the old one two

We are fighting their oil exploitation on the East Coast and we will soon be fighting them on the West Coast too. News that, "US independent energy giant Anadarko Petroleum has confirmed it intends drilling a well in what is known as the Deepwater Taranaki Basin", is disturbing, already there is disquiet

Taranaki Daily News

But already environmental groups fighting oil and gas exploration in remote areas of New Zealand's exclusive economic zone are promising they will take action against the drilling project.

Recently-formed Climate Justice Taranaki confirmed yesterday it has been talking with Greenpeace about what can be done. Spokeswoman Emily Bailey said definite plans had not been formulated, but there would be protest action.

"It's crazy. It'll be mad trying to drill way out there in the Tasman. The risk of spills will be too much," she said.

"So we'll definitely be doing something. We'll also be trying to talk to the community about this project. It's definitely not the way we should be going."

It will be worth keeping our eye on these developments - action is always best if it can be coordinated and getting tangata whenua involved and the community will be essential.

Seismic surveys conducted in the block three years ago identified three major prospects: Romney, which is under 1600 metres of water, Coopworth at 1400 metres, and Corriedale, at a much shallower 230 metres. Depending on which prospect is to be targeted by the exploration joint venture headed by Anadarko, the well could be located more than 150km out to sea.

The Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred in a water depth of 1500 metres. The Taranaki well could be drilled in water at least that deep.

The risks cannot be mitigated they can only be ignored by the exploiters. Why should our land and sea be put at risk to generate profits for overseas megacompanies. it is just not good enough and must be stopped.

known by the name

It doesn't really matter what the new name is for Hone's new Left Māori Party. It seems to have leaked via the greens that it is The Mana Party. We will see - I like that name and for me it says it all - no explanation needed. It also provides a relationship to Mana Motuhake and The Mana Māori Movement, and that whakapapa is important. 

Update - well it seems pretty official now - The Mana Party - launch next Saturday.

For the new party the effectiveness of the message is the key - keep it simple, repeat often and keep to the planned pathway. Some things need no comment, others a little and then there are times to really give it heaps and saturate the coverage. The battles are those that align with the kaupapa.

What does the party stand for and believe in? Simple and repeatable phases. Hone is onto it with his latest excellent press releases about petrobras. His quote about the 'warships coming over the horizon' is evocative, simple and repeatable. His outrage that this should be happening on ANZAC day to tangata whenua who have given so much, is genuine and I share it. They have no shame.

The kaupapa that i believe will attract all people is one based upon support for equality, the disadvantaged, kaitiakitanga and tino rangatiratanga. I will say it again - these principles are universal human rights and values that are not attached to any ethnicity. It will soon be time for people to make choices and I believe many people will join the waka.

captain arrested

The arrest of the captain of an indigenous owned boat, whilst exercising customary rights of fishing within tribal waters, by the NZ Police with the assistance of the NZ Navy, in defence of petrobras is nothing short of outrageous and wrong. They are defending the expoilters against their own people.

Elvis Teddy, the captain of San Pietro, the iwi owned boat, has been "charged with operating a vessel in unsafe manner under section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act." The charge will be defended and it will be interesting to watch the crown case fall apart.

NZH

After repeated warnings the three other boats moved away but the San Pietro stayed and deployed buoys and fishing lines in the path of the survey ship, causing "grave safety concerns" for the ship's master, Superintendent Bruce Dunstan said.

The San Pietro was stationary and 1.5 nautical miles from petrobras's Orient Explorer. It is the repeated warnings bit that they don't like, nevermind the law of the sea. This escalation is a bad sign - for the authorities - it shows they are floundering, it shows they are desperate and it shows us what we must do - support this action and the people on the water in any way we can.

Hone has come out with a strong statement

MP Hone Harawira is calling the arrest a disgrace. Harawira says no New Zealander challenging the right of a government to deep sea oil drilling should have their own warships come speeding over the horizon to arrest them.

Good stuff Hone, and

The San Pietro belongs to East Coast iwi Te Whanau a Apanui. The iwi say they were exercising their customary right to fish in the area. Independent Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira is furious at the arrest. Mr Harawira says it is a disgrace Defence Force personnel helped arrest the man yesterday. He says it is wrong for a New Zealand citizen to be threatened by the military for opposing a deal between the government and a foreign oil company.

