Christopher Luxon confirmed it in his state of the nation speech: the anti-democratic assault on our environment, on our most vulnerable communities, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi will continue to be the focus of Aotearoa’s most regressive government.
Luxon insisted that mining had to play a much bigger role in the New Zealand economy, prioritising corporate profits above public safety, health, and education. He wants to open up Aotearoa for foreign investment – so the profits of destructive mining will flow offshore.
He may have talked about innovation, but really Luxon and his coalition are committed to archaic industries and systems that bring short-term riches to a few and often irreversible destruction and pollution that harms everyone else for generations to come.
Opening up conservation land and our moana to mining will be devastating for our wildlife and communities and prevent us from shifting to a circular economy that keeps ‘resources’ in the ground and values what is already pulled from the Earth, recycling and using them for as long as possible.
The fight is urgent. The Fast-Track Approvals Act is now law, and companies like Trans-Tasman Resources, which intends to mine the seabed in the South Taranaki Bight, can now apply for consent under this law that will allow circumvention of environment protecting legislation, and marginalising public feedback. This beautiful place is home to rare pygmy blue whales, Māui dolphins and kororā. It’s a place where generations of people have surfed, swum and fished.
The Luxon government has heavily restricted the public’s right to have a fair say in Fast-Track applications – on purpose. Luxon is salivating at the idea of plundering every square metre of our moana. Trans-Tasman Resources is desperate and Luxon’s Government is intent on enabling them.
However, the resistance to seabed mining is growing. In December, the Whanganui District Council voted unanimously to oppose seabed mining. The South Taranaki Council has also called for a ban on seabed mining, calling it “environmental vandalism”. Both councils are also responding to the widespread community opposition to seabed mining. That’s especially important this year when there are local government elections.
Just last week, we saw a powerful victory for community resistance from hapū, iwi and caring locals of Whangaroa, in the North. Like TTR, Mineralogy is another Australian mining company that this mining-obsessed government would have frothed at the bit for. What could possibly be more insulting than reckless extractivism and a linear economy? Reckless extractivism and a linear economy where all the profits are sent offshore!
But, this is the strength and mass of resistance polluters like Mineralogy and TTR, and this government will face. Mineralogy pulled out of the proposed project in direct response to protest from a huge alliance that includes The Whangaroa Stop Toxic Mining Alliance K.A.T.I., Ngāi Tupango, Ngāti Ruamahue, Ngāti Kura, Te Rūnanga o Whāingaroa, Forest & Bird, Greenpeace, community leaders and local residents.
Like Mineralogy, we won’t let TTR or the Luxon government win. Greenpeace Aotearoa and our allies, alongside iwi, are fighting seabed mining every step of the way. TTR won’t get a single craft or machine in the water!
Seabed mining is a new threat to the oceans. Now is our chance to prevent the destruction before it’s too late.
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