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New Zealand: Mining in Schedule 4 Conflict: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Macraes Gold Mine - Frasers Pit.jpg|thumb|Macraes Gold Mine - Frasers Pit]] | |||
[[File:Mount Hobson Great Barrier Island.jpg|thumb|Mount Hobson Great Barrier Island]] | |||
[[File:Coromandel Peninsula Panorama.jpg|thumb|Coromandel Peninsula Panorama]] | |||
== Introduction == | == Introduction == | ||
In 2009, the National-led New Zealand Government announced that it would review Schedule Four of the Crown Minerals Act which prohibits mining on high conservation status land. In March 2010, the New Zealand Government began actively canvassing the idea of removing land from Schedule Four in order to carrying out prospecting for rich mineral deposits. While releasing a discussion paper proposing a number of measures to develop New Zealand's mineral potential the Minister of Energy and Resources, Gerry Brownlee, and the Minister of Conservation, Kate Wilkinson, said a preliminary stocktake of Schedule Four land showed <ref>Media statement: Time to discuss maximising our mineral potential http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1003/S00313.htm</ref>: | In 2009, the National-led New Zealand Government announced that it would review Schedule Four of the Crown Minerals Act which prohibits mining on high conservation status land. In March 2010, the New Zealand Government began actively canvassing the idea of removing land from Schedule Four in order to carrying out prospecting for rich mineral deposits. While releasing a discussion paper proposing a number of measures to develop New Zealand's mineral potential the Minister of Energy and Resources, Gerry Brownlee, and the Minister of Conservation, Kate Wilkinson, said a preliminary stocktake of Schedule Four land showed <ref>Media statement: Time to discuss maximising our mineral potential http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1003/S00313.htm</ref>: | ||
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In 1997, the Act was amended to create an absolute mining prohibition on protected land. The amendment included a Section 61 preventing the Minister of Conservation from approving access arrangements for any Crown-owned land in Schedule Four (also newly created by the amendment). The amendment was successfully guided through parliament by a National-led government with wide cross-party support. Approximately 750,000 hectares was added to Schedule Four in 2008 and was criticised by the mining industry for lacking consultation and bypassing any comprehensive analysis of the conservation values of the land or its mineral potential<ref>Submission to Ministry of Economic Development on Schedule 4 stocktake, April 2010 http://www.coalnz.com/index.cfm/3,369,886/solid_energy_submission_lodged_on_schedule_4.pdf retrieved 3 May 2010</ref>. | In 1997, the Act was amended to create an absolute mining prohibition on protected land. The amendment included a Section 61 preventing the Minister of Conservation from approving access arrangements for any Crown-owned land in Schedule Four (also newly created by the amendment). The amendment was successfully guided through parliament by a National-led government with wide cross-party support. Approximately 750,000 hectares was added to Schedule Four in 2008 and was criticised by the mining industry for lacking consultation and bypassing any comprehensive analysis of the conservation values of the land or its mineral potential<ref>Submission to Ministry of Economic Development on Schedule 4 stocktake, April 2010 http://www.coalnz.com/index.cfm/3,369,886/solid_energy_submission_lodged_on_schedule_4.pdf retrieved 3 May 2010</ref>. | ||
“New Zealand is blessed with magnificent landscapes, rich forests, and a unique biodiversity. We have a proud history of protecting these precious places and the species that rely on them for survival. Over many generations, New Zealanders have fought hard to protect our National Parks and other conservation | == Arguments for == | ||
The main parties in favour of prospecting for minerals on Schedule 4 land included the Government, the mining industry represented by Solid Energy and the Mining Industry Association, and Business New Zealand representing business interests in general. Their arguments were essentially economic and sought to play down any potentially adverse environmental impacts by referring to the limited scale of mining and the technology that could be used. | |||
In supporting the idea of mining on Schedule 4 land, Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee talked about “the potential for utilising more of the country’s valuable natural resources for the greater good.” Brownlee proposed removing a total of 7,058 hectares of land from Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act, including some areas in the Coromandel Peninsula and the Inangahua sector of Paparoa National Park, and which represented 0.2% of all Schedule 4 land (4.6m hectares in total). Of this, he suggested only 500 hectares might eventually be mined. “In fact, 500 hectares is smaller than what the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry describes as an average New Zealand sheep and beef farm (550 ha),” Brownlee stated. | |||
