Bridges Simon: General DebateText is subject to correctionBridges Simon: General Debate[Sitting date: 23 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:14196. Text is subject to correction.]Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Energy and Resources): That speech from Jacinda Ardern was almost as angry as my little speech on John Campbell’s show last week. But I will tell you this much—at least Jacinda Ardern and I did not give a nasty little speech like Metiria Turei did in the House not long ago.Speaking of John Campbell Greenpeace Gareth Hughes and Moana Mackey have all been very excited in the last few days about oil and gas and there is a lot to be excited about with oil and gas. We in this country have a proud history in this area. We have a great presence today and we have a very strong future. Today the average wage in oil and gas mining is $105000—what is not to like? That is over double the New Zealand average. Actually if you take just jobs in petroleum it is probably more than that if you get rid of other mining on the side. They are very high-paying jobs—the highest in this country. The people working in that industry are the kind whom members on the other side of this House say they represent but actually do not—they do not. Those workers have come to our side of this House because they know that we are the ones delivering the future for them.I said we have got a proud history in this area. It is actually on our coat of arms. We have had an extractive economy for a very long time since Moturoa in 1865. Actually as I understand it that was the second oil rig in the world after one that I think was in Pennsylvania. So we have been doing this for a very long time. Since the 1960s over 1000 wells have been drilled safely in New Zealand without a major incident—200 offshore and eight deep offshore in over 300 metres. So we have a very proud history in this area.Today there are numbers that are not to be sniffed at by the Greens. I am talking about $2.5 billion to $3 billion per annum and $800 million in royalties which pay for the schools the hospitals and the other infrastructure that everyone in this House agrees with. Our fourth-highest commodity is crude oil to Australia. It is our biggest export. It is literally an industry that feeds and clothes children in this country. It delivers taxes and royalties and as I have said in terms of the dollars going into households it delivers more than anything else.Then we talk about the future and what a great future it is. We should be excited about the biggest exploration season ever probably on most measures this coming season and about what that means for this country down the track in terms of jobs. The truth is that we are under-explored. We have one basin Taranaki that gives us $2.5 billion or thereabouts in revenue. One more as I have said before in this House wouldbe a game changer for this country. It would mean more people employed in high-income jobs.I think Statistics New Zealand said that 130000 Māori are working in Australia thousands of them in oil and gas mining. Well let me tell you that they would like to work in this country if they had the opportunity and that is what this Government is about. It is about real jobs for the real people whom the left likes to talk about—but whom we are actually doing something for. And what a great speech that was from Amy Adams where we heard about the environmental protections that we have put in place. It was a very layered set of protections that mean that up front we are preventing the kinds of harms that the scaremongers in the Greens like to go on about.You know it is interesting to see from the left a very schizophrenic approach to this an approach that is all over the show. I agree with Shane Jones that the Greenpeace report today was “greenwash”. Actually I think I almost agree with David Shearer. He seems to be moderating his position. He says that provided that we have world’s best standards—which we do and which we have implemented through the Crown minerals regime this year—then that is OK. See—he is shaking his head so he does not support it. He has gone back so he is schizophrenic. He has gone back into the Moana Mackey - Maryan Street camp. He does not know where he is.At least with the Greens we know their position. They are totally opposed to progress in this country. What they do not understand is that it is not a zero-sum game. It is not an either/or. Actually we can be proud that we have 75 percent renewables in this country—the third-highest in the world and going up—but not if Labour and the Greens get their way with the disincentive there will be for investment in renewables going forward.