Woods Megan; O'Connor GregThird ReadingHon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources): I present a legislative statement on the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I move That the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill be now read a third time. Our Government is committed to transitioning New Zealand to a low-emissions economy. New Zealand has targets to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions with carbon emissions to reach net zero by 2050. We have set a target of 100 percent renewable electricity generation by 2030. On 9 August I announced that the Government would consult on an ambitious programme of work for this transition—over five streams of energy policy. I want to ensure that the legislation for our Crown minerals is keeping up with the times and that's why I initiated the Crown Minerals Act review.There have already been shifts in how the regime operates as a result of the review. The 2018 tranche 1 amendments put an end to offshore petroleum exploration permitting. The 2020-2021 tranche 2 amendments ensured that petroleum decommissioning obligations sit with the people and companies that profited from these resources and not the taxpayers of New Zealand. This bill concludes tranche 2 of the Crown minerals review by making important incremental amendments while reform in the broader regulatory framework is under way such as in the resource management system.A big part of bringing the Crown Minerals Act up to date is to ensure that it is consistent with our push to net zero. The Government recognises the continued importance of petroleum throughout the transition. We also need other minerals for the roading infrastructure and for the clean technologies in our future. But the Crown Minerals Act is out of step with our wider policy settings to get us to net zero. The promotional intent of the Act currently requires the Minister to take certain steps to promote development of our mineral resources and this includes the expectation that we run an annual block offer for petroleum permits. This is expected regardless of whether it is in the best long-term interests of New Zealand.Part 1 of the bill proposes changes to enhance flexibility in the way we manage our petroleum and minerals. It would remove that promotional intent to make the Crown Minerals Act neutral so that the development can be promoted where there is a need and minimised where there is not. With these changes in place the Crown Minerals Act would be better aligned with wider policy settings and this would no longer be in conflict with the wider settings for a net zero transition. The bill strikes that balance by ensuring that continued investment and security of supply for fossil fuels are not put at risk during the transition. But the bill also keeps clear the path for development of other minerals into the future should there be a need such as for clean-tech minerals used in renewable energy.Part 2 of the bill makes changes to improve permit holder engagement with iwi and hapū extending existing requirements that have been in place since 2013. Iwi and hapū reported that engagement quality is highly variable and does not always respect or reflect understanding for their authority mana and expertise in relation to the natural environment and their local communities. In part this is because the Crown's expectation for engagement under the Crown Minerals Act was unclear. The proposed changes will bring more clarity to iwi and hapū and other stakeholders about how engagement will be reported and how feedback from iwi and hapū can inform future allocation under the Crown Minerals Act. I expect to see an improvement in permit holder engagement with iwi and hapū because of these changes.Part 2 of the bill also makes decommissioning-related clarification to ensure that there is no doubt over the interpretation of the provisions introduced in 2021. These ensure that industry decommission so that there will be no repeat of the events surrounding the Tui oil field where the operator liquidated and Government had to step in at a significant cost to the taxpayer—hundreds of millions of dollars to the New Zealand taxpayer.The select committee reported back to the House with four recommendations and these were shared with this House during the second reading. As part of the committee of the whole House I tabled a Supplementary Order Paper that made minor and technical changes to the bill including moving provision relating to the Minister's ability to consider past iwi feedback on existing or previous permit holders out of the Schedule of the bill and to new section 29C in clause 11 to increase clarity; clarifying in section 105(1) in clause 19 what time periods can be described for the purposes of preparing and consulting on draft iwi engagement reports; presenting finalised iwi engagement reports to the chief executive of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and making the consequential changes to section 33C in clause 12; and amending the Schedule of the bill to refine the application of new Part 5 inserted into Schedule 1 of the Act and to remove an unnecessary clause from the new Part 5.I want to thank the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee again for their work and consideration of this bill. I believe that the changes that were made to the bill as a result of the select committee process have resulted in a better and more robust piece of legislation. I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the preparation and passage of this bill. I look forward to seeing the amended Crown Minerals Act serve New Zealanders now and into our future with the development of minerals promoted where they are needed but clearly charting our pathway of how we achieve net zero in our future. I commend this bill to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.