Government welcomes bipartisan political support for seabed minerals exploration
Prime Minister Mark Brown welcomed the Democratic Party’s recent policy change on the development of the seabed minerals (SBM) sector.
“I welcome the statements made by the Opposition leader Tina Browne, as it now aligns with the Government’s stance on exploration activities,” said Prime Minister Brown.
“Exploration will allow for the collection of essential environment data and information to allow the Government to make informed decisions about whether to permit future commercial harvesting,” he said.
“Exploration is also going to lead to more knowledge on our Marae Moana, more training opportunities for our people, and the use of our local businesses to supply goods and services connected to the exploration activities” he added.
“There is no denying that we are at the beginning of a historic time for our country, an exciting time, the start of a new voyage of discovery for our people, a voyage not across our ocean but a voyage deep into our ocean” said Prime Minister Brown.
On the 10 year moratorium call led by NGOs, Prime Minister Brown said “Government have always maintained the need to make decisions based on science rather than arbitrary timelines, so I am pleased to see that the Opposition are now taking the same view.”
Seabed Minerals Commissioner Alex Herman said, “It is both reassuring and encouraging that there is bipartisan political support for advancing SBM exploration in our Marae Moana.”
The Seabed Minerals Authority (Authority) will continue to engage actively with key stakeholders and communities throughout 2021.
“We are committed to ensuring that our people are given balanced information about this sector, and have the opportunity to voice their opinions and provide feedback,” said Herman, “It will take a lot of time and effort to reach our stakeholders and communities, but it is worth it”.
“Stakeholders may not always agree on the best way forward, including this 10 year moratorium. Although we can all agree that exploration research is necessary and vital in order to make an informed decision on whether we proceed to harvesting or not,” she said.
The publicly stated policy positions of Government and the Opposition are set out below:
SBM Activities: Exploration & Harvesting phases
“In conversations with both the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, they felt that there was a need to make the public aware that the country is currently in the exploration phase of SBM activities” said Herman. “Some people are talking as though we are about to undertake harvesting (or mining) activities soon, and that is simply not the case” she said.
“It is important to emphasise again that the Government has not approved harvesting activities at this stage,” said Herman.
“These next couple of years will be focused on exploration research. Through that exploration, we will gather more scientific data and knowledge on our Marae Moana so that an informed decision can be made on the next phase.”
The Authority is currently processing the four applications for exploration licences it has received, after the reopening of exploration licensing in October last year. The Authority expects that a decision will be made on whether to grant exploration licences by the middle of the year.
Queries on this release may be directed to Dede Mingi: [email protected]