Summarised by Centrist
A Green Party member’s bill seeking to ban new mining activity on public conservation land has been drawn from Parliament’s ballot.
The bill, introduced by Green Party environment spokesperson Lan Pham, would prohibit new mining, prospecting and exploration permits across New Zealand’s 8.5 million hectares of public conservation land.
Pham said conservation land should be protected for native species and public enjoyment rather than commercial extraction, describing mining access under the Crown Minerals Act as a “loophole”.
The proposed legislation would also require mining permits to be surrendered if protected wildlife species are discovered within permit areas.
Pham said many New Zealanders would be surprised to learn mining activity can already occur on protected conservation land.
Industry groups have raised concerns about the scope and practical consequences of the proposal.
Aggregate and Quarry Association representative Wayne Henry-Scott said the definition of mining under the Crown Minerals Act includes aggregates, sand and pounamu, potentially affecting a broad range of activities beyond large-scale mineral extraction.
He said the Department of Conservation currently relies on quarries located on conservation land to maintain tracks, roads, car parks and tourism infrastructure, warning that sourcing aggregate from more distant locations could increase costs, congestion and emissions.
Henry-Scott also raised concerns about the impact on pounamu access, noting much of the resource is currently recovered through alluvial gold mining operations on conservation land.
