November 19, 2020
Supreme Court arguments ‘stale and pale’
Tribal executive turned Māori Party MP Debbie Ngarewa Packer is feeling confident after a three day Supreme Court hearing on whether Trans Tasman Resources can get back its permit mine the seabed off South Taranaki.
The company’s appeal was opposed by Ms Packer’s Ngāti Ruanui Rūnanga, environmental groups and fishing companies.
She says after seven years before various courts and tribunals TTR did not seem to have any new arguments.
"It was real moumou, the Supreme Court, because TTR never revved up, they never showed up with any 'aha moment' that justified us all wasting our time being there. Honestly it was like watching some pale, stale males who refused to accept every court of this land and that tangata whenua may be right," Ms Ngarewa Packer says.
As an MP she will push for a ban on seabed mining permits within the Exclusive Economic Zone, including withdrawing existing permits.
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