Top analyst slams Government

The Herald reports:

Government ministers are peddling a range of “incorrect or misleading” arguments about the impact of its ban on issuing new licences for offshore oil and gas exploration, says leading oil and gas sector analyst John Kidd in a note for clients of investment advisory house Woodward Partners. …

However, Kidd said he expected a dump of government papers on June 1 that would show “little due diligence and preparatory analysis was undertaken before the decision”, announced on April 12, to end the granting of any future offshore oil and gas exploration licences.

BusinessDesk has requested Cabinet papers relating to the decision, with Energy Minister Megan Woods’s seeking a one month extension to June 18, while Climate Change Minister James Shaw has responded to an Official Information Request on analysis from the Ministry for the Environment with a two sentence answer saying he had received a verbal briefing from officials.

It is understood that offers of analysis for ministers from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment on the impact of the decision were declined in favour of advice on how to implement such a ban

So it seems the Government actually told officials we don’t want you to analyse the impact of this decision. They didn’t care how many jobs would be affected, and didn’t want to know.