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Labour MP Shane Jones says the party is confident oil can be extracted from under the seas around New Zealand, but the right safeguards need to be in place.
Labour will need to find some common ground with the Greens on the issue if it is to form a Government after this year’s election.
There have been protests around the country at the latest batch of exploration permits given out by the Government, including strong opposition from Taranaki and Waikato hapu about Anadarko’s test drilling west of Raglan.
Mr Jones says changes are needed, and Labour is looking at what Norway has done.
"The Norwegian model has made them a considerable amount of wealth. They've been out here. They were recently awarded prospecting rights. I hosted them in the Tai Tokerau, and basically what David Cunliffe is saying is if the Scandanvians can pull it together, there's no reason why the kiwis can't replicate it here in the Pacific," he says.
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