{"id":301338,"date":"2026-02-25T11:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/301338\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T11:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:03:11","slug":"seabed-mining-company-served-trespass-notice-by-activist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/301338\/","title":{"rendered":"Seabed mining company served ‘trespass’ notice by activist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ng\u0101ti Ruanui man Rukutai Watene has delivered a \u201ctrespass notice\u201d to mining company Trans-Tasman Resources and its parent company, Manuka Resources.<\/p>\n

The action is the latest in a multi-year saga<\/a> of mining applications, court rulings and protest, and it follows the withdrawal of the application for fast-track approval<\/a> to mine the Taranaki seabed on February 19. <\/p>\n

In an edited video supplied by Greenpeace, a camera follows Watene and Peeti Wharehoka-Watene into the offices of Trans-Tasman Resources. They wait outside a glass-panelled room alongside seabed mining campaigner Juressa Lee and three supporters from Greenpeace holding up yellow banners with anti-mining slogans.<\/p>\n

A man exits the room and asks them to leave, saying: \u201cOtherwise I\u2019ll ring the police for trespassing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A measured back and forth between Lee and the man ensues before he returns to the room, and Watene proceeds to give a speech, placing a folded piece of paper on top of the door handle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here to issue a trespass notice to Trans-Tasman Resources, Manuka Resources, on behalf of Ng\u0101ti Ruanui that your deep-sea mining, your seabed mining is not welcomed or wanted in Taranaki. Ng\u0101ti Ruanui and other iwi of Taranaki strongly object to your behaviour. Kia ora,\u201d Watene says.<\/p>\n

\"Greenpeace<\/p>\n

Greenpeace Aotearoa’s seabed mining campaigner Juressa Lee (Source: Brett Walker \/ Greenpeace)<\/p>\n

In a statement, Greenpeace said the notice was served \u201cpeacefully\u201d, a claim which Alan Eggers, executive chair of Trans-Tasman Resources, disputed. He said: \u201cThe 12 intruders burst into our private offices uninvited and posted their propaganda on our building walls and doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eggers said the actions by the group were \u201cintimidatory\u201d and \u201cvery loud\u201d which staff found \u201cconfronting and upsetting\u201d. <\/p>\n

He added that Trans-Tasman Resources had every right to run its business and \u201cwill continue to do so\u201d.<\/p>\n

Watene said they were sending a clear message that seabed mining was \u201cnot wanted or needed\u201d in Aotearoa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve fought Trans-Tasman Resources multiple times since 2014 and we\u2019ve won every time, even at the Supreme Court. Article two of Te Tiriti o Waitangi guarantees M\u0101ori authority over our taonga. We will protect Papat\u016b\u0101nuku (mother earth), from the maunga (mountain) to the moana (sea). Seabed mining won\u2019t ever take place on our watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee said the action served as a warning to the company to stay away or \u201cexpect resistance\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message from iwi, Taranaki locals, environmental groups and the New Zealand public has been united and clear for decades: no seabed mining is welcome in Aotearoa.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrans-Tasman Resources has a habit of ditching official processes when they don\u2019t go their way and exploring other \u2018easier\u2019 avenues to resurrect their zombie project. We\u2019re here to say any attempt to start seabed mining in Aotearoa \u2013 whatever avenues or workarounds mining companies try to use \u2013 will face strong resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second time Watene, Wharehoka-Watene and Greenpeace activists have visited headquarters to protest seabed mining. In 2024, they disrupted Manuka Resources\u2019 AGM to explain their stance against seabed mining to company shareholders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ng\u0101ti Ruanui man Rukutai Watene has delivered a \u201ctrespass notice\u201d to mining company Trans-Tasman Resources and its parent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,4432,43,52671,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-301338","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-maori-issues","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-taiao","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}