Nearly 50,000 people have signed a Green Party-organised petition opposing opening up protected conservation land for mining.While the 47,371 people signing the Save Our Treasured Places petition over six months, representing just over 1 percent of the po
Nearly 50,000 people have signed a Green Party-organised petition opposing opening up protected conservation land for mining.
While the 47,371 people signing the Save Our Treasured Places petition over six months, representing just over 1 percent of the population, when put alongside 40,000 marching in Auckland and 33,000 submissions to the Government on the idea it sent a "very loud message" opposing the Government's mining proposal, Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said.
If progressed, the proposal would remove some land from the protection of schedule four of the Crown Minerals Act, potentially opening up of the country's most pristine areas to mining.
Green Party spokeswoman on mining Catherine Delahunty said there were still have parts of New Zealand that were mined 40 years ago which have still not been fixed up, such as the Tui mine on Mt Te Aroha.
"We haven't even dealt with the legacy of past mining, why on earth would we open up our national parks and treasured places to any more mining? It just doesn't make sense."
It was the easiest petition to get people to sign that the volunteers have ever dealt with. People were lining up to sign, which was unprecedented, she said.
Mrs Turei said the conservation estate was not simply being protected so it could be mined at some stage.
"There is no point having a conservation estate if it is then available for exploitation."
The Government had lost the argument on the economic benefit as the economy was reliant on the environment and the country would see very little of mining royalties, she said.
"The supposed billions of wealth in the conservation estate is based on quite dodgy numbers and dodgy science."
The mining industry employed the same amount of people as four of the national parks in terms of jobs and protecting the environment was more job-rich, she said.
There need to be more investigation into existing mines. The royalty regime was a major concern for New Zealanders, as well as the environmental impact, she said.
"It is not right for the public to have to pay for the clean up of the pollution derived from industries that make a profit from a public asset."
The petition was presented to Parliament today and Mrs Turei said the Green Party had a private member's bill on the ballot, due for first debate in August that would prevent removal of land from schedule four except by legislation.
