Politics live 4 - 8 Dec

ACT deputy leader Brooke van Velden has been accused of misquoting Simon Upton, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. 

Upton publicly rebuked van Velden, in a letter published to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s website.

The allegation came after Van Velden appeared on TVNZ’s breakfast show last Tuesday, to discuss the Government's plan to allow more oil and gas exploration. During the interview, she said:

“And when the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment looked at this ban after the fact, he said it's likely to increase global emissions because we still need electricity as a source”. 

Upton said this was both "incorrect and misleading". 

He also pointed out a comment that came from ACT’s Energy Policy which claimed Upton had found that the offshore oil and gas exploration ban would “actually increase global emissions by forcing activity offshore.”

In his letter, Upton said “I most definitely did not say that the ban would increase global emissions. In fact, I said that those opposing the ban must acknowledge that: “There is no firm basis for claiming that it will increase global emissions.” 

Van Velden said she stood by the comments. She said the commissioner had noted that "premature closure" of methanol facilities could require local producers to import gas, thereby driving higher global emissions.

"By driving production to less efficient areas, global emissions are liable to increase," she said, in response to Upton's letter on Thursday.