National says the Government's decision to end future exploration for oil and gas is likely to have the complete opposite effect on the environment, from what it thinks it will.
Leader Simon Bridges says what this means is we only have a decade or under of gas left - and much of New Zealand relies on it.
"Without [gas], they will go for coal. That has a lot more emissions. It doesn't make any sense at any level."
He says that this move is "killing a sector."Â
If he's elected in 2020, Bridges says he will repeal today's decision.Â
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern however has defended the decision.Â
"Unless we make decisions today that will essentially take effect in 30 or more years' time, we run the risk of acting too late and causing abrupt shocks to communities and our country," she said at a press conference in Wellington this morning.
"I have seen that happen once in the 1980s and I don't want to see that again."
LISTEN TO SIMON BRIDGES TALK WITH JAMIE MACKAY ABOVE
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