Climate campaigners are calling on the Government to immediately withdraw its plans for a billion-dollar Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import terminal and refuse to sign any incoming infrastructure contracts, warning that investing in expensive fossil gas will lock Aotearoa into skyrocketing power bills and climate risk for decades. The three protesters were trespassed from the venue by police.

The demand was made inside Te Papa Museum this afternoon, where activists transformed the entrance of the annual GasNZ Forum into a satirical demonstration. Campaigners wearing masks and business suits depicting Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Energy Minister Simeon Brown, and Resources Minister Shane Jones greeted arriving gas sector delegates and politicians with satirical speech bubbles exposing the Government’s fossil fuel agenda ahead of the conference’s opening political energy debate.

“We are here to show the real face of this Government’s energy policy,” said Alva Feldmeier, Co-Director of 350 Aotearoa. “While energy Minister Simeon Brown and Christopher Luxon claim to care about power bills, they’ve shelved a long-term energy strategy to double down on expensive fossil gas. Locking New Zealanders into a billion-dollar imported LNG terminal is like buying an expensive gas heater for a house you’re already planning to electrify. Everyday Kiwis are paying the price through their electricity bills while power and fossil fuel companies bank record profits and more than 110,000 households sit in energy hardship.”

“It is complete absurdity to be hosting a gas conference in 2026 when the climate crisis is battering our communities,” said James Barber (Michelle Ducat) of Oil Free Wellington. “This Government is desperately trying to hand a social licence back to fossil fuel companies. Whether it is reopening our oceans to deep-sea oil and gas drilling or building an LNG import terminal, new fossil fuel projects are simply not welcome in Aotearoa. The future belongs to clean, homegrown renewables, not corporate gas lobbyists.”

Addressing the specific hazards facing local communities, Sarah Roberts, spokesperson for Taranaki Energy Watch, highlighted the health and safety dangers of the proposed Taranaki facility:

“The Government’s rushed plan for an expensive LNG import facility at Port Taranaki imposes a low-probability, high-impact fatality scenario of up to 2 km directly over residential homes and schools. Enacting enabling legislation bypasses proper consideration of alternative locations and energy alternatives that do not put people in harm’s way. It is too late for WorkSafe’s safety cases if it is in the wrong place. Public consultation is completely undemocratic. Taranaki residents refuse to be a sacrifice zone for imported fossil gas that the energy sector itself says we don’t need.”

“Together with concerned locals, we delivered our No LNG import petition to National MP David MacLeod in New Plymouth this Monday. Our demands are clear: Withdraw the LNG plan and invest in energy conservation and distributed renewable generation and storage instead. We expect our petition to be announced in Parliament before it rises next week,” said Catherine Cheung of Climate Justice Taranaki.

Campaigners are calling on all political parties participating in today’s debate to commit to a 30-year cross-party National Energy Strategy that accelerates community-owned renewables, safeguards families from energy poverty, and fixes broken market structures.

ENDS