The Resources Minister says he has every right to shout back at people if he is being yelled at in public.
On Monday about 30 people marching in central Wellington protesting the proposed repeal of the oil and gas ban confronted Shane Jones, yelling at him and calling out "shame".
Submissions to repeal oil and gas ban open for four days
Jones told Morning Report he was allowed to yell right back.
"Kiwis want to know that politicians like me aren't going to cower away, I mean you're allowed to protest but I should be allowed to wander down the main street without being called an f...ing sell-out and also subject to some pretty gross language.
"So if you're going to dish it out to me be prepared to receive it back."
Shane Jones confronts climate protesters in Wellington on Monday. Photo: Samuel Rillstone / RNZ
No new oil and gas fields are likely to be discovered in the next 10 years.
That is according to the government's own advice on repealing the oil and gas exploration ban.
The latest modelling, urgently released under the Official Information Act and obtained by RNZ, said in the short term repealing the ban was not likely to significantly bolster gas supplies from existing fields, either.
But Jones said New Zealand had "to keep the lights on and industry flourishing right up to 2050 and beyond".
Jones described it as "another arrow in the quiver".