New Zealand SAF Industry Roundtable Presents Five Policy Principles to Government

A coalition of aviation, aerospace and transport energy companies has presented the New Zealand government with five guiding principles for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) policy through the New Zealand SAF Industry Roundtable. The Roundtable includes airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers, fuel suppliers and infrastructure companies, among them Boeing and Z Energy, and is seeking government-led coordination across agencies. The five principles call for clarity on how SAF is treated under the Emissions Trading Scheme, clearer certification rules, an assessment of New Zealand's production potential and infrastructure, and cooperation with Australia that accounts for New Zealand's smaller market and fuel security needs. The principles do not specify a mandate, subsidy or requirement to use SAF.

Publicly released advice shows then-Energy Minister Simon Watts approved a SAF work programme in November 2025. By March of this year, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) was preparing consultations with industry and Australian officials, though the programme was subsequently paused as officials dealt with a global fuel crisis. Z Energy general manager of corporate affairs Haley Mortimer said, "One of the clearest messages coming from international markets is that policy matters," adding that "SAF deployment is generally occurring where governments have provided clear and predictable policy frameworks."

Australia has committed A$1.1 billion to low-carbon fuel production and is consulting on demand-side measures and emissions accounting systems. A 2025 Cyan Ventures study, supported by Boeing and Air New Zealand, modelled four SAF supply pathways; one scenario — domestic SAF meeting 30% of New Zealand's jet fuel needs by 2050 — was estimated to generate NZ$1.3 billion in gross value added and 5,700 jobs by 2050, with a five-year delay potentially reducing that benefit by approximately NZ$1 billion. The same study estimated a 5% SAF blend in 2030 could add NZ$0.60–$2.30 to a one-way Auckland–Wellington fare and NZ$1–$3 to an Auckland–Christchurch fare. In September 2022, Z Energy imported 1.2 million litres of SAF for Air New Zealand through Marsden Point and the distribution chain to Auckland Airport. Boeing's Dr Kimberly Camrass, who leads the company's sustainability work across Asia-Pacific and India, argues domestic production could build industrial capability and fuel security, while Z Energy's parent Ampol is assessing a renewable fuels facility alongside its Lytton Refinery in Brisbane with IFM Investors and GrainCorp, favouring a trans-Tasman regional supply chain. That proposed Brisbane facility could produce up to 750 million litres of SAF and renewable diesel annually. Mortimer said, "From Z's perspective, our current view is that SAF is unlikely to be produced economically at scale in New Zealand... That's why we see value in policy settings that support regional supply chains and investment opportunities across the Tasman." New Zealand imports all of its jet fuel and depends heavily on aviation for tourism, high-value exports and international connections.

The disagreement between Boeing and Z Energy over where SAF should be produced sits at the center of the Roundtable's push for clarity. Boeing frames domestic production as a fuel-security and industrial-capability question, while Z Energy, backed by its parent Ampol's Brisbane refinery project, treats trans-Tasman supply as the more economically realistic path given New Zealand's smaller market size.

That split is exactly what the five principles are designed to accommodate rather than resolve — the Roundtable is asking government to set the rules (Emissions Trading Scheme treatment, certification, cooperation with Australia) without prejudging which supply model wins. The Cyan Ventures modelling on jobs, gross value added and fare impacts gives both camps numbers to point to, but the study itself frames these as scenarios, not forecasts.

This case illustrates a pattern common to smaller aviation markets weighing SAF: a coalition of carriers, manufacturers and fuel suppliers seeks government coordination before committing capital, because the commercial case for domestic production, imports or blending mandates depends entirely on which policy settings materialize. Where policy has been clear and predictable elsewhere, deployment has followed; where it has not, investment and feedstock access risk migrating to jurisdictions that move first — a dynamic New Zealand's own material flags in relation to Australia's committed funding.

The segment's underlying economics play out through exactly the kind of choice Boeing and Z Energy are making publicly: whether to build local production capacity for security and industrial benefit, or to plug into a larger regional supply chain for cost efficiency. Neither approach works without a stable regulatory floor — ETS treatment and certification rules determine whether either investment case pencils out at all.

The pause in MBIE's consultation process, attributed to a global fuel crisis, is the immediate variable to track, alongside how the government responds to the Roundtable's request for an assessment of domestic production potential and infrastructure. Whether Ampol proceeds with its Brisbane facility, and on what terms New Zealand secures access to that trans-Tasman supply, will likely shape which of the Cyan Ventures scenarios becomes operative.