Act backs mining plan

Act Party leader David Seymour says people from Northland, particularly Maori, were moving to Australia to participate in an industry which was effectively banned at home. Photo / NZME.

Act Party leader David Seymour has vowed to shout Northland's mineral potential from the hustings but he also admits the party has no show of winning next month's Northland byelection.

At the party's recent conference, Mr Seymour - who grew up in Whangarei - said people from Northland, particularly Maori, were moving to Australia to participate in an industry which was effectively banned at home. Mineral industries would bring skilled people back to Northland and boost the economy. Mr Seymour also said Act had no hope of taking Northland in the March 28 byelection, which follows National MP Mike Sabin's resignation, but the campaign was "worthwhile as a PR exercise".

"Act is in the race to show National supporters there's another option on the right," he said. "People who are a little frustrated with National, people who see millions of tax dollars being transferred to Auckland to build railway links."

Northland Act candidate Robin Grieve said he supported the party leader's view for Northland "absolutely".

"The use of available resources is a human responsibility, especially when it leads to economic growth," Mr Grieve said.

Act's growth strategy included replacing "the welfare system that has impoverished Northland for generations" with industries based on natural resources, he said.

But Bryce Smith, from iwi environmental group Te Wakameninga o Nga Hapu Ngapuhi, described Act's mining aspirations for Northland as outdated and "archaic in the suggestion that Maori would want to be slaves to mining in the name of progress".

Mr Smith said should a mining application ever be lodged it would struggle to get past the Environmental Protection Authority, that is charged with protecting New Zealand's people and environment, and economic, cultural and social development.

He said mining in Northland was a national, not just regional issue, and there was a strong alliance between Maori throughout New Zealand regarding matters of environmental protection.

Convenor of the Puhipuhi Mining Action Group, Jenny Kirk said there were better future employment options for Northland than mining, and it is those the Act Party should be investigating.