This edition of Across The Ditch was Recorded live on 21/11/13.
This week Selwyn Manning and Peter Godfrey discuss:
A flotilla of six yachts is being monitored by New Zealand Police as it protests the drilling of an exploration oil well in the deep ocean some 204 kilometres off Raglan (located in the Tasman Sea off New Zealand’s North Island’s Central West Coast).
The exploration oil drilling is hugely controversial over here, and this operation by the multinational conglomerate, Anadarko, is especially concerning to environmentalists and perhaps millions of Kiwis because of fears that deep ocean oil drilling brings with it added risk of an oil spill causing an environmental disaster off New Zealand’s coastline.
Fears are high that a repeat of the major oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico (that proved difficult to arrest and poured crude oil into the sea for weeks) could also occur here.
The Government’s wish to gain royalties from deep sea oil exploitation have seen it move to protect the oil companies from protest groups and activists.
It passed laws designed to prevent any vessel from entering a 500 metre exclusion zone surrounding the oil exploration and exploitation ships. The laws basically deny Kiwis from being able to exercise their previous rights to protest deep sea drilling.
Yesterday Police confirmed that they are monitoring the Greenpeace vessel the SV Vega, which reportedly is within 200 metres of the Anadarko ship, the Noble Bob Douglas.
Crew members on-board other yachts in the flotilla say they are there to protest the concerns of New Zealanders and people from all around the world who believe the risks of an environmental disaster outweigh the benefits of royalty returns from deep sea drilling.
– Is New Zealand equipped to deal with a large oil spill in deep sea waters?
Second up: The Rolling Stones are expected to announce they will perform in New Zealand on the back of their concert at the Adelaide Oval on March 22.
The rumours of a New Zealand concert were confirmed by promoter Frontier Touring on Wednesday. It will be eight years since they played sell-out performances in Auckland, on that occasion at the iconic Western Springs outdoor stadium.
Across The Ditch broadcasts live on radio 5AA Australia and webcasts on TheDailyBlog, Live.TheDailyBlog.co.nz, LiveNews.co.nz, and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.
