Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town's Australian-owned Gold mine.
"These communities have successfully opposed mining for the best part of 50 years - Jones' latest announcement is a mere blip in history that will be undone when there's a new Green Government," says Green Party Spokesperson for Resources, Steve Abel.
"They know first-hand that long after the jobs have dried up and the mine bosses have taken the profits overseas the locals are left with a toxic legacy of cyanide tailings dams and acid mine drainage.
"Our public conservation lands exist to protect our rich natural landscapes, and the unique native plants and animals that they sustain.
"When John Key's National government proposed a similar policy in 2010, 40,000 people marched up Queen Street in vehement opposition. Now, Christopher Luxon is resurrecting the same terrible idea.
"Mining more conservation land was a terrible idea 15 years ago and it's a worse idea now. The message back in 2010 was clear: conservation land is for all of us, not for the profits of a wealthy few. Nothing's changed.
"We can't mine our way to a liveable planet. The resources we need for energy transition need to come from better waste recovery. Coal and gold are not critical minerals.
"We can't rip, strip and bust our way to real prosperity - our well-being relies on a thriving natural world and a stable climate-and that's why the extractive mindset is unfit for the 21st century," says Steve Abel.
