Government to blame for mining fury

The Government is out of touch with reality when it blames public fury and international condemnation over its mining proposals on hysteria, the Green Party said today.

“The accusation that New Zealanders are hysterical because they care for their environment is bizarre and shows how out of touch the Minister is with her portfolio and with recent history,” Metiria Turei, Green Party Co-leader said.

“Schedule 4 was the result of a decade of hard work and compromise between mining interests and environmentalists. What we see now is not hysteria but fury that John Key’s Government could be so cavalier with such a hard won accord.

“The Government has generated so much misinformation and made so many flip-flops on mining that few people have an understanding of what they are being asked to submit about.”

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has declared the public consultation insufficient given public confusion over the topic. The Economist went so far as to declare “it is time for the country to find itself a more sustainable brand, and soon.”

Mrs Turei is not surprised that New Zealand’s reputation is taking a hammering internationally from the likes of The Economist and the Sierra Club.

“Our conservation estate is already subject to mining, with Schedule 4 set aside for special protection – now the Government wants to rip that up too.

“The Government is undermining our clean, green image for twenty pieces of imaginary silver,” Mrs Turei said.