Mining secret agenda emerging

• Marty G
• 14 years ago
• Categories: Mining, national
• Tags: gerry brownlee, glass earth, john key, national's secret agenda

It’s becoming clear that National had their policy to mine on protected land all planned before the election and hid the truth from the public because they feared it would make them unelectable.

Both Gerry Brownlee and John Key have admitted pre-election meetings with the mining industry took place but have not elaborated on what was discussed. Mining sources are saying that National was very keen on the idea of mining on Schedule 4 land. The excuse from National, that they couldn’t have formed such a policy before becoming government, is crap – the presence of mineral deposits on the selected land was well known and Glass Earth has been doing exploratory work to get a better fix on what is there for several years.

There’s nothing wrong with starting a new policy in reaction to new events during a government’s term but this is something else, they appear to have deliberately kept the public in the dark on a core policy so that it wouldn’t be an election issue.

National needs to front up with the records of their pre-election discussions with the mining industry. Labour should challenge them to come clean in the House today.