Noting that mining in New Zealand was already a NZ$2 billion industry which contributed to export receipts and government revenue, Brownlee emphasised the high productivity of the industry which created “an average of $360,000 of GDP per worker, nearly six times the national average”. | |||
Citing earlier stocktakes undertaken for the Ministry of Economic Development, the Government estimated total mineral wealth throughout New Zealand to be worth NZ$194 billion<ref>Schedule 4 by the numbers, Ministry of Economic Development http://www.med.govt.nz/upload/71971/Schedule%204%20by%20the%20numbers.pdf retrieved 4 May 2011</ref>. Of this, NZ$80 billion or 40% was estimated to be in Schedule 4 land. | |||
Phil O’Reilly, Chief Executive of Business New Zealand, went even further than government estimates and referred to “thousands of billions of dollars” in in-ground natural resources whose development “could create a step change in New Zealanders’ prosperity.<ref>Mining industry welcomes government conservation area mining plan, TVNZ http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/solid-energy-welcomes-mining-plan-3428211 retrieved 4 May 2010</ref> "In taking stock of resources below the conservation estate the Government is acting judiciously on behalf of all New Zealanders,” O’Reilly added. | |||
Reiterating the estimate of thousands of billions of dollars in natural resources, Don Elder, the Chief Executive of Solid Energy, which is a major New Zealand resource company, stated that New Zealanders wanted “...good jobs and a high standard of living. Smart well-managed use of our natural resources, combined with a conservation fund to create long-term environmental gain will allow us to have both.”<ref>Solid Energy media release http://www.coalnz.com/index.cfm/1,468,1029,0,html/Government-s-consultation-on-maximising-New-Zealand-s-mineral-potential retrieved 4 May 2011</ref> | |||
Tony Kokshoorn, the Grey District mayor on the West Coast of the South Island where coal mining has been a traditional mainstay of the local economy, viewed mining as a “win-win” situation for the country because of the environmentally friendly technology that was available and the income that would accrue to the government coffers. Referring to current mining operations, Kokshoorn said “you don’t see any mining if you drive the length of the West Coast…there’s such a vast area of rain forest that you wouldn’t notice if mining was happening…New Zealand is in the cart financially; if we want to have good health systems, if we want to have good education, we’ve got to tap into our mineral wealth as well”.<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> | |||
Professor Dave Craw, a geologist and environmental scientist from the University of Otago who has researched the environmental effects of mining, stated in a Radio New Zealand interview that there will always be environmental affects related to mining, although he did not think they posed any great environmental threat in the long-term. Professor Craw referred to the gold mine in Reefton on the West Coast where technology provided for the arsenic-bearing ore to be transported elsewhere in New Zealand for processing to mitigate any serious impact on the Reefton environment. “I think you can minimise environmental impact using modern technology and using the science.”<ref>Radio New Zealand interview, Kathryn Ryan Nine to Noon, Is mining on conservation land really off the agenda?, 20 July 2010 http://static.radionz.net.nz/assets/audio_item/0003/2353683/ntn-20100720-0908-Is_mining_on_conservation_land_really_off_the_agenda_-m048.asx retrieved 3 May 2011</ref> | |||
As a trade-off for removing the 7058 hectares from Schedule 4, the Government said it planned to add 12,400 hectares to the protected category. | |||
== Arguments against == | |||
Lining up against the proposal were an array of politicians (both government and opposition), environmental NGOs, political commentators and independent scientists. Their arguments concentrated on the potential damage to the environment and New Zealand’s reputation and image in the rest of the world, the alleged distorted and poorly conceived economic argument used by the government, and bad politics. | |||
'''Damage to the environment''' | |||
“New Zealand is blessed with magnificent landscapes, rich forests, and a unique biodiversity. We have a proud history of protecting these precious places and the species that rely on them for survival. Over many generations, New Zealanders have fought hard to protect our National Parks and other conservation areas… It is these wild and natural places, protected from development, that underpin our valuable 'clean green' image and our tourism industry's '100 % Pure' brand. To put this at risk is folly in the extreme.” This is what the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand web site said about New Zealand’s unique nature in opposition to the proposal to mine on Schedule 4 land<ref name=Green>The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand Submission Guide: Mining in Schedule 4 Copyright © 1996-2010 http://www.greens.org.nz/takeaction/submissionguides/submission-guide-mining-schedule-4</ref>. | |||
