Phil: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 26 September 2012. Volume:684;Page:5671. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY (Minister of Energy and Resources) 
: 
 There is something slightly ironic and cynical about the Labour Party and the Green Party railing against people going to Australia. Incidentally they are going to Australia to work in the mining and the oil and gas industries and all the while the Labour Party and the Green Party are stopping mining and oil and gas exploration in New Zealand. But there is something more ironic and cynical than that and that is that apparently the Labour Party and the Green Party think it is OK for miners to work at the Spring Creek Mine getting coal out of the ground but they oppose miners going up the road a few kilometres and mining on the Denniston Plateau. 
So what I want to ask Damien O’Connor who is the member of Parliament for the West Coast is this: is he for mining on the West Coast or is he against mining on the West Coast? He seems to support mining at the Spring Creek Mine but not mining on the Denniston Plateau. 
Hon Damien O’Connor 
: I seek leave of the House to answer that question raised by the member. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Is the member seeking leave to make a personal explanation? 
Hon Damien O’Connor 
: I am. I am seeking leave to make a personal explanation. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to make a personal explanation. Is there any objection? There is no objection. 
Hon Damien O’Connor 
: Let me be very clear here. I have always supported mining on the West Coast and I will but it must be done in an environmentally responsible way and it must follow due process. This National Government has— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! That is nothing to do with a personal explanation and I caution the member. The House grants members leave to make personal explanations because members feel deeply about certain issues. It should not be abused. 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY 
: So here is the thing. The Labour Party and the Green Party support mining in some areas of the West Coast such as the Spring Creek Mine but apparently oppose mining in other parts of the West Coast such as the Denniston Plateau. In fact what they do is they get out a little map of New Zealand and they draw lines where they want to support mining and where they want to oppose it and it all depends where the votes are. There is nothing principled about it—nothing principled about it at all. 
But what is cynical—and ironic really—is that it points to the bigger picture which is that they wax lyrical in this House week after week and up and down the country about New Zealanders going over to Australia. In fact I get it in the electorate that I represent in Whangarei and Mike Sabin gets it in Northland. Many Northlanders have put up their hands and they have said “Look we are going to Australia to work in the oil and gas and mining industry. We are going to get excellent salaries and by the way we are not going to be actually mining. We’re builders and we’re plumbers and we’re electricians and we’re cooks and we’re truck drivers but because of the mining and oil and gas industry over in Perth in Australia it is happening there and we will go over there and get jobs.” 
Hone Harawira is crying that all his relatives or at least half of them are going to Australia to work in the mining industry and he is crying that the other half of his relatives are staying in New Zealand and they are in the dole queue but he will not support mining and oil and gas exploration in Northland. The Labour Party and the Green Party will not support oil and gas exploration and mining in New Zealand. 
The funny thing about it is that in Taranaki—our only region where oil and gas production occurs—you have got about 4500 jobs directly involved there about another 1500 jobs indirectly and an average wage of about $80000 a year and it has happened for a hundred years. The other 15 or 16 regions of New Zealand over the last hundred years have never heard a problem come out of Taranaki. They have always understood that there is dairy farming and tourism and oil and gas exploration in Taranaki—never a problem. 
But the minute that the National Party and all those in Taranaki who support oil and gas exploration—it has been so successful—say “Why don’t we extend this to some of the other regions in New Zealand? There are about 16 or 17 others. We have been successful in Taranaki for over 100 years. Why don’t we extend it to some other regions of New Zealand such as off the Otago coast the East Coast of the North Island or Northland?” apparently according to the Labour Party and the Green Party and Hone Harawira the sky is going to fall on our head. 
So it has been successful in Taranaki for 100 years with never a whimper alongside dairy farming and tourism but somehow we cannot repeat it elsewhere in the country. So I question Damien O’Connor and the Labour Party and ask why when we have a formula that has been so successful in one of our most highly paid regions in New Zealand Taranaki we cannot repeat it elsewhere in the country.