A community split in Central Otago as the fast-track panel considers a gold-mine proposal from Australian company, Bendigo-Ophir.
Santana Minerals estimates it could extract $4.4 billion of gold from hills above the Clutha River with open pit and underground mining
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton warns it has considerable environmental risk.
Local mayor Tamah Alley told Andrew Dickens people feel strongly.
She says many are pro-mining and want the jobs and money, but others are vehemently opposed.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Kerry Wood of Morning's podcast from
news Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be talking about the Bendigo Ophia mine in Central Otago,
which is up for fast track approval. Has to go
before a panel and they have to make it just
sit in by October twenty nine. So this is fast
that's why they call it fast track. Yesterday we found
out what the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment thinks about it. Now,
this is Simon Upton. You remember Simon Boy Wonder politician,
(00:33):
used to be a National MP. He's a Rhodes scholar.
He's officially a very big brain on a very small body.
He's clever, kevit little monkey, but he is concerned about it.
He says the proposed mind should be declined because he's
worried about the environmental risks. He's worried about the earthquakes
as well. He's worried about the Tailings Dam full of
(00:54):
pollutants that could just spill and the leaching into the environment.
And of course Sam Neil as well doesn't want it.
He calls it toxic and ruinous for the region's environmental reputation.
So what does the local unity thing? We heard from
Tony from Omicau just beforehand, and he's right for it.
He says, you know, we live here all the time,
unlike Sam, we need jobs to keep this place going.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
He likes it.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
But how's the rest of the community feeling. So what
we've got is Tama Alley online Now. Tama is the
Central Otago mayor. Hello, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Good cook, morning, Andrew. I feel like I know which
Tony from Omaco you're speaking to as well.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
He's such a pro mining guy. He sounded like the
Toney from the West Coast because he says mining. You know,
he's got that miner's voice. And he was right for it.
He was absolutely in it. You're the mayor in the
in the area. What's the community feeling about it? Is
it as split as some people report or are they
all for.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I think it is as split as some people report.
We have a very vocal group who are one hundred
percent pro mining. Guests get it going. We want the
jobs and the money. We have a group who are
one hundred percent of pose, and then we do have
a bit of a swath in the middle who are
kind of thinking, oh, look, we see that there would
be some benefits, but we want to make sure that
there are protections in place. The challenge for this council
(02:12):
has been because it's sitting with the fast Track Panel,
it's never been a decision for this council. So we
haven't gone out to our community with a survey, which
is surprising because councils love surveys, But we haven't gone
to our communities and asked yay or nay. So what
we hear is from those really impassioned people, and there
are a lot of people who are kind of in
(02:33):
the middle, not necessarily one way or another, have some
concerns but also see some benefits as well.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
But at the same time, because this is the big
issue for that region, you as a politician will at
some point or another given opinion on it and that
will become an election point. So are you treading carefully
because of that?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Well, I think our council has purposefully tread carefully along
the middle, and we've been quite clear to not give,
you know, personal opinions or to side in a particular
area as council, because we do also see that there
are benefits to be had for our area, especially when
it comes to economic benefits. But I think they need
to be weighed really carefully against the environmental risks and degradation,
(03:18):
and I think that the panel that has been selected
is probably the appropriate place to weigh that balance and
come to a conclusion.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
And I presume the Simon Upton because he is the
Parliamentary Commission for the Environment and he's been doing it
for a while. He's got a lot of sway in
that panel. Do you think he's being a little bit
doom say and paranoid about the possibility of earthquakes breaking
the tailings dam.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
We know we are well overdue for a magnitude eight
or larger earthquake in this area, so I think as
much as you say, or it might not happen in
our lifetimes, No, it might not, but it might also
happen tomorrow. So I think we do need to be
cognizant of that risk. And that's part of I guess,
working through if the mine has consented, what the conditions
will look like to make sure that the community of
(04:05):
today tomorrow is protected if the alpine fault rutches, and
also with other changing weather patterns, I mean, Touchwood. We
have gotten off relatively lightly so far this year, but
that's not the case for all of the country.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
So is tourism and vineyards the new gold, and is
gold the old gold? Is that last centuries gold rush
for the region. I mean, which one has the most
upside for you?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
I think they both have upside. We were really fortunate
last year we undertook a big piece of work talking
about what our community wanted their district to look like
in the future. It was called Shaping Tomorrow Together, and
it gave us a really good steer on how our
community thinks and feels about where we live and what
we want to prosper And interestingly, economic prosperity was weighed
(04:56):
pretty much evenly against protecting the environment. So even when
you go to our community, they say, hey, look, we
love protecting the environment. And our environment grows amazing fruit
and grapes to make incredible wine and also brings lots
of people here to look at our environment and enjoy
it and bite through it. But our community had very
(05:16):
clearly also said that economic prosperity is important to them
as well as.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Okay, well is this could split the community. This could
going down to the farmer's market on a Saturday rather
rambunctious affair.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I think it does already make it a rather rambunctious affair,
especially when you hop online. There's a lot of opinions
flying around. There's a lot of people who just would
like a bit more information. So it's really great that
all of the information and submissions is now publicly available
on the fast Track website because a lot of what
has sort of been happening in the background previously was
(05:52):
submissions that went public, information that wasn't public, reports that
went public, and people wanted to have a look at
those to see for themselves, Hey, what would be the
implications of this, And I think it's great that they can.
