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An estimated 40,000 marchers joined one of the biggest protests in Auckland for decades today, to give the government a firm message to stay away from mining on conservation land.
Marchers left the bottom of Queen St about 11am and by the time the first of them arrived at Myers Park, just below Karangahape Rd, they were still leaving the bottom of Queen St.
The protest blocked most of Queen St for at least an hour, but it shows how passionate New Zealanders are about protecting conservation land from mining, says Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei.
The government has announced plans to open 7,058 hectares of protected conservation land and marine reserves for mining, while adding protected status to a further 12,400ha. It says the value of resources underground could be $140 billion.
However, Turei says the numbers being "bandied around" are estimates and based on superficial core samples.
She says the figures have not been substantiated, and people are saying to the government there are some places which "were out of bounds for mineral exploitation".
"This is the government trying to satisfy the interests of the mining industry over the interests of the New Zealand public.
"They want to sell off these assets to private interests, knowing they will get less than 1% of the royalties back, spinning industry numbers about the jobs that might be created."
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee says the level of support today is not surprising, saying it always expected strong public opposition to its mining proposal.
"We alway knew this is a contentious issue, but it's no less contentious than what is New Zealand going to do if we don't grow our economy at a much faster rate than we have done," he says.
"We're not saying that this is the silver bullet. We asked New Zealanders what they thought and they're telling us."
And the message from Kiwis is loud and clear.
"More than 50% of the country does not want schedule four land mined," says Turei.
She says the government is backing off its plans because of the widespread public opposition to mining on schedule four land, and the public wish for protection of conservation land.
She also says the government has failed to consult Maori about the impact on them of mining the lands.
Protesters are concerned about harm to the economy, the country's "clean green" brand and the tourism industry.
"These plans are an attack on our values, that we believe our country is worth protecting, that the environment provides us with essential ecosystems services that we cannot get from elsewhere - health and soil, clean water, bio-diversity.
"Those things are not negotiable," she says.
What do you think about proposals to mine conservation areas? Share your thoughts on the messageboard below.
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Add a Comment:
Post new commentmenacerec said on 2010-07-24 @ 00:53 NZDT: Report abusive post
John needs the boot... not just for this either.
menacerec said on 2010-07-24 @ 00:49 NZDT: Report abusive post
No hawthorne, what National have done is gone back on multiple significant election promises. Their economic policies have already shown to correlate with increases in income inequality. They are increasing our debt in order to give the upper 5% of earners the greatest tax cuts, although 75% of the population is hardly left with enough to live on. They are further cutting the rights of workers in favour of big businesses, their true agenda is quite clear.
irwin said on 2010-07-21 @ 11:05 NZDT: Report abusive post
The protest actions taken by my fellow NZers and the governments decision not to proceed with the mining on DOC land makes me very proud to be a Kiwi. This is democracy at its finest and those people who say the government should never investigated it in the first place have lost the plot. The people have spoken and the government has listened. Great.
ukustarmitch said on 2010-07-21 @ 10:01 NZDT: Report abusive post
HAHAHA this is too funny. How dare they consider destroying our beautiful landscape! National, you did the right thing, but don't expect me to vote for you in next years election
SantaCruz66 said on 2010-07-21 @ 08:54 NZDT: Report abusive post
Simply a matter of matter that Gerry doesn't want to mine what he can't walk around. 50k kiwis marched because Gerry et al missed the point. Good democracy for sure but political ineptitude and appalling stewardship - all Gerry had to do was announce it the conference and he would have been fine :)