The first application for an offshore oil and gas exploration permit has been lodged since the repeal of the 2018 ban on offshore drilling in August. The large application - lodged by Australian-owned company ‘EnZed Energy’ - falls right in the middle of a marine mammal sanctuary. Seismic surveying in a sanctuary is currently illegal; meaning the government would likely be forced to change the law yet again, to enable drilling to go ahead. Experts say that the company likely hopes to make the most of $200 million in government subsidies for gas generation. Any new gas drilling would likely take over a decade to go online - and New Zealand hasn't found new gas in a new place for two decades or longer.
We pledge to do everything we can to resist new offshore oil and gas drilling in the waters of Aotearoa.
To the global oil industry,
Everyone deserves to have a thriving ocean without the risk of catastrophic oil spills. Everyone has the right to a stable climate and a future in which Papatūānuku can sustain life in all its diversity.
Thousands of New Zealanders from all around the country marched in the streets, mobilised on beaches, fought legal battles, sailed in flotillas and raised their voices year after year until we won a ban on new offshore oil exploration permits.
We resisted. Year after year. Oil company after oil company. And we won…
Through unrelenting peaceful protest, civil disobedience, and iwi-led opposition up and down the country, one by one, we forced the withdrawal of Petrobras, Anadarko, Shell, Equinor/Statoil and Chevron.
Together, we won the globally significant ban on offshore oil and gas exploration across New Zealand’s vast ocean territories in 2018.
Now, the new National-led Government under Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has reversed the ban but know this: We, the people, are steadfast in our resolve to repel you again.
We will never allow offshore oil and gas exploration to recommence in Aotearoa.
Nobody wants to see oil spilling into the sea and onto New Zealand’s coastlines and beaches, nor harming our precious wildlife. Nobody wants to see climate induced storms like Cyclone Gabrielle happening even more frequently, or more communities devastated by fires and floods.
Your presence here would threaten not only New Zealand’s unique marine areas but the very future of life on Earth.
You are not welcome here.
We pledge to do everything we can to resist the oil and gas industry if the New Zealand government overturns the ban on offshore oil and gas exploration.