Hughes Gareth: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHughes Gareth: General Debate[Sitting date: 16 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:13939. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]GARETH HUGHES (Green): Kia ora Mr Deputy Speaker.Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora. We have seen some gripping television on our screens this week. We have seen the TeKōhanga Reo National Trust Board credit card scandal. Tonight and on Twitter we are going to see it about the member Banks now we have seen the judgment from the District Court. We are going to see this Government questioned because this Government is hanging by a thread on the single vote of this member who we now know resulting from a District Court judgment is off to court to make his case. But on Monday night was the gripping television and the trending Twitter that I want to refer to. On Monday night we saw a Minister out of his depth. We saw live onCampbell Live a Minister have his own uncontrolled blowout live on television and Kiwis around the country—particularly in the regions affected by deep-sea drilling like theKaikōura region—are questioning how this Minister if he cannot control himself on television is going to control a well blowout 2.7 kilometres down off theKaikōura coast? How is the Minister of Energy and Resources going to control that?The fact is that the Minister cannot point to even a single person inKaikōura—cannot point to a single person—who supports the Government’s “drill it mine it frack it” agenda the agenda to put at risk our environment. In fact we have got a Minister who thinks his job is to go on television and defend the reputation of Anadarko not defend the beaches the economy and the climate of New Zealand. For an agenda the Government says is so popular it is intriguing that the Minister for the Environment Amy Adams has proposed to make the exploratory stage—the riskiest phase; the stage we saw release 600000 tonnes of oil into the Gulf of Mexico’s environment—a non-notified activity. If this Government wants to stand by everything it is doing for the oil industry—and there is an awful lot because this Government is all about cosy deals for its mates—and if this Government is so proud of its agenda why is it blocking out the public from getting a say whatsoever?What we saw last week however was some more advice that the Government should be taking. We saw the Secretary-General of the OECD Mr AngelGurría callfor no—no—new fossil fuel emissions by 2050. It is inconsistent for this Government to be going out there in the deep waters off theKaikōura and Canterbury and Taranaki coasts to be looking for new oil when the OECD is saying we need no new emissions. We saw the week before the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change release the most authoritative scientific update on climate change. What we know from that report is that there is more carbon dioxide more methane and more nitrous oxide than at any time in the past 800000 years—probably much longer. We know from the world’s top scientists that climate change is happening. It is happening because of us. It is happening faster and worse than feared in previous reports and it is going to have huge costs—huge social costs huge costs on communities and people and huge costs on the economy.We also saw a report out from the International Energy Agency. What we saw in the report was the International Energy Agency saying that we cannot burn 70 percent of all the oil known about in the world if we want to achieve the Government’s own target of avoiding 2 degrees warming this century. The International Energy Agency is saying we cannot burn 70 percent of the oil we have already discovered let alone this Government going off and trying to find some more deep in the waters off theKaikōura coast. But this Government is all about deals for the oil industry. What we have seen is this Government provide $46 million in tax breaks in the last financial year. We see the Government constantly changing legislation to support the industry. We see this Government literally calling out the navy when iwi protesters get in its way. We see the Government taking away the public’s say. We see this Government’s job as acting as cheerleader-in-chief for the oil industry going on telly and defending Anadarko’s reputation. It is incredible that Simon Bridges would go on TV and say: “Well you’re being unfair and biased if you don’t have anything positive to say about the worst ever oil spill in the world’s history.”I am sure Phil Heatley was sitting at home watching Minister Bridges on TV on Monday night with his palm over his face wondering “What is this Minister doing? This young guy is absolutely out of his depth when it comes to oil.” The fact is though that we have seen a consistent pro - oil drilling agenda from this Government. The better idea of course is to listen to the OECD say “No new fossil fuel emissions.” and to listen to the International Energy Agency say “Keep the oil in the ground.” and to listen to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and act to protect our climate. This is where the jobs and prosperity will come from in New Zealand. A richer New Zealand is not going to come from hoping someone finds something in the bottom of the water and does not leave too much of a mess. The prosperity is going to come from a smart Green economy.