GUEST BLOG: Shirin Brown – Auckland Council misses opportunity to oppose deep sea oil exploration

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To many of us, yesterday,  a line was drawn in the sand between those who care, and those who either aren’t smart enough to understand the challenges we face, don’t understand their constituency very well, or really don’t care.

I was proud to sit in in the Council chambers as about fifty people filed in quietly to support Greenpeace, Local Board members and Councillors seeking to oppose oil exploration permits.   All the councillors speaking against were outstanding.       

Cr. Casey made the very strong point that the the Auckland Plan is full of references to treasured islands and images of wildlife and pristine coastlines.   What is the point of having the document if we’re going to support oil drilling which flies in the face of everything the document stands for?   Cr. Watson pointed out that no-one was making credible claims about the economic benefits of oil drilling and that we need a symbolic gesture to show that drilling is not acceptable.  Cr. Darby asked why there was no mention of climate change, the effects on Auckland’s reputation, or how it fits in with Auckland’s aspirations as expressed in the Auckland Plan, and asked councillors to behave as 21st century councillors rather than being stuck in an oil dependent past.  Listen to it here.  

Those supporting drilling had what can only be described as a childish approach to the task at hand.  Cr.  Cooper and  Cr. Wood were insistent that we needed to support drilling exploration otherwise the government would exclude us from the discussion as to how exploration could be managed.  It seemed beyond them that you could oppose deep sea oil drilling but still say that you have concerns that you would like addressed if drilling is permitted.  

I think the biggest disappointment for many of us was our Mayor Len Brown.   We hoped he would use the opportunity to send a clear message to Wellington that NZers do not want drilling – from the threat it poses to species that are only found in NZ waters, to our branding, and because the potential revenue would never make up for the cost of fixing a spill.  While he acknowledged the lack of public consultation, he failed to oppose drilling outright.    Had the Mayor been supporting of the amendment, it could have gone through.  With  the precedence set by  Christchurch Council opposing drilling permits,   supporting the amendment would have been an easy choice.    

What was a little disconcerting for me was the number of references made by officers, councillors and officers as to the fact this was the third year this is being discussed, and that therefore the process is simply to follow what had been decided before and make submissions that match previous ones.  This is, however, a changing space.  Each year, awareness of climate change and the dangers of oil exploration increase so one would expect each year for the debate  to be robust – not to follow a business-as-usual-process.    

In the end, we gave it our best shot.  The amendment to oppose drilling was defeated 9-11, the motion to support drilling permits with conditions attached went through 12-8.   Cr Hulse took a measured and thoughtful approach  – to support the amendment.  Once this was defeated, she supported the motion to make sure that if the minister approves the permits for Block 16,  as he most certainly will, that there are exclusions and mitigating measures.   

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Cr Wood and Mayor Brown have the final say in the content of the submission and will hopefully redeem themselves by tightening up the final wording to protect Auckland and NZ if drilling exploration goes  horribly wrong.  

 

Shirin Brown is a teacher,  film-maker and playwright and currently teaches in digital media and film theory at AUT.     She was elected to the Waiheke Local Board in 2013 and has always felt it is important to speak out against injustice and for the rights of women and minorities.      Her early memories include standing outside the South African embassy in London,  protesting against the poll tax and demanding that the US stop their covert actions in Nicaragua.  

With acknowledgments to Greenpeace for the voting infograph.  

4 COMMENTS

  1. Well done for exposing councilors’ voting pattern. Down here is Christchurch we (KOA Canterbury) have tried to expose the councilors’ voting in regards to asset sales. What ever you think of an issue it is impossible to make an informed vote if you are not aware of voting habits of elected representatives. Reporting these is not personalising politics; it is the only way we can hold our elected representatives to task. Local media used to achieve this function but of course we no longer have reporters who sit in council meetings and report who votes which way. Well done.

  2. I would be very concerned that the Councillors were wasting time on such a discussion when there is so much that needs to be fixed in Auckland. It struck me as it was more an act of signaled virtue rather than anything serious. We do not pay these people to be sitting around discussing national issues that are best dealt with by the government.

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