Mining in conservation land

The Government is proposing opening up more than 7000 hectares of conservation land to mining.

The land includes some areas in the Coromandel Peninsula, and the Inangahua sector of Paparoa National Park.

The proposal has just been released by Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee and Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson.

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I'm okay with it for now. The government seems to be taking a slow and sensible approach to this.

I don't care if it's mined, I do care if NZ reaps little financial gain from it (in scale with the potential profits) and I do care if they import workers to operate the mine (like they did in Martha Mine).

If there's significant benefits to NZ as a result, then I'm all for it.

Conservation... knee-jerk reaction, but I am happy doing that on occasion.

I'm pretty much with Wai on this...Would hate to see some overseas company come in and take everything over...

"It's only a small amount of land" is not a good argument in my opinion. It sets a precedent, and makes it easier to ask for a wee bit more. Those billions sound like a lot of money, but they are quickly gone up in smoke ... in the case of the coal deposits - literally! The money will be gone years before the land even begins to recover much. It makes a mockery of 'conservation' to be able to change one's mind about its status. Sure, people are more important than trees etc in one sense, and money can help people, but in reality, only the sustainable generation of money helps people in the long run.

Already we have too little 'conservation' land in that we have isolated pockets of saved land which doesn't allow for things such as kiwi migration, etc. We need more not less.

relict wrote:Already we have too little 'conservation' land in that we have isolated pockets of saved land which doesn't allow for things such as kiwi migration, etc. We need more not less.

Too little?

____ wrote:

relict wrote:Already we have too little 'conservation' land in that we have isolated pockets of saved land which doesn't allow for things such as kiwi migration, etc. We need more not less.

Too little?

Ha, suck it Sweden

Conservation gets my vote ...lets capitilse even more on our international branding ...we make billions as is and we can sure as hell make billions more....point in case the caving discovery just recently...Dase 2...A close personal friend runs the ONLY skydive tandem/freefall/any other freaky skydive jump you care to mention school in the world! there are students pouring in from everywhere and this school places them in full time employment all over the world
I have spoken with these junkies and NZ to them is the adventure capital of the world.

They pay upwards of twenty thousand to come here, that doesn't include the economic boost to the methven community who get to accomadate these students ..nor their disposable income for local entertainment..I fucking HATE the idea of mining.

woody67 wrote:Conservation gets my vote ...lets capitilse even more on our international branding ...we make billions as is and we can sure as hell make billions more....point in case the caving discovery just recently...Dase 2...A close personal friend runs the ONLY skydive tandem/freefall/any other freaky skydive jump you care to mention school in the world! there are students pouring in from everywhere and this school places them in full time employment all over the world
I have spoken with these junkies and NZ to them is the adventure capital of the world.

They pay upwards of twenty thousand to come here, that doesn't include the economic boost to the methven community who get to accomadate these students ..nor their disposable income for local entertainment..I fucking HATE the idea of mining.

How much are they worth to NZ once they've gotten their training and left?

How much are they worth to NZ once they've gotten their training and left?

Heaps in word-of mouth advertising?

Psalter wrote:

How much are they worth to NZ once they've gotten their training and left?

Heaps in word-of mouth advertising?

Perhaps, but I don't know that you can really compare potential future money generated through word of mouth advertising from what can hardly be a substantial people coming through and training in skydiving or something (And I'm well aware that there are other adventure sport industries that NZ could potentially be considered a leader in) to the tangible income derived from endeavours like mining.

And to be honest, I don't see why we're all upset that it's "Conservation" land. Not all protected land is lush native forest. A lot of it is just scrub that has been handed over to DOC because there's nothing else you can do with it.

I say continue with the development of green-mining - once we have raped the soil, but kept it pretty, we can then export the technology overseas. The germans will gobble it up like a peeing lesbian!!

Stupid move for short term gain. New Zealand's number one export earner is New Zealand. Our clean and green image. Now fine, we all know that in some respects it is an illusion. But you don't shit in your own nest. It is the perception that counts. And The Economist has not been slow to slate us for our hypocrisy.

Now it may seem somewhat two-faced of me to argue this line, I am after all employed by KiwiRail to unload coal trains at Lyttelton. But needs must. And I do not advocate a total moratorium on mining. Or not harvesting of our natural resources in a responsible way.

But at least as far as coal is concerned, the great majority of it is done by Solid Energy. A Government SOE. Which means all of the profits are returned to the owners. Us. This will not be the case with the Minister's proposals. We will get 1% royalties. And the jobs are bullshit. Modern mining is virtually entirely mechanised. And mining companies are allowed to depreciate it off up front.

We should preserve what we have. And sell it to the World. Because Tourism can be forever.

It is so much for National being Labour-lite. Their true colours are showing.