Thursday, April 14, 2011 – Wellington

Forest & Bird media release for immediate use

Government ignores New Zealanders on mining

Forest & Bird said today that the government is ignoring the wishes of New Zealanders by increasing the size of its business unit aimed at expanding the mining and oil industries.

The Ministry of Economic Development (MED) announced a bigger business group would be set up to maximise the development of oil, gas and mineral resources. The expanded MED business unit will see staff numbers rise from around 40 to about 70.

The announcement showed Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee was ignoring the wishes of New Zealanders, Forest & Bird Advocacy Manager Kevin Hackwell said.

“New Zealanders have already spoken out with a clear voice against mining in national parks and they don’t want to see more effort put into mining,” he said.

“Up to 50,000 people marched in Auckland last year against mining in our most treasured natural areas and many thousands more protested around the country. The government should have got the message by now.”

The government was forced in July last year to back down on plans to mine some of the highest value conservation land by removing three areas from Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act, a list of areas where mining is forbidden.

The government says more mining is needed to boost the economy but our much more valuable tourist industry – our biggest employer – is dependent on its 100% Pure brand and the protection of our world famous natural environment, Kevin Hackwell said.

“Spending more on our national parks and other natural areas would be a much more effective way of increasing our income from overseas and giving immediate assistance to the economy.”

Furthermore, the value of conservation to our economy is proven, while oil and mineral exploration is a high risk activity, with failures vastly outnumbering successes, he said.

“By putting public money into mineral exploration, the government is doing the equivalent of buying lotto tickets. Economic research carried out during last year’s mining debate shows that the money would be much better spent on almost any other part of the economy, including conservation.”

ENDS

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