Waitangi Tribunal pushes pause on seabed mine claim
Photo:
Te Korimako o Taranaki
The Waitangi Tribunal has rejected the application to halt a fast-track bid to mine the seabed off Pātea - but has left the door open if the process turns out to be unfair.
Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) has applied through the new Fast-Track Approvals Act (FTAA) to mine for iron, titanium and vanadium in the South Taranaki Bight.
Multiple South Taranaki hapū and iwi sought a Tribunal injunction to block processing of the fast-track application, and an urgent hearing into alleged Crown Treaty breaches.
But Tribunal deputy chair Judge Sarah Reeves agreed with the Crown that the fast-track needed a chance to be proven fair.
The Crown argued a panel had not even been appointed - and that iwi will contribute to that selection and get a say once the decision-making panel is working.
The Waitangi Tribunal grants urgent hearings in exceptional circumstances: applicants must be suffering - or likely to suffer - significant and irreversible prejudice from current or pending Crown actions.
"I do not agree that the risk of significant and irreversible prejudice has crystallised, and the application is premature," said Judge Reeves.
"The application does not yet meet the high threshold required to divert the resources and disrupt the Tribunal's inquiry programme that would result by granting an urgent inquiry," she ruled.
"However, leave is reserved for the applicants to renew their application if circumstances change."
Claimants said they had already suffered prejudice from their decade-long fight against TTR's mining application, right through to defeating the company in the Supreme Court.
Mana whenua said government bias made the fast-track process unjust.
Judge Reeves said the claimants believe "the Crown's vocal support of the [seabed mining] project and the FTAA appears to make meaningful engagement with the applicants or delay of the project to pursue alternative remedies 'highly unlikely'".
On Friday in New Plymouth Shane Jones - the minister of oceans and fisheries, and of resources - called opponents a [www.teaonews.co.nz/2025/07/21/minister-proud-of-potshots-in-seabed-mine-culture-war "belligerent, well-organised, rowdy] bunch of activists."
He had previously dismissed mana whenua objectors as "pixie-like hapūs" - which many felt was an insult that still rankles in South Taranaki.
Taranaki mana whenua claimants to the Tribunal are:
Trans-Tasman Resources boss Alan Eggers says the seabed mine would bring jobs and riches without harming the environment.
Photo:
Te Korimako o Taranaki
Other parties include Climate Justice Taranaki, Ngāruahine's school Te Kura o Ngāruahinerangi and from outside the region Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou ki Hauraki who also face an FTAA application.
For the fast-track bid to be rejected the mine's negative impacts must significantly outweigh national and regional benefits - meaning environmental and cultural damage must be deemed greater than the money the mine makes for Taranaki and New Zealand.
Last Thursday the organisers of the fast-track decision process ordered TTR to [www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360761435/mining-company-directed-provide-updated-info-after-panel-convenors-concerns show where it had updated its evidence] since losing in the courts.
"Almost all of the technical appendices are dated 2015 and were obviously prepared to support the 2016 application. Only a handful of those reports were updated in 2023 or 2024," noted panel convener Jennifer Caldwell.
"The Cultural Values Assessment report, prepared by an independent consultant in 2017, was not updated despite what must have been new information as to the Māori concerns."
A month earlier panel conveners ordered the Environmental Protection Authority to dig into the proposed seabed mine's [www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/agencies-probe-proposed-south-taranaki-seabed-mine-on-environment-and-money/IOTD7N4O75BSZDX5UOZP7GKEVY/ environmental and economic impacts].
Every day of operation for at least 20 years the mining ship would discharge 180,000 tonnes of unwanted seabed sediment, a recognised pollutant, into the abundant waters of the Pātea Shoals.
