April 24, 2017
Sea mining stoush promotes Government agenda
Green MP Gareth Hughes says the process to decide on whether an Australian company can mine 50 million tonnes of ironsand off the south Taranaki coast is looking increasingly unfair.
Opponents including iwi, environmentalists and fishing companies are crying foul at the Environment Protection Agency's decisions to give Trans Tasman Resources more time to come up with evidence about the likely effect of the sediment plume created by its activities.
Mr Hughes says the company is trying for a second bite after almost an identical plan was rejected three years ago.
He says this time the EPA seems to be taking more notice of what the Government wants.
"The Government's just passed a law that means an independent hearings commission, which is what this is, will in the future be decided by Nick Smith, the Environment Minister. He would pick the panelists which is all about getting the Government's agenda forward which is promoting seabed mining which I think is a terrible industry," Mr Hughes says.
He says the Government has so far not accepted the challenge to the plan contained in a mass haka done when a petition opposing the seabed mining was presented to parliament.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH GARETH HUGHES
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