Referring to historical efforts to protect the environment, Green Party co-leader and MP, Metiria Turei, told a crowed demonstrating against the Government’s proposal outside parliament buildings that “it was the people who created Schedule 4 and protected those places, and it will be the people who save Schedule 4 and those treasured places, and that’s you.”<ref>A montage of a mining protest that was held outside Wellington parliament on 30 March 2010, YouTube, 1m 49sec -1min 58sec http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W57ZrtGfnL0 retrieved 3 May 2011</ref> Another speaker at the same event stated that the mining proposal “touches our identity as a country. This is not a country that mines its most treasured places, it is not a country that mines its national parks. It’s who we are, it’s what we believe in, it’s why we’re proud to be clean and green….The economy is not based on mining, it is based on looking after the land”<ref>A montage of a mining protest that was held outside Wellington parliament on 30 March 2010, YouTube, 2m 28sec -2min 36sec http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W57ZrtGfnL0 retrieved 3 May 2011</ref> | |||
The specific long-lasting environmental hazards of mining were focused on by Dennis Teag of the Coromandel Watchdog Group NGO. He said the mining industry liked to talk about the benefits of mining but rarely alluded to the drawbacks, including the very real environmental issue of tailings dams where millions of tons of toxic waste has to be stored in a containment facility forever.<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> The cost of cleaning up if they go wrong was incredibly large, such as the $17.5m required to remediate the damage incurred at the Tui copper, lead and zinc mine on the western slopes of Mount Te Aroha in the Kaimai Range of New Zealand and considered to be the most contaminated site in the country. It was abandoned in the 1970s but Teag claimed the remedial work would probably not be effective anyway. | |||
Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye, representing the ruling National Party in an electorate that traditionally votes Labour, spoke out against her own party's plan to remove Schedule 4 protected status from part of Great Barrier Island, which is part of her electorate, and open it to mining. "My personal view is that when environmental and economic factors are taken into account and given the island's status in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, mining on Great Barrier Island doesn't stack up," she said.<ref>Mining plans condemned by National’s Nikki Kaye, TV3 News, 23 March 2010 http://www.3news.co.nz/Mining-plans-condemned-by-Nationals-Nikki-Kaye-/tabid/419/articleID/147629/Default.aspx retrieved 4 May 2011</ref> | |||
Auckland mayor and former National Party MP and cabinet minister, John Banks, agreed with Kaye. He said Great Barrier Island was “the untouched jewel in the crown of the Hauraki Maritime Park" and that mining the island would be a “serious blow to the established economy that depends on the area’s untarnished image.” <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> Banks stated that there were more jobs in ecotourism than in open cast mining and that the infrastructure required to mine Great Barrier Island would be devastating to the local environment. | |||
'''Damage to reputation''' | |||
The potential damage to New Zeland’s ‘clean, green’ was highlighted by The Economist. “In many ways, the dilemma New Zealand faces is no different to that of other rich countries—how to balance economic growth with the need to address environmental degradation. But it is particularly acute in a country so dependent on the export of commodities and landscape-driven tourism. The difference between New Zealand and other places is that New Zealand has actively sold itself as “100% Pure”. Now that New Zealanders themselves are acknowledging the gap between the claim and reality, and the risk to their reputation this poses, it is time for the country to find itself a more sustainable brand, and soon.”<ref>It’s not easy seeming green: A backlash to NZ’s vow of purity, The Economist, 23 March 2010 http://www.economist.com/node/15763381?story_id=15763381 retrieved 5 May 2011</ref> | |||
'''Bad numbers''' | |||
