The National Government are poised to do the unthinkable—open up our most treasured places, our national parks and reserves—to mining. Can they be serious? Didn't we have this fight 100 years ago? Do New Zealanders really believe that no place is sacred if there's a goldmine or a coalmine sitting underneath it? I talked to a number of Green MPs to find out why they treasure our last remaining wild spaces.

Note: National have recently announced that they are pushing back the decision on mining our national parks until February 2010. At that time, there will be a six-week public consultation period which you can engage with. Send an e-mail to conservation [at] greens [dot] org [dot] nz if you'd like to be kept up to date with developments.

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