Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki are disgusted to see that the Department has recently developed, a web page titled ‘No new mines on conservation land policy’, which has the Department of Conservation praising the mining industry and its contribution to the economy, and effectively inviting applications for exploration and mining permits.

The group has written to the Minister calling for the page to be removed and replaced with a simple statement that the government is working on the “no new mines on conservation land” policy and that the status quo prevails meanwhile.

The delays in this Consultation are a concern as the Industry can continue to seek permits. When the announcement was made in the ‘Speech from the Throne’, Coromandel Watchdog expected that the announcement was a definitive declaration. "The web page should clarify the purpose and parameters of any public consultation and when this will take place, although its is hardly necessary. The public expect the Government to get on with it and implement the no new mines policy as promised," Says Augusta Macassey-Pickard, spokesperson for the group.

"While we wait for the public consultation we should be able to rely on DOC to promote the values of conservation not the opportunity to get in and mine before it’s too late."

Coromandel Watchdog has also called on the Minister to keep two promises already made: to stop new mining on DOC land now; and to extend schedule 4 on the southern Hauraki as promised by Labour and the Greens in August 2017.

"We expect the next year to be a crucial year in the fight to protect the Coromandel and Hauraki from industrial mining. The industry are gathering to do whatever they can to undermine our conservation land," says Macassey-Pickard. "This is a hugely well resourced industry, with money as their bottom line. Our communities have their whole way of life at stake. Our bottom line is so much more than money."

"It's simply not worth letting some company come in here and mine the precious conservation land of Aotearoa - well, undermine it, and us, until we are left with nothing but unstable ground and a legacy of precarious toxic dams that could go at any time."

© Scoop Media