The numbers touted by the Government in relation to expected income from mining were subjected to intense scrutiny by independent scientists, journalists and commentators. Wanaka-based consultant geologist Stephen Leary, who has worked in New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Canada and South America, said some of the figures proffered for individual conservation areas in the Government's geological reports were "misleading" because they were "wildly optimistic" and had not been backed by exploration.<ref>Government figures misleading - geologist, Stuff news website, 26 March 2010 http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3509110/Govt-figures-misleading-geologist retrieved 5 May 2011</ref> "The numbers they're throwing around, the value of the mineral wealth in Stewart Island and Great Barrier Island – it's basically just made up," Leary said. "People might go, `Well, maybe it's worth mining Stewart Island because $7b is a lot of money', whereas in fact there's basically no way there's $7b worth [of minerals] there. What it's doing is misleading the public." | |||
Prominent political commentator and blogger, Russell Brown, criticised the Government for not undertaking a robust cost-benefit analysis and Minister of Energy Brownlee in particular for propagating estimates of mineral reserves with little scientific foundation. He referred to fellow blogger Keith Ng’s critique of gold prices – on the basis that gold was the most commonly cited mineral in the Government’s discussion paper – whose value fluctuates greatly depending on prevailing economic conditions, and Brownlee’s allusion to the overall productivity of the mining sector. | |||
“Here’s what Gerry did. He took the total worth of the mining sector, then divided it by the number of people it employed. It does not mean that more mining = higher productivity. It just means that mining is very capital-intensive and employs relatively few people, which are fairly obvious facts.”<ref>Keith Ng, Ration, then, OnPoint, Public Address news blog http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/rational-then/ retrieved 5 May 2011</ref> | |||
Brown remained realistic about the need to pay off public debt and reduce the Government’s fiscal deficits, as well as the hypocrisy of using mineral resources mined in other countries, “[b]ut if I’m to be asked to swallow a proposal whose implications stretch out for tens or hundreds of years, I expect far better than to be told by a minister that he is totting up that future on the back of a bloody envelope.”<ref>Russell Brown, The Back of a Bloody Envelope, Hard News, Public Address news blog, 23 March 2010 http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/the-back-of-a-bloody-envelope/ retrieved 5 May 2011</ref> | |||
Another prominent political commentator, Gordon Campbell, was also highly critical of the indicative figures used by Brownlee, arguing that it encourages mining companies to exaggerate estimates in order to get government backing for drilling in sensitive ecological areas to find out whether said estimates were correct or not. “Does that sound responsible – or does it sound more like the government is playing Russian roulette with the conservation estate?” asked Campbell.<ref>Gordon Campbell, Greenlight to Mining, Scoop news website, 23 March 2010 http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2010/03/23/campbell-the-government%E2%80%99s-greenlight-to-mining/ retrieved 5 May 2011</ref> | |||
Campbell also criticised the estimated value of the tiny area of Schedule 4 land (NZ$60 billion on 7,058 hectares) compared to the estimate of NZ$194 billion for New Zealand a whole. “It doesn’t make sense. Either these estimates are completely cockeyed – or else some very heavily intensive mining of these areas is being contemplated.” | |||
The problem as Campbell saw it was that the Government relied exclusively on the work of a single mining industry consultant who had admitted that his figures represented a ‘back of the envelope exercise’.<ref>Gordon Campbell, Greenlight to Mining, Scoop news website, 23 March 2010 http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2010/03/23/campbell-the-government%E2%80%99s-greenlight-to-mining/ retrieved 5 May 2011</ref> “Even then, this figure [$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> | |||
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. | |||
Oram was critical of the Government for not outlining a plan for dealing with a potentially substantial flow of money into the NZ economy. He noted that the United Kingdom had not been sensible enough to ring-fence income from its North Sea oil and gas deposits and use it as a fund to invest elsewhere in the economy. Norway, on the other hand, had invested its oil profits wisely. | |||
While Oram was generally in favour of mining because New Zealand could not morally accept the benefits of other countries mining when it did not mine its own land, he expressed incredulity that the Government wished to pick a fight over land that might produce NZ$18 billion of income (as a proportion of conservation land potentially earmarked by the Government, i.e. 500 hectares out of 7,058 hectares) when it could mine other land that did not have any of the pitfalls of Schedule 4. | |||
== Conflict == | == Conflict == | ||