The ‘woke intimidation’ veto on minerals is over, says Resources Minister Shane Jones

Friday, 31 January 2025

Protesters, climate change advocates and 'pudgy handed bankers' have been put on notice by Resources Minister Shane Jones - the 'woke intimidation' over mining in New Zealand is over.

However, Labour says the Government moves are “shortsighted, environmentally reckless, and a giveaway to private mining interests”.

Speaking at the launch of the Government's new minerals strategy on Friday at the OceanaGold Waihi operation, Jones signalled a seismic shift in the Government's approach.

'Gone are the days when a single frog, skink is going to be deified… under Fast Track that's all gone.'

'They have no power of veto and I have no time for their green group think, that's so 2020,' he said.

'I'm going to listen more to the blue collar communities than woke sponges.'

Jones was in Waihi on Friday to launch the Government’s plan to double mineral exports in a decade - to $3b by 2035, up from the previous target of $2b.

The national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List is a roadmap for 'a key pillar of a strong economy“, he said.

New Zealand has the potential to produce 21 of the 37 minerals on the critical minerals list.

The list has two new additions: gold and metallurgical coal, which the Government said represents about 80% of mineral exports.

Jones said 'luxury' green beliefs were impoverishing Aotearoa, damaging regional communities and driving young people to Australia.

He also said the days of 'woke intimidation' were over, as regional communities were “buckling under… luxury beliefs'.

Another jab was at barriers including 'corporate straitjackets', people 'in thrall to climate group think', and the Wildlife Act - which he labelled an outdated 'overreach'.

The new target in his woke war was corporate banks’ climate policies.

At one stage, he described them as 'pudgy handed bankers', and he said they had 'no authority to monster our most valuable export centres'.

Jones hailed the Fast Track legislation as key to sweeping away barriers to mineral extractions, but said there would be 'guardrails'.

'It doesn’t mean approvals will be signed on the back of a cigarette packet,' he said.

Jones' speech was delayed by about 100 protesters who blocked the road into the OceanaGold site.

Climate campaigner and former Green MP Catherine Delahunty was among them and told the Waikato Times mining was '19th century thinking'.

Only a fraction of the money remains in New Zealand, she said. 'I've seen billions of dollars [sent] out of our economy.'

'They intend to mine under the whole town… the economy is more than just money and we won't be getting that money anyway.'

Asked directly about Delahunty's claims, Jones said that from $1.5bn generated by minerals activity, $700m remained in New Zealand.

'We shouldn't be surprised in international investors want a return,' he said.

Delahunty was a well-known environmental activist, but 'her economic knowledge mirrors Freddy the Frog', he said.

The Government would look at keeping more minerals royalties in the regions, and Jones claimed the new strategy would result in $2.5bn in export earnings by 2036.

He conceded, however, that 'yes culture does require us to engage in trade-offs'.

He citied possibilities to support clean energy transitions, saying “we are a prospective destination for sought-after minerals like antimony and we have operators working rare earth, vanadium and titanium projects”.

Jones said the minerals strategy was holistic and considered reprocessing waste material, potential recycling and recovery.

Labour’s energy spokesperson Megan Woods called the announcement “shortsighted, environmentally reckless, and a giveaway to private mining interests”.

Labour wasn’t against mining in an environmentally sustainable way, Woods said

“However, the government’s plans, combined with the Fast Track law, lead to greater environmental risks with no public scrutiny.'

She critiqued claims that mining was essential for the clean energy transition and said Jones’s plan “prioritises mining private profits over climate action, regional prosperity, and long-term energy security”.

Minerals West Coast manager Patrick Phelps was pleased to see metallurgical coal and gold added to the critical minerals list. He noted thermal coal remained off the list.

He said the banking announcement was 'a big one' as banks were withdrawing finance and even transactional banking from mining companies, hampering their ability to pay workers.

The mining industry was a capital intensive industry and needed access to finance, he said.

He said it was discriminatory of banks to withdraw services to people based on the industry they worked in. 'Mining is a legitimate industry. You are allowed to mine, you are allowed to use mined minerals. They provide banking to industries that use coal like dairy processing and provide finance to people buying petrol cars so why not the mining industry?'

However, Forest & Bird said the Government was “rushing blindly in the wrong direction with these plans to massively expand opencast coal mines on public conservation land”.

Chief executive Nicola Toki said putting metallurgical coal onto the critical list was out of touch.

“Coal is the filthiest fossil fuel. Burning it is destroying the climate,” Toki said.

“Last year, New Zealand taxpayers forked out more money for the ongoing clean-up of a single mine site’s acid drainage in waterways than the entire coal mining sector brought in through royalties. Make it make sense.”