Allan Birchfield
Chairperson of West Coast Regional Council
In office
2019–2023
Personal details
Born1949 or 1950 (age 73–74)[1]
New Zealand
ProfessionCoal and gold miner

Allan John Birchfield (born 1949/1950) is a coal and gold miner from the South Island's West Coast of New Zealand. He is a West Coast Regional Councillor who served as chairperson from 2019 to 2023. He is known for his climate change denial.

Family and mining career

Birchfield's family has a long history of coal and gold mining and sawmilling on the West Coast.[2] His father was Maxwell John Birchfield (1923–1990).[3] Birchfield farms land at Ngahere, works an alluvial gold claim near Hokitika, and is director of Birchfield Coal Mines Ltd, owned with his three siblings.[4][1] Birchfield Coal Mines, started by Birchfield's parents in 1977, employs 20 people at a mine near Reefton, and in 2016 bought the Liverpool and Strongman mines from bankrupt mining company Solid Energy.[5]

Birchfield is the owner of the Kanieri, the last gold dredge operating on the West Coast and the largest remaining alluvial bucket gold dredge in the world.[2] The 3,500 tonnes (3,900 tons) dredge was built in 1938 to work the Kaniere area, and recovered 175,000 ounces (5,000 kg) of gold from around Hokitika and 202,000 ounces (5,700 kg) from the Taramakau River before stopping operation in 1978.[6] It was salvaged and rebuilt by US company R.A. Hanson Co. (also known as RAHCO) in 1989, who went into receivership eight months later.[7] The dredge was purchased by Birchfield Minerals in August 1992 and ran at Ngahere, 22 kilometres (14 mi) inland from Greymouth, until 2004 before being mothballed as unprofitable.[2][7]

It restarted operation in 2009 with a NZ$2.2 million loan from Development West Coast, mining the Grey River flats near Blackball and ran until 2012, when falling gold prices and resource consents led to it being mothballed again.[6][7] In 2013 Birchfield successfully defended eight charges by the Department of Conservation of undertaking commercial gold mining without authority and damaging conservation land at Blackball and the Grey River.[2] In 2016, then 65, he announced he was retiring from gold mining and put the dredge up for sale, but it remains in storage at his Ngahere property. He continues to work an alluvial gold claim south of Greymouth and in the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 he argued gold mining should continue as an essential service.[2][1] He petitioned then-Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage to allow alluvial gold mining on Department of Conservation land.[8]

Local government career

Birchfield was elected chairman of the West Coast Regional Council in 2019, after six terms as a councillor,[9] and reinstated an opening prayer at Council meetings. "New Zealand is a Christian country, and Christian standards are good ones," he claimed.[10]

He was a member of the Te Tai o Poutini One Plan Committee, which is legally required to identify significant natural areas (SNAs) such as native forest or wetland remaining on private land.[11][12] Ecologists Wildlands Consultants Ltd were hired to physically inspect features on private land that might qualify as a SNA, but Birchfield vowed to bar any ecologists from accessing his own land. "As far as I'm concerned, it's theft. If the government wants to save this stuff it should buy it." he said.[4]

Birchfield was removed as chair by his fellow councillors on 28 March 2023.[13] On 8 August, councillors voted to remove him from committees due to leaking confidential information to the media.[14]

Views and positions

Climate change denial

Birchfield denies the scientific consensus on climate change, specifically causation by humans and sea-level rise, calling it "a gigantic fraud"[15] and "the biggest rort in the history of human civilisation".[16] He refused to accept a report to the regional council about future hazards to the region from sea-level rise, calling it "bullshit".[16] When Kiwibank announced it would no longer do business with the fossil fuel industry, he accused them of "trying to destroy the economy."[17]

COVID-19 pandemic

Birchfield was rebuked by the New Zealand Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon for referring to the COVID-19 as the "Chinese virus".[18] He claimed "It's not racist at all, we all know where it started." Buller mayor Jamie Cleine and Greymouth mayor Tania Gibson distanced themselves from Birchfield's remarks.[18]

Donald Trump

Birchfield is an admirer of former US President Donald Trump,[15] wearing a MAGA cap in photographs[15] and posing in front of a framed portrait of Trump.[4]

Politics

He is a staunch National supporter,[2] but in the 2011 general election ran as the ACT candidate for West Coast-Tasman, receiving 487 votes.[19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Williams, Lois (3 April 2020). "Goldmining on hold during Covid-19 lockdown". RNZ. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Carroll, Joanne (21 January 2016). "Unique West Coast gold dredge for sale". Stuff. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "Maxwell John Birchfield". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Williams, Lois (31 August 2020). "'No ecologists on my land' – West Coast Regional council chair". RNZ. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  5. ↑ Carroll, Joanne (1 November 2016). "Two historic West Coast coal mines to reopen". Stuff. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  6. 1 2 Curtis, Peter; Curtis, Pauline (2012). "Touring New Zealand 2012 part 8". Uniquely NZ. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 McBride, Paul (1 April 2019). "Tauranga miner wishes to buy giant gold dredge". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  8. ↑ Williams, Lois (19 June 2020). "Gold miner hopeful mining will be allowed on conservation land". RNZ. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  9. ↑ Mills, Laura (26 October 2019). "Birchfield to chair West Coast Regional Council". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  10. ↑ Williams, Lois (19 December 2019). "West Coast Regional Council reinstates prayer at meetings". Scoop News. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  11. ↑ Williams, Lois (28 August 2020). "SNA work begins on West Coast". RNZ. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  12. ↑ Williams, Lois (18 June 2020). "West Coast council locks in rates freeze". Stuff. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  13. ↑ Naish, Joanne (28 March 2023). "Allan Birchfield removed as West Coast Regional Council chairperson". Stuff.
  14. ↑ Naish, Joanne (8 August 2023). "Controversial councillor told to apologise after leaking information to media". Stuff.
  15. 1 2 3 Carroll, Joanne; Gorman, Paul (29 January 2019). "West Coast Regional Council wants proof of human-caused climate change before supporting Zero Carbon Bill". Stuff. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  16. 1 2 Williams, Lois (12 May 2020). "Climate change 'a rort' – West Coast Regional Council chair". RNZ. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  17. ↑ Carroll, Joanne (23 July 2020). "Kiwibank 'trying to destroy' the New Zealand economy, miner says". Stuff. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  18. 1 2 Sherwood, Sam (15 August 2020). "Coronavirus: Race Relations Commissioner says West Coast chairman's comments about China 'not on'". Stuff. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  19. ↑ "Official Count Results – West Coast-Tasman (2011)". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
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