MONIQUE FORD/Stuff
New conservation minister Willow-Jean Prime.
The Government is working through and consulting on a possible move to place more restrictions on new mining on conservation land.
There are conversations with some interested parties and drafting of a proposal is underway, however there is no timeframe or decisions put in place yet, Stuff understands.
Questions were raised after reporting from the West Coast in the Greymouth Star and Westport News.
New conservation minister Willow-Jean Prime said in a statement final decisions on any bill had not been made, and a significant amount of policy work would still need to be done, as well as stakeholder engagement.
Prime said she would have more to say in due course.
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ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff
Green MP Eugenie Sage’s proposal to ban permits being granted on conservation land is already set to go through Parliament.
Ours Not Mines spokesperson Morgan Donoghue said he was happy with reports of a potential law change, “but we’re still pretty sceptical that they’ll actually follow through”.
“The environment is running out of time and they still seem to want to spend what little time we have left talking and not doing.
“Until this bill is passed, we will keep the pressure on to make sure this beautiful country is protected for future generations.”
Mineral and mining body Straterra CEO Josie Vidal said the industry was “blindsided” and it made a “a mockery of the stewardship land consultation”.
“Miners apply to the government to access conservation land. There is not open access. There is a rigorous process to follow and high standards of environmental management have to be met for applications to be approved.
“This is as it should be,” Vidal said.
“We don’t know what they are planning as there has been no consultation with the industry, as promised.”
Green MP Eugenie Sage’s own proposal to ban permits being granted on conservation land was already set to go through Parliament.
Sage previously said her proposed law change would be an “easy way” for the Government to implement its mining promise.
Sage on Friday welcomed the Government’s progress “to protect conservation land from new mining, a promise made in the 2017 speech from the throne, and urge the new minister to ensure it includes stewardship land”.
ACT’s energy and resources spokesperson Simon Court said the Government’s moves on mining “ignore common sense and the wellbeing of New Zealanders to kowtow to environmental activists”.
When asked about mining on conservation land in October, then-conservation minister Poto Williams said “our current process around the reclassification of stewardship land is around no new mines and fulfilling that commitment”.
Labour chose to first prioritise the re-classification of stewardship land, after former prime minister Jacinda Ardern promised to ban mining on conservation land during her first speech from the throne.
Stewardship land is land that was allocated to the Department of Conservation (DOC) when it was formed in 1987 and includes former state forest and Crown land considered to have conservation value.
