Brownlee's Great Barrier Island figures keep changing

The government's been caught flip-flopping on the details of plans to mine schedule 4 conservation land. Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee has told reporters the potential mineral value in Great Barrier Island is around $4.3 billion. When challenged on that yesterday, he told TVNZ the figure would be more like consulting geologist Richard Barker's reported figure of 1.2 billion. But he's now once again backing the figures provided by the Ministry of Economic Development.