Act Party will reinstate gas exploration, while Winston Peters takes aim at “Māori elite”

Act leader David Seymour will axe a number of Māori initiatives if he forms part of the next government. Photo / NZME

The Act Party says it will reverse the ban on new oil and gas exploration if it is part of the next government. It will also strip away Te Mana o te Wai from resource consenting, which it said relies on “vague spiritual concepts”.

National has already said it will reverse the ban and Christopher Luxon’s potential coalition partner David Seymour said a high-skilled and high-waged economy depends on affordable and reliable energy.

“Act will cut the red tape that is strangling innovation, holding back reliability and driving up energy prices,” he said.

Part of that “red tape” is Te Mana o te Wai, according to the Act leader.

“Removing Te Mana o te Wai from resource consenting would simplify the process by stripping vague spiritual concepts such as mauri, or the “life-force” of water from consideration,” says Seymour.

“It adds complexity and costs to the consenting process. It has led to water users making large one-off and on-going payments for “cultural monitoring” services which do nothing for the environment but add decades of costs to power bills and disincentives international investors.”

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said there is group of elite Māori who do not talk for all Māori. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Meanwhile, NZ First leader Peters - another possible coalition partner for National - says he’s not anti-Māori but says there is a cohort of Māori elite who make demands on behalf of Māori that are not good for the majority of Māori

“And I’m saying to some of those radical Māori, ‘we’re not putting up with your rubbish any longer’. We want to go back to delivering Māori in their great number with things they do want, which is first world wages, a decent education for their children to take them as far as they can go, access to a health system which is affordable and immediate and a decent, affordable home, which is what Māori want,” he says.

Peters says if he had been given the money that had been wasted on some of the so-called Māori projects he could have housed every Māori family in New Zealand.

Additional reporting Waatea.News.Com