SUBMISSION OPPOSING MINING ON SCHEDULE 4 LAND IN NEW ZEALAND No I do not think any of them should be removed.

Our protected areas are protected for a reason - they are our most pristine, ecologically and culturally significant and beautiful places, and they make up a fraction of our overall land area. They are like a lifeboat for our biodiversity - most of our natural lowland forest, wetland, coastal areas and other sub-alpine native ecologies have long since been lost to agriculture, urban development, erosion, pollution and other human impacts - and if it wasn't for the far-sighted preservation of these areas from activities like mining, they would probably all be gone by now. The whole point of conserving these areas is to keep them undisturbed and in their natural state as far as possible, for us all to enjoy, study and learn from. Tinkering with bits that are inaccessible or 'out of sight' doesn't change the fact that we are altering and affecting them, and the flora and fauna that live in a delicate balance inside their boundaries. Our conservation areas do not belong to the government or the state per se - they belong to the people, and the people have not given their permission to change their designation for material ends. Besides, it is not as if the billions of dollars in mineral wealth that lies in these areas will end up in our collective pockets. If by mining these areas ourselves (e.g. through a New Zealand State Owned Enterprise) we could raise the funds to clear our national deficit, pay back the entire student loan debt, build new schools, hospitals and state houses up and down the country, make tertiary education free again and so on, I think people would understand why this proposal is being considered and feel more pragmatically about it. But that is not the case at all. The people who stand to benefit the most (to the tune of billions of dollars) from the extraction and sale of the minerals from OUR best bit of land are private investors, multinational mining companies and mineral traders largely based outside New Zealand. New Zealand charges a pitifully low commission on the value of what is extracted - under 5%, I understand, compared to as much as 40%, 60% or more in other countries that allow mining by multi-nationals. So how exactly can you say that charging the mining companies this pathetic, nominal 'fee' on their vast profits will ensure New Zealand's economic security and make up for the potentially devastating environmental damage caused in these areas? It simply defies common sense. If you really see this as an opportunity to boost our collective wealth, why not set up an SOE to do the mining so that the profits stay in our economy, or raise the commission we charge to the point where the New Zealand people are the ones getting most of the billions? If you raised the commission to 50% or even 75% and promised to use the money to retire our national and student loan debts, then maybe I'd feel differently. But the fact remains that the amount of money New Zealand, and the New Zealand people, stands to make from the mining activity you foresee cannot begin to compensate for the loss of these precious, unique and beloved areas of wild New Zealand. There is also a very real possibility that the mining activity could pollute surrounding areas, disturb rare wildlife, poison the water table or result in industrial accidents - there are plenty of examples of these outcomes, and what then? Such problems can't always be fixed, and an apology won't cut it. I haven't even mentioned the threat to our 'clean, green image' and the tourism industry that depends on this perception, as I know a lot of other people will be covering that in detail. But it's also an important factor to be considered. Please, listen to the people on this. We don't want to risk our special places, we won't make hardly any money out of it anyway, and too many things could go wrong. And if you do press ahead despite the opposition, I'd count on seeing direct action on a scale never seen here before, protests that will ensure work grinds to a halt before it even starts and which will make the front pages all over the world. LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE! WE DON'T WANT MINING IN SCHEDULE 4 LAND.