The New Zealand government is being urged to ban all seabed mining in its waters and make an international stand against the fledgling industry.
This comes after a Supreme Court ruling against a seabed mining consent.
The consent to mine the South Taranaki Bight seabed was granted to Trans Tasman Resources in 2017 by the Environmental Protection Authority.
This was successfully challenged in the High Court by Kiwis Against Seabed Mining and Greenpeace in 2018 and Thursday's ruling marks the final chapter in the appeals process that followed.
KASM committee member and Pacific Liaison for the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, Phil McCabe says this decision also clears the way for the New Zealand Government to now take a leadership role for a global moratorium on seabed mining.
He joins me now along with Duncan Currie the deep sea conservation coalition's international legal advisor.
Kia ora and welcome, maybe starting with you Phil there is quite a lot of ground to cover here, so maybe give us a recap of where this all started?
Busloads of people protested outside the Environmental Protection Agency hearing to consider Trans Tasman Resources' seabed mining application. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
