Hughes Gareth: Marine Legislation Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHughes Gareth: Marine Legislation Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 24 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13632. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]GARETH HUGHES (Green): Kia ora andngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora. I cannot just sit here and listen to this faux debate we hear from this side of Parliament as if 200 metres is the critical issue facing the question of deep-sea oil drilling in AotearoaNew Zealand. The depth of 200 metres which is what groups and the Greens define as deep-sea drilling is not the critical issue; the critical issue is protecting our beaches protecting our moana and protecting our economy from the threat of deep-sea drilling. But it is academic because what we know is that the permits this Government has offered including the recent 343000 square kilometres that it has opened up are considered ultra-deep in the oil academic literature. We can have a debate as to whether 200 metres is deep or shallow; the fact is that it is deep. Only advanced robotics and submersibles can maintain the rig or fix a spill if it happens at that depth. But the fact is that it is academic because what we are talking about in New Zealand is a different kettle of fish from what we have seen in Taranaki and what is considered in the literature as ultra-deep. It is extremely risky extremely complex and operating at the frontiers of technology geography and geology. It is something that we should not be putting at risk—our marine environment.What we see with Supplementary Order Paper 347 which introduces new clause 102A is a back-door no-say amendment that takes away Kiwis’ rights to have a say on discretionary activities. When you take the precedent which is the Resource Management Act then the public gets a say on discretionary activities if they have an impact greater than minor. The Government is asking Kiwis what colour they think the Department of Conservation huts should be painted. There are various consultations on various issues. But when it comes to consenting the most risky activity affecting our marine environment the Government through this back-door no-say amendment is taking away New Zealanders’ right to have a say.This is the critical issue: should New Zealanders have a say on the greatest environmental threat facing New Zealand? The Green Party is clear. We have a strong position. Deep-sea drilling should be prohibited. It is a different kettle of fish from what we have done in Taranaki where the deepest well is 125 metres. What we are talking about in New Zealand—say at 1.5 kilometres or deeper—is well casing that has to be specially strengthened or it will burst under its own pressure. We are talking at 1.5 kilometres down about a water temperature of 0.4 degrees or close to freezing yet the oil is coming out close to boiling. What we are talking about is operating at the extremes of technology and in hostile environments kilometres down.There are no guarantees with oil drilling. The Government is clear on that point. The industry is clear on that point.Obama’s presidential commission into Deepwater Horizon said that it is akin to nuclear power. Not every well is going to have an accident and blow up but when an accident occurs the consequences can be catastrophic. What we saw with theRena is that New Zealand does not have a response capability to deal with such a spill. Maritime New Zealand has adopted only 5500 tonnes as its response capability that it is planning for. The Deepwater Horizon was 600000 tonnes yet Maritime New Zealand is planning for only 5500 tonnes and it clearly struggled with only 300 tonnes from theRena. In the Gulf they had more than 1000 vessels working on that spill. In New Zealand Maritime New Zealand has three skimmers which are more akin to dinghies. In the Gulf they had more than 46000 people working on the spill. In New Zealand Maritime New Zealand has around 180 trained responders. In the Gulf it cost $40 billion. In New Zealand we cannot afford to deal with a spill. That is why New Zealanders need a say. That is why it is egregious that we are seeing this back-door amendment taking away New Zealanders’ right to have a say.When it comes to the permitting process New Zealanders already do not have a say. It is because of Green Party pressure that with the granting of permits our councils now get a say. I urge all the councils across New Zealand to have a say. The fact is that an oil spill is not going to recognise the 12 nautical mile jurisdictional limit. An oil spill would affect all of our councils and affect all of our public. It is good that last year theGovernment extended the consultation out to councils. Now it needs to extend it out to the public.This bill is a step backwards. We need to stop having a debate around whether Labour thinks 200 metres is the right limit or not. Let us have a debate around ultra-deep drilling which is happening to New Zealand this summer with Anadarko’s ship theNoble Bob Douglas coming to New Zealand—this summer—to drill our first deep-sea exploratory wells off our coasts. This is the critical issue and this is why I am proud to be a Green member because we are standing up for the clean economy we are standing up for the innovative economy and we are standing up for real jobs for New Zealanders not for a sector that is going to see environmental risks and profits flow offshore with the lowest job-producing potential of any sector in the Taranaki economy. This is our future.