{"id":69637,"date":"2025-04-08T14:37:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T02:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=69637"},"modified":"2025-06-25T01:34:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T13:34:21","slug":"greenpeace-corrects-federated-farmers-impotent-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/greenpeace-corrects-federated-farmers-impotent-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenpeace corrects Federated Farmers\u2019 impotent attack\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In response to the \u201cdesperate bid\u201d by Federated Farmers to curtail Greenpeace, the environmental heavyweight has issued a correction to the agri-industry lobby group\u2019s \u201cscurrilous complaint\u201d made to the Charities Commission yesterday. <\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Niamh O\u2019Flynn says, \u201cIt\u2019s just another attempt to shut down dissent by Federated Farmers. The Feds are a lobby group for New Zealand’s biggest polluters, and this crack at peaceful protest is part of a global trend that we must not stand for.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace has faced polluters trying to shut us down for decades. Just like the French bombed the Rainbow Warrior 40 years ago to try to stop our opposition to nuclear testing in the Pacific, and the oil industry is currently trying to eliminate Greenpeace in the US, this is another, albeit impotent, attempt to curtail legitimate peaceful protest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace says that the Federated Farmers list of Greenpeace protests is far from comprehensive and omits dozens of examples of direct action that have played a key role in bringing about positive change in Aotearoa and beyond.<\/p>\n\n

O\u2019Flynn says, \u201cGreenpeace has a long history of taking direct action<\/a> to highlight environmental injustices and stop polluting industries like Fonterra from harming the environment. Federated Farmers have curated a list of some of our most impactful actions – but they\u2019ve left quite a few out and we want to set the record straight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201cSince the 1970s, Greenpeace has campaigned in Aotearoa and the Pacific to ensure that the environment is protected from harm by industries like nuclear weapons, fossil fuels, intensive dairy and commercial fishing that cause significant harm to our collective home. That means that sometimes we will put our bodies on the line to stop corporations from harming the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201cImportantly, many of our actions to highlight environmental injustice have led to changes that we pride ourselves on as a nation. The nuclear free campaigns of the 1970s and 80s led to New Zealand declaring itself nuclear free, and to the end of nuclear testing in the Pacific. The GE-free campaign led to New Zealand imposing a moratorium on GE crops. The campaign to end oil and gas exploration led to a ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration in Aotearoa. The campaign to stop the Ruataniwha Dam protected the rivers of the Hawke\u2019s Bay from pollution from intensive dairy expansion, and prevented conservation land from being flooded to build a dam.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cNew Zealanders care deeply about nature and history shows that Greenpeace protests have protected that.. Our actions sit alongside long-fought legal battles, petitions, and mass protests and marches in the streets of New Zealand\u2019s biggest cities.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on our long history of actions that have s\ucceeded in protecting nature from industries that seek to destroy it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

An expanded (but not comprehensive), list of key Greenpeace Aotearoa actions dating back to the 1970s is below.<\/p>\n\n

1970s:<\/p>\n\n