Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee first floated exploiting the nation’s most protected conservation lands - those covered by Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act - last September. He busily talked up the benefits of the “fast growth” pursuit of extractive industries - oil and gas as well as other minerals - could produce.

It gave tangible actions to the “catching Australia” theme, which otherwise risked looking decidedly rhetorical. But once the Green movement got wind of the fact Great Barrier Island and Coromandel Peninsula, two politically charged iconic targets for the all-important Auckland vote, were proposed sites for Schedule 4 rollbacks, the writing was on the wall. Now, Brownlee is putting a brave face on events, saying airing the issues has not only created healthy debate, but also raised public awareness of the vast mineral wealth potential of NZ.

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Announcements of aero-magnetic surveys over Northland and the West Coast of the SI show he hasn’t given up but is instead targeting areas where both local communities and regional councils are keen to see mining developed. In other words, don’t expect any push any time soon to go further. Indeed, it’s arguable even with Labour’s continuing support for mining on conservation lands outside Schedule 4 - National is further behind on the debate about conservation land mining than when it started.Who to blame for this political mishandling? On one hand, the decisions demonstrate the inherent conservatism of the Key administration. This will be seen by its business backers as evidence of spinelessness, even as it will buoy the Govt in the polls for being seen to have “listened.”

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