Mr Harawira believes it is a make or break situation for the Maori Party, and he is urging the party he left recently to walk away from National.

This is very good - the leadership and mana of Hone is really starting to shine. And we will need strong leadership to stop these expoilters.

the con then the salt

So key has ruled out changes to the Crown Mineral Act saying that he doesn't believe mandatory consultation with iwi before giving out licences is necessary, he says that "consultation on oil exploration work in the Raukumara Basin may have happened late, but it did take place." It happened after the licence was given - in what way is that consultation? - it isn't, not even close.

The legal advice to the government regarding how to stop the the activists stopping Petrobras is to be kept secret - to be expected really, when you look at the confused positions they are taking

NZCity

There are also conflicting views on exactly which laws are being used by police against anti-oil protestors off the East Coast. Late last week police said it was the Maritime Transport Act that was being used, with safety warnings being issued to provide safety zones to oil company Petrobras' survey vessels. However that's at odds with what the Prime Minister said at his post-cabinet press conference. John Key indicated a different statute, the Continental Shelf Act, is being applied.

Are they going to make it up as they go along or worse, make it up after the fact? Not looking good so far.

Meanwhile the people are making their presence felt

RadioNZ

Hundreds of people throughout New Zealand have turned out to protest against oil exploration off East Cape. The protests on Wednesday included delivering Prime Minister John Key an oil cake and were held from Auckland to Dunedin.

Awesome! The flotilla has put out to sea again and Te Whanau a Apanui is lodging a complaint with the UN. This is really the way to go - multiple fronts - keep the pressure on - find the weak spots - get people involved - get visibility - and keep the focus on. It is the one year anniversary of the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. We will not forget the environmental devastation that greed causes and we will not forget the long battle that Te Whanau a Apanui has been fighting for their rights.

We are going to win this battle make no mistake about that - we are going to win!

good writing on risks

A great post  and awesome writing from Tracey Barnett that outlines so many of the risks attached to drilling in the Raukumara Basin. There are so many facts within this post that it boggles the mind and they are presented one by one in a masterful display of good writing. Highly recommneded.

We're pioneers, after all. The oil industry calls us the "new frontier", like Greenland and the Shetland Islands, because nobody was willing to touch our difficult, dangerous and remote deepwater sites with a stick - that is, until the world supplies got tight enough and the money got good enough. Then one day, there is an accident, a huge explosion on our maiden deepwater exploratory well. Several people are killed, but the pain is just beginning...

... Our story may be fiction, but storms, earthquakes, bad oversight, even drunk captains, aren't. Just ask Petrobras. In the past 15 years, its chequered safety record shows it has had 282 deaths from accidents, explosions and fires, and 27 oil rig blowouts since 1980.

Good stuff - let's get the facts out there so that they are known. There are many levels of arguments against this exploitation and all must be used - the environmental, the economic, the risk management, the community, sustainability, facts and emotion and all in alignment with the fundamental right of tangata whenua to their lands.

finally it awakened

Well it is nice to get it wrong sometimes - the maori party have come out with a very strong statement against the governments handling of the activists stopping Petrobras - they have called the sending of the naval vessel 'Libyan tactics' as in sending troops against your own people. Very strong language indeed but the real test is - if that is the belief then how can you support that regime - against your own people? What are you going to do about it? More talk? More expression of disappointment? How about some action!

NZH

Maori Party MP for Waiariki Te Ururoa Flavell compared that action to Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's military intervention against his people in a statement this afternoon. "We aren't Libya so we shouldn't be using our military against our own people - it is totally over the top for the Government to be using Navy resources in this way." He said some of the protest action could have been averted if local iwi Te Whanau A Apanui and Ngati Porou had been consulted at marae along their coast about the oil exploration work.

That is true and so is this

"We expressed our disappointment at those iwi being left out of the process in June last year, and we reiterate that again now. "To give the people of this country confidence, the government must put the permit on hold until that consultation has happened."

Okay - they are strong words so what are you going to do about it? When are you going to realise that the results mean more than the rhetoric. Make your words more than hollow, by action.

moby dicks

So the police have been sent in, on a navy ship, to "intervene in the protests only when they impeded the right of the survey ship to conduct its operations." Key says, "... last night, my understanding was a naval ship was deployed and it's now in the region." Key doesn't know how many officers on board or how they will balance out the right of activists to protest LAWFULLY, against the rights of Petrobras - that is an 'operational' matter. Luckily there will be lots of cameras out there to show how these operational matters get played out.

