Environment Minister David Parker recently announced an inquiry into seabed mining in NZ, and while a ‘frustrating’ process to go through, Pacific Lead for the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) and ex-KASM chair, Phil McCabe, is hopeful the inquiry could lead to banning seabed mining in our waters, ‘once and for all.’
The inquiry came as a Government response to Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer’s private member’s bill to ban all domestic seabed mining was pulled from the house biscuit tin last year and debated in parliament on the 10th of May. Instead of supporting the bill, Labour has called for the inquiry to see if regulatory settings need to be changed.
“It’s frustrating that we have to go through another process to qualify why this is a bad idea,” says Phil.
(listen to the full interview below:)
KASM has been fighting seabed mining since 2005, and in 2017, began their legal battle against Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) to overturn a consent to mine the South-Taranaki Bight seabed that was given to TTR by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
The legal stoush ended up in the Supreme Court in 2021, where TTR’s application was unanimously dismissed by the judges due to issues around theEPA’s decision-making process. The Supreme Court ordered that the EPA reconsider TTR’s application but set a very high bar
The precedent setting decision by the Supreme Court found that if the mining activity has potential to cause damage to the environment, then it must be declined. In addition, the application’s failure to take into account Tikanga (Māori protocol) was another deciding factor to overturn the mining consent.
TTR’s deadline to resubmit their application for a new mining consent comes up this Friday and Phil says that all those that opposed the original application will be notified if the application is received by the EPA.
While they wait to see if an application comes through, Phil has been critical of the timing of the inquiry, pointing out that the process could have been triggered when Ngarewa-Packer’s bill was pulled. Parker has cited the wording of the bill, and its effects on existing permits, as the reasoning for the full inquiry.
Parliament’s environment select committee will conduct the inquiry into New Zealand’s domestic regulations around seabed mining and public submissions are open until the 23rd of June. Despite the frustration, Phil is positive that the inquiry will highlight the science and the harmful impacts of seabed mining and the strong public opposition.
Parker’s announcement noted the inquiry was timely due to the government's recent backing of a moratorium on seabed mining in international waters - at least until science-backed environmental rules could be agreed on.
“Test cases here have shown that the activity is unacceptably destructive. The majority of the countries in the Pacific are calling for a moratorium and our domestic settings will influence our Pacific neighbours,” says Phil.
As the Pacific Lead for the DSCC, Phil has been engaging with stakeholders on the ground and notes that Aotearoa has a leadership role in supporting our Pacific neighbours to make good decisions - especially around economic sustainability.
Citing Nauru as an example of a nation that is struggling economically (following the depletion of their environment from phosphate mining), Phil says that with limited opportunities, Nauru is supporting deep sea mining out of sheer desperation for their economy.
Looking towards the inquiry, which he expects to take place over the next couple of months, he says that recommendations should be back to Parliament before central elections begin later this year.
KASM will be making a submission and Phil suggests that fewer more substantive submissions may be more helpful than thousands of individual submissions.
Phil says that where the numbers are needed is on the online petition to ban seabed mining.
He also notes that a seabed mining ban is now a topic of national discussion that politicians will have on their radar.
“It’s really effective to reach out to your electorate MP, and the candidates running against them, in the upcoming election to let them know this is an important issue. Our Taranaki King Country electorate has a lot of coastal people and I don’t think anyone wants seabed mining to go ahead,” says Phil.
With a glass half-full approach, Phil sees the inquiry as the Environment Minster moving to get good recommendations so that the government can ban seabed mining “once and for all”, but they’re unlikely to do it unless we tell them to.