Augusta Macassey-Pickard is Coordinator of Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki, 022 029 1150, Box 205, Whitianga 3542, info@watchdog.org.nz, www.watchdog.org.nz.

Coromandel Watchdog is taking the Government to court, challenging its' decision to allow transnational mining company Oceana Gold to purchase 178 hectares of farmland outside of Waihi, to build another toxic dump - dump number three. In a move that the group says is, at best, bad faith, the decision made by Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage (the Minister in charge of the Overseas Investment Office) to decline the purchase was overturned.

The process by which that has come about has raised eyebrows in the community that has successfully fought off this industry for the past 40 years; on top of all the promises broken by this Government (extending Schedule 4*, banning new mines on Conservation Land), this latest move has the community seriously questioning both the integrity and the wisdom of the Government. * Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act prohibits open cast mining in specified areas of the Coromandel. It does not cover the whole Peninsula nor does it cover underground mining. Coromandel Watchdog is campaigning for Schedule 4 to be extended but the Government has not, as yet, responded. Ed.

Minister Sage originally declined the purchase as, having evaluated the application, she found that it did not provide enough benefit to our country to justify the costs - and that it would not be in keeping with moving toward a zero-carbon economy. Minister Sage considered long term issues such as climate change contributions from fossil fuels and the risk of dam failure in her decision. She considered long term economic benefits to the region and the country to be lacking. She noted the low-income levels in the Waihi area now and the value of protecting food producing land.

The company that has purchased the land, Oceana Gold Corporation Limited (an Australian/Canadian mining company with a questionable international record), immediately applied for that decision to be judicially reviewed at the High Court. But, before the Court had the chance to do that, the company reapplied, with a "new" application. The "new" application was considered by different Ministers, as the earlier one was still before the courts, and this application was granted by Ministers Parker and Robertson, who ignored Government climate pollution reduction targets and only considered keeping existing jobs. Oceana has now bought the farm.

While it is possible that there was nothing strictly illegal about this (we would like the courts to confirm that, though), it brings into question both the integrity of the process, the integrity of the Ministers, and the integrity of the Government's commitment to the Carbon Zero targets. Coromandel Watchdog believes that this must be looked at by the courts, and that the public of Aotearoa New Zealand not only has a responsibility to hold our Governments to account, but has a responsibility to ensure that where their integrity is questionable, we question it.

Selling New Zealand farmland to a foreign owned mining company to build a dam to dump their toxic waste on, waste that will persist for hundreds of years, waste that they simply leave behind once they have dug the wealth from our land, is not a sustainable use of our land, and it is not a good decision for our country. The case will test interpretations of the Overseas Investment Act.

Money Needed For Court Case

Coromandel Watchdog are, as you would expect, trying to raise a significant amount of money to cover the costs of taking such an action; we have applied to the Environment Legal Assistance Fund for support, but will need more from the community also! Please check our Website (watchdog.org.nz) for how you can participate - it is of course a great support to become a sustaining donor, even just $5 per month can be a real help! Or you can contribute specifically to the Judicial Review fund via the Givealittle page.