John MacDonald: If you see Shane Jones, tell him he's dreaming

Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones says we live in uncertain times and, because of that, we need to crank up the Marsden Point oil refinery again.   I agree that we live in uncertain times, but I certainly don’t agree that we should pour time and money into something which has had its day.   Shane Jones isn’t the only person talking about it though. The Prime Minister has said too that the Government is considering reopening Marsden Point as part of its plan to strengthen the country’s fuel and energy security.    Because, since it was closed in April 2022, we’ve been importing all our refined fuel.    We’ve also been importing all the bitumen we need for roads as well since the refinery closed. Before then, 70% of the bitumen used in New Zealand for roads was produced at Marsden Point, with 30% imported. Now 100% is imported.   But let’s not forget some of the nonsense that gets trotted-out about the old refinery. Which, once you cut through and dismiss, shows just how crazy it would be to try and get it up and running again.   First up: it wasn’t the previous Labour government that shut it down – the Associate Energy Minister was trotting out that line again this morning.   It was actually shut down by the private company which owned it back in 2022. The company was known as Refining NZ, these days it’s known as Channel Infrastructure.   I think the Government needs to drop this idea of looking into reopening it. Because if the people who know a thing-or-two about running a refinery think it’s a stupid idea, then who am I going to listen to? The people who know what they’re on about?    Of course I am. We all should, including the Government.    Because all this is, is another one of those desperado elements of the coalition agreement between National and NZ First.   Shane Jones is from the north and he’s just doing what any MP would do for their region.    And, before he continues with all this bluster about geopolitical clouds casting doubt on our future fuel supply, he should listen to what Refinery NZ said a year after shutting down the refinery.   They said it would cost billions to reinstate and take at least a couple of years to do it. So why would you? Especially, when you consider who might run the thing.   Because if the private outfit that used to run it wanted out, I don't see anyone else putting their hand up to take over.   What’s more, generating electricity is the future. Refining oil isn’t.  Even one of the union people who fought against the closure thinks we’d be flogging a dead horse trying to reopen it.   Justin Wallace is First Union’s oil and gas co-ordinator and he’s on record as saying that it would be unrealistic to expect the refinery to be cranked into action again.   He has said that although the footprint of the refinery is still there, the company that shut it down dismantled its key components as soon as they were able, and 80-90% of the staff who had worked at the refinery have left.   He says: “They've gone overseas, taken redundancy, or retired. Unless the Government is willing to tax more people to find more money to rebuild it, I think it's a pipe dream.”   Can someone please pass that on to Shane Jones? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.