The government is processing the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill under urgency. The Bill was published on 26 September. We have until Tue 1st Oct 11:59pm to say no. Please send in a short sharp and strong submission ‘under urgency’ to set the record straight.

Here is our 10-point draft:

1. Climate Justice Taranaki (CJT) is a community group dedicated to environmental sustainability and social justice, notably inter-generational equity in relation to climate change. Based in Taranaki ‘Gasland’, our members, especially tangata whenua and long-term residents living next to oil and gas wells and petrochemical facilities, have generations of experience dealing with the impacts of mining. Using this lived experience and careful research, we have submitted on many consultation papers and Bills in relation to mining, energy and resource management over the past decade.
2. The Crown Minerals Amendment Bill and process is unethical, irresponsible, undemocratic and reckless. It is essentially a Bill to facilitate private profits over public rights. CJT is opposed to this Bill in its entirety and ask that it does not progress further.
3. The Bill ignores the polycrisis we are in, a result of the grotesque overshoots of planetary and social boundaries. The overshoots include climate change, biodiversity loss, freshwater degradation, extreme inequality, war and growing geopolitical unrest largely associated with resource grab. Enabling more petroleum and other minerals mining in Aotearoa New Zealand adds fuel to the fire when we should be abandoning extraction and leading the way to restoration and regeneration.
4. Processing the Bill under urgency, giving just five days over a weekend for public submissions, severely restricts the opportunity for meaningful inputs. It corrodes the integrity of democratic engagement which is critical for dealing with the polycrisis and the existential threats it brings about.
5. The Bill is irresponsible and unethical, given the disproportionate impacts from global heating on Pacific islands and other low-income nations that have contributed the least to the problem. It ignores NZ’s legal obligations to the UN Paris Agreement on climate change and various free trade agreements, and strains our relationships with our Pacific neighbours who are already suffering from rising sea level and other climate impacts.
6. The Bill understates the rights of Māori as tangata whenua and the threats from petroleum and other mineral mining – climate chaos, desecration of whenua and awa, and impacts on kaitiakitanga. It fails to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi as it undermines the principles of partnership and protection that are key to respecting Māori sovereignty and safeguarding future generations.
7. Allowing surface access, indeed any access, to Taranaki Conservation Land for petroleum exploration and mining is unacceptable, as it exacerbates the threats on indigenous biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and undermines past and current conservation efforts.
8. Introducing a new permit class (Tier 3) authorising gold mining in river beds or on the foreshore spanning areas of up to 50 continuous hectares is also unacceptable.
9. The Bill is economically reckless as it puts the oil and gas industry on life-support, deters renewable energy investment and locks households further into costly energy bills.  Weakening the decommissioning requirements exposes the NZ public and landowners to unacceptable financial liability, safety risks and environmental damage.
10. We will end our submission with this whakataukī:

Mongamonga noa iho te hiriwa me te koura

I te kurukurutanga o tāku raukura

E hai

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