Bridges’ blindside fuels campaign

Tauranga MP Simon Bridges is starting to get the feeling Greenpeace dislikes him after the organisation launched a campaign to have him removed as Energy and Resources Minister.

Call on John Key to sack Simon Bridges' has so far seen more than 12,000 generic letters sent to the Prime Minister calling for the minister's resignation.

The image fronting the Greenpeace campaign.

The attack on his ministerial ability is a reaction to Simon's approval of the third annual block offer for oil and gas exploration that included a Department of Conservation Forest Park in the South Island.

As part of the third offer for oil and gas exploration, Simon made 40 million hectares of sea and one million hectares of land available for the oil and gas industry.

Part of this included New Zealand's largest forest park - the 200,000 hectare Victoria Forest Park in Greymouth - an area Simon admits to not knowing about at the time.

Greenpeace chief policy advisor Nathan Argent is adamant the blunder should lead to Simon being sacked, labelling him 'utterly, eye-wateringly incompetent”.

'He's handed over millions of hectares of New Zealand, including pristine forest, to the oil and gas industry. He either knew that this included hundreds of thousands of hectares of DOC land, or he didn't know. Either way, that is incompetent,” says Nathan.

'In his rush to do the bidding of the oil industry, he's ignoring our own, cutting-edge clean energy industry, which adds yet another layer of incompetency. The clean energy sector could provide tens of thousands of jobs, and give our economy a multi-billion dollar boost. The oil industry cannot come close to matching these figures.”

The webpage, created last week, already has more than 12,400 emails sent to Prime Minister John Key, calling for him to sack his minister.

Speaking from Wellington today, Simon says he gets the feeling Greenpeace don't like him.

'They have put up massive billboards, run cartoons, done this and that and the other thing against me and as I say I'm beginning to wonder if they don't like me,” says Simon.

'It's their absolute right in a democracy to take a position against a Cabinet minister, but obviously I disagree with most of what they are saying. I actually do agree with them that we do need to have a clean green smarter economy.”

The letter sent to the Prime Minister states that New Zealand deserves better and 'Simon be sacked, and the Government cancels handing over our lands and seas to risky drilling and toxic mining”.

It goes on to say Simon dismissing the potential impacts of mining such an area as 'emotive clap-trap” before later admitting he didn't know the conservation area exists is a bad look.

'These are all signs of a minister that's completely out of his depth and totally out of touch with the things that New Zealanders hold dear,” reads the letter.”

Simon does not believe the contentious portfolio attracts a greater divide of supporters and detractors saying he is just doing the job the voters elected him to do.

'To some extent I think it's always a portfolio that's always going to have some politics around it. I think the vast majority of NZ are supportive of us as a country exploring what lies beneath our feet; they just want to know that it's safe and done to best environmental practice.”

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11 comments

Natural Diesel

Posted on 15-04-2014 16:16 | By Pat 1955

We are considering buying a Diesel Plant that makes diesel from plant matter. This would save the country around $1.3 million a year in imports and this is only a small plant, the diesel is cleaner than fossil diesel so why can we get little support from the government.


You think wrong Simon

Posted on 15-04-2014 16:43 | By paci

...'I think the vast majority of NZ are supportive of us as a country exploring what lies beneath our feet...' - I think your arrogance makes you believe what suits your portfolio best Simon - I think that the vast majority of NZ are NOT supportive of this at all & this portfolio combined with your bad judgement and your arrogance has made my husband and I who have always voted for National now having to vote for another less arrogant party!!


Surprise, surprise!

Posted on 15-04-2014 17:38 | By penguin

If only Bridges realised that it is not only Greenpeace that doesn't like him, for a number of reasons. Reality is dawning...in the real world, having accurate knowledge is very important.


Slowly Slowly Simon

Posted on 15-04-2014 17:46 | By Disappointed

So the Minister is only just now starting to get it? In the past week TV3 political reporter Patrick Gower has referred to him as "clueless" and the Herald cartoonist Emerson pleads "Save Us From Bridges" labeling him a nincompoop. Let us not also forget the debacle of his interview with John Campbell over the lack of safeguards surrounding exploratory oil drilling. A personal observation is that if he isn't reading from a script young Mr Bridges is completely lost at sea and out of his depth. Behind the bravado I bet Simon is wishing he had stuck with practising Law...


BEM

Posted on 15-04-2014 18:53 | By beverlybrake

Greenpeace are not the only ones that don't like him!!!!


#SackSimon

Posted on 16-04-2014 08:49 | By MountResident

Simon is a disgrace. Another National puppet. Here's hoping common sense prevails and he is gone after the next election, if not before. A total Muppet.


Do the naysayers use oil or gas?

Posted on 16-04-2014 10:35 | By Annalist

If they do I think they are just politicking. As for not knowing the name Victoria Forest Park, how many of us honestly know of that park? Not many I suspect. So what if Greenpeace doesn't like the Minister. I get a bit sick of Greenpeace and money collectors on the street too.


Oh dear!

Posted on 16-04-2014 11:19 | By nerak

Well, well! So, all is not well in the Simon admiration camp then. No surprise, really. He comes across as arrogant, conceited, and will definitely not tolerate a discussion opposing his, which plainly shows lack of life experience. Nor does he respect his elders, quite the reverse, I have been on the receiving end of his rudeness, with his finger waving in my face while he talked over me. Never a good look for a politician, young man. That's the problem, he is too young for the responsibility he has, and has a great deal to learn, starting by listening to the hapless taxpayers who fund his life, and respecting their views, without whom he would be better off going back to law and working for a living.


Annalist

Posted on 16-04-2014 12:32 | By MountResident

I have not heard directly of that park. But then again I am not the Energy and Resources Minister!! Ask the people of Tikorangi how it affects the region and environment.


Employment

Posted on 16-04-2014 12:38 | By Raewyn

Does Greenpeace not realise that people living around the forest area need employment, it was because of them stopping the open cast mine that 29 lives were lost in the pike River mine just to save a few snails!


Hey Annalist

Posted on 16-04-2014 13:17 | By Spy

Bridges is being paid extremely well to know this stuff don't make excuses for him.


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