Former Conservation Minister Eugene Sage, right, with contractors at the Lower Taipo Stream Wetland, Hawke's Bay in 2019. Photo / Warren Buckland, File
Former Conservation Minister Eugene Sage, right, with contractors at the Lower Taipo Stream Wetland, Hawke's Bay in 2019. Photo / Warren Buckland, File
OPINION
It took the luck of Parliament's biscuit tin ballot to provide a long overdue opportunity to protect properly public conservation land and waters from mining.
And a chance to implement the promise in the 2017 Speech from the Throne that there would be "no new mines" on conservation land.
For me, it's unfinished business from three years as Conservation Minister from 2017-2020.
We couldn't fulfil the promise then largely because of New Zealand First. They did not want the policy applying to one-third of the conservation estate that is stewardship land.
This was despite large areas of stewardship land in South Westland being internationally recognised as part of Te Wai Pounamu, the South West New Zealand World Heritage Area, and the largest addition to a national park in our history comprising stewardship land in the Mokihinui catchment.
My Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill would prohibit any new prospecting, exploration, or mining permits from being granted on public conservation land.
It would also prevent access arrangements being granted for any such activity.
If passed by Parliament, the Bill would tip the balance in nature's favour and ensure that all 8.5 million hectares of public conservation lands and waters are protected from mining.
Under Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act 1997 only national parks, scientific and nature reserves, protected islands in the Hauraki Gulf and some other identified areas are protected from mining.
The current law leaves more than 3.5 million hectares of our conservation lands vulnerable to being drilled, blasted, dug up, cleared of their vegetation cover, and having streams diverted and polluted so they can be mined for profit.
My Bill would address that and protect all conservation land.
One-third of Aotearoa is conservation land. It should be a place where nature thrives, indigenous plants and wildlife and landscapes are guaranteed legal protection, the mauri of the natural environment is protected, materials such as kiekie can be taken for cultural and customary uses, and people can walk, picnic, kayak, hunt, or simply enjoy stunning natural landscapes.
Allowing conservation land to be mined puts these values at risk. The current law essentially says that we're willing to trade away nature for mining company profits.
Eugenie Sage. Photo / Sylvie Whinray, File
Most minerals activity in Aotearoa New Zealand occurs away from the conservation estate. But, when it does happen on conservation land, the effect can be devastating.
It can destroy habitats, permanently remove old growth forests and vegetation, demolish existing landforms, destroy cultural, geological and historic features, generate acid mine drainage, pollute waterways, and create new pit lakes, tailings reservoirs and other hazards.
In 2013, National's Conservation Minister, Dr Nick Smith, allowed Bathurst Resources to mine 106 hectares of conservation land on the Denniston Plateau for its Escarpment coal mine.
He allowed the clearance of slow-growing shrublands, the excavation of a large open coal pit and tailings reservoir, and the diversion of streams.
Falling coal prices saw the mine mothballed shortly afterwards but the landscape has been permanently changed and scarred and the ancient coal measure vegetation cannot be replaced.
In other words, once the profit dried up, the miners moved out and left irreparable harm in their wake.
Mining on conservation land is subject to much more lenient tests than most other commercial activities such as tourism. Economic criteria can influence Ministerial decisions more than environmental values.
These economic criteria, such as revenue generated and jobs created, do not apply to other commercial activities on conservation land such as applications to establish new ski-field facilities.
With mining activities, nature and conservation values can be traded away for short-term financial benefits for mining companies. This wasn't always the case.
When Parliament passed the Crown Minerals Act in 1997, the Minister of Conservation was the sole decision-maker for access applications to prospect, explore and mine conservation land.
The Minister's decision-making criteria only related to land management, not to other Government objectives. All that changed in 2013 when the National Government changed the law in favour of mining.
Since then the Minister of Energy has had a joint role in deciding applications to access public conservation land for significant exploration or mining proposals, and for underground mining.
And in making those decisions, the Ministers are required by law to consider both biodiversity and economic matters; not just conservation matters.
The public demand continues to protect conservation land properly. More than 30,000 people marched down Queen St in 2010 to protest National's proposals to open up national parks to mining.
There are strong voices to stop Oceana Gold's proposals to blast, excavate and tunnel for gold under conservation land in the Coromandel.
More recently, over 15,000 people have signed an open letter from the Green Party to the Government, calling on Government to honour its 2017 promise and ban new mining on conservation land.
My member's bill is a chance to give effect to this voice and rebalance our rules in favour of nature.
The bill would not affect any Te Tiriti o Waitangi settlement commitments, including the Ngai Tahu Pounamu Vesting Act. And it would not affect Māori customary rights to access cultural minerals on conservation land. Research for scientific purposes would also continue to be permitted under separate sections of the Crown Minerals Act.
We're calling on Labour to make good their promise in 2017 and vote to refer the Bill to select committee, so the public can have its say.
Right now, 82 per cent of native birds are threatened or at risk of extinction and more than 4000 native plants and animal species in some trouble or serious trouble.
Most of what has happened in the human history Aotearoa has occurred within the bounds of the relationship between people and land.
The health of the whenua – of Papatūānuku – was fundamental to the health and wellbeing of generations past. It remains fundamental to the health, wellbeing and identity of people today and in future.
Protecting conservation lands from mining would help secure our wellbeing and that of the indigenous plant and animal species who share these islands of Aotearoa.
• Eugenie Sage is a Green MP and former Minister of Conservation.
