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John Key -
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John Key expects more mining in Crown land, which includes our
national parks. Is this going to be his year for living
dangerously?
To date, caution has been the mark of the John Key government. At
mid-term, he now seems ready to take some risks and spend some
political capital.
What else can you say when he promises there will be more mining on
Crown land in New Zealand "notwithstanding public consultation" on
a discussion document proposing changes to Schedule 4 of the Crown
Minerals Act - the schedule that specifies areas where mining is
currently prohibited?
The new Greens leadership - Russell Norman and Metiria Turei - must
have been waiting for this mana from heaven: the magic carpet that
will carry their party back to parliament in the absence of the
experienced and widely-trusted Jeanette Fitzsimons and sadly-missed
Rod Donald.
Last December, the Greens released a leaked copy of a Department of
Conservation email to Ngai Tahu seeking the tribe's view on
removing 20% of the Mount Aspiring National Park from the
protective schedule.
At the time, Gerry Brownlee, the Minister leading the Schedule 4
review, kicked for touch. He said he was still waiting for reports
from his officials in the Ministries of Energy and Resources and
Economic Development.
Now, the Prime Minister announces on TVNZ's Q+A that the Green's
dream-nightmare will come true: there will be more mining on Crown
land, "notwithstanding public consultation" - and Norman is up
there, hard on his heels, to ram the message home.
Now, Turei can wheel out their next secret document - a letter to
the Prime Minister from the prestigious conservationists of the
renowned Sierra Club, warning that "long term protection should not
be sacrificed for immediate commercial gain".
The Greens follow this with a caution that "mining our conservation
land will be costly to our tourism industry and export industries
that rely on our clean, green brand" The irony of this statement
seems to escape them: protect the conservation estate from mining
to save tourism. Not so long ago, they were crying out to have the
conservation estate protected from tourism.
The Labour-led opposition seems content to let the Greens lead on
this one, probably wisely. Their record on mining Crown land is not
virginal. Instead, they focused on another plum dropped during
Key's appearance on Q+A: Key's connection with an Australian
uranium miner.
Interviewer Guyon Espiner shook the tree when he confronted the
Prime Minister with his declaration in the Parliamentary register
of interests showing that, in June 2009, Key had owned shares in a
small Australian mining company, Jackson Mining, that had merged
with a larger enterprise, Cauldron Energy, that has uranium and
other mining interests in Australia and Argentina.
The thrust of Espiner's questions was: had Key considered divesting
himself of those shares to avoid conflict of interest while he was
reviewing mining issues in New Zealand - and now he was the leader
of a nuclear-free country?
"Well I could do it if people want," Key responded, and after the
interview, he told reporters he would.
By question time the next day, Labour's Pete Hodgson was primed for
attack. Key simply jinked and jived his way round Hodgson's attempt
to pin him on the conflict of interest issue. He had already gained
a clearance on that rap from the Cabinet Office.
The Labour-aligned blog, The Standard, also sailed into Key with a
whole series of questions and some
credibility-related comments that would have
earned the author a very cold shower if they'd been made in
Parliament . Why had Key suggested that Jackson Mining was "just an
Aussie gold mining company when he bought them"? How did Key know
that there had been a merger, and not, say, takeover or just a
sale, if he didn't know about it before this question was asked?
How didn't he know this company was involved in uranium mining when
it has been the company's major focus for several years? And what
about his promise during the campaign row over his Tranzrail shares
to put all his assets into a blind trust?
The answers are pretty simple. Key says he bought the share in
2001. Then, the company was listed as Jackson Gold. It became
Jackson Minerals in 2007. He didn't say it was "just an Aussie gold
mining company." He said it had "a small gold mine." He knew there
had been a merger because Espiner had already told him there was
one. Check the
transcript. That was the first he'd heard about
it. Jackson's merger with Scimitar [now Cauldron] last year was
when the company's major focus shifted to uranium mining.
Key did not promise to put all his assets into a blind trust during
the row about his Tranzrail share holding. He said his Tranzrail
shares were held in a family trust, managed by a broker reporting
to a solicitor acting as an independent trustee, able to act
without reference to him personally.
Furthermore, he placed his ownership of the Jackson Mining shares
on the public record in the Parliamentary register midway through
last year - an act that makes his possession of mining company
shares more transparent than it would be if they were veiled inside
a blind trust.
As for the Prime Minister's assertion that there will be more
mining on Crown land, it is simply a statement of fact.
In the year ended last June, without any review of policy, the
Department of Conservation received 27 applications for access to
prospect, explore, or mine in conservation areas. Twenty-one were
approved, six decisions are pending and none were declined. It is
all on the public record in the Local Government & Environment
Select Committee financial review of the Department, released last
week.
Perhaps John Key is not having a year of living dangerously after
all.
Read more of
David Beatson's blogs on pundit.co.nz
