New Zealand: Mining in Schedule 4 Conflict: Difference between revisions

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The problem as Campbell saw it was that the Government relied exclusively on the work of a single mining industry consultant who had admitted that his figures represented a ‘back of the envelope exercise’.<ref name="Campbell" /> “Even then, this figure [$NZ194 billion] is for gross worth. It bears no relation to the figure that would actually accrue to New Zealand, once foreign-owned mining companies have extracted the mineral wealth, and taken the lion’s share of the profits offshore.”
The problem as Campbell saw it was that the Government relied exclusively on the work of a single mining industry consultant who had admitted that his figures represented a ‘back of the envelope exercise’.<ref name="Campbell" /> “Even then, this figure [$NZ194 billion] is for gross worth. It bears no relation to the figure that would actually accrue to New Zealand, once foreign-owned mining companies have extracted the mineral wealth, and taken the lion’s share of the profits offshore.”


This issue of the direct financial benefit to New Zealand was one pursued by Radio New Zealand host Kathryn Ryan. Asked what the expected government royalties would be from minerals extracted by a foreign-owned mining company, NZ Minerals Industry Association Chief Executive Doug Gordon said the direct return to the country would be a 5% accounting profit on gold and silver or a 1.5% gate profit – one or the other.<ref> Radio New Zealand interview, Kathryn Ryan Nine to Noon, Mining the conservation estate, 23 March 2010 http://static.radionz.net.nz/assets/audio_item/0005/2246495/ntn-20100323-0908-Mining_the_Conservation_Estate-m048.asx retrieved 3 May 2011</ref>  
This issue of the direct financial benefit to New Zealand was one pursued by Radio New Zealand host Kathryn Ryan. Asked what the expected government royalties would be from minerals extracted by a foreign-owned mining company, NZ Minerals Industry Association Chief Executive Doug Gordon said the direct return to the country would be a 5% accounting profit on gold and silver or a 1.5% gate profit – one or the other.<ref name="Ryan" />  


During a subsequent interview, Radio New Zealand business commentator, Rod Oram, said the thousands of billions of dollars talked about by Solid Energy and Business NZ was “completely over the top”<ref>Business commentator – Rod Oram, Kathryn Ryan Nine to Noon, Radio New Zealand, 23 March 2010 http://static.radionz.net.nz/assets/audio_item/0011/2246528/ntn-20100323-1109-Business_commentator_-_Rod_Oram-m048.asx retrieved 3 May 2011</ref> Mining would be mostly undertaken by foreign companies and while export figures would be very impressive as a result, the question remained how much of that money “sticks to the ribs” of the NZ economy. It was hard to calculate, Oram said, how much of mining exports would accrue to NZ.  
During a subsequent interview, Radio New Zealand business commentator, Rod Oram, said the thousands of billions of dollars talked about by Solid Energy and Business NZ was “completely over the top”<ref>Business commentator – Rod Oram, Kathryn Ryan Nine to Noon, Radio New Zealand, 23 March 2010 http://static.radionz.net.nz/assets/audio_item/0011/2246528/ntn-20100323-1109-Business_commentator_-_Rod_Oram-m048.asx retrieved 3 May 2011</ref> Mining would be mostly undertaken by foreign companies and while export figures would be very impressive as a result, the question remained how much of that money “sticks to the ribs” of the NZ economy. It was hard to calculate, Oram said, how much of mining exports would accrue to NZ.  
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