Barry Soper: ZB senior political correspondent on the Government's new energy package

The Government has announced a range of moves designed to shore up supply and keep prices stable.

They include bringing in legislation this year to allow oil and gas exploration - and speed up consenting for renewable energy.

It will also ease regulation around lines companies owning generation.

ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says the Government was quick to blame their Labour predecessors for this situation - but the issue is bigger than politics.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thank you. It was countdown and giving everybody the three
points in the email and then taking them all back.
Your genius who ever sent that to me? Thirteen away
from five and Barries Sober, senior.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Political corresponding another genius.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Speaking of another genius as bracing us with his amazing
brain right now, what do you make of this energy package?

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Well, it's probably a lot of what we'd already heard before.
We are facing an energy crisis and the government is
blaming labor for it. But in the end, labour is
not responsible for the low lake levels, is not responsible
for the lack of wind, it's not responsible for the
atmosphereic aspects if you like, of the energy crisis at

(00:38):
the moment.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
But it's responsible at least in part for the gash or.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Well, I'll talk about that that the Cabinet has basically
come up with a number of issues to ensure energy
supply in the future. It will remove regulatory barriers to
the construction of critically needed facilities to import liquefied natural gas.

(01:02):
That's an interesting one that because they know they come
in ships and big containers this gas and then it's
regassed once it comes into the country. I read quite
a lot about it today because I thought how it's
put into the gas form again, it's liquefied. Oh yes, yeah, yeah,
So I learned quite a lot on that one. But
they are easing restrictions on electric electricity lines. Companies are

(01:28):
owning generation now. They've had very limited ownership in the past,
so they're going to open that up so there'll be
more competition if you like, in the sector. They'll ensure
easy access for gen tailors to hydro to a hydro contingency.
So there's a number of aspects they're looking at. But
Chris Luxen, who was standing on the stage with both

(01:51):
Sam and Brown and Chris Bishop today he sheeted the
blame for the energy crisis home to labor. But on
the other hand, he's now urging them to get on
board with rectifying the problem.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
The bottom line is New Zealand should not be in
this situation, but we are. And it's important to remember
how we got here because it did not happen by
accident or because the fact is entirely outside of government control.
Previous government's ban on oil and gas exploration threatened investment
in the upstream energy sector, and as good as it
may have sounded on a bumper sticker, or to climate
activists in Europe, it was reckless. I urge opposition parties

(02:25):
to support what we have announced today. It would be
the sensible, common sense thing to do if they genuinely
cared about New Zealand's energy security, a lower emission's future
and hardworking New Zealanders.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
Smart move from him, right, because immediately Labour's going to
come out and say now we're going to ban it again.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Oh look, that's going to be a difficult one, isn't
it now? Because you know, you've got a three year
life of a political party before they run again for
re election. And if you're an investor looking at New
Zealander's potential investment for energy, you're give.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Me a read on this barrier.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
So if Labor was to come out and reaffirm their
commitment to the oil and gas ban, which I understand
is what they intend to do, is that not going
to go down badly?

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Well? I would imagine it would go down quite badly
given the situation Maria, and you see what's happened, particularly
with gas at the moment, you know it's particularly bad.
We've got a very limited supply we're not exploring for
it anymore. And you know, I can't understand it because
what we're getting opposed.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
Because what we're getting at the moment is a taste
of what the future would be like without any gas, right,
and it's horrible. And if they go ahead and reconfirm
their commitment to the oil and gas band, people, they're rereadiots,
aren't they.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Well that's always been the problem with Labor, isn't it.
They have these great ideological ideas and they have nothing
to back up their ideas in terms of other aspects.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Well, they did have Lake Lake Onslow, which was well,
it was thirty eight bad idea.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
It's going to be opened in nineteen, in two thousand
and thirty eight. Yeah, at it cost US sixteen billion.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
Dollars today's money. What about the fast track thing? Now,
this feels to me like they have taken the kind
of guts of what people are complaining out of it.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Well they have, and again it's going to make it
difficult for Labor and my view, but Chris Bishop, he
will assess the application against a set of criteria, and
that includes whether to defer the project for an assessment
by the Independent expert Panel, but it doesn't mean that
when they say the Minister won't have the final sign

(04:31):
of the Minister can circumvent it earlier on in the process,
and step two of the process the Minister could decline
the project at that stage. Now the independent Panel, of course,
there's going to be a lot of pressure on them
by the three hundred and eighty four applicants that are
now going for the fast track measures. They are going

(04:52):
to be made up and they haven't been appointed yet.
They'll be appointed later this year. A High Quarter and
Environmental Judge where or a planner will be the chairperson.
Local authorities will be represented, an environment expert, and the
treaty settlements require it. An EWE authority representative will be

(05:15):
on the expert panel as well if needed, Yes, if needed.
So you know Labour's reaction to it at the stage
is they say the bill overrides the laws and that
protect our environment and they'll make decisions regardless of the
impact on the environment. And I say to that bollocks
because part of the criterion that they've got to consider

(05:37):
is very much the environment.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Barry, thank you very much, really appreciate it's very Soper
Senior political corresponding.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
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