This week National introduced its long-threatened bill to repeal the offshore drilling ban and promote the fossil fuel industry, and rammed it through to select committee. Today the select committee opened for submissions. If you have an opinion on this corrupt, ecocidal legislation, you will need to speak up quick - because the committee has decided that submissions are due by Tuesday, 1 October, just four days away.
Submissions can be made using the form above. On the one hand, it is clear that the committee is not interested in listening to the public; the donors and lobbyists have already spoken. But it is still worth submitting. Not to change or improve the bill - that is a waste of everyone's time, and the more uncorrected mistakes in it, the better - but to influence the opposition members of the committee, and encourage them to publicly commit to a policy of immediate repeal.
As for how to do this, I would suggest focusing on the projected emissions impact of the bill (as laid out in MBIE's Climate Implications of Policy Assessment statement) and their utter inconsistency with both our emissions budgets and our domestic and international emissions reduction targets. If these projections are remotely accurate, then a future government which wants to meet those budgets and targets will need to repeal this bill as quickly as possible. Insofar as permits represent a commitment to emit, they will need to be revoked as well (and basic political hygiene - ensuring that there are no profits from corrupt lobbying - means such revocation will have to be without compensation).
Submitters could also mention the impact of the short submission period, the effect of these continued abuses on the public legitimacy of Parliament as an institution, and the terrible message it sends about the effectiveness of pursuing change by parliamentary methods rather than by other means.
I expect the major environmental groups will set up web forms and submissions guides; I'll update with links as I see them.
Update: Environmental NGOs have a submission guide here. Ngaa Haumi has one here.
