Boosting our economic potential

Economic growth matters. Only through lifting our economic growth can we create new jobs, boost wages, raise living standards, and provide the high-quality public services that Kiwi families need.

New Zealand is an energy-rich country. We have extraordinary renewable energy resources, such as wind, hydro, and geothermal power. And we have fantastic natural resources which could make a significant contribution to our economic prosperity.

Mining in New Zealand is already a $2 billion industry, which contributes to export receipts and government revenue. Including oil and gas, mining employs 6000 people - and the jobs are well paid.

Our mineral resources, even excluding coal and other hydrocarbon-based minerals, are estimated to be worth $194 billion.

However, much of that mineral potential is concentrated in public conservation areas with high conservation and cultural values.

The National-led Government has conducted a preliminary stocktake of land in Schedule Four of the Crown Minerals Act, where all mining other than minimum impact activity is prohibited. This reveals that if a very small proportion of these lands is responsibly developed, New Zealand could greatly benefit from increased jobs and growth.

We recently published this stocktake. It contains proposals to remove 7058 hectares of land from Schedule Four, including some areas in the Coromandel Peninsula and Great Barrier Island, and the Inangahua sector of Paparoa National Park on the West Coast.
The 7058 hectares are just 0.2 per cent of the 3.5 million hectares of Schedule Four land. If development went ahead, only about 5 per cent of the land might actually be mined. This is as little as 500 hectares, which is smaller than an average New Zealand sheep and beef farm.

There are, broadly, three tests that need to be met if we’re going to extend our mining activities. We need to demonstrate that there would be an increase in investment and in jobs. We need to prove to New Zealanders that the economic benefits of extending mining will largely stay in New Zealand. And we need to prove that we can mine these areas in an environmentally responsible way.

We believe all three of those things are possible, and that will be at the core of the discussion we’ll be having with New Zealanders over the next five weeks.

I urge you to read the discussion document and make a submission. The document is available at the Ministry of Economic Development website www.med.govt.nz/schedule4. Submissions close at 5pm on Tuesday, 4 May 2010.