‘Quite frankly, insulting’: Backlash over seabed mining being fast-tracked by Govt

TTR’s application to mine the South Taranaki seabed is included in the Government’s fast-track process. Photo / NZME
The inclusion of seabed mining off the South Taranaki coast in the Fast-Track Approvals Bill is being met with backlash from iwi and environmental groups.
The Government has revealed the 149 proposals included in its Bill that will pass into law by the end of this year – including the Taranaki VTM (vanadium titanomagnetite) Project to mine the seabed, and the development of Huriwaka Wind Farm in the central North Island.
Australian mining company Trans-Tasman Resources’ (TTR) bid for the seabed mining project is to extract up to 50 million tonnes of seabed material a year in the South Taranaki Bight.
Manawa Energy plans to construct 60 wind turbines across 47sq km for the Huriwaka Wind Farm development between Taihape and Waiouru.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui Trust taiao Graham Young said the timeframes given to respond to the TTR project’s inclusion significantly curtailed the ability of iwi to engage meaningfully when it mattered the most.
“Less than four working days in which to provide a response on this complex issue is farcical and, quite frankly, insulting.”
On October 2, more than 300 people joined a hīkoi from the middle of Pātea to the town’s beach in opposition to seabed mining’s inclusion in the Bill.
TTR executive chairman Alan Eggers said Forest & Bird, Greenpeace and Taranaki iwi groups were “busy misleading the public and providing misinformation about the proposal”.
“First of all, there aren’t any protected species as such out there, but there is a delicate marine environment and we have massive plans and an operating system that will totally protect that environment and will cause no harm whatsoever,” Eggers said.
Forest & Bird general manager of advocacy Richard Capie said the area was home to 30 species of marine mammals, including some that were critically endangered, such as blue whales and Māui’s dolphins. It was an important migratory corridor for humpback whales and little blue penguins used the area.
Eggers said the project would bring a large number of benefits to the region through producing essential minerals that would help in the transition to a low-carbon economy, generating 300 jobs in New Plymouth and Hāwera and a $250 million operational spend.
“We are totally confident that the public can be assured that there are no adverse effects.”
Greenpeace spokeswoman Juressa Lee said there were some worthy projects on the list but they were “tainted” by the process and presence of TTR.
“It’s especially concerning to see that the Trans-Tasman Resources Taranaki seabed mining project is on the list after being such an abject failure in the Environment Court and Supreme Court and attracting such widespread opposition from mana whenua, the environmental movement and the offshore wind industry.”
In 2021, the Supreme Court rejected TTR’s bid to mine iron sand off the coast of South Taranaki. In April this year, TTR pulled out of consent hearings for the project.
Whanganui MP Carl Bates said although the Fast-Track Approvals Bill would pass into law later this year, the project owner would still have to apply to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) for consent.
“Being on the Fast-Track Approvals Bill list doesn’t automatically mean that the project has been consented.”
He said an expert panel would assess the project and attach any necessary conditions, but the consent could be declined by the EPA if the environmental impacts could not be mitigated.
“This doesn’t take away from the environmental protection that’s required.
“People in the Whanganui electorate rightly expect that any mining respects our environment and that the cultural interests of Māori and the expectations of our community are taken into account.”
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui Trust kaiw’aka’aere Rachel Arnott said political lobbying by TTR threatened to turn the vibrant, thriving South Taranaki Bight into an “oceanic wasteland”.
“It is staggering that this Government’s first foray into the untested, muddy waters of the fast-track process is to pick a project no one here wants.”
Eggers said there had been “a lot of positive comment and support from the community” and they had conducted an independent survey into the Taranaki area and found more than 80% of locals supported the mining project.
He said the process had been misrepresented in a “determined campaign over many years”.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui Trust Tume w’akaae Haimona Maruera said the Government was trampling on the rights of Māori and those “who stand shoulder to shoulder with us”.
“South Taranaki farmers, boaties, surfers and environmental groups are all singing the same tune – ‘seabed miners are not welcome here’.”
He said Ngati Ruanui would not stop its opposition to seabed mining: “We have only just begun.”
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.