From: Stuff.co.nz

The head of GNS Science says whether New Zealanders like it or not it is inevitable there will be more drilling of the country’s seabeds.

GNS chief executive Alex Malahoff spoke today at the opening day of the two-day Coastlines conference in Auckland, to discuss “spatial planning for sea and sky”, which attracted some of the country’s top science, environmental and legal specialists.

Malahoff, who joined Greenpeace executive director Bunny McDiarmid in a panel discussion, told the audience New Zealand must make use of all of it’s resources.

“Farming, water, minerals on the land are all being used so minerals at sea will also be part of our future.”

Malahoff said 97 per cent of New Zealand was underwater and people needed to realise the Government needed to find new revenue in new places.

He said New Zealand had four million square kilometres of exploration area [offshore] and “we have to go out and find out what’s exactly there”.

“Whether we like it or not, we have to face it and the question is how we benefit from these resources.

“New Zealand is flattened out by dairying, we can’t double the number of cows to increase our revenue.  If we want to enjoy this lifestyle, we have to have revenue.”

Malahoff said he was not out “gunning to drill holes in the seabed but to see what resources are there and attract more funding”.

He said any future drilling ought to be carried out cautiously, with study and the proper oversight .

“Environmental impact is of course important so strengthening the environmental laws is a priority.”

Malahoff said as the industry developed more environmental issues would be raised but he was confident the any issues would be looked after.

“But it will come, it is inevitable.  We don’t even know what the full resources are.”

Malahoff said the Government was “strapped for funds right now but we the scientists will keep on doing the science and showing what’s out there”.

“With us we’re the pathfinders for the hard to access recourses.  We find it, we suggest it and deliver our results to the Government who go back and try to attract companies [to drill].”

Malahoff said there were many questions that had to be answered once exploration work was carried out.

“Are they exploitable? Can you sell them?

“Before we realise all that we have to realise we’re working in depths of 2000 metres, so the technology has to be available.”

But Malahoff said it was while the full extent of the resources was not known, it was “inevitable” there would be more drilling in New Zealand’s seabeds.

Malahoff’s speech comes as an Australian mining company, Greywolf Resources, has had its application to prospect and explore in and around Golden Bay and Abel Tasman National Park, rejected.

Golden Bay iwi and environmental groups are thrilled that the Economic Development Ministry has rejected all applications by Australian mining company Greywolf Resources to prospect and explore in and around Golden Bay and Abel Tasman National Park.

All 10 applications by Greywolf, which also covered other chunks of the North Island and South Island, have been turned down.

Greywolf had applied for petroleum and gas exploration permits across 11,060 square kilometres of seabed including the coastlines of Abel Tasman and Kahurangi National Parks, Farewell Spit, Westhaven and Tonga Island marine reserves, and for coal exploration permits in Collingwood, Puponga and Takaka.

Other applications were for prospecting and exploration in Otago, Buller, and onshore and offshore in Taranaki.