Cheaper power or climate risk? Pasifika divided over NZ First’s billion-dollar oil plan

Pacific families struggling with rising living costs are at the centre of a debate over New Zealand First’s plan to spend $1 billion exploring offshore energy resources.

The party says its proposed National Subsurface Development Survey would help Aotearoa better understand its energy resources, strengthen energy security and create a pathway towards lower power prices.

At the party’s election campaign launch on the weekend, NZ First Leader Winston Peters announced that the plan would create a national dataset covering energy, geothermal, and CO₂ storage sites, with the goal of identifying potential deep sea resources over the next two years.

The party says any future extraction would include royalties of more than 50 per cent, with money going towards a Norwegian-model sovereign wealth fund.

Speaking with William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Esther Tofilau-Tevaga, the Chief Executive of a Manurewa charitable foundation and New Zealand First candidate for Manurewa, defended the policy.

She said Pacific families need practical solutions as they deal with cost pressures.

“Peters is someone that has [plenty of] experience. So when he speaks of something, it's something that's going to contribute and give value to New Zealand. He wouldn't just pluck out a policy and put it together,” Tofilau-Tevaga says.

Watch Esther Tofilau-Tevaga’s full interview below.

She says she supports the proposal because of the potential economic benefits.

“If Winston Peters says it's something good, then we believe it's good. If it's going to create more [economy] for the good of our nation, then I tell you it's good.

“I back what Winston Peters has put forward and I support that 100 per cent because he can foresee the goodness of what we need, especially what's happening around the world with the cost of petrol and everything.”

Tofilau-Tevaga says Peters has also supported issues important to Pacific people, including backing the Sāmoan citizenship bill.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters addresses the party's campaign launch on Sunday in Auckland. Photo/RNZ/Marika Khabazi

But environmental campaigners say the policy could create more problems than solutions.

Russel Norman, Executive Director of Greenpeace Aotearoa, tells Terite that spending public money on offshore oil and gas exploration is a “lose-lose gamble” for New Zealand and the wider Pacific.

“Let's say they go offshore and taxpayers hand over a billion dollars to oil companies. They find new oil, which then gets burnt, then that makes climate change more catastrophic than it already is.

“Let’s say we give them a billion dollars of taxpayer money and they don't find oil, then we've spent a billion dollars for nothing. So either way, it's New Zealanders who are going to lose.

“Imagine if we'd spent a billion dollars supporting renewable energy and storage. It'd be great for energy sovereignty and be great for climate change.”

Listen to Russel Norman’s full interview below.

Norman says expanding fossil fuel use would have serious consequences for Pacific nations already dealing with the impacts of climate change.

Tofilau-Tevaga says she accepts climate change is real but believes the focus should also be on economic opportunities and supporting workers.

“I believe those that have come on, especially someone experienced like Alfred Ngaro that's been with National, it's about our Pacific looking for self-determination,” she says.

“With the other parties, if there's nothing happening there, [it’s] because they draw by party line. With New Zealand First, it is so easy.

“We are one family… and not just a person to add a bit of colour or flavour to the party. This is a party that's real different. It's a party that has experience. It’s a party that talks common sense and it’s a party I now call my family.”

The policy has also drawn criticism from political opponents. National’s energy spokesperson, Simeon Brown, told RNZ that the proposal is “peanuts” compared with previous government decisions on offshore exploration.

Meanwhile, NZ First Deputy Leader Shane Jones has confirmed he is contesting the Northland seat as Peters rules out working with Labour in 2026. He insists developing deep sea reserves is central to economic sovereignty.