Critics voice outrage to government's mining plans

Outrage in the Coromandel and a warning of ecological disaster on Great Barrier Island are just the opening shots in a battle against the government's proposals to mine conservation land.

Ministers say rare minerals worth billions of dollars lie in land protected from mining by schedule four of the Crown Minerals Act, and the government wants to open up more than 7000ha of it.

Decisions won't be made until mid-year and the public has six weeks to react to a discussion document released yesterday.

The proposals include removing from schedule four parts of the Coromandel, Great Barrier Island and parts of Paparoa National Park on the West Coast.

The government also wants more information over the next nine months of the minerals in non-schedule areas in Northland, parts of the Coromandel and parts of Stewart Island.

Coromandel Watchdog spokesman Denis Tegg describes it as "social welfare for the multi-nationals" and says mining companies are creaming off huge profits.

"They pay pitifully low royalties. We privatise our minerals by just giving them away to overseas corporations," he says.

Auckland Mayor John Banks says he was shocked to learn 705ha of Te Ahumata Plateau on Great Barrier Island are included in the proposals.

"I am the mayor for Great Barrier Island and I am completely opposed to any mining on this island," he said. "It is the untouched jewel in the crown of the Hauraki Maritime Park."

Mr Banks has called on Aucklanders to demand that the plan be dropped.

"This would be an ecological disaster, a serious blow for the established economy that depends on the Barrier's untarnished image."

Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said the land proposed to be removed from schedule four was 0.024% of New Zealand's total land area – "a postcard on Eden Park."

Minerals targeted in the proposals include gold, silver, nickel and platinum, as well as many rare earth metals vital for high tech industries.

Mr Brownlee said there was a huge demand for them that would last many years into the future, and mining them with minimal impact on the environment was vital to New Zealand's economic growth.

The total value of New Zealand's mineral wealth has been put at $194 billion, with about 40 percent of it in schedule four land.

He said if the government went ahead with its proposals, actual mining would not affect more than about 500ha – smaller than the average dairy farm.

The trade-off for the schedule four land is adding 12,400ha of land to the protected category, and a conservation fund paid for by royalties, but that hasn't impressed environmental groups or opposition parties.

Forest and Bird, which accurately predicted some of the proposals from leaked papers, said they were even worse than it had feared.

The Green Party said the consultation process was a sham and Labour accused the Government of wanting to "dig up the Coromandel."