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Regional | Conference

Petroleum protestors dragged away

Climate change protests in New Plymouth got ugly today with people being dragged away amidst streams of tears. The protesters were trying to block the entrance of dignitaries to the New Zealand Petroleum conference.

At the centre of the protest was climate change. The protesters tried to block the entrances for the New Zealand Petroleum conference.

Ciano Tuano says, "We need to stop deep sea oil drilling. We need to address climate change and the things done by Statoil and Chevron on the East Coast."

The main organiser says we are already feeling the effects of climate change.

We are already starting to feel the effects of this. The fires in Christchurch, recent floods, these are all connected. We need to be aware of these detrimental effects.

The protest is aimed at raising awareness on this issue.

Tuano says, "People need to wake up to this issue. Māori, Pākehā, foreigners, Chinese, everyone."

The minister didn't care for the cause or the protesters. Her response? To insult them.

Judith Collins says, "I have to apologise for what's going on outside….I'm talking about the rain of course. It's just one of those multinationals that we've inherited. They don't pay taxes they don't pay royalties so what the hell use are they?"

The conference will last two days.