Great News For Coromandel No Mining Movement
The Ruataniwha Dam decision is a huge win not just in Hawkes Bay but for the communities fighting multinational mining companies here on the Coromandel. Why? – because now the Government won’t be able to do devious land swaps with a mining company to allow them to get access to conservation land.
“Today the Supreme Court delivered its judgement on the Ruataniwha Dam land swap – and found it to be unlawful: The Supreme Court has ruled conservation land cannot be destroyed for the Ruataniwha Dam.
In its decision, the court said the Conservation Act allowed the responsible minister to revoke protected status “only where its intrinsic conservation values no longer warrant such protection”.
“The Court of Appeal was right to conclude that the revocation decision was unlawful because it was driven by the [Department of Conservation] Director General’s view that there was net benefit to conservation ends to be obtained from the proposed exchange, which could be implemented only if protected status was revoked.
“That did not justify revocation under [Section 18(7) of the Act].”
This is obviously good news in the battle to protect Ruahine Forest Park, and its hard to see how the Ruataniwha Dam can go ahead now. But the case goes much wider than that. DoC has used this idea of “net conservation gain” – of allowing protected land to be bulldozed provided they get something else, somewhere, which also needs to be conserved – as a fundamental part of its business model, and has used it to enable everything from ski-fields to coal mines. But that entire approach has been ruled illegal. Which means that all those proposed coal mines and dams which rely on a compliant Conservation Minister signing away the conservation estate for magic beans are simply not going to happen. And our environment will be much better for it. “
With the highest court in the land having ruled that these land swaps for their corporate mates are illegal, the government arrogantly says it will change the law after the election. What the government has admitted saying is whether any law change would be retrospective.
There couldn’t be a clearer message for all of those people wanting to protect the Coromandel from mining companies. Change the government.
Denis Tegg - teggtalk 
Fantastic work by Forest & Bird!
LikeLike