Greenpeace calls on Chris Hipkins to take a courageous stand against seabed mining Greenpeace calls on Chris Hipkins to take a stand on seabed mining

Greenpeace calls on Chris Hipkins to take a courageous stand against seabed mining

Greenpeace is calling on the leader of the opposition, Chris Hipkins, to take a public stand and pledge that seabed mining will never happen under a Labour-led government. A petition to the Labour Party leader launched this week has already gained more than 2200 signatures.

Greenpeace spokesperson Juressa Lee says: “The Luxon government seems intent on waging war on nature – but Governments come and go, and they won’t be in control forever. That’s why we’re calling on Chris Hipkins to promise that any seabed mining consents granted under the Luxon government will be revoked by Labour if it gets elected.

“Despite failing again and again to win approval for its seabed mining project, wannabe miners Trans-Tasman Resources have applied to the Environmental Protection Authority for permission to mine the South Taranaki Bight under the Luxon government’s Fast Track process.

“That’s why we’re launching a new call on the leader of the opposition, Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins, to take a stand and ensure this destructive industry never gets off the ground in Aotearoa.”

For more than ten years, Trans-Tasman Resources has suffered defeat after defeat in the courts and faced opposition from Greenpeace and the Taranaki community, including iwi, commercial and recreational fishers and surfers.

Juressa Lee says: “Yet now, like a zombie, TTR is rising from the dead by taking advantage of the Fast Track Approvals Act to bypass environmental protections.

“That’s why it’s urgent the opposition leader Chris Hipkins takes a stand against seabed mining the Taranaki Bight.

“Chris Hipkins will also be in tune with the weight of public opinion in Aotearoa. Nearly 54,000 people signed the last Greenpeace petition to ban seabed mining.”

Trans-Tasman Resources is planning to extract 50 million tonnes of iron sand from the South Taranaki Bight every year for 35 years and dump 45 million tonnes a year back into the ocean.

Seabed mining in the South Taranaki Bight would damage rich ecosystems and threaten precious marine life such as the pygmy blue whale, Māui and Hector’s dolphins and kororā.

Call on Chris Hipkins to take a stand against seabed mining

Any political party that takes environmental protection seriously must stand against Trans-Tasman Resources’ plan to seabed mine in the South Taranaki Bight.

Sign the petition

About the author

Juressa Lee (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Rarotonga) is the seabed mining campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa, working to stop seabed mining in Aotearoa, protecting marine wildlife and the d…elicate ecosystems of the deep sea, move NZ away from destructive extractivism and towards a circular economy. The whakapapa of my whānau is a journey through Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. From the Whangape Harbour to Rawhiti via Ngawha, down to Tauranga Moana, over to Tupapa and Ngatangiia in Rarotonga, and north again to Tahiti. My tamariki, through their pāpā, also whakapapa to Toi village in Niue. I was raised by a frugal mother who was always mindful of her impact on the planet, and navigated it accordingly. My dad has always enjoyed nature and instilled in us that there were responsibilities we had to be able to keep enjoying it. This was my very first influence. When I became an adult and then a mother myself, decolonising my life became a priority to raise my tamariki with an unapologetic, Indigenous worldview. Along the way and without realising, my whakaaro around kaitiakitanga began to shift, or rather, return. I felt more responsible, but also more empowered. I connect the dots between 160+ years of colonisation, extractivism, social and environmental harms and injustices and a worldview that sees the environment as separate to people. That people are somehow entitled to take, own, throw away, destroy and degrade. We are witnessing the impacts from living in a system rooted in colonialism and racism and extractive industries are devastating the planet and furthering the climate crisis. Now, wannabe miners are eyeing up the seabed in the South Taranaki Bight, and also seeking to plunder the deep seas. This problem is colossal, but so is our fight to protect te taiao. There are solutions to these issues. We must stop seabed mining before it starts.

Greenpeace calls on Chris Hipkins to take a courageous stand against seabed mining

About the author

Juressa Lee

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