Ngāti Ruanui kaiarataki Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is confident they will win again if they have to go to court. Photo / File
Ngāti Ruanui kaiarataki Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is confident they will win again if they have to go to court. Photo / File
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui, Greenpeace and Kiwis Against Seabed Mining say they will oppose Trans Tasman Resources' appeal to the Supreme Court.
Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) has lodged a notice of appeal against the Court of Appeal decision that ruled against its seabed mining consent.
In 2017, TTR wasgiven consent by a split decision of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine up to 50 million tonnes of ironsand off the South Taranaki Bight, every year for 35 years in a 66km area and dump the rest back onto the seabed.
Ngāti Ruanui worked with the local community and whanaunga iwi to mobilise against the consent.
The EPA's decision was overturned in an appeal to the High Court in 2018 and was upheld by the Court of Appeal's ruling this month.
Ngāti Ruanui kaiarataki Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said they are annoyed that they may have to go to court for a fourth time as right now their efforts are focused on protecting their community from Covid-19.
"We are undeterred in our resolve and we will oppose TTR's application for yet another appeal.
"TTR needs to see the writing on the wall and give up on their crusade to use our moana in South Taranaki as a testing ground for what is a risky and untested extractive practice."
Organisations may find themselves in the Supreme Court to continue their fight against the seabed mining application. Photo / File
She said the Court of Appeal's ruling on the case set a strong precedent in terms of environmental and Treaty law, finding multiple errors of law by the EPA in its approach to the consent.
This included how it would fail to protect the marine environment and how it failed to address Te Tiriti principles and the kaitiakitanga relationship with the moana, she said.
"This is not a "shovel ready" project as TTR are trying to claim - there is no vessel, no crew, no social licence to operate and a series of failed applications."
Ngarewa-Packer said she was confident they would win again in the courts but the Government should step in and legislate to ban seabed mining.
Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM) chairwoman Cindy Baxter said it was "utterly absurd" the industry would employ an "environmental best practice sustainable environmental approach".
"We will oppose this application, on behalf of the many thousands of people we represent, as well as on behalf of the marine environment. This destructive practice has no place in our waters."
Greenpeace oceans campaigner Jessica Desmond said she was not surprised the company was appealing the Court of Appeal's decision.
"The company has admitted that, if allowed to stand, this would effectively be the end of seabed mining in Aotearoa. Trans Tasman Resources already has mining permits for other areas in the South Taranaki Bight that would dwarf this mine site.
"If allowed, this could see our marine environment being subjected to one of the first commercial-scale seabed mining operations in the world. New Zealanders do not want this to happen."
