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Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is calling on Labour to support her bill banning seabed mining, which has been drawn from the biscuit tin.
Before entering parliament Ms Packer led the challenge by here Ngāti Ruanui and Ngā Rauru iwi against plans to mine off south Taranaki.
She says getting the bill onto the order paper is the latest win in an eight-year campaign to protect the moana in from the greed of international mining companies.
Mining up to 50 million tonnes of iron sands every year for 35 years would be an environmental disaster for Taranaki.
She says there is a growing global movement to end seabed mining, with Palau, Fiji, Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, France, Portugal and Chile all now against deep sea mining.
The move comes as Australian listed gold and silver producer Manuka Resources announced it will merge with Trans-Tasman Resources and raise the extra capital needed to pursue its efforts to get consent for the south Taranaki project.
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