WELLINGTON, July 31, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - New Zealand's government voted Thursday to open the country for new oil and gas exploration, reversing a ban put in place under former prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

Resources minister Shane Jones -- who described climate change as "largely moral hysteria" -- said new laws would stoke investment in petroleum exploration and help ease winter energy supply issues.

"The ill-fated exploration ban in 2018 has exacerbated shortages in our domestic gas supply by obliterating new investment," Jones said in a statement.

Former premier Ardern banned new offshore exploration to much fanfare in 2018, citing New Zealand's "clean, green and sustainable future".

Jones described that ban as "the worst energy (and) natural resource decision" in New Zealand's history.

"We are not going to... corrode the productivity of our economy by denying ourselves access to fossil fuels," he said.

"The high tide mark of that heresy has come and gone."

During a vigorous debate over the laws, Jones was asked if he consulted with indigenous Maori.

"I interviewed myself," said Jones, who is Maori.

"I spoke to no climate group. I spoke to no (Maori) group. I engaged with the people who are investing and who will be the risk takers to salvage and rescue this sector, and I'm extraordinarily proud of myself that I've done that."

It was a stark U-turn for Jones, who was a minister in Ardern's government when the 2018 exploration ban was passed.

Jones had voted in favour of the ban.

He recently described his former colleague Ardern as a "political fugitive" who had fled the country to teach at Harvard.

Opposition energy spokesperson Megan Woods said Thursday the government was putting "the interests of the oil and gas companies at the forefront".

"Restarting oil and gas is one of the most ridiculous things I have heard."

- 'Wrong-headed' -

Green Party MP Steve Abel said the government was "wrong-headed and archaic".

"It's extraordinary that here we are this many years later and they're bringing back oil and gas exploration after our nation was celebrated around the world for its vision," Abel said.

The government had planned to pass the legislation by the end of 2024, but it was delayed several times.

A drafting error was cited as a reason.

The bill has many critics and was opposed by all opposition parties.

It was voted through by a count of 68-54.

New Zealand has long promoted a "clean green" image that highlights its rolling pastures, untouched rainforests and pristine waterways.

Ardern -- who led the country between 2017 and 2023 -- was seen as a champion of the environment, banning offshore gas exploration and declaring New Zealand faced a "climate emergency".

In the years since, energy prices in New Zealand have increased more than 10 percent, even as households used less power.

Transpower, the state-owned company which manages the power grid, reported in May there is a higher risk of blackouts next winter, due to a lack of energy supply.

It said solar, wind and battery storage was not emerging quick enough to make up for dwindling supply from gas fields.

The government conceded new exploration was unlikely to bolster oil or gas supplies for at least another decade.