Resources Minister Shane Jones says climate change activists are waging a Holy War. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Resources Minister Shane Jones has compared climate activists to medieval crusaders, saying they are waging a Holy War.
But protesters have hit back, claiming it's the government that's stuck in the dark ages.
For nine days, two activists from the group Climate Liberation Aotearoa had been camped in coal buckets at Stockton Mine, north of Westport.
They were protesting Bathurst Resources' plans to expand the mine under the government's fast track law.
Activists claimed miners were waging a campaign of harassment, including firing a shotgun in the area to intimidate them.
But Bathurst Resources chief executive Richard Tacon dismissed the claims of a firearm being used, saying it was bird-scaring to keep animals away from the area.
Jones said the protesters were putting jobs at risk.
"I think we're going to see more of this and I just say to the protesters today we posted the worst possible unemployment stats since 2020, as we deal with the Covid hangover, you're putting jobs at risk. Why is your moral crusade more important than the hundreds of jobs at stake in the event that this mine cannot operate efficiently?" Jones said.
"A level of arrogance, a level of moral superiority that deserves our condemnation."
He expressed surprise that police had not been able to trespass the protesters.
"Let's face it - these climate change debates are turning into a holy war, some sort of medieval crusade. And it's just something that we're going to have to cope with until such time more New Zealanders stand up for economic resilience and not luxury beliefs," Jones said.
He did not agree with any of the protesters' concerns.
"This is coking coal," Jones said.
"The last time I checked, capitalism was built on steel. And all we're doing is taking highly desirable coking coal, selling it to people who regard it as a cleaner sort of coal for steel production and yes, we're entitled to protest... but I do feel in this case where it threatens the feasibility of ongoing employment, I think their moral crusade is more about personal arrogance now."
Two Climate Liberation Aotearoa protesters used the aerial rope way down to Ngakawau to access a coal bucket for a sit-in protest. Photo: Supplied
Adam Currie, of activist group Aotearoa 350, claimed protesters were the ones supporting a stable jobs and a sustainable economy.
"We're the ones standing up for economic resilience. The West Coast deserves better than boom and bust coal cycles," he said.
"I'd say to the minister that we all deserve good, stable jobs that we can rely on for decades to come, and yet boom and bust coal cycles do not provide that. We need clean, good jobs that we can rely on, such as care work, such as health work, such as investing in the coast - which this government's consistently refused to do - and so it's incredibly hypocritical that he's calling us the ones that are bad for the economy.
"We're the ones that really believe in the coast and we really believe in an economic future that's not reliant on coal and this is coal that is not keeping the lights on in New Zealand. It is coal that is completely 100 percent for export and it's for the benefit of Australian and Singaporean foreign investors. This is not helping New Zealand."
He dismissed comparison of protesters to Crusaders.
"It's this government that is stuck in the Middle Ages by continuing to burn boom and bust coal for the benefit of foreign investors," Currie said.
"It's this government that is stuck in the Middle Ages for continuing to focus on dodgy coal mining that is bad for the economy and is killing the climate that we all rely on. We've just had the climate-fuelled storm in Nelson, where we're all still cleaning up from it and from trashing the Denniston Plateau to causing asthma in children - coal poses an existential threat to the world we live in."
Richard Tacon said the protest was costing a "f***ing fortune".
"We have been trying to make things uncomfortable for them for sure... but I can tell you there are no firearms," Tacon said.
They had tried to communicate with the protesters about what was being mined at Stockton and the risk the two activists in the coal bucket were taking, he said.
"It's a high-quality coking coal. It's not going into boilers... it's going into steel," Tacon said.
"We have had this discussion with them and they couldn't care less. This coal leads to lower emissions going into steel making.
"I firmly believe the organisers of this have put two people into a place of great peril. It's only luck that they are still alive. These buckets can fall off. We have tried communicating this to them and they won't let us communicate with them.
"If I put two people in that situation, I'd be prosecuted."
The workers and the community were understandably frustrated by the protesters' actions, Tacon said.
"Our people are really pissed off. It's costing them money."
Police said officers were continuing to monitor the activity at Stockton Mine.
"Police are also assessing allegations made by both parties, and will deal with the complaints appropriately based on their merit," West Coast response manager Senior Sergeant Brent Cook said.
"Our role is to uphold the law, and we will take action where activity becomes unlawful.
"A bird scarer has also been set off in the area, and enquiries have determined there is no threat to safety. We ask people leave the matter for police to deal with."
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