Mataura petition to be presented in Parliament

Wednesday, 29 April 2020

New Zealand First List MP Mark Patterson, left, received the petition from Laurel Turnbull, of Sort Out the Dross action group, outside the closed Mataura paper mill in March.

A petition signed by nearly 4000 Southlanders, asking for the House of Representatives to take all means possible to remove a hazardous substance from Mataura, will be presented to Environment Minister David Parker on Thursday.

It will be tabled in the House on either Thursday or Friday.

NZ First List MP Mark Patterson said the Covid-19 lock down meant he had been unable to present the petition in Wellington before then, despite receiving it in March.

“The build up to lock down and the subsequent suspension of Parliament has meant the ceremonial handing over to Minister Parker was not possible.

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“The intention had been to present it in person on the steps of parliament but uncertainty around the full resumption of parliament has precluded that.''

The next step is to present to the Environment Select Committee.

NZ First List MP Mark Patterson launched a petition in Mataura for the ouvea premix, which is housed in the unused Mataura paper mill buildings, to be removed and taken back to it's origin at the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter.

That will happen ''hopefully reasonably shortly which is in line with the aim to keep the issue in the public domain and the pressure on Rio Tinto to do the right thing,'' he said.

The final tally of signatures was 3833, made up of 1534 online and 2299 physical signatures.

More than 9000 tonnes of ouvea premix is being stored in Mataura's former paper mill building.

Patterson launched the petition to have the Government fast-track its removal after the building was threatened by floodwaters in February.

Ouvea premix gives off ammonia gas if it gets wet.

Action group Sort Out The Dross presented the petition to Patterson in March after going door to door in Mataura, collecting signatures.

Residents in Edendale and Gore had also signed the petition.

The Government and aluminium producer Rio Tinto were engaged in talks about fast-tracking the removal of the ouvea premix before the Covid-19 lockdown.

About 25,000 tonnes of premix was left in warehouses in Southland after Taha Asia Pacific, which was storing the substance without resource consent at Mataura and Awarua, went into liquidation in 2016.