Jacinda Ardern's resignation an opportunity to lift her goofy ban on oil and gas exploration and production -New Zealand needs the cash, relying on Chinese money was never really an option

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

      Jacinda Ardern 

Jacinda Ardern's resignation is an opportunity to lift her goofy ban on oil and gas exploration and production. On  April 12, 2018 Ardern  announced " a dramatic ban on future offshore oil exploration, saying the transition to a zero-carbon economy “must start somewhere”. Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges called the ban “a wrecking ball” for regional New Zealand.

A poor economy has led to poor polling. The Guardian reported in December last year:

Polling in early December showed that support for Labour had dropped to its lowest point since it came into power in 2017, and the party would not be able to form a government with its available coalition partners. Personal support for the prime minister had also dropped to its lowest level ever, with her approval rating at 29% compared with opposition leader Christopher Luxon’s at 23%.

Meanwhile, Ardern, like her compatriot Daneil Andrews of Victoria seemed to think that she could rely on Chinese investment and trade to finance her goofy ideas. In December 2022, just a month and a half before announcing her resignation, she announced her intention to lead a trade delegation to China. 

Chinese investors are the largest foreign investors in primary products exports, waste management, electrical whiteware, and tourism infrastructure.  That however has meant making equally goofy statements about China.

 New Zealand  has no choice but t to lift it oil and gas exploration ban. It then has to convince oil and gas companies that they can work its basins without the fear of another goofy, investment destroying  intervention.

END