Labour strikes gold over mining

"Privatisation, privatisation," boomed Labour's Shane Jones in Parliament yesterday, interrupting Nick Smith in mid-sentence just as the Environment Minister was mounting a strong case for water meters for those who use a lot of the stuff.

Such interjections from Jones are not infrequent. They invariably repeat two words much in the manner of a parrot perched on a pirate's shoulder squawking "pieces of eight, pieces of eight".

For once, however, Jones was not the only one in Labour's ranks in the mood for squawking.

It is impossible to overestimate the positive impact on Labour's morale of Saturday's mass protest against National's intention to allow mining in national parks.

The sight of thousands marching down Auckland's Queen St had Labour MPs still smiling deliriously yesterday.

At last - their expressions seemed to be sighing in relief - a significant portion of voters had fallen out with John Key over something and in spectacular proportions.

Even if the actual numbers marching were at the lower end of estimates, which vary from 15,000 to as high as 40,000, they will be of serious worry to the Prime Minister.

What such numbers should tell Key is that while the country may be split relatively evenly on the merits of the mining policy, those who oppose it do so with a passion.

In the Prime Minister's absence - he returns from his "secret mission" to Afghanistan today - Labour yesterday targeted the two underlings responsible for the policy, Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee and Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson.

They tried to avoid being provoked into saying something they might regret. There was more soothing talk about the policy impacting only on "discrete" parts of the Conservation estate, that the current discussion document was not a "decision" document and, finally, that removal of protection did not necessarily mean mining would take place.

At the same time, the pair were not auditioning to be punchbags for Labour.

Brownlee sought to downplay Saturday's march, saying some of the placards indicated some people had taken part simply because it was May Day - the day leftists traditionally hold rallies worldwide to protest about whatever takes their fancy.

Brownlee claimed the 2004 Hikoi of Hope on Maori ownership of the foreshore and seabed had been the biggest protest in a generation but "that did not stop Labour from doing exactly what it wanted and leaving the country with an absolute mess".

Further attempting to puncture Labour's cockiness, Brownlee then held up a photograph of Labour Party members visiting the Pike River coal mine on the West Coast, part of which reaches underground into the neighbouring Paparoa National Park.

"I can only assume that they were there to tell the workers that if Labour ever becomes Government again, it will be shutting them down."

Both he and Wilkinson alluded to the last Labour Government granting permits for mining operations on protected land. On closer inspection, it turned out one of the three permits was granted when National was last in power, another was in a Department of Conservation-approved gold fossicking area, and the third was granted before the relevant national park was gazetted as an area protected from mining.

It was not particularly convincing evidence that Labour had sanctioned the same kind of mining operations that National intends to allow on such land. Moreover, the current debate is not about what Labour did, it is about what National intends to do.

That was what Saturday's march was all about. The huge turnout suggests National has lost the political argument hands down. Once he has taken off his army fatigues, the Prime Minister has some hard thinking to do.