4. Question No. 4—Prime MinisterCHLÖE SWARBRICK (Co-Leader—Green) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 4—Prime Minister4. CHLÖE SWARBRICK (Co-Leader—Green) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Prime Minister): Yes in the context they were given.Chlöe Swarbrick: Does the Prime Minister believe that more coal mining and oil and gas drilling is consistent with a livable planet or meeting our climate goals as he has said that he is committed to?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well what I'd just say to that member is I would encourage her to read an excellent speech given by the Minister for Resources Shane Jones in the last week. It's an actually thoughtful speech and it talks about the role that mining will play in New Zealand in helping us make that transition. Here's the deal: every electric vehicle (EV) every smartphone every solar panel every wind farm needs minerals. We can't just make them out of thin air.Chlöe Swarbrick: Is he aware that that very speech he's referencing of the Hon Shane Jones where he repeated the International Energy Agency's assessment that the world needs six times more rare minerals for green transition is premised on a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels and an end to coal mining?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Again what I'd say to you is that it's a very thoughtful speech and there's no way we can deliver our transition to a clean economy without minerals.Chlöe Swarbrick: If he disagrees with the International Energy Agency and the independent Climate Change Commission and the world's top scientists that there is no future in fossil fuels or coal mining from who is he actually getting his advice?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well look I think the member would understand that actually mining is very important for helping us actually adopt EVs to use smartphones to adopt solar panels and to make sure we get wind farms. We need minerals for that process and that transition.Hon David Seymour: Does the Prime Minister have any advice for people who say they are opposed to mining but live a luxuriant lifestyle thanks to the benefit of it every single day of their life?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well I'd just encourage all leaders of political parties here in this House to support the oil and gas ban reversal and also support the fast-track legislation that's going through the House.Chlöe Swarbrick: Does he agree with Standard & Poor's that unabated mines face the risk of becoming stranded assets as the global economy works towards decarbonisation" and his idea of "a modern reliable infrastructure in New Zealand"?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: I certainly agree with the last part of that question which is I do want to see a modern reliable infrastructure emerge here in New Zealand. That's why again I keep saying to the member that I encourage her and her party to support our fast-track legislation.Chlöe Swarbrick: Does the Prime Minister think that sacrificing the habitat of the great spotted kiwi at the altar of coal mines is an accurate representation of his Government's economic and environmental policies?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Look I reject the premise of that question but what I'd just say to that member is look here's the deal: we need minerals—we need critical minerals—in order to make the transition to a clean future. That's all that the Minister was putting out on the table in an excellent speech last week. I encourage all members to read it.Hon David Seymour: Is the Prime Minister aware that the ability to hold up colour laser-printed images all day every day in Parliament is reliant on a vast array of materials from printer toner to the metal in the printer to the fibre-optic cables that transmitted the signal—you name it it all comes from mining—and would the words "hypocritical actions" come to the Prime Minister's mind?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: I want to thank the Minister for his question and just say the irony was not lost on me.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Is the Prime Minister—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Hang on. Wait on. Just listen. I know it's exciting—48 hours to go—but just hold it.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Is the Prime Minister aware in terms of the setting of future policy that the latest records show that the Green MPs have the highest aviation expenditure record of every party in Parliament?SPEAKER: No—no responsibility. No responsibility for that. [Interruption] When you're ready—question No. 5 in the name of Rima Nakhle."