Muller ToddTODD MULLER (National—Bay of Plenty): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Governments are defined by the legislation they put forth. When you listen to the speakers on the Government side they seek to convince New Zealand and this House that this is legislation that is leadership personified. This legislation is shambolic and it's sanctimonious and it's shabby and it talks to the incompetence in my view that sits at the core of this Government on this issue in particular.Let's step through this process. Was this commitment referenced by the Prime Minister in the Speech from the Throne? No—no specific reference at all. Was the oil and gas industry assuming it had another block offer as it had been signalled under that Speech from the Throne? Yes. Did the Prime Minister without any warning stand up and say to students of Victoria University We're with you. This is a global issue. There is to be no more oil in the medium to long term in the world and indeed in this country. Therefore we're banning exploration"? Yes. Without any reference or any consultation no Cabinet paper no assessment of the costs to the New Zealand economy and to the Taranaki economy—nothing. Then hop on a plane and then stand beside Macron and Trudeau—who by the way is quite comfortable it seems to expand their oil and gas reserves to serve the North American market.This is a shambolic piece of legislation and it deserves New Zealand's rejection. Let's just step through because after they got to that point they then realised that actually they needed to have legislation. So perhaps that was a time to reflect and ask New Zealand to come on the journey. Oh no. "We're gonna run a shortened process. We're going to give people two to three weeks to be able to submit. We're going to run a two-week submission process. We're going to give individuals five minutes to talk on something that supposedly is the most substantive issue of our time." But the opportunity for people to actually reflect on what it means was in my view seriously truncated and taken away.It's extraordinary the process that this Government has followed—their own advice which they skim over. In fact what the Government has done this afternoon is reference individual submitters who echo their own perspectives. Their own officials that say the data doesn't support this the cost on the New Zealand economy is anywhere between $7 billion and $23 billion dollars it doesn't deliver against your climate change objectives—they don't give voice to that. Their own officials' advice has been discarded because of their own desires to be able to stand on a certain stage and pitch New Zealand's leadership in climate change through the lens of ending oil and gas despite the fact that as a country we still use it and despite the fact that it's not going to have any impact on our own internal consumption. They frame this up through the lens of climate change leadership.This is not climate change leadership—this is not climate change leadership. There is significant demand for gas in particular as a transitional fuel around the world—significant demand. We've traversed this conversation but they are not interested in engaging in it because it is all symbols it is all rhetoric. The opportunity exists for New Zealand to participate in that global transition for developing countries to move from coal to gas—and no doubt renewables is part of the mix—but they do not want New Zealand and our economy to participate in that opportunity. It is a disgrace and one that this party entirely rejects. It does not have the coherence that is needed for a policy of this substance. Because as we have discussed before this is not theoretical; it is impacting regions and will continue to particularly in a Taranaki context over the medium term.Can I deal with this view that is expressed consistently that somehow we have to get in front of the global move away from oil and gas and begin now because we don't want a shock like New Zealand had in the 1980s. In the 1980s when we went through that structural reform there was no consultation. There was no reflection of how we actually can do this at a pace that works for New Zealand. There was none of that. It just happened. And they have done exactly the same thing. They did not speak to the people of Taranaki—they did not speak to them. This was not in your Speech from the Throne Government members.The Government did not signal this as a priority. The Government did not campaign on it. The Prime Minister did not say it was going to be a priority. But here we are because of the backroom machinations between the Green Party and the Labour Party to get a certain waka-jumping bill passed between the Labour Party and the New Zealand First Party. With respect when you are dealing with the economic fortunes of 4.5 million people you need to be more motivated than nice slogans and backroom deals with New Zealand First and the Green Party. This is the lack of authority of this Government exposed for all time. The opportunity for New Zealanders to be truly consulted about what is being discussed has been taken off the table. This view that somehow because existing permits have been protected that means that normal transition resumes proves two things actually: that depending on who the audience is the Government will say "Look we see no future for oil and gas. We are the party that hears the clamour to ban oil and gas and we will lead." Then in another audience they'll say "But don't worry. We're still going to extract domestically for the next 30 or 40 years." You can't be right on both of them. It doesn't work like that—it does not work like that.Tamati Coffey: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. Can I just seek your clarification Madam Deputy Speaker? I've been in the House before when you've noted that stray random folders sitting on desks by themselves aren't allowed. Can you just confirm—is that a ruling?DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes that is a ruling. I just warn the member that it's not one that you would generally expect to interrupt a speech.TODD MULLER: Well there you go. You have a conversation around the future of New Zealand's economic interests and Tamati Coffey gets up and says "Oh by the way there's nobody behind a blue box." I mean if anything describes that disgrace of a Government—I mean that is absolutely pathetic—absolutely pathetic. So Taranaki as you watch this debate unfold be assured that the Government members have got their eyes on the prize. They want to know that there's a National Party person behind a blue box. I mean I ask you if that's the level of your intellectual rigor I can't wait till 2020—you'll all be gone.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Actually it's not my rigor.TODD MULLER: I understand Madam Deputy Speaker. I understand. I'm sure. Now with respect to this view that somehow domestically we have all this opportunity in front of us submitter after submitter who actually deploys their capital—there's a bit of interest on the Government side for this because they don't really connect with companies that actually deploy capital and understand risk—turned up to the submission process and made it very clear that there was a significant impact already in terms of their lack of appetite to pursue those opportunities. Because of the ridiculous and in our view unjustifiable snap decision that this Government made now reinforced by this particular legislation the sovereign risk is significant. As those submitters unpacked why they were going to make different capital decisions over the short and medium term what was absolutely clear was that on the Government side they didn't even understand what was being discussed. They didn't understand how the oil and gas sector works. They didn't understand the long-term capital signals that are required and the regulatory certainty. They didn't understand that. They didn't understand what was at stake.That is what is hugely disappointing from our side: that as we've gone through this process New Zealanders' views were not tested regardless of what they said. This was not a campaign issue. This was not debated by New Zealand or reflected on by New Zealand; we weren't told. This was not in a campaign. This was not a Speech from the Throne. This came out of the blue. There was no consultation. There was no connection with those who will be affected. A significant loss of economic opportunity is taken off the table and worse than that from a climate perspective we have allowed this debate to be captured by those who talk in symbols and rhetoric and waving flags of ending big oil as opposed to the sensible evidence-based slow transition that needs to happen in this economy in a way that actually protects jobs and protects people's opportunity to contribute and actually sustains New Zealand. This is a huge fail that will come back to haunt this Government."