Yesterday the government announced the list of 149 projects selected for fast-tracking across Aotearoa. Trans-Tasman Resources’ plan to mine the seabed off the coast of Taranaki was one of these projects.

“We are disgusted but not surprised with the government’s decision to fast-track the decimation of our seabed,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, and MP for Te Tai Hauāuru, Debbie Ngarewa- Packer.

“Seabed mining will wipe out habitats and lead to the extinction of entire species – compromising the livelihoods of our coastal communities.

“Thirty-year permits allowing plumes of sludge, sediment, and residual metals to be discharged from ships will impact ecosystems hundreds of kilometres away from the mining sites.

“This announcement will bring nothing by destruction for the people of South Taranaki, Te Tai Hauāuru, and all of Aotearoa,” said Ngarewa-Packer.

“They aren’t mining in Remuera, or Waiheke Island. Luxon is happy to line the pockets of his rich mates so long as their projects don’t affect him,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi.

“We have ministers with no experience prepared to gamble the safety of our moana with an experimental sector that failed to meet any environmental threshold in every court across Aotearoa.

“The arrogance of this government is unprecedented.

“They have ignored every piece of evidence, and they have ignored the voices of all the people who will have to deal with the consequences of their short-sighted decisions,” said Waititi.

Whatever “boost” we get for our economy, our taiao will make the real price of these destructive practices unmistakably clear.

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