Editorial: Key on right track with mining move

Clearly, the Government is keen for some land in the Crown estate to be opened up for mining. The Prime Minister, John Key, essentially said as much in his statement to the opening of Parliament. Significant changes would be made to Schedule 4, the section of the Crown Minerals Act that prohibits mining on specified areas of Crown land, he said.

But, equally, the Government is worried about the sensitivities raised by the extracting of minerals from national parks or other conservation land. It has paid rather too much heed to these by tip-toeing around the issue for the past few months.

Mr Key's statement was a welcome signal of intent. It should be the prelude to the Government assuaging worries by explaining the benefits of mining and how concerns about the environment will be addressed.

This would surely be more productive than the tortuous approach since September, when the Resources Minister first spoke of plans to provide "a solid platform for improving and increasing access to conservation land for responsible mineral exploration and mining activity".

The ensuing outrage from conservation groups led the Prime Minister to insist this was all about a stocktake of valuable minerals in Crown land, including the Department of Conservation estate. That was somewhat disingenuous, in that the aim of such a stocktake was, obviously, to discover the potential for mining.

The Government's conciliatory attitude did not stop there. It also ordered a discussion document for public consultation on possible changes to Schedule 4.

That is soon to be released. In the interim, however, Mr Key has, rightly, decided to be more forthright.

His statement to Parliament stole the discussion document's thunder by noting its recommendation that some areas of Crown land should be removed from Section 4. He also rendered the document largely redundant by stating that, "notwithstanding the public consultation process, it is my expectation that the Government will act on at least some of these recommendations and make significant changes to Section 4".

Mr Key justified his new-found resolve by pointing to mining's potential to increase economic growth and jobs. Any new mines on conservation land would also meet strict environmental tests, he said.

But, yet again, there was a sop for hardline environmentalists in the form of a new Conservation Fund, which would draw on royalty revenue from mining on Crown land to fund conservation projects. This is unlikely to win much applause, given the fund flourishes only if mining is flourishing.

There is, in fact, no need for such concessions. Obviously, a balance needs to be struck between the economic benefits of mining for a region and the national economy and the risk of disfiguring the environment.

The previous government tilted matters too far towards environmental protection. A more balanced approach acknowledges the untapped riches - put at 70 per cent of the country's potential mineral wealth - tied up in the Crown estate. New Zealand can no more disregard that than it can afford damage to its environmental attributes.

A balanced approach also recognises that not all Crown land is the stuff of pristine scenery or majestic native forest. So large is the Crown estate - it occupies about 30 per cent of New Zealand's land mass - that there is major potential for mining in selected lower-value areas using modern, relatively non-invasive extraction methods.

This land should not be off limits. Mr Key knows as much. Encouragingly, he is finally showing signs that he also knows the time for prevarication is over.