Brown SimeonGENERAL DEBATEHon SIMEON BROWN (Minister for Energy): I move That the House take note of miscellaneous business.When the people of New Zealand elected this Government last year we knew that we were facing significant challenges as a country. The Labour Government had spent up large the cupboards were bare education law and order health—all were going back in the wrong direction. We were entrusted by Kiwis to get them back on track and that is what we are doing.But perhaps the most dire loss of confidence was within our energy sector. The previous Government wrecked confidence in energy with the oil and gas exploration ban with a hare-brained and wildly expensive Lake Onslow scheme which wasn't going to provide energy until 2038 at the earliest costing at least $16 billion and with their reckless 100 percent renewable electricity target by 2030. The result is that New Zealanders are now paying the highest electricity prices in the Western world. Just this morning the spot price in Northland reached over $1700 per megawatt hour.After stifling investment in the gas sector after increasing our sovereign risk as a country and after six long years of Megan Woods thinking she knows best New Zealand now finds itself in an energy crunch with dry year conditions being compounded by a low supply of gas which is critically important at this time. The high electricity prices New Zealanders are facing are deeply concerning and a direct result of those policies.They are threatening the viability of New Zealand businesses many of whom export products to the world and the jobs they underpin. We've seen that in recent days with the announcement of several hundred job losses at Winstone Pulp and at OJI's Penrose facility. High electricity prices have been cited on both occasions. This is ever devastating for the individuals the families and the communities that rely upon these large employers. But this position we find ourselves in today has not happened by chance. It is a direct result of the poor policy decisions by the last Government and what we inherited.This morning I met with the four largest gentailers in New Zealand to discuss the situation and the solutions needed. The message is incredibly clear: New Zealand needs more natural gas supply to secure our energy sector's confidence and our security as a country. But as a result of the ban our gas supplies are falling rapidly. Figures obtained from our gas producers released earlier this year show a 20 percent decrease in proven plus probable reserves from 1635 petajoules to 1300 petajoules.So instead of low-emission natural gas electricity generators are having to turn on everything else they can. That includes coal-fired and diesel-powered plants all while gas peakers—approximately 500 megawatts of gas peakers currently available—sit idle because we don't have the natural gas that this country is needing.This Government is taking action to respond to this through the Gas Security Response Group and the work the Gas Industry Company is leading on this issue. The Gas Industry Company is currently leading on two critically important work streams which we reported to Cabinet on Monday. Firstly the work stream on the feasibility of importing liquid natural gas which is a lower-emissions fuel than coal to improve gas supply in the short to medium term. I think this is a significant thing to have to be investigating as a country. This is a significant thing to be investigating as a country because as a country we have been blessed with natural resources but because of the last Government's reckless policies we are being left in this situation. But we must keep the lights on. We must support our industries. We must ensure New Zealand has the energy that we need and so we're working on that. The group's also investigating how to increase investment in flexible gas - based generation to ensure there is plant available to meet our future electricity needs for flexible generation.This Government is taking this issue incredibly seriously. We will not stand by while industry shuts down. We need to have the energy security this country needs. The reckless policies of the last Government have been thrown in the bin. What we need is a bipartisan approach where they give confidence to the sector so this investment can happen. I call on them to back this Government so we can have the energy security this country needs.