30012 (2023). Hon Dr Megan Woods to the Minister for Resources

30012 (2023). Hon Dr Megan Woods to the Minister for Resources: Does the Minister agree with Palau's President, Surangel Whipps Jr, who, in relation to the Government moving to restart new offshore oil and gas exploration, said: "As a Pacific island country. I believe that New Zealand should understand better than any other country in the world the challenges that Pacific islands have. We have Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, all their islands are less than two metres above water. I mean, if you're a Pacific island nation, and you don't understand that, I don't know, I don't know how, what else we can say," and if not, why not?

Hon Shane Jones: New Zealand has close and strong relationships with our Pacific partners. Pacific Leaders have agreed the just transition away from fossil fuels as a shared direction of travel. Gas is an important transition fuel for maintaining New Zealand’s energy security while we electrify our economy. Dependence on imports erodes our security and increases our emissions. We are acting to avoid that.