Mana | Movement of the People

 

MANA Opposes Northland Mining | Hone Harawira

“Northlanders need to oppose the government’s plans to mine 13,000 square kilometres of Northland country by overseas mining companies” says MANA Leader Hone Harawira. “Phil Heatley, the Minister of Energy and Resources, is currently consulting with the public. Everyone I have spoken to on the issue find it unthinkable that the government is pushing ahead with a plan that has been opposed in other parts of the country including Great Barrier Island and the Coromandel Peninsula. Everybody needs to makes their voices heard and tell Heatley to leave our lands alone”.

“I love the North. I love it because it is my home. I love it because of its breathtaking scenery. I love it because of its unique way of life. There is no way that I want the North dug up and exploited for the benefit of corporates that make a quick buck off our minerals and that leave a scene of destruction where pristine bush once existed. It makes no sense that our country promotes a ‘clean and green image’ and yet the government is willing to place a massive hole in the middle of the winterless North”.

“The wining and dining that mining companies are currently having with Wayne Brown, the Mayor of the Far North Council, in Toronto, Canada, constitutes a gross conflict of interest. Brown was elected by the people of the North to protect their interests, yet here he is being flown half-way around the world trying to offer sweeteners to companies that only care about increasing the size of their bank balance off the resources the people of the North have an interest in. Will Brown be so accommodating when he realises the disastrous environmental effects of mining, the giant scars left on the landscape, the toxic waste that will seep into our streams, rivers, underground water reserves and coast?”

“The people of the North need to tell the government that in no way do we want our beautiful environment wrecked so that we become a cash cow for overseas mining companies”.

ENDS

For further information please contact Malcolm Mulholland on 027 765 6380