Source: New Zealand Minerals Council
Advancing the Conservation Amendment Bill has become a contest that we hope reality wins, says New Zealand Minerals Council chief executive Josie Vidal.
“What began as an overdue plan to modernise law to make it more workable for tourism, so that visitors could contribute to maintaining the conservation areas they use, turned into a political football,” Vidal says.
“A misinformation campaign with flaming red maps shouting that 60 percent of the conservation estate was going to be sold and/or dug up spread through social media without any real evidence, but rather a very loose interpretation of what the bill might make possible. In reality we all know that no New Zealand Government would get public agreement to sell off vast tracts of conservation land.
“The groups behind this campaign were jumping the shark to try and derail the parliamentary process they are also part of. That is, submitting to and appearing before the Environment Committee considering this bill so that it can be changed and/or improved as it progresses.
“Their actions to force a section of the bill to be removed threatens to undermine the tried and true process. We hope it hasn’t been derailed completely. We must maintain order in law making.
“We give a dose of reality in our submission on the bill and present the facts as responsible users of the conservation estate. Mining companies make significant contributions to pest and predator control and improving conservation outcomes with money and resources not always accessible by the Department of Conservation.
“Reality is:
– Stakeholders were consulted by the Department of Conservation over many years about this modernisation, including what it intended, and equally importantly, what it didn’t intend.
– The mining industry is a small, but important client of the Department of Conservation with permission to access the conservation estate given on a case-by-case basis. We are not seeking to change that.
– Mining to-date has impacted just 0.04 percent of the vast conservation estate. There are no plans to buy and mine swathes of the conservation estate; it makes no economic sense.
– It is possible to balance economic imperatives with positive environmental outcomes.
“We hope the Government holds its course to modernise outdated conservation laws. We believe all stakeholders continue to have opportunities through this process to give their views and make their cases.
“We also believe stakeholders have the same end goal; our truly precious conservation land is preserved and there are adequate funds to maintain it. Those funds are not unlimited.
“We urge all stakeholders to respect the process and it is our sincere hope the select committee, and the bill, are allowed to work through the prescribed process without any more fantasy scenarios.”