Headline: One law for oil
The National Government used to talk about one for law for all, now it’s a case of one law for oil
The Government shouldn’t be writing laws to limit protest at the behest of Shell, the Green Party said today.
“The National Government used to talk about one for law for all, now it’s a case of one law for oil,” said Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes.
Mr Hughes was responding to official documents which show that the Government drafted its anti-protest legislation after the oil and gas industry, including Shell Oil, sought a more robust government response to protest action.
“This Government works for the interests of its corporate mates, not ordinary New Zealanders,” said Mr Hughes.
“When questioned about his motivations for drafting this anti-protest legislation, Energy Minister Simon Bridges has been murky with the truth.”
When asked by TVNZ’s Jessica Mutch, “Did mining companies complain to the Government?”, Mr Bridges replied, “there have been many complaints”. Yet, later in response to a Green Party written question which asked what companies had complained about protesting actions in our Exclusive Economic Zone, he replied that he had received no complaints.
“Mr Bridges does not want the New Zealand public to know that he has curtailed their right to protest at the request of a foreign oil giant,” said Mr Hughes.
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I don’t know why this government did not learn from the Rena. They were totally unprepared for any oil spill, and a leak at a major drilling platform would make the Rena disaster look like a ring around the bath tub.
I attended a seminar by Chris Battershill of Waikato University where he states that research has shown the damage from the Rena was not as great as it was first thought. But this was only becuase of an excellent clean up effort from volunteers. The government agencies were not much help.
This government won’t learn from Rena because it is not interested in facts. It exists in the nebulous world of “opinions”. It is not connected to reality.It believes the truth can be manufactured out of whatever opinions win the day. In other words, it is a sociopathic organism.
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