The Supreme Court today granted Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) leave to appeal a 3 April Court of Appeal judgment that upheld a High Court decision which had quashed the company’s consent to dig up 50 million tonnes of the South Taranaki Bight seabed every year for 35 years.
It granted leave to appeal, the approved question being whether the Court of Appeal was correct to dismiss TTR’s appeal. It has invited the Attorney General to intervene on the Te Tiriti o Waitangi issues.
“We will fight this every step of the way, and that includes defending the very strong decision of the Court of Appeal,” said Cindy Baxter, chairperson of Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, a community group that has successfully opposed every application for seabed mining so far made in Aotearoa.
“This is an extremely important case for this country, will set a precedent for this extremely damaging and experimental industry, and we will be doing our best to defend ocean protection on behalf of the many coastal communities we represent.”
Jessica Desmond, oceans campaigner at Greenpeace, agrees that New Zealanders will not give up the fight to protect the oceans from seabed mining.
“We are disappointed that community and environmental groups will have to continue litigating this,” she says.
“This international mining company is unwelcome on the shores of New Zealand, and thousands of us have shown that by resisting this mine for years. But we’re not going to give up now.
“Alongside our allies, we will continue to resist this destructive industry from damaging the precious South Taranaki Bight, and all the wildlife that finds a home there.
“They might have deep pockets, but we’ve got people power, and together we will continue working to protect the blue whales, Māui dolphins and countless other species that would be impacted by their plunder.”
Trashing the environment for profit. Typical corporate drongos who must be stopped.
Hard when our laws now seem to be more for destroying the planet and rewarding those that destroy it, than supporting fair and sustainable laws.
Sand mining, gold mine and very destructive.
The Hidden Environmental Toll of Mining the World’s Sand
By far the largest mining endeavor globally is digging up sand, mainly for the concrete that goes into buildings. But this little-noticed and largely unregulated activity has serious costs — damaging rivers, wreaking havoc on coastal ecosystems, and even wiping away entire islands.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/the-hidden-environmental-toll-of-mining-the-worlds-sand
We have people living in poverty https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/305949/child-who-has-lived-in-van-has-message-for-pm why is NZ giving away our water and sand and natural resources to individual overseas based private interests?
Transtasman Resources to go public in backdoor listing on ASX via Manhattan Corp
Shares of both companies are expected to vote on the deal on April 10.
https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/transtasman-resources-go-public-backdoor-listing-asx-manhattan-corp-b-211842
“TTR, meanwhile, has been given consent to mine iron sands from the ocean floor in New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the South Taranaki Bight. The project aims to extract 50 million tonnes of seabed material a year to export up to 5 million tonnes of iron sand per year and is expected to generate an annual $400 million in export revenue. Different environmental and lobby groups, however, have appealed that decision. TTR also has a prospecting permit for an area off the west coast of the South Island.
The merger “offers Manhattan shareholders and new investors exposure to the potential development of a world-class offshore titanomagnetite and heavy minerals sands mining projects,” the Australian company said.
TTR shareholders will receive 3,611 new Manhattan ordinary shares and 3,611 new Manhattan performance shares for each TTR ordinary or preference share held prior to the amalgamation. The performance shares will convert to ordinary shares on a one-for one basis if and when appeals against TTRs project are dismissed and Manhattan is satisfied the project has the necessary consent with no further rights or appeal or a change of control event occurs regarding Manhattan, it said.
If those shares convert, TTR shareholders will end up with about 90 percent of the listed company.
The transaction will be subject to requisite independent reports as well as approval by shareholders in both companies. As it will also change the nature or scale of Manhattan’s operations it will require re-compliance with ASX listing rules.
A minimum A$4 million capital raising is also planned to fund future exploration, mine development and working capital requirements. It has not yet determined the size, pricing or structure and whether it will be underwritten. The capital raising is expected to open March 18 and close on April 24.
The Australian company’s current assets will increase by A$3.3 million, which includes the net proceeds of the capital raising and TTR’s expected cash balance. Its non-current assets will increase by approximately A$50 million, including the fair value of TTR’s non-cash assets, primarily drilling technology and capitalised exploration and development expenditure and drilling technology.
Alan Eggers, TTR executive chairman, currently holds 23.66 percent of Manhattan and 41.12 percent of TTR. Once the deal is finalised he will have 41.53 percent of the new company. John Seton currently holds 16.99 percent of Manhattan and 35.05 percent of TTR. He will hold 34.93 percent of the new company.”
And let’s face it, there are few local jobs that are much touted at the consents stage, only debts and environmental waste left by these corporate raiders and this is contributing to the world’s inequality. Just look around at NZ from Tamarind to Rio Tinto. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/121961383/oil-rig-workers-claim-unfair-treatment-in-a-system-rotten-to-the-core https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/118332123/tamarind-taranaki-placed-into-liquidation-after-watershed-meeting-with-creditors
NZ urgently needs to get real and start planning for sustainability and public good not gross individual corporate profits masquerading as local jobs and and doing the opposite taking money away from the community who are left with the environmental and economic destruction in it’s wake.
Their executive team, board of directors
https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/3661706Z:NZ
Of course the widely regarded Jenny Shipley is on there, she’s happy to ok millions in ‘loans’ to anybody who asks from overseas as a valuable no questions asked, placeholder board member … Sarcasm.
Mainzeal case: $36m penalty stands against Jenny Shipley, other directors
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12253682
Mainzeal’s Yan says NZ laws don’t apply in China, won’t pay back $18m
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12271022
It’s the workers and community and consumers that pay for this! Not fair our laws keep allowing the same shit to reoccur!
Mainzeal failed while parent made billions
“Richina, the Chinese parent company of failed New Zealand construction company Mainzeal, owns assets potentially worth billions of dollars, according to information from the ongoing High Court hearing in Auckland. Investors in Richina, including Mainzeal directors Richard Yan and Dame Jenny Shipley, now have stakes worth millions – on paper at least. Yet despite significant loans from Mainzeal to Richina, no one could keep the New Zealand company afloat, or avoid losses to unsecured creditors of more than $115 million.”
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/10/23/288481/mainzeal-failed-while-parent-made-billions
With mining it is even worse than Mainzeal, as it is irreplaceable damage being allowed to occur for decades.
Waiting for the mining appeals to end and get to legally steal public resources, is very profitable!
“The performance shares will convert to ordinary shares on a one-for one basis if and when appeals against TTRs project are dismissed and Manhattan is satisfied the project has the necessary consent with no further rights or appeal or a change of control event occurs regarding Manhattan, it said.”
https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/transtasman-resources-go-public-backdoor-listing-asx-manhattan-corp-b-211842
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