This was a classic from parata

Acting Energy and Resources Minister Hekia Parata said she was in constant contact with Petrobras but had not spoken with the Brazilian company since the protest began.

hardly constant then is it? Why would you think they care what you think anyway.

And this little titbit

The Government was working on legislation to govern future deep-sea drilling, and Petrobras would not be able to drill before this was in place.

Hmm - wonder what is in that legislation.

misreading the depth

The prime minister of this country, john key, has "not ruled out" sending the navy and airforce to protect petrobras from the activists who have stopped them.

The activists are part of a bigger struggle to protect the land and seas and support tangata whenua in their fight for justice. The police are circling the flotilla. Crown law has been asked to 'research the legal options' available, oh yes - they are scared.

key uses the argument that petrobras has a legal right to explore, granted by the government and that must be upheld. Yes we know you gave them that right key - you can cut the act. You gave them the right, for your money reasons, and you will support their right to explore, for the same reasons.

But you have made some mistakes that will topple your plans - disrespecting tangata whenua, disrespecting the people of this country who care about the environment, the land and sea and the world our grandchildren will inherit. You and your mates have misread the depth of opposition to this folly.

This is just the beginning...

Good posts here at The Standard and Pundit

oil survey ship stopped

Fanastic effort by the activists in stopping Petrobras today. We will not tolerate drilling and exploitation and the sooner they realise this, and pack up, the better. The government has called for calm - there is no calm and there will be no backing down on this issue - this is a line in the sand that will be defended - with vigour. We know your bogus arguments about money and 'economic benefits' and they are all worthless because we don't believe them - we never will, because we have heard from other peoples about the effects of your polluting, degrading industry and we have seen it here too. As in other countries, the indigenous people of this land are leading the battle to protect the land and sea. They lead because they hold the mana and they are directly affected.

NZH

The Government is calling for calm after Greenpeace protesters today disrupted a Brazilian oil giant from investigating deep sea oil drilling off the East Cape. Greenpeace said swimmers from a protest flotilla of five vessels entered the water today and diverted the oil survey ship the Orient Explorer off course.

The flotilla was supported by East Cape iwi Te Whanau a Apanui, which said the company had no right to be in the waters east of their tribal lands. "This is not a protest," iwi spokesman Rikirangi Gage said. "This is an act of defence of our ancestral lands and waters that have sustained us for generations."

The powers that be will not like this and that is good. Greenpeace are experts in high visability protests that generate publicity and we need these. We also need the deeper understanding of what this is all about and that is - supporting Te Whanau a Apanui in their fight to defend their life. We all want the same result so let's keep up the pressure on Petrobras, Parata, Brownlee and Key. I expect silence from the maori party. The Greens and The Mana Party (just testing the name out) will keep pushing hard.

Make no mistake, any inch they get on this issue will turn into a festering sore - people power will stop them.

flotilla update

Some good commentary and photos from Tim at Tumeke on the flotilla against Petrobras and their exploitation.

from Tim at Tumeke

Good stuff Tim - looking forward to more reports.

water-born protest

Great initiative from Te Whanau a Apanui in organising this flotilla against Petrobras. I hope many join in to show opposition against this exploitation. And isn't it refreshing to hear these unequivical statements

Te Whanau a Apanui has put out the call for a water-borne protest against Brazilian oil giant Petrobras's plans to prospect in the Raukumara basin.

Spokesperson Dayle Takitimu says vessels with links to the Nuclear Free Flotilla, Greenpeace, Forest and Bird, and Coromandel Watchdog are expected to be part of a flotilla leaving Auckland for Cape Runaway on Sunday in the hope of encountering Petrobras survey boats.

She says unlike some other iwi, Te Whanau a Apanui isn't interested in deals with miners.

“It's not about the money or greater ability to invest or joint venture with these companies. Whanau a Apanui just don’t want this activity occurring on our back doorstep when there is so much risk involved,” Ms Takitimu says.

She says all New Zealand is under-threat if there is an oil spill from the drilling.

If you can support this, please do so.

