At Parliament today, Greenpeace activists have installed a giant tap pouring cow effluent outside the Beehive. The organisation is protesting the Government’s proposed fast-track consenting bill, which it says will run roughshod over environmental protections.
Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop says, “The Government’s plan to fast-track development with little regard for nature could turn on the tap for more water pollution.”
The 4-metre-tall tap is suspended on Parliament lawn and has dairy cow effluent pouring out of it, with a message reading ‘Stop Fast-tracking Pollution’. The organisation says they erected the tap as a warning to Luxon of the dirty legacy this fast-track bill could create.
“Luxon’s fast-track proposal looks set to be a radically anti-environment policy. It could give unbridled power to just two Ministers to approve developments like mega dairy farms, irrigation dams, seabed mining and mining on conservation land,” says Toop.
“Fast-tracking new corporate mega-dairy farms and irrigation dams will lead to more water pollution. And already, rural communities across the country are drinking nitrate-contaminated water, while many rivers and lakes are unswimmable.
“This bill looks set to be a chilling proposition for nature and our democracy. The details are still to come, but from what we know so far, it appears the Government plans to suppress the public and tangata whenua input and cut them out of decisions that will have profound impacts on the environment and communities.
The proposed Bill’s content is still not public, but there are indications that it would allow Ministers to bypass the Resource Management Act, the Conservation Act, and the Wildlife Act to approve developments with minimal public consultation or engagement with tangata whenua. It has come under fire from environmental groups, law experts, and iwi and hapū.
“The Government has launched a war on nature, and the fast-track consenting bill is just the start of it. Later this year, Luxon also plans to gut freshwater protection laws which will give free rein to polluting industries, like intensive dairying,” says Toop.
“Everyone should be able to access safe drinking water and swim in clean rivers, but fast-tracking dams and mega dairy farms will mean more New Zealanders face contaminated water and unswimmable rivers.”
“We’re calling on Luxon’s Government to scrap the fast-track bill.”
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