Hopefully they've got a lot of time because there's a
huge amount of pages there.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Absolutely, but you have to go and read them because
because it's important, you know, and we sometimes boil down
isshes to simple simplistic slogans, et cetera, and the complexity
is in there. Timer, Elie central Itagometh, thank you so
much for taking time out of your busy day to day.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
For more from Kerry Wood and Mornings, Listen live to
News Talks a B from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio,
You're listening to the Kerry Wood of Morning's podcast from
news Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be talking about the Bendigo Ophia mine in Central Otago,
which is up for fast track approval. Has to go
before a panel and they have to make it just
sit in by October twenty nine. So this is fast
that's why they call it fast track. Yesterday we found
out what the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment thinks about it. Now,
this is Simon Upton. You remember Simon Boy Wonder politician,
(00:33):
used to be a National MP. He's a Rhodes scholar.
He's officially a very big brain on a very small body.
He's clever, kevit little monkey, but he is concerned about it.
He says the proposed mind should be declined because he's
worried about the environmental risks. He's worried about the earthquakes
as well. He's worried about the Tailings Dam full of
(00:54):
pollutants that could just spill and the leaching into the environment.
And of course Sam Neil as well doesn't want it.
He calls it toxic and ruinous for the region's environmental reputation.
So what does the local unity thing? We heard from
Tony from Omicau just beforehand, and he's right for it.
He says, you know, we live here all the time,
unlike Sam, we need jobs to keep this place going.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
He likes it.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
But how's the rest of the community feeling. So what
we've got is Tama Alley online Now. Tama is the
Central Otago mayor. Hello, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Good cook, morning, Andrew. I feel like I know which
Tony from Omaco you're speaking to as well.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
He's such a pro mining guy. He sounded like the
Toney from the West Coast because he says mining. You know,
he's got that miner's voice. And he was right for it.
He was absolutely in it. You're the mayor in the
in the area. What's the community feeling about it? Is
it as split as some people report or are they
all for.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I think it is as split as some people report.
We have a very vocal group who are one hundred
percent pro mining. Guests get it going. We want the
jobs and the money. We have a group who are
one hundred percent of pose, and then we do have
a bit of a swath in the middle who are
kind of thinking, oh, look, we see that there would
be some benefits, but we want to make sure that
there are protections in place. The challenge for this council
(02:12):
has been because it's sitting with the fast Track Panel,
it's never been a decision for this council. So we
haven't gone out to our community with a survey, which
is surprising because councils love surveys, But we haven't gone
to our communities and asked yay or nay. So what
we hear is from those really impassioned people, and there
are a lot of people who are kind of in
(02:33):
the middle, not necessarily one way or another, have some
concerns but also see some benefits as well.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
But at the same time, because this is the big
issue for that region, you as a politician will at
some point or another given opinion on it and that
will become an election point. So are you treading carefully
because of that?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Well, I think our council has purposefully tread carefully along
the middle, and we've been quite clear to not give,
you know, personal opinions or to side in a particular
area as council, because we do also see that there
are benefits to be had for our area, especially when
it comes to economic benefits. But I think they need
to be weighed really carefully against the environmental risks and degradation,
(03:18):
and I think that the panel that has been selected
is probably the appropriate place to weigh that balance and
come to a conclusion.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
And I presume the Simon Upton because he is the
Parliamentary Commission for the Environment and he's been doing it
for a while. He's got a lot of sway in
that panel. Do you think he's being a little bit
doom say and paranoid about the possibility of earthquakes breaking
the tailings dam.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
We know we are well overdue for a magnitude eight
or larger earthquake in this area, so I think as
much as you say, or it might not happen in
our lifetimes, No, it might not, but it might also
happen tomorrow. So I think we do need to be
cognizant of that risk. And that's part of I guess,
working through if the mine has consented, what the conditions
will look like to make sure that the community of
(04:05):
today tomorrow is protected if the alpine fault rutches, and
also with other changing weather patterns, I mean, Touchwood. We
have gotten off relatively lightly so far this year, but
that's not the case for all of the country.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
So is tourism and vineyards the new gold, and is
gold the old gold? Is that last centuries gold rush
for the region. I mean, which one has the most
upside for you?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
I think they both have upside. We were really fortunate
last year we undertook a big piece of work talking
about what our community wanted their district to look like
in the future. It was called Shaping Tomorrow Together, and
it gave us a really good steer on how our
community thinks and feels about where we live and what
we want to prosper And interestingly, economic prosperity was weighed
(04:56):
pretty much evenly against protecting the environment. So even when
you go to our community, they say, hey, look, we
love protecting the environment. And our environment grows amazing fruit
and grapes to make incredible wine and also brings lots
of people here to look at our environment and enjoy
it and bite through it. But our community had very
(05:16):
clearly also said that economic prosperity is important to them
as well as.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Okay, well is this could split the community. This could
going down to the farmer's market on a Saturday rather
rambunctious affair.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I think it does already make it a rather rambunctious affair,
especially when you hop online. There's a lot of opinions
flying around. There's a lot of people who just would
like a bit more information. So it's really great that
all of the information and submissions is now publicly available
on the fast Track website because a lot of what
has sort of been happening in the background previously was
(05:52):
submissions that went public, information that wasn't public, reports that
went public, and people wanted to have a look at
those to see for themselves, Hey, what would be the
implications of this, And I think it's great that they can.
Hopefully they've got a lot of time because there's a
huge amount of pages there.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Absolutely, but you have to go and read them because
because it's important, you know, and we sometimes boil down
isshes to simple simplistic slogans, et cetera, and the complexity
is in there. Timer, Elie central Itagometh, thank you so
much for taking time out of your busy day to day.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
For more from Kerry Wood and Mornings, Listen live to
News Talks a B from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio,
Popular Podcasts
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com