The Labour party has accused the New Zealand government of deliberately withholding information about the risks of deep-sea oil drilling off the Kaikoura coast.

According to Labour leader David Cunliffe, documents have surfaced, indicating Environment Minister Amy Adams had secretly kept the risks from going public to protect Anadarko's proposed oil-drilling site.

Mr Cunliffe released the documents in Christchurch as evidence that Ms Adams had in her possession a international research containing the risks of the proposal over a year ago. The alleged research showed there is a 70 per cent chance that a "reportable incident" might occur within one year of drilling 1,500 metres deep off the Kaikoura well. The risks mentioned were an oil spill, collision or fire.

Mr Cunliffe said the probability of risks appear to increase dramatically the deeper the drilling gets. He accused Ms Adams of taking great measures to keep the information from leaking to the public. She had told New Zealand Parliament that there was a little risk of a large-scale oil spill from happening.

Mr Cunliffe challenged the government to be honest in giving out information about deep-sea oil drilling since those living in Kaikoura and the general public is having serious reservations of Anadarko's operations.

In her defence, Ms Adams said the "reportable incidents" include property damage and days without work. She said the 70 per cent probability did not reflect the risk of an oil spill. She said the risk of an oil spill always existed and the government did not hide that fact.

Ms Adams said despite the low risk, New Zealand needs to focus on controlling and preventing an oil spill.

David Cunliffe insisted it was not the first time that the public was "misled" by the government. He revealed that residents in Kaikoura were told a consultation will be done concerning an exploration drilling. However, the national government had rushed a legislation, taking away the people's right to a consultation.

Mr Cunliffe added Ms Adams received a report that the risk of an oil spill would be "catastrophic" but told the public it was "significant."

David Robinson, head of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association, said it is important for New Zealanders to have the right information but criticised the Labour and Mr Cunliffe's release of documents.

Mr Robinson accused Mr Cunliffe of taking information out of context and said Labour's "inaccurate assertions" might be harmful to the oil and gas industry of New Zealand.

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