logo
Minister Proud Of Potshots In Seabed Mine ‘Culture War'

Minister Proud Of Potshots In Seabed Mine ‘Culture War'

Scoop5 days ago
The oceans and fisheries minister says Supreme Court judges and local body politicians have been cowed by fear in a culture war over seabed mining.
Minister Shane Jones was in New Plymouth on Friday to deliver a stump speech for New Zealand First.
Afterwards he said confrontation and fear had led to court rulings that blocked would-be seabed miners, and votes by local councils against the mine.
'The Supreme Court, when it got involved, it was confronted with a highly charged atmosphere which is still prevailing, which is what's driving fear in your local government to stand up against this belligerent, well-organised, rowdy bunch of activists,' said Jones.
'I think these natural resource debates have turned into a culture war.'
Jones freely admitted taking shots from one side of the battle lines – including calling South Taranaki mana whenua 'pixie-like hapūs'.
'I am never, ever going to take a backward step to the well-drilled, highly-orchestrated, Greenpeace-orientated campaigners who probably operate out of the local iwi office anyway, such is the level of cross-contamination.'
Opponents have fought the proposal to mine the seabed off Pātea since before the first official application in 2013, winning in the High Court, Court of Appeal and finally the Supreme Court in 2021.
Spearheaded by Ngāti Ruanui, opposition spread to neighbouring Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi and hapū of Ngāruahine.
In the Supreme Court tribes were joined by the Taranaki-Whanganui Conservation Board, the government's Environmental Protection Authority, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, Greenpeace and Forest & Bird.
Also party to the court challenge were Fisheries Inshore New Zealand, the New Zealand Federation of Commercial Fishermen, Southern Inshore Fisheries, Talley's Group, Cloudy Bay Clams and Te Ohu Kaimoana.
Jones himself chaired Te Ohu Kaimoana before entering Parliament, controversially continuing to earn an annual fee of $70,000 as a director despite being an MP.
Taranaki's eight Crown-mandated iwi agencies have collectively declared against the mine.
District councils of South Taranaki, Whanganui and New Plymouth voted to oppose seabed mining after hearing from the miners and from community opponents.
Jones claimed 'an enormous amount of brouhaha driven by misinformation' and couldn't think why councillors would stand against the mine – except out of fear as local elections loom.
As during his last Taranaki visit, the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, of Resources and of Regional Development demonstrated a loose grip on details – in spite of his repeated vocal support for the mine.
He told his party's public meeting seabed mining was like dredging Port Taranaki – an argument made last month by New Plymouth councillor and former NZ First candidate Murray Chong, who was in the audience.
'Where do you put all the dredgings?' asked Jones.
'I'll tell you where you put them: You put them back into the host environment otherwise known as the coastline of Taranaki.'
Over the past four years some three million tonnes of blacksand dredgings from Port Taranaki have been dumped in two approved zones near the shoreline, to keep the harbour clear and restore sand drift to New Plymouth beaches reduced by the port's breakwaters.
The ongoing port dredging is less than two percent of the proposed seabed mine's waste: every four years Trans-Tasman Resources would discharge 180 million tonnes of seabed sediment – a recognised pollutant – into the abundant waters of the Pātea Shoals.
Trans-Tasman's mining ship would take just 18 days to match four years of port dredging, and continue to do so for at least 20 years at the boundary of the 12-mile territorial limit.
The subsidiary of Australian company Manuka Resources wants Fast-track approval to suck up 50 million tonnes of blacksand annually to extract iron, titanium and vanadium and then dump 45 million tonnes back into the marine environment.
More mining ships are likely if the application sets a Fast-track precedent, with a second bid by Trans-Tasman's former chief financial officer on hold pending the results.
Jones challenged the half-dozen journalists probing him about the mine.
'Don't you find this debate amongst yourselves tiresome?" he asked.
'I mean, haven't you got anything to talk about beyond this?'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Machinations, med schools and road cones
Machinations, med schools and road cones

Otago Daily Times

time2 hours ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Machinations, med schools and road cones

Although Civis desperately wants to believe in politicians, they keep letting Civis down. A big blow to faith in them came this week with the Waikato Medical School decision. Later in the week, reports emerged about the tobacco industry targeting New Zealand First and Winston Peters. This isn't the place to go into the details behind the Waikato decision. The ODT and others have outlined the machinations. Former University of Otago politics lecturer Bryce Edwards, now director of the new Integrity Institute, summed it up: ''The government's decision ... is not, at its core, a decision about health policy. It is a decision about political power, influence, and the erosion of good process. This project serves as a textbook case study of policy capture, where the interests of a well-connected institution, amplified by high-powered lobbyists, have overridden expert advice, fiscal prudence, and superior alternatives.'' Cynicism is further compounded because the government had still not released a business case that almost everyone doubts by late on Friday afternoon. This is a well-rehearsed delay tactic. The politicians wait until much of the heat has dissipated from the issue. The boat has sailed on the details of dodgy figures, assumptions and premises. The cited $233million price tag for the new medical school is ludicrously low. When costs inevitably rise, taxpayers will be left to foot the bill. Waikato University will struggle to meet even its supposed $150m contribution — let alone more. So much of what goes on across the political spectrum destroys hope and trust. This behaviour opens the door wide for a vile, dangerous beast like Donald Trump or the foolish shoot-both-your-own-feet Brexit referendum result. No wonder Civis plaintively cries, ''A plague on all your houses''. ★★★ Dear oh dear. Dear oh dear — dare we revisit the vexed world of road cones? Dunedinite Geoff Simons dobbed in dubious cones and nonsensical speed limits in an email a few weeks back. Geoff agrees we don't want to endanger workers. But for several weeks, near the Highgate end of busy Kenmure Rd, this string of cones was in place. The speed limit for about 500m was 30kmh. Geoff — like everyone else — soon ignored the 30kmh limit. Who wouldn't, when the cones didn't even extend as far as a parked car, and there was no activity for weeks? By the time workers return to such sites, motorists have ingrained the habit of ignoring those earlier, unnecessary speed signs. ★★★ Hardly a cone was in sight when Geoff visited France for two months during the Rugby World Cup in 2023. The few he spotted were on motorways and spread a lot further apart than here. Surprising, really, given France's reputation for bureaucracy. For example, French law traditionally requires those in organised sports events to provide a medical certificate confirming they're fit to participate. Athletics has further recent requirements. The Parkrun organisation abandoned hopes for French events, concluding the obligations and risks were impossible for a volunteer group. Geoff also captured the above scene, sans cones — one which would not be replicated in New Zealand. civis@

