Kelvin Davis
Tourism Spokesperson

23 March 2010 Media Statement

John Key’s mining plans - 100% Dumb

It is astounding that John Key can not see how potentially damaging his plans to mine on pristine protected land will be to New Zealand’s tourism industry, Labour’s Tourism spokesperson Kelvin Davis said today.

“New Zealand’s tourism ‘100 % pure’ branding relies on retaining our clean green reputation and mining our protected conservation land puts that at serious risk,” Kelvin Davis said.

“The tourism sector earned New Zealand just over $9 billion in the year to March 2008, in 2006 the mining industry was worth $1.5 billion.

“New Zealand stands to lose too much from the damage that could be done by ripping open mines in areas like the Coromandel, Great Barrier Island and Stewart Island.

“These parks are not only National treasures, they are a huge draw card for tourism – New Zealand’s biggest industry.

“Nearly 10% or 185,000 Kiwis are employed in the Tourism industry and the wealth is shared among many New Zealanders. Compare this with mining, with a few thousand jobs and where 99% of the profits go to overseas mining companies.”

Kelvin Davis said there is too much at stake to put our international reputation at risk.

“John Key should know that as Tourism Minister. New Zealanders want the jewels in conservation estate to be protected because they bring in visitors and for the generations of Kiwis in the future,” Kelvin Davis said.

“We pride ourselves on being 100% pure, but targeting our most treasured land for mining is 100% dumb.”

ENDS

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