Māori Party announce climate policy, with $1b for Māori-owned community energy projects
The Maori Party wants all offshore oil and gas extraction in New Zealand decommissioned by the end of the decade as part of its plan to battle climate change. Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer announced the party's climate policy on Saturday in Taranaki, saying Aotearoa needed to transition to renewable energy, clean technology and regenerative agriculture. We have an obligation to our rangatahi and mokopuna to unite and do everything we can to protect our taiao and our whanau from the climate crising in the short time we have left. One of the main planks of the policy is ending the oil and gas industry, which Ngarewa-Packer described as a sunset industry. READ MORE: * 'We can't be blind to racism': Maori Party seek review of historical monuments * John Tamihere and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer selected as new Maori Party co-leaders * Government should stop all financial support to oil and gas industry, Maori Party candidate says It is about time Crown policy reflected that reality. The Government announced in 2018 a plan to end offshore oil exploration by 2030 , when the last exploration permit expires, but discoveries would mean production continuing for decades. The Maori Party, however, wants to end all permits, cease production at existing sites in five years and try to have sites decommissioned in 10 years. We recognise the challenge of decommissioning sites and that it will involve significant costs and international assistance, but it is important that we begin that work now, the policy said. Seabed mining would also be banned, with any existing permits withdrawn. Ngarewa-Packer, who led the campaign against seabed mining in Taranaki, said it was a risky and untested" process. A $1-billion project called Pungao Auaha would fund Maori-owned community energy projects, such as insulation and solar panel installation on marae and papakainga housing developments. The scheme would create jobs in grassroots communities while brining down energy costs, she said. As part of a focus on regenerative agriculture, $300 million would be used to transition Maori farmers away from current practices. Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser on all farms would be phased out by 2025, while agriculture would be brought into the Emissions Trading Scheme .