6. Question No. 6—EnergyTANYA UNKOVICH (NZ First) to the Associate Minister for EnergyQuestion No. 6—Energy6. TANYA UNKOVICH (NZ First) to the Associate Minister for Energy: What recent announcements has he made regarding fuel security? Hon SHANE JONES (Associate Minister for Energy): Ensuring New Zealand is a resilient and self-sufficient economy is a priority for our Government in so far that productivity and a flourishing economy needs reliable access to fuel. I recently announced that a study of New Zealand's fuel security including investigating the reopening of the Marsden Point refinery is getting under way as per the coalition agreement. Since Marsden Point was permitted to be mothballed by the previous Government we have seen resilience undermined. It is important that we explore all options. Now this study it may come to pass does not find favour with those who do not support the business community—they sit on the other side of the House not with me. Tanya Unkovich: Why is the fuel security study needed? Hon SHANE JONES: The internal combustion engine is not going anywhere in a hurry. No doubt we will see a slow growth in electrical vehicles the growth of which will be determined by investment in the electricity system and work is under way to ensure that our electricity system does not contain any deficiencies that might impede competitiveness. In recent years countries around the world have been scrambling to strengthen fuel security. We've sadly headed off in the opposite direction. We've followed a path of flakiness and green ruination and fuel security is critical to our economic security and the boost of our economy of jobs and exports—something that defines this side of the House; sadly absent from a distant corner. Tanya Unkovich: What reports has he received regarding energy security in New Zealand? Hon SHANE JONES: I have received the report today otherwise known as the quarterly report of the Gas Industry Co. and this is the home of New Zealand's gas governance advice and data—advice and data demonstrably superior to any loose random international report that may be doing the rounds in other parts of the world. What it actually says—what it actually says—is that gas production is 20 percent down and the result and the blame for that degradation of gas resilience can be laid at the feet of that Prime Minister and that Minister who in thinking that they were going to enjoy the political upside of the term a nuclear moment" cancelled the gas industry in New Zealand. Tanya Unkovich: Why is energy security critical for New Zealand's economy? Hon SHANE JONES: Not only is the ongoing availability of gas and sadly Indonesian coal—how perverse that those people who thought that they would improve energy resilience in New Zealand are now reduced to requiring ongoing imports of Indonesian coal. That never featured seven eight years ago or six years ago in the analysis but that is what is happening in this very day. We cannot afford to have a situation where we are losing our resilience. We're losing confidence and there is no certainty for investors. For those reasons the study is taking place in terms of fuel resilience. Additional work will take place to ensure that the energy settings the electrical industry settings are such that it gives a greater level of competitiveness and we will stand with industry and ensure that industry is not monstered by green termites nibbling away at our economic capital."