A red-suited protester confronts CEO Don Elder at Solid Energy's annual meeting. Photo / Martin Sykes
A red-suited protester confronts CEO Don Elder at Solid Energy's annual meeting. Photo / Martin Sykes
KEY POINTS:
Santa-suited protesters who claim Solid Energy "is destroying the North Pole" were criticised as doing nothing to help their cause.
Three members of the Save Happy Valley Coalition made it on stage early during chief executive Don Elder's speech to highlight their claims the miner was continuing todestroy the environment at its mines and by exporting coal to Asia.
While a custard pie was successfully but harmlessly deployed onto the floor, attempts to deliver a bag of coal for Christmas failed after a tug of war between Elder and a protester who, with his colleagues, was led away by a security team to cheers from most of the crowd.
The coalition says "token efforts" to appear transparent and consult the public would never make mining coal acceptable.
Solid Energy chairman John Palmer said after the meeting that opposition groups had been deliberately invited.
"We wanted to provide a forum for them to have a rational discussion, the fact they've chosen not to do that is belittling their cause, not ours."
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee, who in 1999 tangled with a native forest activist, labelled yesterday's group a disappointment.
"They're making themselves into a sideshow and if there's substantial issues they want to raise their methods were somewhat disappointing in terms of giving those issues profile.
"There's nothing they tried to say today that the company didn't address in their formal presentation."
Among the audience were Neville Johnson from Ellerslie, who has "mineral interests", and Hora Hora marae chief executive Greg Adam, who wanted to know more about what Solid Energy could do to support Waikato iwi. Most were from the energy sector, including analysts, mine owners and contractors and others from state owned enterprises.
State Owned Enterprises Minister Simon Power also attended and National MP Paul Hutchison gently questioned Elder about the future of carbon sequestration.
