Nervous wait for decision

Supreme Court ruling on seabed mining months away

None of the parties to a Supreme Court case on seabed mining in the South Taranaki Bight say they are completely confident about the result — and they say they’re not expecting a decision for months.

The court’s five justices reserved their decision after the hearing wrapped up last week.

Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) went to New Zealand’s highest court asking whether the Court of Appeal was correct to dismiss its appeal against a High Court decision declining the marine discharge consents it needs before it can mine ironsand offshore from Pa¯tea.

Nga¯ti Ruanui spokeswoman Debbie Ngarewa-Packer was disappointed that Crown Law upheld TTR’s view that tangata whenua don’t have kaitiaki interests in the sea’s exclusive economic zone.

“Our argument is that if we have customary fishing rights then surely we have those interests,” she said.

TTR executive chairman Alan Eggers was pleased the AttorneyGeneral’s submissions supported the company’s view.

He said TTR’s lawyers had prepared well, and the Environmental Protection Authority’s submission was complementary to their case.

The justices asked some “very solid” questions, Ngarewa-Packer said, and she wasn’t “overly confident” about their decision.

Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM) chairwoman Cindy Baxter said the “gorgeous” courtroom and karakia made the court experience memorable. KASM has fought seabed mining to the highest court, she said, as it promised its supporters.

Eggers said it was hard to judge what the outcome will be but TTR is ready to move quickly.

If it gets the go-ahead it must start two years of monitoring to set background levels at the site before mining can begin.

At the same time, it would finance the mining vessel and crawler needed, and could begin mining in two to three years.

Trans-Tasman presented its case first, which was followed by a submission from Crown Law barristers, on behalf of Attorney-General David Parker.

Then came a submission from the Environmental Protection Authority(, which approved the consents in 2017.

The justices then heard from mining opponents — South Taranaki iwi Nga¯ti Ruanui and Nga¯ Rauru, and environmental and fisheries interests.

Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann was joined by Justices Susan Glazebrook, Joe Williams, Ellen France and William Young.