Most reject mining on protected land

53 per cent of people said they opposed mining on Schedule Four land. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Most people do not want mining on land protected by Schedule Four even when the economic benefits are laid out in front of them.

That is according to a poll of 2215 New Zealanders carried out for the Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Stewart Island was the place people were most opposed to seeing mined (60 per cent against), followed by the Coromandel Peninsula Forest Park and Te Ahumata Plateau on Great Barrier Island (55 per cent each).

The Government wants to remove areas totalling 7058ha in Coromandel, Great Barrier Island and Paparoa National Park from Schedule Four of the Crown Minerals Act, which bans mining in national parks and other high-value conservation land.

Other protected areas, including parts of Northland and Rakiura National Park on Stewart Island, will be surveyed and a decision made later.

Overall, 53 per cent of people said they opposed mining on Schedule Four land.

Fewer than a third, 29 per cent, supported it and the rest were neutral or did not know.

The poll follows a TV3 survey last month which found 52.7 per cent opposed mining on previously protected land and 39.5 per cent were in favour.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee said the poll matched several other surveys and was "nothing startling".

He said he was "unhappy about commenting on yet another survey from the Business Council for Sustainable Development that is critical of Government policy".

He said the business council, whose members include the Bank of NZ and HSBC, was a "left-wing think-tank".

The council's chief executive, Peter Neilson, said the organisation paid for opinion surveys on topical issues concerning sustainability.

"All we are trying to do is make sure that decisions in these areas are informed by what the public think," he said.

The survey set out the potential economic benefits of mining, including $19-20 billion of minerals the Ministry of Economic Development estimates is tied up in land under consideration. But that failed to sway most people.

Most of the value, about $18 billion, is in Coromandel and Great Barrier.

"I think if you asked a political person two months ago what they thought they [the Government] would do they would say they will probably pull back on Coromandel and Great Barrier and let the rest go through. But that's where the vast bulk of the value seems to lie," said Mr Neilson.

When asked about public consultation, which closes on May 26, 59 per cent said they believed the Government had already made up its mind.

Most (65 per cent) thought the Government would take some or all of the proposed land out of Schedule Four.

Most people said mining would create jobs and wealth but would also hurt tourism jobs, scenery, native birds and plants, nearby communities and New Zealand's reputation overseas.

The results were split along party lines, with National and Act voters more likely to support mining.

MINE SWEEP

Mining on Schedule Four conservation land:
* Oppose: 53 per cent
* Support: 29 per cent
* Neutral: 12 per cent
* Don't know: 6 per cent

Opposition by 2008 party vote
* National: 30 per cent
* Labour: 69 per cent
* Maori: 79 per cent
* Green: 93 per cent
* Act: 18 per cent