Protesters block fertiliser HQ over ‘immoral’ shipment
A New Zealand group fighting for the rights of indigenous people in Western Sahara protested outside a fertiliser company’s headquarters, calling on the company to stop importing the ‘‘immoral’’ phosphate from a war-stricken country.
Western Sahara is a disputed area but New Zealand fertiliser companies Ravensdown and Ballance Agri-Nutrients import about $30 million of phosphate from there each year, which is used on New Zealand soils.
After the Western Sahara freedom movement lost the bid for a judicial review of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation in
March over its investments in fertiliser imports from the area, Tauranga-based Ballance AgriNutrients has continued to import the phosphate and is due to receive a shipment of the phosphate at the Port of Tauranga.
On the company’s website, it says it is mindful of the ‘‘different perspectives around Western Sahara’’ but only buys products from suppliers that can ‘‘demonstrate awareness and adherence to relevant and appropriate social and ethical standards’’.
Protesters from Western Sahara Solidarity Aotearoa and Extinction Rebellion gathered outside its headquarters in Mt Maunganui yesterday, urging the company to stop importing the phosphate rock plundered by Morocco. About 40 protesters laid down bamboo tripods at the entrance and chained people across the main gate.
‘‘We are here to stand up to Ballance for its crimes against indigenous peoples,’’ Western Sahara Solidarity Aotearoa spokesperson Josie Butler told