Hat tip Waatea News

crudegerry

No one gets worked up about a politician lying or spinning, but the public do frown upon complete incompetance and hidden agendas. So when brownlee said, (From NZH)

"the Government and Petrobras were aware of environmental concerns - particularly soon after the Gulf of Mexico industrial accident and oil spill - but he was comfortable with the company's "sensitive" approach to its work and legislation was being worked on in terms of environmental requirements needed to be put in place in New Zealand's exclusive economic zone."

what he really meant is the opposite because there was no work on safety or the environment - they weren't even considered and that fact, along with the non-discussions with maori, show the make up of the man brownlee. He is crudegerry.

"Documents obtained by Radio New Zealand under the official information show the decision to award the permit was made on technical and economic grounds and did not consider safety or environmental factors.

Petrobras was required to show it would use good oil field practices.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee said specific environmental requirements did not need to be considered until drilling began.

Lets get real - brownlee pimp's our country and its resources to anyone and everyone. He doesn't care about the environment or maori concerns - they didn't even enter his head. He cares about money - for himself and his mates - and the country can just be exploited and desecrated willy nilly. No one is going to forget your role in selling our futures - brownlee, don't worry about that crudegerry.

gerrymonster says sorry for forgetting maori

Classic comedy - tragicomedy that is, from gerry brownlee.

he has been forced to apologise to iwi for announcing and doing the deal with the multinational oil company to pave the way for their exploitation of our natural resources, without consulting with MAORI.

He forgot that maori have a say in the area he has sold off. or did he forget...

From TVNZ

"It's an oversight on my part, I must confess, that they weren't consulted sooner. But part of the difficulty we have is some of the commercial sensitivity that goes around these things," says Brownlee."

An oversight - oh that's okay then - this shows the attitude of brownlee - maori don't exist for him, they are so unimportant that they can be considered an 'oversight'.

"The Minister says he will try to liaise with iwi on permits involving the foreshore and seabed in future.

Well a try is better than not trying isn't it? How about this gerrymonster, how about respecting tangata whenua before they bite you on the bum. This deal is a bum-deal in many ways.

Let's stop this foul destruction before it starts and let's send a clear message to gerrymonster and this exploitive oil company that this country doesn't sell it's taonga, it's natural resources and it's future for money.

tarred and feathered are us

I am opposed to this permit to drill for a multitude of reasons. It won't create many jobs, the money mainly goes offshore, it is environmental brutality, it is too risky for this country, and we should be looking to sustainability not continued digging and drilling. So brownlee and key sell us out to a multinational oil company - we are the suckers being used to help them all make more money.

From NZH

"International oil giant Petrobras has been awarded a five-year permit to drill for oil off the North Island's East Cape.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee said "Given Petrobras's expertise, and financial and technical pedigree, this is an exciting step into areas of New Zealand until now unexplored."

The permit awarded to Petrobras covers 12,333 square kilometres.

So while the world looks on in horror at the destruction caused by drilling for oil - what does gerry brownlee do? - he puts in head in the sand and pretends it isn't happening and cannot happen here.

What an absolute idiot - we know brownlee isn't the sharpest knife in the draw - but here he has proven his mettle - he hasn't got one.

Other horrified people include

"Greenpeace last night labelled the agreement "a bad joke".

Climate campaigner Simon Boxer said it was "unbelievable" that the Government was pursuing deep-sea drilling.

"The BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico shows that it is extremely difficult to control activities in the deep sea."

Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe was "game changing" for deep-sea drilling.

"The inability to control it is demonstrated live on the internet every day.

"Things have changed, and nothing is going to be the same for deep-sea oil drilling ever again."

Footnote - And isn't it interesting that as obama puts a six month freeze on oil exploration brownlee and key refuse to accept what he has accepted, that is

"Where I was wrong was in my belief that the oil companies had their act together when it came to worst-case scenarios," he said. "It just takes one to have a wake-up call."

"... he was ordering a six-month freeze on the opening up of the remote waters of the Arctic to oil exploration and on the drilling of 33 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Proposed lease sales off the coast of Virginia and in the western Gulf would also be cancelled."

The US president said he was calling the pause to plans by Royal Dutch Shell to begin drilling exploratory wells in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, after studying an interior department review of the Deepwater Horizon disaster."

We are going to have to stop this.