An October protest in Pātea against the project getting fast-track approval drew more than 300 people. Photo / Te Korimako o Taranaki
An October protest in Pātea against the project getting fast-track approval drew more than 300 people. Photo / Te Korimako o Taranaki
Whanganui MP Carl Bates is on the fence about seabed mining in South Taranaki but says he has shared constituents’ concerns about the project with his ”colleagues in Wellington”.
Australian mining company Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) wants to extract up to 50 million tonnesof seabed material a year in the South Taranaki Bight, with the project included in the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill.
Bates (National) said the fast-track legislation would be signed into law but the mining project — Taranaki VTM — still had to apply to the Environmental Protection Agency next year.
“Then, an expert panel will meet and consider that application,” he said. “Only if environmental issues are addressed or appropriately mitigated can that panel grant the consent.”
The TTR project was one of 149 announced to be fast-tracked by Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop in October. Bates would not say whether he supported or opposed the project but said he was making sure all concerns and feedback was shared with his colleagues in Wellington.
“I see that as my role as MP for Whanganui and I’ve engaged quite constructively with people across the spectrum of views.
“I’m not going to comment on the expert panel’s process. That‘s for them to determine and go through in the new year.” Forest and Bird Whanganui chairwoman Esther Williams said the organisation urged Bates to take a stand against “unproven seabed mining in our region”.
“Or, face 35 years of regretting the damage done starting on his watch,” she said.
“The local bodies – South Taranaki ]District Council] and now Whanganui District Council – have stood up and are representing their citizens’ interests.
“They carefully weighed up the likely environmental damage versus the minimal benefit to the region from a foreign-owned operation and concluded they didn’t want it.”
Carl Bates (left) with Chris Bishop in Whanganui in 2023. Photo / Bevan Conley
Last June, the South Taranaki council called for a ban on seabed mining because any economic benefits would not outweigh the effects of “environmental vandalism”.
Bates said spending ”council time on the issue” was their choice. Williams said obituaries for former National deputy leader Nikki Kaye, who died last month aged 44, highlighted her opposition to mining on Great Barrier Island.
In 2010, Kaye – then the MP for Auckland Central – spoke out against the Government’s plans to open up some conservation estate areas, including part of Great Barrier, saying mining on the island did not stack up environmentally or economically.
Kaye threatened to cross the floor in Parliament to protect the environment in her electorate, Williams said. “That earned her widespread respect. “Is Carl Bates going to be the MP for Whanganui’s interests or is he just going to be the MP for the coalition Government’s agenda?”
The Chronicle asked Bates if he would consider crossing the floor on the issue but he said it was “not a relevant question” because the Fast-track Bill had already passed.
“More broadly, I am very supportive of the Government’s direction and the work we are doing to get this country back on track, to grow the economy and to make it more productive.”
There had been 14 ministers in the Whanganui electorate this year, he said. “That demonstrates that when I say I’m advocating for our electorate and the concerns of my constituents, I’m absolutely doing it.”
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
