After five Greenpeace activists occupied the Wellington offices of mining lobby group Straterra to protest seabed mining by its client Trans Tasman Resources today, two more have scaled a tower near Parliament and deployed a 22-meter banner that reads No Seabed Mining.

Greenpeace says today’s action is "a demonstration of the resistance promised" in a recently published open letter to all companies considering using the Fast Track Approvals process.

Spokesperson Juressa Lee says that while today’s focus has been on Trans Tasman Resources and their plan to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight, it should also be a warning to any company considering using the Fast Track approvals process that they will face resistance.

Earlier in the day, three Greenpeace activists gained entry to the Straterra HQ and locked it from the inside to prevent entry. They then proceeded to tweet images from a Straterra document outlining its intention to influence Government policy and clear the way for mining on the seabed and on conservation land.

Meanwhile, two more activists climbed onto the awning outside the Straterra offices and firefighters and erected a large banner reading No Seabed Mining.

All five activists at the Straterra building were eventually arrested by police.

Australian mining company TTR is vying to mine 50 million tons of iron sands in the South Taranaki Bight every year for 30 years. The company has made no secret of the fact it will use the much-maligned Fast Track Bill to get a green light after years of opposition by Taranaki hapū, environmentalists, the fishing industry and marine mammal experts.

Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Juressa Lee said, "We’re taking this action to highlight the danger that Trans-Tasman Resources may slip through the Fast Track process, despite years of community opposition and rejection by the courts.

"We’re also highlighting the role played by the mining industry lobbyist Straterra, which has the ear of this government and is pushing this extractive, polluting project.

"Straterra is a malignant force in New Zealand politics, operating in the shadows and backrooms to exert a pernicious influence over Government policies. Straterra’s stated objectives would shock all New Zealanders who value the natural world and a healthy democracy.

"Today, we have dragged Straterra’s dirty business into the sunlight and expose their malevolent intentions for all to see."

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