Please consider submitting on the offshore mining bill: We have 4 full days left
The government wants to repeal the 2018 offshore mining ban
The National led Coalition government intends to bring back offshore oil and gas mining.
Shane Jones made that clear as soon as he got into power last year:
“Mining is coming back!” he declared in Parliament in December.
And this year: “Drill, Baby, Drill!”
It’s his brand of politics.
It feels futile but I think that’s part of their strategy. Be cool in the face of it.
5 days for submission.- including the weekend - and only published yesterday as “Crown Minerals Amendment Bill”, is an extraordinary display of disrespect for Kiwis and our democracy.
But please consider submitting anyway.
I am reliably informed it can be used by future governments.
Greenpeace NZ is working on a submission template now.
If you would like, please wait to see what their guidance is.
And an associate offered even this if you have very little time:
"I ask that this bill not be passed. If it is passed, I ask that the next government repeal it immediately and revoke all permits issued with no compensation to permit holders".
It’s a short timeline for response and something is better than nothing. (Mining facts and figures guide below for conversations with friends and family)
PS HEALTH PROTESTS: If you are in the areas, consider joining the Dunedin protest marches this weekend for the Southern region hospital and doctor training centre.
Join us at 12pm on Saturday, 28 September to show our Ministers and Members of Parliament in Wellington how hospital cuts will hurt our people, our whānau, our community, and our region!
We’ll gather at the Great King Street entrance to the University of Otago’s Dental School and then march through George Street to the Octagon, where there will be speeches.
Thank you.
SOME EXTRA STUFF
Mountain Tui Facts and Figures Guide on Mining:
Mining is a relative, sunset industry in NZ and it has been for decades - contributing 1.8% to our GDP in 2000; 1.2% in 2007 and ~0.8% to GDP in 2023 i.e It's never been a big earner here in NZ.
The NZ royalty contract specifically states we only get 1-2 c in every dollar or 5c in every dollar for petroleum. These points are in legislation.
On top of that, the foreign company owns what is mined up. They will sell it to whoever will pay them the most.
We have been left with significant clean up bills in the past, like the Tui oilfields where the foreign firm went and we were left with a ~$500mn bill i.e. close to half a billion in clean up costs.
To add insult to injury, the process is danaging to our environment, frequently harms our marine and other wildlife - plus the finite, limited resources of ours are gone
We could use the opportunity, focus and energy to grow genuinely productive, high growth industries e.g. renewables, which are the future given the definitive finite lifetime of fossil fuels, and the ongoing warming of the planet's temperatures. All insurance models model the damaging costs of climate change for a reason.
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🙋🏽♀️DONE ... and that short submission para is BRILLIANT 👏🏾
Sneaky little Orcs🤬🤬🤬
Was tempted to go to Dunedin (an old home city) to join the march, but family commitments eh? 🤷🏾♀️
Submitted.