Today, the Greens are announcing that a Green Government will commit to revoking any consents or permits handed out under the fast-track process for coal, Hardrock gold and seabed mining.
“The fast-track process fails even the most basic standards of transparency, accountability, and environmental protection,” says Green Party Co-leader, Marama Davidson.
“We can have an economy that employs people without destroying the ecological basis of our existence for the profits of the few. But, if we are serious about leaving behind a liveable planet for our mokopuna, we must invest in industries which build our country up, rather than tear it open.
“These forms of mining are deeply destructive, boom-and-bust industries; extracting resources, selling them off overseas, and leaving our communities to pick up the pieces. We believe our country, our whenua, is worth more.
“The Greens are making this announcement today, before any consents are issued, to ensure complete transparency.
“Today, we are putting the Seabed mining, Hardrock gold mining and Coal mining industries – and their investors – on notice. Your fast-track consents are not safe, and they are not secure.
The commitment would mean the controversial seabed mining off Taranaki by Australian miner Trans-Tasman Resources, and destruction of the rare West-Coast ecology of the Denniston Plateau by Australian coal-miner Bathurst Resources would not proceed under a Green Government even if consented through fast-track.
“Our commitment is clear. We will revoke these consents. Our responsibility to our communities, now and into the future, demands nothing less,” says Marama Davidson.