Source: Radio New Zealand
NZ Herald pool / Dean Purcell
The government must be more transparent about any potential minerals deal with the United States, former Prime Minister Helen Clark says.
New Zealand is in talks with the US about the supply of rare and critical minerals, as Donald Trump seeks to reduce America’s reliance on China for material it sees as pivotal for tech innovation and national security.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealand was among more than 40 countries talking to the US about supplying minerals, and no Cabinet decisions had been made.
He dismissed reporting on the talks as “speculative and hypothetical”.
Helen Clark chairs the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which about 50 countries have signed up to – not including New Zealand.
She told Midday Report the government must be more up front about its discussions with the US.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon dismissed reporting on the talks as “speculative and hypothetical”. Supplied / Christopher Luxon via X
“We’re told that it will be a non-binding critical minerals framework, but as recently as the 14th of January, President Trump was threating tariffs if trading partners didn’t sign critical mineral agreements within 180 days.
“Are we one of those countries?”
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark. RNZ / Diego Opatowski
Clark said New Zealanders needed the chance to debate the type of society, economy and environment it wanted.
“Do we just want to throw all the concerns we’ve traditionally had for our national parks and wild places and landscapes out the window, or do we want to build on the clean and green, sustainable image that we’ve cultivated carefully over many years?”
The environment would suffer if New Zealand signed up to large-scale, “destructive” mining practices, Clark said.
“We don’t have vast resources in easily accessible places. To mine in New Zealand now, you’re going to be going into pristine landscapes, areas that have been subject to conservation controls for many, many years.”
Clark was also concerned that giving the US a “preference” would cause problems for New Zealand’s Free Trade Agreements, and any provisions not to discriminate against those countries.
‘We should mine what we can’
On Monday, chief executive of the Minerals Council – which is the industry association representing mining in New Zealand – Josie Vidal told Midday Report Aotearoa should scale up mining.
She said it can be done responsibly.
“We believe that we should mine what we can here because of the high standards that we have when it comes to looking after people and the environment,” Vidal said.
New Zealand has some of the strictest environmental conditions in the world, she said.
The government plans to double New Zealand’s mineral exports to $3 billion by 2035.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
