Brownlee faces anti-mining protest as he meets iwi

About 80 anti-mining protesters jeered Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee as he arrived in Thames yesterday to talk to local iwi.

The protesters waved banners and chanted as Mr Brownlee dashed from his car through the rain into the Thames War Memorial Civic Centre.

Mr Brownlee refused to answer questions from journalists as he met iwi leaders at a hui at which the Hauraki Kaumatua Kaunihera Council was invited to discuss views about opening up conservation land for mining.

Officers from the Ministry of Economic Development, Crown Minerals and the Department of Conservation were also at the hui to answer technical questions.

The Government triggered controversy in March when it identified 7058ha of land it proposes removing from Schedule Four of the Crown Minerals Act to pave the way for mining the conservation estate. The Coromandel is among the areas affected.

Mae Courtney and her partner Hona Grant travelled from Taupo to Thames to voice their concerns. Mr Grant said his main concern was the water quality.

Mrs Courtney said it would be a pity to see more areas of the Coromandel looking like Waihi, where there is an opencast gold mine and tailings dam.

"What's it going to be like for our grandchildren?" she said.

"I hope something positive will come out of this meeting. I know there's a lot of questions which need to be answered."

Amy Cooper, from the Ngati Maru tribe, travelled from Turua to hear what Mr Brownlee had to say.

"Mining has been here for generations," she said. "I hate the scarring of the land. It's quite horrible and I'd hate to see it looking like Waihi.

"If they mine underneath the ground without scarring it so much I might have to look at it again," Mrs Cooper said.

Michael Moretto, a resident of Coromandel township for nine years, said mining made no sense. "I don't want to see New Zealand make the same mistake with mining as Europe."

Jim Nicholls, chairman of the Hauraki Kaumatua Kaunihera Council, said the meeting was to give Mr Brownlee the opportunity to tell his story. "It also gives us the opportunity to tell him our story. And at some point there may or may not be a place where we can meet halfway."

Public submissions on the proposals close on May 26.

- NZPA