Employer Bulletin | 17 June

Removing the ban on petroleum exploration beyond onshore Taranaki is part of a suite of proposed amendments to the Crown Minerals Act to deal with the energy security challenges posed by rapidly declining natural gas reserves, Resources Minister Shane Jones says.

“When the exploration ban was introduced by the previous government in 2018, it not only halted the exploration needed to identify new sources, but it also shrank investment in further development of our known gas fields which sustain our current levels of use,” Mr Jones says. “Without this investment, we are now in a situation where our annual natural gas production is expected to peak this year and undergo a sustained decline, meaning we have a security of supply issue barrelling towards us.”

Rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s petroleum sector will require more than removing the ban. The Coalition Government is proposing further changes, agreed by Cabinet, to re-establish New Zealand as an attractive and secure destination for international investment.

“Our petroleum and minerals sectors contributed $1.9 billion to GDP in 2020-21 and $236 million in Crown revenue in 2022-23. In 2023 mining employed around 6000 people, the majority of which are based in regional communities,” Mr Jones says. 

The Crown Minerals Amendment Bill will be introduced to Parliament in the second half of 2024

In today’s Bulletin

• Employer takes justified actions in investigation
• Redundancy found to be not genuine
• Casual employee found to be permanent and unjustifiably dismissed
• Employee not given written extension of fixed term agreement
• Employee believes Employer was trying to trick them
• Nine news updates of interest for employers including: Government to reverse oil and gas exploration ban, Total gross earnings up 8.6 percent in year to March 2024, Agriculture to come out of the ETS, Govt consulting on cutting red tape for exporters, Government focus on long-term food, fibre growth, Ministry for Regulation targets red tape for farmers and growers, Natural gas production continues to decline, Funding Boost for Rural Support Trusts, and Major health and safety consultation begins.
• Four Bills open for submission