The Green Desk: A Court of Appeal victory for Taranaki iron sands with Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Kevin Hague: April 7, 2020

In August 2017, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) granted Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) a consent to carry out iron ore extraction from the sand beds in the Exclusive Economic Zone off the South Taranaki coast.  Iwi and environmental groups successfully appealed the granting of consent in the High Court, however the matter was appealed to the Court of Appeal.  On Friday the Court released its judgment, coming to the same conclusion as the High Court but on completely different reasoning. 

First, Bronnie speaks to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, the chief executive of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui who have been part of a long battle of court cases and protests against the mining activity. She began by telling us how she was feeling having reached the end of what has been a very long journey.

The Court of Appeal also heard from many other groups representing environmental and fishing interests. In the latter half of this clip, Bronnie interviews the chief executive of Forest & Bird, Kevin Hague, about why they also opposed the granting of the consent from an environmental perspective.