TTR claims region benefits of:
A report for the miners predicted annual national gains of:
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ on Air.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
'Wave' of Conservation Act concessions, foreign visitor charge for high-volume DOC sites
The announcement was made at the National Party annual conference. Photo: Samuel Rillstone / RNZ The government plans to make it easier to get a concession to operate on Conservation land and will bring in a foreign visitor charge at some popular tourist spots. "First, we're going to fix the Conservation Act to unleash a fresh wave of concessions - like tourism, agriculture, and infrastructure, in locations where that makes sense," Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said. Luxon said the current concessions regime "is totally broken" and could take years for a business to obtain or renew. "Many New Zealanders already run outstanding businesses on the conservation estate - from guided walks and ski fields, to filming documentaries, grazing sheep and cattle, or hosting concerts and building cell phone towers. "Outdated rules mean we've got examples of modern E-bike users being turned away from potential touring opportunities because they have to be considered as proper vehicles. "And tourism on the Routeburn is being held up because the trail crosses artificial boundaries, with different rules and different limits." Luxon also announced the government will introduce a charge for foreign visitors to access high volume sites. Cathedral Cove / Te Whanganui-a-Hei, Tongariro Crossing, Milford Track, and Aoraki Mount Cook will be the locations initially looked at, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka said. He said this is where foreigners often make up 80 percent of all visitors. "It's only fair that at these special locations, foreign visitors make an additional contribution of between $20 and $40 per person." New Zealanders will not be charged. Tama Potaka says initially, four sites will have charges for foreign visitors. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The Prime Minister has addressed National members at the annual party conference, capping off a week in which MPs attempted to steer public minds back toward the government's cost-of-living policies. When asked earlier this week what his message to party faithful would be, [Luxon said the nation was " turning the corner]". "This country's got great potential and a great future ahead of it, and we've just got to keep working at it." National's deputy leader Nicola Willis said the conference would be focused on the steps the government was taking to make the country "an easier, better place to do business, to hire people, to create well paying jobs". Party ministers will hold panels on health, education, law and order, agriculture, and the economy and cost of living as part of the annual event. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- RNZ News
NZ in Cook Islands domestic affairs 'improper'
Pacific politics 19 minutes ago Former Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna says he thinks it's "improper" for New Zealand to involve itself in the "domestic affairs" of the island nation and issues between the two countries should be resolved with leaders talking behind closed doors.
RNZ News
12 hours ago
- RNZ News
Luxon to tell National faithful country is 'turning the corner'
Luxon to tell National faithful "we're turning the corner" National leader Christopher Luxon. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro National Party members are gathering in Christchurch to cap off a week in which MPs attempted to steer public minds back towards the government's cost of living policies. Members will also farewell a party stalwart, with former president Peter Goodfellow retiring from National's board of directors. While leader Christopher Luxon will be speaking to the converted, he will be acutely aware the cost of living has become front of mind . Earlier this week, he was asked what his message to the party faithful would be. "Look, they know it's been a tough time, they know that we're turning the corner," Luxon said. "But really ... this country's got great potential and a great future ahead of it, and we've just got to keep working at it." National's deputy leader, Nicola Willis, said the conference would be focused on the steps the government was taking to make the country "an easier, better place to do business, to hire people, to create well paying jobs". "It is our job as a government not to moan about the things we can't control, but to focus on how we can make things better here in New Zealand, and we're very proud of the efforts we're making," she said. It is a stark contrast to this time last year, where Luxon's message ahead of the first conference since National returned to government was its focus on action and delivery . It shows just how much the cost of living crisis is lingering, and National has spent the week attempting to convince the public it has got it under control. With no announcement to make at this week's post-Cabinet press conference (bar the card surcharge ban, which had already been announced), Luxon and Willis gave a more than 10-minute address about the economy and cost of living, and actions the government had taken. "The most important thing we can do to make you better off is to double-down on our long-term economic plan," Luxon said. Willis used her speech to remind people of National's tax changes, FamilyBoost policy and a falling Official Cash Rate. It prompted Labour to accuse the government of "more spin than a front-load washing machine" . The latest Ipsos Issues Monitor has Labour in front of National as the party New Zealanders consider most able to handle the cost of living, despite releasing no substantive policy since the election. In 2023, National won 38.06 percent of the party vote, but since then has failed to poll above that. Recent polls have had National in the low thirties, with some showing the left bloc would have enough numbers to form a government. Other polls give the coalition the numbers to form a government, but only just. National party ministers will hold panels on health, education, law and order, agriculture, and the economy and cost of living. Members will also elect board positions. Long-serving board member and former party president Peter Goodfellow will be retiring from the board. Goodfellow was president from 2009 to 2022 before stepping down but remaining on the board. ANZCO Foods founder Sir Graeme Harrison, who joined the National board in 2021, has also decided to retire. Current board member Rachel Bird is up for re-election. Under National's constitution and rules, board members serve three years and then retire. They can then be eligible for re-election. Craig Carr, Andrew von Dadelszen and Edgar Wilson have also put their names forward for the vacancies. Party president Sylvia Wood and board members Jannita Pilisi, Stefan Sunde and David Ryan are not up for re-election, and so will remain on the board. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
