The Green Party has welcomed the decision to reject plans to mine the Taranaki seabed.
The fast-track approvals panel released a draft decision released on Thursday, rejecting Trans-Tasman Resources’ (TTR) proposal to extract 50 million tonnes of seabed material annually for 30 years in the South Taranaki Bight.
The panel concluded there was a credible risk of harm to Māui dolphins, kororā/little penguins, and fairy prions. It also noted uncertainty about the scale of the sediment plume and the level of underwater noise the project would generate.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said the decision was a major victory for both the environment and the local community.
“We’re absolutely delighted to see the proposal not backed. Even the government’s own panel have come out and said seabed mining has little regional or national benefit and that it would only benefit destructive corporations,” Davidson said.
“It’s an incredible win for the environment, but massive props to the local campaigns, local community people, iwi, NGOs, researchers, scientists, fishers, just regular, ordinary people who care, who have said the same thing for many years and have fought hard and long.”
Davidson said any appeal by the mining company would amount to putting profit ahead of people and the environment.
“How silly would they look? The message is already very clear. This is destructive, overrides local community voices and Te Tiriti, and it’s harmful and dangerous to our environment, which people actually care about.”
“They have no support.”
She said the draft ruling established a precedent and signalled to the government that seabed mining was a “dumb idea.”
Davidson said that if the government was banking on seabed mining to drive economic growth, it was “at a dead end.”
“It will not work.”
TTR was given until 19 February to respond to the decision.