𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗸 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗸𝗶 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

An Australian bid to mine the South Taranaki seabed is dead in the water, say local leaders.

In a draft decision, the Fastrack Authority turned down TranTasman Resources’ (TTR) application to mine the seabed off Pātea, just outside the 12-mile limit.

An expert panel found the would-be miners failed to prove they could avoid environmental and cultural damage.

The Fast-track panel wasn't convinced promised economic benefits were worth the risk.

Trans-Tasman can respond to the draft rejection before the final ruling next month – and could challenge the outcome in court.

Amelia Cunningham, Miah Rangihaeata Taputoro and Helia Dean were in South Taranaki District Council’s tent making art about Pātea's thriving offshore reefs at the town's Waitangi Day celebrations. (Te Korimako o Taranaki)

But Te Runanga o Ngāti Ruanui kaiwhakahaere Rachel Arnott believed the draft rejection, released on the eve of Waitangi Day, would stick.

“I bloody hope so!” she said.

Ngāti Ruanui led opposition to the mine even before the first application in 2013, winning in the High Court, Court of Appeal and in 2021 the Supreme Court.

Ordered to start again, Trans-Tasman instead re-applied under the explicitly pro-development Fast-track Approvals Act.

Ngāti Ruanui kaiwhakahaere Rachel Arnott says the seabed mining bid is dead in the water. (Supplied)

The Fast-track panel invited the company to submit more evidence of safety but in its decision said TTR didn’t provide enough proof.

Arnott said the panel's conclusion that TTRs evidence was lacking left the mining bid dead in the water.

“They haven't actually done the work.

“They continue to use the same experts; they bring in a couple of others … Many haven't even set foot in Aotearoa.”

Pātea has been the centre of opposition to the seabed mining bid for well over a decade. (Te Korimako o Taranaki)

TTR executive chairman Alan Eggers said the company was disappointed.

“It is difficult to reconcile why the expert panel did not accept our FTA application and evidence provided, including input from many world-leading experts.”

Trans-Tasman wants to suck up 50 million tonnes of seabed sediment a year for at least 20 years to extract iron, titanium and vanadium.

A factory ship would discharge 45 million tonnes of slurry annually back into the waters of the Pātea Shoals – 170,000 tonnes a day, allowing for downtime.

The main ecological risks are a drifting plume of sediment smothering thriving reef ecosystems and the impact of underwater noise pollution on protected marine mammals.

Eggers said he found it “difficult to accept” the Fast-track panel's intent to decline the project “with concerns on almost every aspect”.

Even on the golf course it’s clear Pātea is the centre of opposition to seabed mining. (Te Korimako o Taranaki)

The Taihauāuru MP Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said TTR’s mining bid had no chance after the panel found that harms far outweigh economic benefits.

“I'm extremely confident, probably more confident about this than I've ever been,” said the Pāti Māori co-leader.

“Even under Fast-track legislation, designed to push projects through, seabed mining has been found to cause unacceptable harm to the environment, to taonga species, and to tikanga Māori.”

Ngarewa-Packer intends this week to lodge a revamped Members Bill to outlaw seabed mining, amended to deal with changes including the Fast-Track law.

All eight Taranaki iwi opposed the mine, alongside the region’s four councils and neighbouring Whanganui District Council.

A predominantly south-east drift from the mine means Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi reefs could be worst hit by seabed sediment.

Te Kāhui o Rauru tumu whakarae Tahinganui Hina said the iwi opposed TTR from the start because the environmental risk was so massive.

Stuck in the ironsands of Pātea Beach, the wreck of the SS Waitangi shows the hazards of the wild South Taranaki Bight where TTR wants to mine.

“We're up for things that we can manage,” Hina said.

“Let’s take renewable energy, it's a palatable conversation: TTR’s not even a topic we can talk about.”

Hapū led Ngāruahine iwi’s response, foregrounding a new generation of leaders like Puawai Hudson of Ngati Tū.

For decades her grandfather Rocky Hudson was central in Ngāruahine’s battles in courts and at the Waitangi Tribunal.

“I reflect on my koroua who was still around when these fights started and … it’s now fallen to his mokopuna’s generation.”

Iwi were forced to spend scarce funds “but the biggest cost to our people is the emotional tax,” Hudson said.

“Our old people are getting tired. They've fought for years, for decades.”

She doubted TTR could overturn the draft decision.

“The cultural impacts far outweigh any regional benefit, especially when most of that money will be exported overseas.”

South Taranaki District Council’s deputy mayor is a councillor for Pātea, the centre of opposition to the mine.

Rob Northcott agreed the draft decision was likely the death knell for Trans-Tasman’s plans.

“We're just saying that nah, nah, we're not prepared to gamble our environment and that's the core of it really.”

Pātea Community Board chair Jacq Dwyer credited mana whenua for leading the whole community in opposition to TTR for 13 years.

“We are relieved but we're cautious.

“We understand they're determined, they've got a lot of money, but we're never going to back down,” she said.

“We're never going to change our stance on the imperative that we protect the ocean.”

nā Craig Ashworth craig@tekorimako.co.nz

𝙇𝘿𝙍 𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙏𝙚 𝙆𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙤 𝙤 𝙏𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙠𝙞 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙏𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙤 𝙄𝙧𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞 𝙤 𝘼𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄𝙧𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞 𝙩𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙩𝙪