March 21, 2018
Parties on same page over oil free future
New Zealand First leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is warning against reading too much into the Prime Minister's surprise decision to receive a petition calling for an end to oil and gas exploration.
He says parliament will consider the petition in a normal way, and cabinet is also working through issues around the exploration programme.
Both New Zealand First and Labour have in the past supported extractive industries, but that is now being weighed against New Zealand's commitments to address climate change.
Mr Peters says any decision won't be retrospective.
"All the existing licence holders will retain those licences until their expiry and some of those dates are 2040 and beyond. I think the industry and workers need assurances of that kind. The question is as to new exploration and what rules and what the guidelines will be. That's a fair ambit of consideration and we just at this point of time as a Government can't say," he says.
Mr Peters says New Zealand First and Labour will be on the same page when a decision is made.
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