December 11, 2012
Peters keen on mineral prospecting
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says Māori are wrong to oppose exploration for oil and other minerals.
Te Whanau ā Apanui is celebrating the departure of Petrobras, which has given up its exploration licence for the Raukumara Basin off East Cape.
Mr Peters says while he had concerns about the ability of the Brazilian company to safely extract oil from the deepwater field, its right to what is down there.
"I think you’re pretty stupid to oppose exploration. You've got to be pretty stupid to oppose finding out what you have got, even if you don't intend to use it and that's what's quite confusing about some in the Māori world and some in the Green world, that they do some things that are just plain stupid. What is wrong with finding out if we have a huge gas resource," he says
Winston Peters says once a resource is discovered, people can make an informed decision about the environmental risks of exploiting it.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd