Update from Phil McCabe, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining
Kia ora tatou,
This week, as a result of KASM’s Environment Court win where the judge ruled that the EPA was wrong to allow the blacking out of hundreds of pages of important information relating to Trans Tasman Resources seabed mining application, the EPA had no choice but to extend the submission period to 12th December.
Make a submission on seabed mining.
KASM, with support from Ngati Ruanui and Talleys Fishing Group, took the EPA and TTR to the Environment Court and the Judge overwhelmingly agreed with us saying …
“The public interest in making the information available outweighs any potential trade secret by a considerable margin.”
The Judge said that the info should never have been made secret in the first place and that TTR should have expected that any information supporting their application, which is to be heard in a public process would be assessed by the public and that costs associated with gathering that information is simply part and parcel of such an application.
In letting the information be kept secret the EPA made a poor decision not once but twice. Before going to the Environment Court KASM had made a direct request of the EPA to release the information but they refused.
The Judge specifically mentioned the fact that over 8000 submissions opposing the seabed mining application have already been made to the EPA, which shows the high level of public interest.
That means that every one of you who have formally engaged and made a submission have directly influenced this decision to fall in our favour!
This is proof that your voice and your actions count. Thank you … thank you!
Thanks also to KASM’s ace legal team, Duncan Currie and Ruby Haazen, who did an excellent job, first identifying the route to righting this wrong and then expertly traversing it. They were supported by counsel from Ngati Ruanui and Talleys fisheries forming a strong coalition in defence of our marine environment.
The information is now available on the EPA website and yesterday the EPA decided to extend the submission period for another 4 weeks until the 12th of December to give us enough time to consider the newly available info.
This is an historic win for transparency and the democratic process and will have beneficial repercussions long into the future.
What Next?
As I mentioned above submission numbers to date are in excess of 8000, nearly twice the record breaking numbers from two years ago.
This is a massive show of caring for our oceans and now is the time to really put the pressure on this foreign owned company and let them know that we love our marine environment and we will do everything we can to protect it from their destructive proposal.
If you haven’t made your submission yet, I urge you to do so now. It only takes a couple of minutes and every submission, every voice, makes a difference.
Here at KASM HQ we’re getting our scientific experts ready for the TTR hearing which will start early next year. We desperately need funds for this so please support us financially so we can put up the strongest possible defence for our oceans.
Please stay tuned and encourage your friends to get involved.
Together we are strong!
Nga mihi nui ki a koutou
Phil McCabe