Nov 11, 2024

Back on 6 October, the government announced the release of ‘the list’ of 149 projects found eligible for consideration by an expert panel for inclusion in Schedule 2 of the Fast-track Bill. This Newsroom article includes an interactive map of those projects. The proposed Siren Gold mine at Sams Creek in Golden Bay was not included.

What the media has not reported on is that this is not the full story. Under the Fast Track process as it currently stands, a project must pass through two approval stages. First it must prove it delivers significant regional or national benefits. Then it goes through an expert panel, which makes the final recommendations. Schedule 2 of the Bill lists projects which are ‘pre-approved’ for referral directly to the expert panel as soon as the Bill is passed, it being accepted that they deliver significant benefit.

Back in April 2024 a ‘Fast Track Projects Advisory Group’ was convened, and tasked with deciding which projects should be listed in Schedule 2 of the Bill. Schedule 2A includes projects which are considered ‘shovel-ready’. Schedule 2B lists projects which are accepted but not yet ready to start. 

In their report to ministers, the Advisory Group announced 199 projects for 2A and 143 for 2B. Each project was given a priority rating. Sams Creek Mine is listed in Schedule 2B, as high priority. This is very bad news. This means that as soon as they are ready, their application will be at the front of the queue for the Expert panel.

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This raises a number of questions:

Why are the following redacted from the Advisory Group report dated 2 August 2024?

* the reasons why each project was accepted/declined/put in 2A or 2B

* the ranking order in which they would go to the Expert Panel

* the entire details of the projects themselves in some cases

Why has no media outlet reported on the Advisory Group report and the fact the govt only told us there were 149 projects approved to go in Schedule 2?

The public isn’t getting full story from our government. They told us about 149 projects. Why did the government not mention there were a further 50 projects in Schedule 2A and 143 more in Schedule 2B?

Who is our government actually working for?

Here is what Siren Gold said about their project in their Fast Track application:

Siren Gold; Gold Project

Location of project: The project is located on 3,046 hectares in the Tasman region approximately 75 km northwest of Nelson. The majority of the project is situated in the Northwest Nelson Conservation Park which lies on the eastern edge of the Kahurangi National Park in the northwest Nelson area.

Project Description: The Sams Creek Gold project will be a predominantly underground gold mine operating over approximately 3000 hectares to the southwest of Takaka. The mine would primarily be located on public conservation land, with access by way of a 3 km decline from private land. The project is expected to result in the extraction of approximately 150,000 ounces per annum.

CEO Victor Rajasooriar told Stuff (Stuff: plea for council to step in on fast-track mine bid) that “the fast-track bid was … to speed up the process for further exploratory drilling.” This is a clear attempt to mislead. The application to be listed in Schedule 2 of the Fast Track Bill was for a mine, not for drilling.

On 18 October 2024 (in the midst of America’s Cup madness), the government released the report of the Environment Committee, following months of submissions on the Fast Track Bill. RNZ alone reported, stating that the criteria remained heavily weighted against the environment, and giving an excellent summary of the key recommendations. The committee ignored the thousands of submissions against the Bill, instead focussing largely on making it easier to read (the disclaimers by Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Māori make for interesting reading).

Greenpeace stated the proposed changes made the Bill worse, and ‘Communities Against the Fast Track’ pointed to the utter lack of community consultation or adequate scrutiny permitted by the Bill.

One of the requests ignored by the committee was the inclusion of protection, in the Bill, for waters protected by Water Conservation Orders (WCO). A WCO is the national park equivalent for water bodies. This means that there is no protection for the Tākaka marble aquifer or Te Waikoropupū Springs under the Fast Track Bill as it stands (and seems likely to stand).

Not only can the WCO be overridden, but the Sams Creek mine has been sneaked into Schedule 2B of the Fast Track Bill. We should be very worried. What else is this government hiding from us?

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