Today, we're discussing a bill designed to strengthen New Zealand's regulation of decommissioning. The cost of decommissioning varies, but can be substantial and run into the hundreds and millions of dollars. If a permit or licence holder cannot afford to carry out this work, then the cost lands on the taxpayer. This is not theoretical; this happened here in New Zealand in April 2020, when the Crown needed to take on responsibility for the decommissioning of the Tui oilfield after the operator Tamarind Taranaki Ltd went into legislation. When we first came into Government in 2018, we fixed the legislative loophole that existed that allowed for this to occur, and this bill is a further protection for the taxpayers of New Zealand from having to pick up the costs for this. 