{"id":74036,"date":"2025-09-26T17:39:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T05:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=74036"},"modified":"2025-09-26T17:39:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T05:39:18","slug":"greenpeace-activists-convicted-and-discharged-over-seabed-mining-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/greenpeace-activists-convicted-and-discharged-over-seabed-mining-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenpeace activists convicted and discharged over seabed mining action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Four ocean advocates have been sentenced in court in Wellington today, after locking down the Wellington headquarters of the mining industry lobbying firm Straterra (since renamed the New Zealand Minerals Council) in September 2024.<\/p>\n\n

They were found guilty of trespass, convicted and discharged. <\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace Aotearoa programme director Niamh O\u2019Flynn, <\/strong>who was one of the activists, says: <\/p>\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to wear this conviction. We never take such action lightly but if standing up for the oceans is a crime then that\u2019s what we have to do. If business as usual isn\u2019t going to stop the people who most want to profit from the destruction of our environment, then this is the kind of action that we have to take.  <\/p>\n\n


\u201cThe NZ Minerals Council lobbied the Luxon government behind the scenes on behalf of Australian-owned wannabe seabed mining company Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR), and we wanted to disrupt that influence,\u201d O\u2019Flynn continued.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe Luxon government\u2019s Fast Track process opened up the South Taranaki Bight for seabed mining by enabling TTR and its Australian owners, Manuka Resources, to revive its zombie seabed mining plans. This was after being turned down repeatedly , even by the Supreme Court, because they were unable to alleviate concerns that seabed mining would cause harm to marine life.\u201d 
<\/p>\n\n

\u201cTTR pulled out of the Environmental Protection Authority hearings last year and  is banking on the Luxon government\u2019s Fast Track Process. But even here TTR is failing to convince the Fast Track Panel of their credibility. A new report to the panel describes TTR\u2019s application as containing  “outdated information, internal inconsistencies and unproven technology\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

Activist Kate Paris, of P\u0101tea <\/strong>says: \u201cTaranaki communities – including iwi, environmentalists, fisher people, boaties and surfers are united in our opposition to seabed mining. We will continue to take action until we know Tangaroa is protected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Trans-Tasman Resources is planning to extract 50 million tonnes of iron sand from the South Taranaki Bight every year for decades and dump 45 million tonnes a year back into the ocean.<\/p>\n\n

Seabed mining in the South Taranaki Bight would damage rich ecosystems and threaten precious marine life such as the pygmy blue whale, M\u0101ui and Hector\u2019s dolphins and koror\u0101.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe opposition to seabed mining is immense and people will continue to stand up and fight against Trans-Tasman Resources\u2019 seabed mining project. Just as thousands of New Zealanders united to fend off international oil companies through unrelenting peaceful protest and iwi-led opposition, we will make sure seabed mining never starts in Aotearoa,\u201d said O\u2019Flynn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four ocean advocates have been sentenced in court in Wellington today, after locking down the Wellington headquarters of the mining industry lobbying firm Straterra (since renamed the New Zealand Minerals…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":66113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[25,109],"p4-page-type":[7],"class_list":["post-74036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greenpeace","tag-oceans","tag-seabed-mining","p4-page-type-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nGreenpeace 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