Seabed mining
I am a Pakeha (Greek/French/Irish) who, along with my wife, has recently become a citizen of New Zealand. From our home base in Wanaka, we have become alarmed and active, generally on environmental issues such as opposing the release of GMOs into the environment and the fight to save the Waitaki River. We have formed a group to coordinate these efforts, the Wanaka Environmental Action Group.
In addition to environmental issues, we have observed with alarm and disgust the startling level of racism in our newly adopted country. For example, we had never heard the expression "nigger in the woodpile" before we settled here and I am only now beginning to understand the venom behind the word "mongrel" in this small society.
This racism, unfortunately, extends into virtually every aspect of NZ culture, including the current discussion regarding ownership of the seabed.
New Zealand has regularly sent delegations to an organisation called the International Seabed Authority. This organisation appears to be concerned with the analysis and regulation of the rapidly emerging technology often referred to as seabed mining. This participation makes it clear to me that this and previous governments were and are aware of the vast natural resource comprising the seabed within NZ's territorial waters.
At least 25 materials may be commercially exploitable, including tungsten, tin, magnesium, gold, silver and strategic metals such as titanium. The commercial value of the natural resource is likely to be measured in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars. The exploitation of the natural resource for these materials has boggling environmental implications.
Once the government has clear title (in whatever form) to the seabed, it is possible (likely, given this and previous governments' fetishes for privatisation and exploitation) that the natural resource will be exploited in a wasteful (like the Maui gas field) or environmentally destructive manner. Further, clear title, with, perhaps, the occasional sop thrown to Maori, will allow this exploitation to proceed with minimum benefit to NZ's indigenous people.
The government is hiding behind legislation passed in the early 1930s, long before the Law of the Sea or the present territorial or economic exclusion zones were introduced. This is clearly a straw man intended to prevent New Zealanders, especially Maori, from exploring the full value of the natural resource before ownership is determined.
While cultural rights and fishery/aquaculture are important, they represent a tiny fraction of the present and future economic value of the seabed. The stonewalling we have faced so far is indicative of the government's keen desire to keep this information out of the hands of those who may have customary rights to the natural resource.
We urgently seek to introduce seabed mining and all of its profound implications into the debate before it is too late. Any advice or assistance is greatly appreciated.
Andre Prassinos
Wanaka Environmental Action Group
PO Box 501
Wanaka NZ
Ageing population
Population ageing will require more public expenditure on healthcare and pensions simply to avoid an increase in relative disadvantage among the elderly.
This should be overwhelmingly financed by a mix of progressive tax increases in future years and ongoing productivity improvements. Treasurer Peter Costello is talking about expanding the labour force, but there are dangers and complications here.
Without more job vacancies, higher labour force participation would reduce the chances of the unemployed finding work. Forcing more social security recipients to involuntarily seek employment would make some badly off people even worse off.
Employment incentives might cost the government more than they save. And, since jobless people, especially those raising children and in poor health, normally have below-average capacity for economic production, even if employment rose by a small percentage, economic output would grow by less.
Population ageing will, over time, necessitate some policy changes — but it certainly does not justify a weakening of Australia's already inadequate social security and public health systems.
Brent Howard
Rydalmere, NSW
Uranium mining
Indications are that uranium miner ERA is beginning to admit to its worst radioactive accident yet. However, to many jaded observers, reports of mismanagement of radioactive and toxic materials at the Ranger uranium mine are less than surprising.
Workers who realised their drinking water was contaminated have been forewarned by previous incidents (which have at times precipitated strike action), and occasionally placed individuals at seriously frightening risks.
Further reports of many thousands of litres of "hot" (toxic, radioactive) process water accidentally overflowing into the surrounding water systems of Kakadu National Park are entirely consistent with operations at Ranger.
Despite nearly a quarter century of operations, most wet seasons overwhelm the miner's capacity to manage water on site. In this way, seasonal failure of water retention and runoff management pose an almost regular threat to Kakadu.
In fact, a Senate inquiry explored a similar instance of a plumbing error redirecting process water off-site in 1983.
However, no number of Senate inquiries, and no protocol of monitoring and reporting, can be relied upon to protect the World Heritage values of Kakadu National Park. The mine is, by all measurements, on its last legs, as is the industry.
As the quality and quantity of the remaining ore at Ranger dwindles, more reactors are shutting down than starting up, and the market is glutted with fissionable material.
In defiance of this reality, ERA is in low gear, holding on to the hope that the price of the radioactive metal will rise to a level that makes exploitation of the remaining ore more profitable.
Clearly dangerous and unprofitable, Ranger should be wound up and rehabilitated, the lease relinquished, and the land returned to its traditional owners to be reincorporated into Kakadu National Park. Unfortunately, this seems like too much of an ask of a government that has put all its eggs in the primary industries basket.
Justin Tutty
Darwin River, NT [Abridged]
From Green Left Weekly, April 7, 2004.
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