Source: Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM)
As the government opens the floodgates today for project applications under its new Fast-Track Approvals Act, opposition to seabed mining is as strong as ever, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM) said today.
The KASM team spent Waitangi Day in Patea, one of the closest settlements to the proposed mine site in the South Taranaki Bight, and found nothing but fierce opposition, from iwi to fishermen, from surfers to teachers and pensioners – and local councils.
“There’s a real anger in this community at the prospect that this project could still go ahead after being so roundly and repeatedly rejected by the highest court in the land,” said KASM chairperson Cindy Baxter.
“This seabed mining project is called a zombie project because it simply did not stand up to scrutiny: there’s so many uncertainties, and the company simply hasn’t done the work.”
This was evident in the hearing Trans Tasman Resources walked away from last year, when it gave up on trying to meet the Supreme Court’s test of causing “no material harm.”
KASM doesn’t expect the TTR application to be vastly different from what the company presented to those hearings. Trans Tasman Resources appears to only have focussed on lobbying politicians and spending as little money as possible on the mahi it needed to do, while grossly exaggerating the projected economic impact.
“Right around the country today communities like Patea are gearing up for a fight to keep their land, their water and their oceans free from pollution, pitted against a government determined to ride roughshod over their future. It shouldn’t have to be this way.”
The Fast-Track website is now online, advertising that it will post “news” today (ref. https://kasm.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=40fd433e2f2344060946f0bb8&id=378af0d022&e=26e06db549 )