Greenpeace Whinges While Shane Jones Gets On With the Job

New Zealand’s resources are a gift, and it’s madness to lock them away while we beg for scraps from overseas. Shane Jones is right to tell the world we’re open for business.

Greenpeace is at it again, clutching their pearls and wailing about the end of the world because New Zealand dares to consider using its own natural resources. According to a recent NZ Herald article, Resources Minister Shane Jones has sent the eco-warriors into a tailspin by suggesting we reverse the oil and gas exploration ban and open up “all acreage” for mining. Good on him! It’s about time someone told these professional complainers to sod off and let Kiwis get on with building a prosperous nation.

Let’s cut through the noise. Shane Jones, speaking at the Asia Pacific Energy Assembly in Singapore, laid out a plan that’s pure common sense: let companies apply to mine or drill wherever the resources are, not just in some government-picked sandbox like Taranaki. Before the 2018 ban—cooked up by Jacinda Ardern’s Labour government and their Green mates—exploration permits were doled out through a “block offer” process. The government decided where companies could poke around, based on what they thought was commercially viable. Jones wants to ditch that bureaucratic nonsense and let the market decide. It’s a bold move, and exactly what we need to stop relying on dodgy imports from overseas.

Why on earth are we shipping in coal from Indonesia or oil from the Middle East when we’ve got resources right here? New Zealand’s got gas, oil, and minerals aplenty, and exploiting them would mean jobs, energy security, and a fat boost to the economy. Jones gets it—he’s pushing for “security and affordability of energy and resources supplies,” as he told the NZ Herald last year. Meanwhile, Greenpeace is screaming about a “free-for-all” like it’s the apocalypse. Spare me.

Greenpeace’s spokesperson, Gen Toop, had the gall to call this “reckless,” claiming it’ll lead to “risky deep-sea drilling” and “climate catastrophe.” Oh, please. These are the same people who’ve been peddling doomsday predictions for decades while offering zero practical solutions. Their entire shtick is to chain themselves to something, cry about “the planet,” and demonise anyone who wants progress. They’re not environmentalists—they’re anti-capitalist grifters with a Marxist chip on their shoulder. If they had their way, we’d all be living in caves, burning cow dung for heat, and singing Kumbaya while the economy collapses.

Let’s be real: Greenpeace doesn’t care about New Zealand’s environment. They’re globalist busybodies who’d rather see us import dirty coal from foreign polluters than use our own cleaner gas. Back in 2019, the NZIER estimated that Labour’s oil and gas ban could cost our economy up to $30 billion by 2050. That’s billions in lost jobs, investment, and revenue—money that could’ve funded schools, hospitals, or roads. But Greenpeace called that report “fake news and flatulence.” Classy.

Jones, to his credit, isn’t backing down. He’s made it clear that permits to explore or mine won’t bypass environmental consents—companies still need resource consents, so it’s not the Wild West Greenpeace wants you to imagine. But that’s not enough for the eco-zealots. They’ve got a track record of throwing tantrums whenever mining or drilling is mentioned. Remember their 2010 protest against conservation land mining? 50,000 marchers clogged Auckland’s Queen Street, egged on by Greenpeace ambassador Robyn Malcolm, who bleated about “our identity” being more important than “extra dollars.” Tell that to the unemployed tradies in Taranaki.

This is the pattern: Greenpeace whips up hysteria, scares off investment, and leaves communities high and dry. They bragged about chasing out oil companies like OMV and Anadarko in 2024, costing us millions in wasted exploration. Now they’re at it again, trying to sabotage Jones’s plan before it even starts. Their vision for New Zealand? A backward, de-industrialised utopia where we’re all poor but “green.” No thanks.

Here’s the truth: we should mine it, drill it, and sell it—wherever and whenever we find it. New Zealand’s resources are a gift, and it’s madness to lock them away while we beg for scraps from overseas. Shane Jones is right to tell the world we’re open for business. If Greenpeace wants to keep whinging, they can do it from the sidelines. The rest of us have a country to run.