Protests Against “Devastating” West Coast Mine Continue

By Henry Broadbent (he/him)

Early on the morning of Friday 8 of August, as public servants strode to work, a group of activists, under a light rain, set up in front ANZ’s Lambton Quay branch. They comprised around twenty people, ranging from university students to retirees, and had arrived prepared: a megaphone, print-outs of chants, food runners, pamphlet drops, a police liaison, a bristling array of signs and banners, and plenty of coats. 

Similar scenes were playing out in front of ANZ banks across the country, or would later that same day. Actions, principally organised by 350 Aotearoa, Climate Liberation Aotearoa (CLA) and Coal Action Network, also took place in Tāmaki Makaurau, Rotorua, Taranaki, Whakatū Nelson, Ōtautahi, and Ōtepoti. 

In Pōneke, the group, including local organisers from Oil Free Wellington and Climate Action VuW, arrived early. Publicly, the protest began at 9:30am. The then unpublicised goal of activists that day was to blockade the bank and prevent it from opening: an act of direct protest. By 9:00am they were linked arm in arm across the entrance; as the posted opening time of 9:30 rolled past, the bank remained shuttered. It didn’t take long for police cars to begin lining Ballance Street and the Lambton bus lane; soon a police van idled nearby, a metal cage visible in its cargo bay. The group was prepared for arrest; it appeared the police were, too. The object of these nationwide acts of protest: ANZ-bankrolled coal giant Bathurst Resources.

Bathurst Resources, the country’s largest coal miner, is behind an application via fast-track for a vast mine, projected to blast 20 million tonnes of coking coal—an element of the steelmaking process—from the Denniston Plateau on the West Coast, entirely for international export. New Zealand’s entire net emissions in 2023 were 56.2 million tonnes of CO2. Projected emissions from the Denniston project sit at a minimum of 53 million tonnes of CO2, approaching parity with the rest of the entire county—all from a single, monumental mine approximately the size of Nelson City.

The massive company, New Zealand's dominant coal operator, presents a predictably laundered public face. Despite the fact 90% of its shares are held by foreign investors, its website assures visitors that Bathurst is “mining for the good of New Zealanders”, and is “committed to sustainable development, where economic growth coincides with respect for conservation and community values”. They list a Lambton Quay address for contact, display countless photographs of New Zealand landscapes, and boldly announce they are “committed to making New Zealand better for our future generations.”

There are many who would dispute that characterisation. In a public Q&A drawing attention to the Denniston Plateau, Forest and Bird describe the ecosystem there as “a national treasure, rated by DOC’s own scientists as one of the top 50 most ecologically valuable sites on mainland New Zealand”. The site, a high-altitude sandstone tableland, is home to an entirely unique ecosystem, and plays host to some species that are found nowhere else on Earth. Previously unknown species, in fact, are still being discovered on Denniston Plateau currently. 

At the nearby Stockton Plateau, which is host to the largest opencast mine in New Zealand (operated by Bathurst Resources), otherwise undescribed—and since unseen—species of velvet worm have been spotted, within the footprint of the mine. Opencast mining, they stress, means “total ecosystem destruction.” Protecting these areas “is like protecting a library full of books we haven't even had the chance to read yet.”

Bathurst’s Stockton mine can also provide a window into the potential long-term environmental impacts of such a project. Treasury figures from 2023 show that the government spent more than $3 million treating damage caused by acid runoff from Stockton mine alone—potentially devastating to freshwater ecosystems—more money than it collected in royalties for all coal mining across the country in the same year.

As well as a desire to protect the ecosystem and animals, organisers were motivated by the already immediate impacts of the climate crisis on themselves and their communities. Colden, a student at Vic and an organiser from Climate Action VUW and CLA, told Salient that, while the climate crises affected them as a student and a young person with their future at stake, “ultimately, it just comes down to safety”. For them and others protesting across the country:

“The climate crisis is an existential threat. I'm afraid. Ten years ago, I wasn't afraid like this, but I seriously feel like all of our lives are going to be affected in the short term. If your house hasn't been flooded yet, it could be in the next storm. You know, really no one's safe anymore”

Such protest is essential to them, because climate change “is not something to be put on the backburner anymore. We can't just continue with business as usual and deal with climate change later on. We're already seeing the impacts in our communities, and it's really important that these businesses understand the effect they're having.”

A recent advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, stating that emitting states and companies hold an environmental obligation and could be legally responsible for damage, suggests the world's highest courts would agree. And in an environment where there is no shortage of data on emissions totals and the damage they cause yet nothing changes, Colden suggests protest becomes necessary: 

“Large emitters are aware of the damage they do, they need to reduce that effect, and if they're not gonna do it by themselves. That's why we need to put pressure on them … we've all known the facts for a long time. Governments and businesses have known the facts for a long time. Taking direct action is just a response to the fact that, while knowing all this, we continue to see the climate crisis getting worse.”

Back on Lambton, police threatened arrest, quickly—before members of the public had a chance to show up. After a brief deliberation, the protestors decided to deescalate, avoid arrest, and keep a public presence at the bank for longer. For the rest of the action a line of cops stood behind the protestors, moving quickly to clear the thoroughfare, jostling those too slow to move. As more people arrived, some passing through on their way to a rally for Palestine further up the hill, the atmosphere became festive, the chants defiant.

Blockading banks, however, is not the only thing CLA has been up to. It has been three weeks since two CLA activists, Rach Andrews and Tāmati Taptiklis, descended from an alleged ~23 day stint in a coal bucket at the Stockton mine, physically preventing Bathurst from transporting coal via the aerial ropeway. The pair weathered storms during their stay, and reported to press threats and intimidation from employees of the mine—including an allegation of a discharged shotgun. They have both been banned from the West Coast.

Both West Coast mines and ANZ branches have been the site of protest over the past two years—this recent action was not the first—and activists show no sign of letting up. Their message is clear: mass emissions and environmental devastation must not continue. On descending from the coal bucket, Taptiklis told reporters: “I’m feeling proud that we have sent a really strong message. We will do whatever it takes for the climate.”