The statements by the Minister of Conservation Hon Kiri Allan last Saturday are a disturbing betrayal of the Government promise to ban new mines on DOC land says conservation group Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki.

“Last week the Minister said they are “yet to make any policy decisions in regards to no new mines this term”, which is bizarre because the policy decision was made and announced in 2017. She went on to say “the Government needs to ensure mining happens in the right place, in the right way.” Which sounds like she is Minister for Mines not for Conservation, this is a clear betrayal,” says Catherine Delahunty Chairperson for Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki.

“The job of the Minister of Conservation is not to work out which land can be sacrificed from the conservation estate so that multinationals can make a mess and a profit. The job of the Minister is to protect this land and its biodiversity, including the areas that are buffer zones for rare species and are healing from previous damage from extractive industry.

Watchdog has a petition calling for an immediate moratorium on mining activity and has invited the Minister to visit the Hauraki/Coromandel to help her understand the importance of all conservation land to the local environment, economy and the future.

“We hope she will come and see for herself that gold mining has no place on or under the land she is bound to protect. Her comments have caused huge anxiety because we were expecting the new Minister would be a champion for the Government commitment reaffirmed last election to ban new mines on DOC land.

This has been a constant concerns after Dr Megan Woods comments during a press stand on 10th of September 2020 that the mining ban could not be easily progressed because a commitment to the mining industry to work through the issues . There seems to be no commitment to work through any issues with tangata whenua conservation groups and the public who have marched for the protection of Doc lands, just the industry. It’s not good enough.”

“We need to mine e waste and landfill not conservation land. That is the modern form of gold mining and it’s terrible that the Government is ignoring it and looking for excuses to keep mining DOC land," Ms Delahunty said

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