Source: Greenpeace
Christopher Luxon’s electoral office has been converted into Trump’s war minerals headquarters today, reflecting the New Zealand Prime Minister’s new priority – turning Aotearoa into a critical minerals mining outpost that serves the US military agenda.
President Trump is demanding New Zealand agrees to a deal to provide the USA with minerals they regard as ‘critical’ – many of which have military applications. It was revealed yesterday that the government has been considering such a deal for months, in some detail, despite Luxon saying in February that any discussions were at “very preliminary” stages.
In response to the proposed critical minerals deal, activists raised a US flag outside Prime Minister Luxon’s electoral office in East Auckland, adding an image of President Trump to the office windows, decorating the lawn with US flags, and renaming the office as ‘Trump war minerals HQ’.
Greenpeace Aotearoa campaigner Juressa Lee warns any minerals deal would not only lead to environmental destruction from more mining projects on land and at sea, it would also make New Zealand complicit in Trump’s warmongering.
“The Luxon government must not sign Aotearoa away to fuel the United States’ illegal wars. New Zealand should have no part in this, and that includes giving Trump access to the resources he needs to keep dropping bombs.”
Earlier this month the US Ambassador nominee to New Zealand, billionaire Jared Novelly, confirmed the United States’ top goals for the Pacific region are both ‘expanding a US defence presence’ and ‘promoting business opportunities, particularly in critical minerals’. Lee says: “Our message to Luxon is clear. Aotearoa is not a US outpost. We must not allow the US to dictate widespread mining that could cause irreversible harm to the whenua, moana and people here in Aotearoa.”
Many of the minerals listed by the US as essential have military applications, including vanadium which is found off the coast of Taranaki. Vanadium is used in jet engines, airframes, ballistic missiles, and as a coating for night vision goggles.
“We are seeing in real time the terrible impacts of Trump’s wars across the world. New Zealand should not become complicit in this”, says Lee.
“We know a minerals deal would be bad for the land and sea of Aotearoa. But since the United States and Israeli Governments launched a military attack on Iran in clear breach of international law – the stakes are even higher.”
In February, the NZ government launched an $80m dollar fund as part of the Regional Infrastructure Fund to help minerals exploration. The announcement came just after the Fast Track committee declined a proposal by Trans Tasman Resources, the Australian mining company that wants to mine vanadium off the coast of Taranaki.
Over 13,000 people have signed a Greenpeace petition calling for Luxon to refuse Trump’s demands for ‘critical’ minerals. (ref. https://action.greenpeace.org.nz/petition/no-minerals-deal-with-trump )
“We’re calling on Luxon to say no to a minerals deal with Trump. We’re also inviting the public to show their strong opposition to this deal if they’re concerned about complicity in war mongering and the exploitation of our environment for military aggression.
“This is not the first time the US has tried to disrupt a free and peaceful Pacific, the history of nuclear testing proves this. Aotearoa and the Pacific were united over stopping the region being a nuclear testing ground then and now we must do it again, and not be complicit in providing the materials for war.”
