Cabinet will finally decide today whether it will go ahead with its proposal to open up the Coromandel, Great Barrier Island and Paparoa National Park to mining.
John Key was interviewed on RNZ on this issue. His continual references to wealth creation, and batting away of the more than 40,000 submissions by stating that there were thousands of people who didn’t bother to submit, suggests which way the decision will go.
Stay tuned.
Grist for the mill, I would say, J.A.
Labour wins either way.
Yes, they will try to look like the good guys
!!!!
I think you’ll find it’s the Greens that have done and continue the hard yards on this issue, but no doubt you’ll take the glory.
Oh come on S imon,
, Labour had their own petition and did a lot of work themselves. I acknowledge the Greens have worked hard on this but so have Labour 
So I take it you’re not the S imon who doesn’t believe in climate change?
@Simon Both the Greens and Labour have worked hard on this one Simon, and so have NGOs like Forest and Bird, Greenpeace and Coromandel Watchdog. If the Government backs down it’s a win for everyone.
There is a real electoral threat for National, Central Auckland and party vote damage in the Waikato(Hamilton moves to the Coromandel over summer).
I’m sure Crosby Textor have been running the numbers and figuring out the spin.
I used the info supplied by Coromandel Watchdog for my submission. Labour seemed to get more media time than most.
Excellent – I hope the nats have the courage to make the right long terms decision for NZ and progress the mining proposals and exploit NZs mineral wealth for our long term benefits. Minig will lead to economic growth and new jobs and new industry.
In spite of what the fear mongers say, it will not impact at all on tourism.
I’m sure you’re right, Monty, there are always people who will pay to see a good ruin
@Monty
What evidence do you have that it will not affect tourism? or indeed the clean green image point of difference much of our exported produces relies on in international markets?
I agree with you completely. That interview on RNZ was outrageous. I was almost shouting for Geoff to interrupt JK.
Ok JK, if that arguement holds true, only 1,000,000 bothered to vote for National at the last election, which means that 3,000,000 didn’t feel strongly about getting National into parliament.
Also if you sign your name to a pre written document that makes it your opinion. It doesn’t make it any less valid than someone else’s just because they wroite an individual submission. Hugely undemocratic logic he was using.
Agreed, most people don’t have time to put in submissions so signing does show their feelings!
The fantastic thing about this campaign was that many groups from across NZ came together to fight against something they believe is wrong. Many Labour and Green party members were out there getting submissions, leafleting, Facebooking, calling and protesting about the Governments proposed actions.
This campaign has showed what political parties can achieve when we join together with community groups like Coromandel Watchdog, Forest and Bird, Greenpeace and others. If John Key announces further mining on conservation land today it wont be because he is listening to NZ and it wont be through a lack of kiwis having a say, mainly through the community campaigns.
I am disappointed by John Key dismissing proforma submissions. What he doesn’t understand is that unfortunately many kiwis don’t have the language skills to write a submission to Government or even if they do have the skills they want guidance so that they know they are getting the language right.
Many New Zealanders are busy with work and families and simply do not have the time to make a full submission. They knowingly signed their name to the submissions and therefore they should be considered the same as any other submission. Dismissing any submission whether it be 5 pages typed and printed or 1 paragraph hand written is an attack on democracy that I wont condone.
^ +1 to what you said Kate.
+2 Kate.
well said
I said it first.
bryce, children and some prisoners can’t vote…
My prediction is Grt Barrier will be taken off the table and (Maybe) Coromandel, at least watered down…
Inangahua will get the green light…
The weekend showed these guys consider they have the mandate to do everything except sell state owned assets…yet.
Monty, I guess my concern is that we keep looking backwards, our policies and “ideas” are backward looking not forward looking. Is mining really the future for NZers? The numbers dont look great to me. The jobs are not huge, the profits will go offshore, the royalties small… and wont it be 10- 20 years before any actual mining begins?
can children and prisoners give submissions?
if the later can, someone tell Paul Quin, another travesty in our prisons must be stopped.
Richard Shaw said
“What evidence do you have that it will not affect tourism?
The fact that existing Mines do not affect tourism.In fact tourism has been rising regardless of them
“I’m sure Crosby Textor have been running the numbers and figuring out the spin”
If you are so sure, please provide some evidence…Afterall, you demand it of others.
In that case +1 to you too Spud.
David said:
just beware, more and more overseas commentators are noting inconsistencies in NZ’s environmental behaviour vis a vis our “PURE” marketing campaign.
Tourism may still be growing but we do not need that growth to be constrained by an increasingly bad rep – and that is exactly what has happened on the international students education front.
