Falloon AndrewANDREW FALLOON (National—Rangitata): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker for the opportunity to speak tonight on the first reading of the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill. As my colleague Jonathan Young has pointed out earlier this evening we will be supporting this bill. It makes a number of common-sense changes as the previous member Deborah Russell spoke about clarifying some of the processes around the Crown Minerals Act.I am a bit worried though because as all members can see it is quite a skinny bill. So I'm a bit worried about what might happen to it in select committee and as the bill winds its way through the House. So I went through the principal Act this afternoon which is the Crown Minerals Act and it has in its introduction that The purpose of this Act is to promote prospecting for exploration for and mining of Crown owned minerals for the benefit of New Zealand." That intrigued me because I thought to myself well this isn't really a Government that's promoting the prospecting for exploration for or mining of things in the Crown estates. So I'm a bit concerned about what the bill might look like after it does proceed through this House.We've just seen just recently what this Government wants to do when it comes to the oil and gas sector. Right before the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern jetted off to London to speak to a very important gathering of students in London she announced essentially the shutting down of the oil and gas industry in Taranaki. So I'm very concerned about that particular paragraph in the Crown Minerals Act and what the Government might do to it through this bill if they choose to amend it because it is so contrary—that paragraph—to what this Government thinks about the oil and gas sector. Mr Jones "Matua Jones" I know that he agrees with me and that's why he had his head in his hands at the announcement shutting down the oil and gas industry in Taranaki. What we've found out this afternoon from my colleague Jonathan Young in questioning Andrew Little on behalf of the Minister of Energy and Resources who came down to this House and said that they had consulted with the industry. He had to come back later on that afternoon and admit they hadn't. He admitted they hadn't. They hadn't talked to Methanex; they hadn't talked to the industry.That brings me back to this Crown Minerals Amendment Bill. It's about to go off to the excellent Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee where the Government does not have a majority on the committee. So I think there's a valid concern about what this Government might do to this bill when it comes to the committee of the whole House in putting forward Supplementary Order Papers to change the purpose of the Crown Minerals Act and once again not give the oil and gas sector any opportunity to engage or consult on those changes.We've already seen the devastating effect that that sort of announcement can have on the oil and gas industry. Literally the day that that announcement was made the largest engineering company in Taranaki announced a halt on all new employment. Those are the regions and those are the people that these sorts of changes are going to impact on and all the billion-dollar funds that Shane Jones has will not create those sorts of industries and employ those sorts of people in regional New Zealand. Thank you very much."