New petition seeks ban on seabed mining
Greenpeace has launched a petition calling for the Government to ban seabed mining in New Zealand’s waters.
The call comes as mining company Trans Tasman Resources Ltd (TTR) awaits the verdict of the Supreme Court on whether a controversial seabed mining project off the South Taranaki coast can go ahead.
At the end of a three-day hearing at the court in Wellington in November, Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann said the court would take ‘‘some time’’ to consider its decision.
In a statement, Greenpeace oceans campaigner Jessica Desmond said a legislative ban is needed to ensure the long term health of the ocean.
‘‘TTR has been vying to access the South Taranaki seabed for years, where they want to suck up a 66 square kilometre area for 30 years.’’
‘‘Te Ru¯nanga o Nga¯ti Ruanui, the trustees of Te Kaahui Rauru, Kiwis
Against Seabed Mining, Greenpeace and other concerned groups have been holding them off so far, but we need legislation to keep the door shut on them, and others like them who will come knocking.’’
Te Pa¯ti Ma¯ori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the Greenpeace petition aligned with a private member’s bill she launched last month to ban seabed mining, which she hopes will be drawn from the parliamentary ballot soon.
The bill aims to put in place a nationwide ban on seabed mining consents within New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and coastal waters governed under the Resource Management Act.
It would also retrospectively withdraw existing seabed mining consents and exploration rights under the EEZ Act and Crown Minerals Act and prohibit the ability to apply for exploration rights for seabed mining under the Crown Minerals Act.
Ha¯ wera-based Ngarewa-Packer has led a fight for more than six years against Trans Tasman Resources Ltd’s proposed project, in her role, before becoming an MP, as Kaiarataki of Te Runanga o Nga¯ ti Ruanui.
‘‘We are all trying to do what we can to push this change,’’ she said.