{"id":75603,"date":"2026-02-05T21:06:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=75603"},"modified":"2026-02-05T21:06:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:06:41","slug":"massive-win-for-moana-as-taranaki-seabed-mining-application-rejected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/massive-win-for-moana-as-taranaki-seabed-mining-application-rejected\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive win for moana as Taranaki seabed mining application rejected"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Greenpeace along with iwi and environmental groups are calling the decision to reject Trans Tasman Resources proposal to mine the Taranaki seafloor \u201ca massive win for people power and the ocean\u201d.
<\/p>\n\n

In a draft decision, released today<\/a>, the Fast Track expert panel declined the Australian company\u2019s application to mine the seabed in the South Taranaki Bight.

The panel declined consent for the project, finding it would likely cause material harm to marine ecosystems, threatened species like pygmy blue whales and penguins, and concluded it could not be safely managed, even with conditions attached.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace Aotearoa seabed mining spokesperson Juressa Lee says: \u201cThis is the outcome we have been fighting for over 12 years. It shows exactly what happens when communities, iwi, experts and ocean protectors stand together.
<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThis win today is a powerful validation of what iwi and the communities of Taranaki and Aotearoa have been saying for years \u2013 seabed mining is simply too destructive to go ahead.

\u201cThe resistance to seabed mining in Aotearoa and around the Pacific is strong and persistent. From Taranaki, to the Cook Islands, and across Te Moananui a Kiwa, people are rising up against this destructive industry.<\/p>\n\n

\"Cook
Cook Island activists peacefully confront the Nautilus at Rarotonga port, holding banners reading \u2018Don\u2019t Mine The Moana\u2019 as it returns from a 21-day deep sea exploration expedition visiting sites in the mineral exploration areas licensed by the Cook Islands authorities.

\u00a9 Robin Hammond \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

\u201cNow the New Zealand government must listen. Nearly 60,000 people around Aotearoa signed petitions<\/a> calling for an outright ban on seabed mining in Aotearoa.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cAs we head into an election year, government officials should remember that this is who they represent and commit to taking bold action to protect the moana by banning seabed mining.\u201d

Greenpeace Aotearoa protested against Trans Tasman Resources\u2018 attempt to start a seabed mine in Taranaki, occupying the offices of mining industry lobby group Straterra in September 2024. <\/p>\n\n

\"No
Greenpeace Aotearoa activists are arrested during an action where they occupied the Wellington offices of mining industry lobbyist Straterra to protest plans to Fast Track its client Trans-Tasman Resources’ seabed mining in the South Taranaki Bight.
\u00a9 Marty Melville \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Just months later, along with Ng\u0101ti Ruanui, Greenpeace activists shut down the Sydney AGM of Australian mining company Manuka Resources, the owner of Trans-Tasman Resources.<\/p>\n\n

\"Rukutai
Rukutai Watene and Peeti Wharehoka-Watene of Ng\u0101ti Ruanui, along with six Greenpeace activists, interrupted the Sydney AGM of Australian mining company Manuka Resources, the owner of Trans-Tasman Resources, telling shareholders that he and his hap\u016b will continue to resist seabed mining in their rohe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Lee says: ,\u201cIwi, the local community, and tens of thousands of New Zealanders have stopped Taranaki being carved up for sale. To prevent this happening again, we must ban seabed mining outright for the waters of Aotearoa, and ensure the moana is never pillaged to line mining industry pockets.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n \t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPETITION: Ban seabed mining in Aotearoa\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Seabed mining is a new threat to the oceans. Now is our chance to prevent the destruction before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t \n Add my name\n <\/a>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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The whakapapa of my wh\u0101nau 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 p\u0101p\u0101, 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.","url":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/author\/juressa\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75603"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75606,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75603\/revisions\/75606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75603"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=75603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}