Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Josie Vidal: Straterra chief executive says fast-track list will reap more benefits than environmental problems

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Josie Vidal: Straterra chief executive says fast-track list will reap more benefits than environmental problems · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So one hundred and forty nine projects are set to
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: be included in the government's Fast Track Approvals Bill. The
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: majority are for housing, land development, infrastructure, as well as
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: renewable electricity generation. Eleven mining and eight quarrying projects are
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: on the list, with the hope it could help with
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: the government's goal to double the value of mineral exports
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: by twenty thirty five. Josie Vdal is with US the
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Straterra Mining Chief Executive. Josie good morning, Good morning. What
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: do you say to the naysays the opposition who says
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: this is going to wreck havoc on our environment.
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  Speaker 2: Well, first of all, I say progress and jobs are good.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Contributing to the global supply chain of minerals everyone needs
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: is good, and the misinformation about the bill is not
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: so good. So I suggest that people actually read it
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: and understand it. The people who are on that list
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: still have to make an application to the Environmental Protection
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Authority and still be assessed under the bill once it passes. Yeah,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: we say, you know.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: But the protections are greatly reduced for the environment. Un't that.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: I mean the environmental protections under the RMA Conservation Act,
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  Speaker 1: the Wildlife Act. They can be overridden.
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  Speaker 2: We don't believe that that will happen in mining because
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  Speaker 2: responsible mining and New Zealand still has to meet the
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: same high standards to be a global player. Basically, there's
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: so much pressure on companies now to report on their environmental,
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: social and governance standards. So we're not going to see
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: standards slip.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: But okay, the trans see if.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Things happen faster and more efficiency.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: The trans Tasman resources, the Tataranhaky sea bed mining, let's
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: look at that for example. So you've had a Supreme
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Court overturning the consents, You've had the Environment Court involved,
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  Speaker 1: So how can it go ahead if all of those
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: protections that that have already been looked at are still
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: in place.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: So what we had before was a system where the
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: only thing considered for a project was the environment by
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: a whole lot of people who were very fixated on
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: the environment. Now we can consider economic and environment, which
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: is slightly more appropriate.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Okay, which is Josie, because this is the point I
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: think you're conceding that because we're looking wider than just environment,
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: there will be some more detrimental environmental impacts, but we're
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: taking a wider view here, No.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: And I don't think there will be detrimental impacts from
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: mining because there's been so many years of measuring and
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: managing them that people have the science behind them. We
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: have to you know, New Zealand has to rely on
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: science and technology and facts and evidence, not emotion, and
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: there's been a high amount of emotion in this argument.
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  Speaker 2: And you know t here done. They've spent millions of
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: dollars on science to show that what the impact of
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: the seabed mining they're planning it, and it's pretty.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Low impact, sopies. No species will go extinct like they're claiming.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: You know, it's home to thirty species of marine mammals.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: We won't lose any Well, the research in science that
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: TTR of God suggests that that's a very turbulent part
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  Speaker 2: of the coast and the sea bed is being churned
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: up all the time anyway. So you know, they have
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: presented science and they will continue to present science to
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: the Environmental Protection Authority when they go through their application.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: All right, Josie, thank you very much for your time
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: this morning, really appreciate it. Just before you go, Josie,
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  Speaker 1: you're expecting any more protests now that this list has
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: come out because you had those ones on the terrace.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: Well, I think it's unfortunate as I say that people
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: following what is actually happening and I'm basically making stuff up.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: So yeah, they'll probably they will protest because that's what
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: they do. It's a job for them.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: So fair enough.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, jose thank you, I say, go science.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Jase, thank you for your time. Really appreciate you getting
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: up for us this morning. Jose V Deel who is
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: with Straterra, that's the Mining Association group and one of
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: their clients is trans Tasman Resources, who are looking at
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: doing the Tadanhaki Sea bed mining. The benefits, as I
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, a billion dollars in export receipts per year,
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty million dollars in royal who's in tax,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: and an estimated wealth boost of one hundred and fifty
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: billion dollars over the lifetime of the project.
• 4:40
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• 4:43
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• 4:44
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• 4:47
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