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Good morning ladies and gentlemen — it is a pleasure to be here. 

Our abundance of energy and minerals resources provides us with unique opportunities to build the New Zealand economy. 

Over the past three years the Government has made significant changes to how the sector is regulated.

We’ve done the groundwork necessary to attract investment and build our collective understanding of New Zealand’s potential. 

Introduction

Good morning everyone.   It’s a pleasure to be here for the 2014 AusIMM New Zealand Annual Conference – my second since becoming Energy and Resources Minister.

The minerals industry plays a major role in New Zealand’s economy, contributing more than $1 billion to our GDP, producing vital inputs for industry, and adding significantly to our exports.

It’s a pleasure to be back at the West Coast Minerals Forum for another year. 

The minerals industry is important for New Zealand. 

The sector plays a major role in our economy and contributes more than $1 billion to our GDP.  It is highly productive, provides high-reward jobs for New Zealanders, produces vital materials for industry, and adds significantly to our exports.

Developing our mineral resources can take decades — it is a long term game that the Government is committed to supporting.

I’m very pleased to be here today – thank you for inviting me to open your conference.

The electricity industry plays a vital role in the daily lives of all New Zealanders. It has a proud history, and of course engineers have been an essential part of this.
 
I would like to acknowledge the contribution the Electricity Engineers Association has made for more than 85 years, including providing valuable feedback on government proposals and reforms.

Good morning - it’s a pleasure to be attending this conference on bioenergy at this time, when there is so much happening in this field. 

Countries around the world are facing the same energy challenge. 

We want to continue to grow our economies and help our people to prosper. 

This means we need secure and affordable energy.

At the same time, we’ve got to reduce our carbon emissions. 

There is no single solution to reducing emissions. 

Countries around the world are facing similar energy challenges.

We want to continue to grow our economies and help our people to prosper, but we need to reduce our carbon emissions and respond to climate change.

At the moment, the world is in a transition phase towards a low carbon future.

In the US, President Obama speaks of an “all of the above” policy on energy. That is also what we have here in New Zealand – a mixed and balanced approach to our energy future.

Today countries around the world are facing the same energy challenge – we want to continue to grow our economies and help our people to prosper, but we need to reduce our carbon emissions and respond to climate change. 

At the moment, the world is in a transition phase towards a low carbon future. 

In the US, President Obama speaks of an “all of the above” policy on energy.  That is also what we have here in New Zealand – a mixed and balanced approach to our energy future.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. 

It’s great to see so many people, including the many international guests, here today.  I hope those of you from overseas have an opportunity to see some of the sights that our country is renowned for before you return home.

I want to take a minute or two at the outset this morning to tell you about a couple of the key points I made at the National Energy Research Institute conference here in Wellington a fortnight ago. 

The Global Energy Challenge

Energy is an integral part of our lives.

It is the foundation on which we build economic growth, prosperity and progress in our societies.  

Across the globe, we are all facing the same basic energy challenge.    

We want our citizens and countries to continue to develop and prosper.  

But we need to reduce carbon emissions from our energy use and respond to climate change.

Your Excellency Michael Potts, Australia’s High Commissioner to New Zealand;

Your Excellency Peter Chan, Singapore’s High Commissioner to New Zealand.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Good morning.

As Minister of Energy and Resources, it’s my pleasure to welcome and host you here in Parliament this morning to award permits for the Government’s second annual Block Offer.

Many of you were in Auckland earlier this year when I announced the areas available for competitive bidding in Block Offer 2013.

Good morning everyone, it’s great to be here and to have the opportunity to speak to you all.

From the discovery of the Kapuni gas field in 1959, and then the much larger Maui field in 1969, the oil and gas industry has played a significant role in New Zealand’s economic development – as an energy source for industry and households, an input into the chemicals industry and as a valuable export in its own right.

In fact, crude oil is our fourth largest export after dairy, meat and wood.  It contributes more than $2.5 billion to our GDP each year.

It’s a pleasure to be here at your conference and to have the opportunity to speak to you all.

The minerals industry has traditionally played – and continues to play – an essential role in the New Zealand economy.

Our country’s abundance of natural resources provides unique opportunities for growth that ultimately benefit all New Zealanders.

It’s a pleasure to be here at the West Coast Minerals Forum and to have the opportunity to speak to you all.