Tracey, National are finding that their ideology is incompatible with taking the steps required to grow the economy in a high tech, added value kind of way. Strip and sell is all they have left, in addition to giving the multinationals free reign to drop our wages and lower our working conditions.
Loota, it’s amazing how many folks fall for the shallow thinking, scary even.
@David
Article in the Economist – as referred to in this:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/blogs/opinion/3511832/Mining-our-special-places-risks-tarnishing-forever-New-Zealands-clean-green-image
Proof of actual NZ loss of market access due to poor environmental performance..
>Last year Waitrose, the UK supermarket chain used by the royal family, announced it no longer stocked New Zealand caught hoki as it failed to meet the store’s sustainability policy prompting headlines reading “No hoki for Queen”
Google it because if I put the link this goes into moderation land. Orange Roughy went the same way.
Haven’t you been polled by an innocuous polling company? Where do you think the data ends up?
The last one I did was by telephone about was 3 months or so ago. From memory, I think it was sea bed and foreshore orientated stuff.
Where there is stinking NACT smoke Crosby Textor is bellowing the flames.
@Loota: I was going to post on the above, but you’ve echoed my thoughts exactly. I think if too many of the mining profits are funnelled overseas, it could be a bigger issue than the environmental and tourism factors.
Once again, the ideology in question is about being a ‘little suburban America’ as David Harris put it.
@Richard Shaw: If NZ is utterly backed into a corner, I suspect we’ll probably respond to it like the pro-whalers in Japan repsonded to Pete Bethune.
I have had the privilege of interviewing three MPs (One Labour, One National, One Green) on Mining in National Parks and must say that the Labour MP (Will not name to conceal my identity) was very reasonable.
I personally see room to loosen Schedule 4- as not all land in it is ‘the best of the best’ but there is some land I would never let be mined due to outstanding natural beauty and importance to New Zealand.
@DeepRed your probably right; although some of our other trading partners don’t have much regard for their environment let alone ours.
@Loota – thanks man
@K iwit een – well National thought it was precious enough to put into schedule 4 in the first place.
@Spud.
Some land.has been added under Labour
There is so much land out there why does NACT have to focus on schedule 4.
Like a bad manager prodding at his subordinates with random threats and outrageous disrespect to see if they will let him get away with doling out mistreatment.
A power trip in other words.
Sounds like Gerry “greedy guts” Brownlee will be doing some political moon walking tomorrow; that is pretending to go forward whilst backing down rapidly…hooray!
@K iwi teen – good on Labour for being environmentally conscious
http://www.3news.co.nz/National-U-turn—no-mining-on-conservation-land/tabid/419/articleID/166527/Default.aspx?ArticleID=166527
@Spud.
Yes, good on them.
At the expense of the economy I note…
We’re not going to agree on this, but I will say that Labour kept the economy humming along pretty nicely when they were in power, low unemployment and a good direction for the country
– I miss you guys 
There was low unemployment under Labour- but they were in Government in great economic times worldwide.
They did not deliver tax cuts etc. to prepare us for the coming downtimes.
@Kiwiteen
Debt was paid off reducing the government debt level from 20% to near 0. Hard to have it both ways…where would you have liked to have seen budget cuts to give tax cuts?
The housing bubble is what stuffed us, cheap credit, poor monetary policy and lack of saving.
English is taxing the poor more and taxing the rich less in a vain hope that this will create economic growth…it won’t.
Richard, perhaps he can take his cue from McCully who agreed tot he exact deal he spat the dummy over and called it a compromise he’d worked hard on.
Brownlee will have to choke when he says ” we listened to the people”
Oh, and can the media stop calling English a farmer, previously or otherwise. It’s like saying I spent a day at the NZX so used to be a day trader.
has China given big tax cuts recently, out of interest, does anyone know?
Far North mining? More hippies than Parnell has BMWs and a fair number of Maori activists that won’t like the idea of mining near Cape Reianga. I wonder if he has ever been up there?
Wonkey Jonkey is still looking for a fight.
Bring it on.
Tracey, don’t know answer to your question, but the Chinese Govt is looking at ways of braking their runaway growth situation for the interests of sustainability and inflation control. It appears that 9-10% growth per quarter is the level that they would be comfortable with at this stage.
So no tax cuts if it were my gues, if anything tax increases. Also a lot of large enterprise in China is state owned anyways.
Loota problem is they need to get some internal demand going with consumer spending. I believe this is what was behind the recent “allowable” workers actions and pay rises.
@Richard
I read your Economist article and can see you are one of those people who accept opinion as fact. The IPCC would love you!
Happily the Herald provides us with some facts. Visitor numbers are up,
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10660234