WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's green credentials are at risk as the government rolls back environmental reforms in a bid to boost a flailing economy and fulfil promises made to its voters. Since taking power last year, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's centre-right coalition announced it will reverse a ban on oil and gas exploration, push the pricing of agricultural emissions back five year and encourage more mining. This is part of a government shift in priorities towards increasing exports to support an economy that grew just 0.
3% in the year to March 2024, its lowest growth for the same period since the pandemic hit in 2020, and that has a current account deficit at 6.8% of GDP. Exports make up nearly a quarter of New Zealand's economy.
"The economic situation for me, is arguably the worst of the set of circumstances that I can remember in my adult life," Resources Minister Shane Jones said. "So when the opportunity arose to champion the re-emergence of the mineral sector it was driven by quite a brutal understanding of what our economic situation is," he added. The agricultural sector including fishing contributes 5% to the economy, and accounts for about 80% of total exports.
The farmers who helped Luxon's government come to power had said the environmental policies that the coalition government are reversing would have made dairy and meat too costly to produce. But while farmers and companies have cheered the changes, environmentalists criticised the coalition fo.