Since becoming Energy and Resources Minister in January, I have spent a lot of time talking about ‘opportunity’ – the opportunity that can be realised from developing our resource potential.

And New Zealand has never been a better place to explore.

We are recognised as one of the world’s most promising regions, but we remain relatively unexplored.

It’s a great pleasure to be speaking at this very important event for the New Zealand oil and gas industry.

As I said in my opening address last night, it’s wonderful to see so many people here, particularly our international guests. Welcome.

Already today, our Prime Minister and other key speakers have spoken much about ‘opportunity’.

In oil and gas terms, New Zealand truly is a land of opportunity.

The demand for – and exploration of – oil and gas has never been greater.

Mr Speaker; I move that the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill, Conservation Amendment Bill (No 2), Continental Shelf Amendment Bill, Reserves Amendment Bill, and Wildlife Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

These changes are central to this Government’s work programme to improve the regulatory system for the petroleum and minerals sectors in New Zealand.

The Bills deliver on the objectives of the Crown minerals review to:

On behalf of the New Zealand Government, I welcome our international guests to Auckland, and to our wonderful country. It is a pleasure to have you here.

The New Zealand Government is pleased to be working with our co-hosts in the European Union, and our Summit sponsors from the World Bank, The Asian Development Bank, and AusAID, to make this important event happen.

It is very timely.

The Pacific Energy Summit is giving communities in the Pacific a platform to work with development partners to achieve their energy goals.

Thank you for the opportunity to address your annual conference.  It’s great to be here.  Your industry is an exciting one – with its challenges, and opportunities.

To get a sense of this, I am going to start by taking us all back a few years.

In 1993, New Zealand got its first wind power turbine prototype.  Over a few short years, the technology moved into the mainstream and its growth is now consistently in double digits.

Not bad in just 20 years.

Good morning and welcome everyone. It’s a pleasure to be here.

As many of you would appreciate, this is my first substantive address as Minister of Energy and Resources.

I’ve been looking forward to this opportunity, as I am quickly coming to the view that this is one of the most exciting and challenging portfolios in Government.

Let me be candid.

I don’t have the same level of expertise that many of you here have.

Welcome to the Block Offer 2012 Awards Ceremony.

It’s a great pleasure to be hosting this event to award the permits from the Government’s first annual Block Offer. 

In August last year we announced the move to an annual block offer process and the abolition of the Priority in Time permits.

Block Offer 2012 areas have now been consulted on, tendered, carefully considered, and today, permits are being awarded to the strongest bids and to those companies most capable of delivering their proposed work programmes. 

We are very fortunate in New Zealand to have an abundance of energy and minerals resources.

These provide us with unique opportunities to grow our economy, ensure we have a secure supply of affordable energy, and respond to the global challenge of climate change. 

The oil and gas sector is already a major contributor to our economy. It’s our fourth-largest export and directly and indirectly supports around 7,700 jobs.

When the National-led Government came into office it was well known that the country’s housing stock was under par. There was ample and growing evidence that this was impacting on New Zealanders’ health and well-being, not to mention their power bills.  Something had to be done, and we did it.

I’m very pleased to be invited to jointly open this very first six-star Best Home - thank you.

We’re all familiar with the expression “five-star” meaning excellent, top of the line, but you don’t hear “six-star” very often!

This fantastic house, New Zealand’s first under the Best Home trademark, demonstrates that a house earning six stars for its energy efficiency can be built for only about 5 per cent more than the standard cost and certainly not the 20 per cent or so more that people think. 

It hardly needs to be said that it’s a sad comment on our society that a service like Women’s Refuge is needed. 

But needed it is, and what a fantastic job you do. I’m in awe of the level of commitment and the depth of the work you do supporting women and children getting out of terrifying situations, the worst kind of crises. I’m proud that Housing is able to be a part of that.

The corporation worked closely with Te Whari Tiaki Wahine Refuge to find a replacement refuge around the Titahi Bay/Porirua/Whitby areas when it was needed.

Believe it or not, there are some bonuses to flying into Wellington’s wind, as I do frequently.  It means that I get a bird’s-eye view of the degree of change Wellington City Council’s social housing has made to the cityscape in certain areas.

There are now large areas of Newtown – with Te Ara Hou, Regent Park and Hanson Court apartments, and here in at Central Park, that have been transformed, and the positive changes show, even from the air.