September 14, 2016
Golden opportunities for Peters
There’s a split among Northland MPs about protests against gold exploration north of Whangarei.
Te Taitokerau MP Kelvin Davis was at Puhipuhi on Sunday when Ngati Hau kuia and kaumatua led a hikoi to plant their hapu flags on a drill site set up by Evolution Mining to test for gold deposits under the maunga.
But Northland MP Winston Peters says the Australian company is only at the exploration stage, and it should be left to do what’s in its permit.
"They’ve got a right to explore and see what's there and I would think that if they happen to find, if there was, to use a collquialism, 'sitting on a goldmine' and that the benefits of that goldmine substantially go to the local people or a lot of it go to the local people, there would be a different view," he says.
Winston Peters says environmental concerns such as fear of mercury contamination can be dealt with if and when Evolution Mining applies for an extraction permit.
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