Iwi to review drilling decision

Greenpeace and Te Whanau a Apanui are considering whether or not to appeal the judicial review decision by the High Court to grant Petrobras an exploration permit off the East Cape.

Greenpeace New Zealand climate campaigner Vanessa Atkinson says the organisation is disappointed the court has not agreed with its argument.

Elvis Teddy skippered the San Pietro on behalf of Te Whanau a Apanui as the iwi protested against deep sea oil drilling. Pictured here outside Tauranga District Court.

“However, we believe there are good grounds for an appeal. We are taking legal advice on that and will make an announcement in due course,” says Vanessa.

“However, the fact remains that exploratory deep sea oil drilling comes with the risk of catastrophic failure, as we saw in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

“As highlighted by the British diplomat Tony Clemson this week, New Zealand’s Government is ignoring the clean energy opportunities available to us through the global clean energy race.”

Vanessa says Pure Advantage released a report last week, which found global green growth is potentially worth NZ$6 trillion a year.

“There’s a chance of true, sustainable economic prosperity available to this country because of the clean-tech race. Everyone’s saying it, but the Government is still obsessed with dirty energy.

Te Whanau a Apanui tribal leader Rikirangi Gage says the advent of the sorely-lacking EEZ legislation begs the question - if there’s nothing wrong with the process behind the granting of permits so far, then why was this bill created?”

“At any rate, no amount of legislation will prevent another Deepwater Horizon-type oil spill.”

For more on the court process read Iwi awaits judge’s decision.