Brownlee slams Labour over mining 'hypocrisy'

Labour MP Clive Matthewson (left) with two mining officials and party politicians Trevor Mallard, Ken Shirley (later an Act MP) and the late Bill Dillon. Photo / Supplied

Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee accused the Labour Party of hypocrisy yesterday when he revealed the previous government approved 218 permits for mining on conservation land.

He also said Labour approved a permit in 2006 for mining gold and gemstones on 168ha of land inside Paparoa National Park.

Opposition MPs have been attacking the Government since Monday, when it announced proposals to remove 7058ha from Schedule Four of the Crown Minerals Act which protects it from mining.

Labour says it never approved mining on high-quality Schedule Four land.

But Mr Brownlee said Labour had begun a campaign saying it was explicitly opposed to mining conservation areas - not just Schedule Four land.

"Labour's credibility on this is now shredded," he said.

"The information shows Labour were happy for mining to take place on 21,961ha of land. Meanwhile, the Government is seeking approval to release a mere 7058ha of Schedule Four land, of which as little as 500ha might be mined."

Mr Brownlee has previously said 82 mines are already operating on conservation land, many approved by the previous government.

Labour conservation spokesman David Parker said his party had never mined protected Schedule Four land while in government, but it had "and always will continue to support mining where appropriate on non-Schedule Four land".

The Government's proposals include allowing mining on Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

This has become the most contentious part of the plan, which is open for public discussion during the next six weeks.

There is scepticism in Parliament that the Government intends going ahead with opening the island to mining.

"I'm not pre-empting any public discussion on that," Mr Brownlee said yesterday.

Asked whether the Government put Great Barrier Island into the proposals so it could drop it later and mine other areas, Mr Brownlee replied: "Out of the entire area we could have put up, we put up 7058ha. There's nothing in there that we don't think has a strong productive capacity."

In Parliament yesterday, Mr Parker asked Environment Minister Nick Smith whether he understood that estimates of the value of gold deposits on Great Barrier and the Coromandel Peninsula the Government had cited were based on open-cast mining. (Prime Minister John Key this week ruled out open cast-mining in either area.)

Dr Smith said the information available was poor and the Government was committed to further investment to improve it.

There is strong opposition to mining on Great Barrier from Auckland City Mayor John Banks and National's Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye, as well as from environment and conservation groups.

In Parliament, Mr Parker attempted to table a blank sheet of paper which he said listed the Schedule Four land the Labour government had allowed to be mined.

After an absurd interchange with Government MPs, Speaker Lockwood Smith told them, "This nonsense is going to stop".

Meanwhile, Mr Brownlee produced several photos of Labour MPs and former government ministers standing in front of mines and about to go down them.

- NZPA

- additional reporting by Herald staff reporter