What The Heck Winston? Greenpeace Queries NZ First Support For Seymour's Overseas Investment Bill
What The Heck Winston? Greenpeace Queries NZ First Support For Seymour's Overseas Investment Bill

Scoop

timea day ago

  • Scoop

What The Heck Winston? Greenpeace Queries NZ First Support For Seymour's Overseas Investment Bill

Greenpeace is asking NZ First leader Winston Peters what the heck his party is doing supporting an amendment Bill which could lead to greater corporate control of Aotearoa. NZ First has supported ACT leader David Seymour's amendment Bill to the Overseas Investment Act, through its first reading. Submissions on the Bill closed this week. Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop says: "ACT is trying to change the Overseas Investment law to make it easier for multinational corporations to buy up and exploit conservation land, lakebeds, coastal zones, wāhi tapu sites and other sensitive land across Aotearoa." "Shockingly, ACT is even trying to remove the mandatory requirement that the Government check whether a corporation has been involved in serious criminal activity before giving them access to New Zealand's sensitive land and natural resources." The Act currently mandates that the Government apply the Benefit to New Zealand test and Investor Test before giving consent to the sale of land that is classified as "sensitive" and allows them to decline consent if either of these tests are failed. Sensitive land is outlined in the Act and includes conservation areas, lake beds, marine and coastal zones, offshore islands, wāhi tapu and other culturally significant sites, as well as land adjoining these areas. The Bill proposes that instead of applying a public benefit and investor test, the Government applies a narrower "national interest" test which Greenpeace says completely fails to guarantee any meaningful consideration of environmental, cultural, or public interest values. "NZ First currently supports a Bill that would make it easier for multinational corporations to loot and destroy Aotearoa and funnel the profits to offshore shareholders leaving New Zealanders to deal with the mess - polluted rivers, drained aquifers and degraded ecosystems," Toop says. The Bill also scraps the requirement that water quality and sustainability be assessed before allowing overseas interests to extract, bottle and sell New Zealand's freshwater. "NZ First claims to put New Zealand first. But this ACT party Bill firmly puts offshore corporations first and New Zealanders last. Winston Peters should withdraw his party's support for the Bill before it's too late."

Changes confirmed for New Zealand passport, placing English before te reo Māori
Changes confirmed for New Zealand passport, placing English before te reo Māori

NZ Herald

timea day ago

  • NZ Herald

Changes confirmed for New Zealand passport, placing English before te reo Māori

The order of languages used in the New Zealand passport has stoked strong emotions. Photo / Supplied, PRADO Speaker Gerry Brownlee reiterated a ruling on the use of the term Aotearoa in Parliament yesterday, in which he said it was regularly used as a name of New Zealand, and appears on our passports and currency. The question of the use of the term Aotearoa comes after debate sparked by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. Speaking before yesterday's Question Time, Brownlee mentioned Peters' work on passports as Foreign Affairs Minister. 'In his time serving New Zealand, in the capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he would've, over some five years or more, presented the New Zealand passport at various passport stations around the world and never had questioned the fact that our passport has the word Aotearoa on the front of it. It was always a New Zealand passport despite the use of that word. 'That is the end of the matter.' Earlier this week, Peters was asked about the Government's work to protect the marine environment of 'Aotearoa New Zealand', following a recent United Nations conference on oceans. Peters responded that he had attended the UN summit, but 'no such country turned up, nor is such a country a member of the United Nations.' The New Zealand First leader was asked about the remarks after Parliament's Question Time concluded, to which he responded people have no right 'unilaterally, like some sort of arrogant bureaucrat to change the country's name without consulting the New Zealand people'. Peters then asked what the term Aotearoa was doing on Government documents, as 'it's not the name of New Zealand'. In 2021, during the release of the now-current passport, the Department of Internal Affairs said, 'The silver fern and Coat of Arms remain, but te reo Māori now appears first on the cover and throughout the book.' The passport also came with security features, making it one of the most technologically advanced passports in the world. Service delivery and operations deputy chief executive, Maria Robertson, said at the time it had a unique design that 'we can all be proud of'. The move to put te reo Māori first was also applauded by the Māori Language Commission on social media, with a 'Ka rawe!' Azaria Howell is a multimedia reporter working from Parliament's press gallery. She joined NZME in 2022 and became a Newstalk ZB political reporter in late 2024, with a keen interest in public service agency reform and government spending.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store