Hughes Gareth: General Debate 
Hughes Gareth: General Debate 
[Volume:678;Page:1386] 
GARETH HUGHES (Green) 
: 
 I move  
That the House take note of miscellaneous business 
. I rise to take a call on the issue of fracking. I want to talk about fracking and Taranaki I want to talk about the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s investigation into fracking and I want to talk about why the Government needs to put in place right now a nationwide moratorium on fracking. 
Only several hours ago the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment announced she was upgrading from a scoping report to a full-blown investigation into the subject of hydraulic fracturing in New Zealand. The Green Party welcomes this announcement. We believe that it highlights the risks that fracking poses to New Zealand communities to New Zealand farms and to New Zealand waterways and it highlights why until the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment can assure New Zealanders that this controversial and risky practice is safe this Government should implement a nationwide moratorium on fracking. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is the practice of pumping large ginormous quantities of water sand and other toxic chemicals down a well and sometimes horizontally with the purpose of fracturing the rock to get the oil and the gas. It is right that the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has launched an investigation. It is appropriate. It is needed. 
Yet when it comes to fracking we see that this Government has its head in the sand on the issue. It has been blinded to the concerns of everyday Kiwis farmers and communities in Taranaki. It has been blinded by the misguided approach to economic development that this Government is adopting. When it comes to the plan for the country this Government’s only response is cut it drill it mine it sell it. Those are the only ideas this Government has for the environment and for our economy to try to lift our kids out of poverty and to deliver prosperity. 
I asked Minister Heatley a few weeks ago what it would take to justify a moratorium on fracking in New Zealand. I asked the Minister: “Would it take Kiwis getting sick?” and he said no. I asked: “Would it take communities calling for an investigation?”. We have seen five councils across the country in only 6 months call for moratoria at the national level and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council calling for an investigation. I asked the Minister what it would take to justify a moratorium on fracking. What about water contamination? 
The Government likes to point to two things. It points to opponents of fracking as extremists. What we are talking about is farmers. We are talking about everyday Kiwis in some of our small towns across the country. We are talking about our regional councils. We are also talking about the allegations that fracking is being well regulated and conducted safely in New Zealand. On this point Minister Heatley is misleading the country and he is misleading the House because what we have seen in Taranaki is a series of well blowouts. What we have seen is toxic chemicals including benzene ethylene xylene—the controversial BTEX chemicals featured in the film  
Gasland 
—enter the environment and contaminate the water table. We have seen numerous consents being breached. This is why we need an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment because the way that fracking has been conducted has put Kiwis’ health at risk. The water contamination has exceeded Ministry for the Environment safe levels. The water we have seen come out of this deplorable risky controversial practice of fracking is not even fit for irrigation or stock use. 
In the last week we have seen a new report released by the Colorado Public School of Health showing that residents near fracking wells were more likely to experience serious health problems—even cancer. We have seen reports from Blackpool from Switzerland and from Ohio linking increased seismicity or earthquakes to the practice of pumping huge quantities of fluid down to where active fault lines already exist. In seismic Canterbury in seismic New Zealand this is a significant concern and the reason why so many of our councils are calling for a moratorium. 
 This is my challenge to the Labour Party because the Labour Party is calling for an investigation but there it stops. It acknowledges the concerns but it refuses to call for a moratorium. This is what Kiwis need this is what we need to have trust in the safety of our regulations the safety of our oil and drilling operations in New Zealand. Of the 10 countries that have fracked in their history seven have either full or state-level moratoria on fracking. The Government cannot dismiss this. The investigation should act as a catalyst for this Government to wake up to do the right thing to be responsible to show Kiwis that their health interest their water interest and their safety interest are paramount not just the interests of the oil and gas industry. What we know from fracking is that we are going to see hardly any jobs hardly any profits and hardly any royalties and the profits are going to go offshore. The Government needs to do the right thing and call for a moratorium.