The current coalition Government’s legislative agenda, much of which is seen as an attack on or regression of our environmental standards, has been described as a multi-headed hydra. A number of the heads of this hydra, and their potential effects, are now becoming apparent.
The ‘Fast-Track Bill’ needs no introduction. Three Government Ministers with unlimited power to ignore and override any and all conservation protections in any legislation, approving any industry proposal they feel like without comeback, and to hell with the consequences. What could possibly go wrong? Well, when you realise that they view NZ freshwater as a resource that they can sell globally, probably plenty – especially in light of their stated claims that they will ignore any environmental and public health protections in the process.
It is telling that this legislation will be considered by Parliament’s Agricultural Subcommittee rather than its Environmental subcommittee. Widespread opposition to this legislation, including from the NZFFA, is being studiously ignored.
We have recently seen how the Department of Conservation is being decimated and underfunded. It looks very likely that the Government wants to reduce the Department of Conservation in much the same way it reduced biosecurity – to a few head office staff to advise Government. It’s much easier to control or ignore that way. If they want to do anything in the field, they will have to ‘contract that out’, which will inevitably end up more expensive and less effective. And of course, to get the money to do that they are going to have to give some nice juicy plums to the extraction industries, as well as ramping up their prices to existing concession-holders. They are already talking about a ‘managed retreat’.
We are also seeing the benefits of having some farmer representatives as members of the Government. The ‘clean, green agriculture’ fallacy is already ramping up, and the requirement to do anything that might actually make a positive difference to our freshwater (as opposed to farmer profitability) is rapidly disappearing.
Sediment runoff a problem? Ignore it.
Winter grazing an issue for freshwater? Don’t even worry about it.
Applying conservation practices to parts of your farm? We just removed that as a requirement.
Conscious of the green house gas emissions you produce? We’ll worry about that in 2050 – maybe. And the kicker, do you have your regional council on your back about protecting the quality of the rivers and aquifers in your area? Relax, we will tell them that they are not allowed to even consider it. Worried about your overseas markets? Don’t worry, we are going to bamboozle them with pseudo-science and magical thinking from our marketing department.
Tradeable Water
Water is obviously seen as a tradable commercial commodity. The agricultural industries will want to be able trade water rights as a commercial enterprise, without worrying about the effects of overallocation and over extraction, or the consequences of their pollution when they have finished using it. The Government already has its eye on the bigger picture, realising that there are many (polluting) industries that either are running out of water where they currently are, or are hampered by this nasty red tape trying to protect the environment. They are very keen to invite them here. Perhaps we will get both!
Corporate dairy farming Mackenzie Basin
And now, wastewater. Like many of you, my city’s record on disposing of its waste is abysmal. Faced with the monumental costs of doing it well, they can only be described as being like possums caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Three times since I moved here, I have watched Council propose to clean their waste and stormwater up, only to look at the costs, get cold feet and simply return to dumping it into the nearest river. Now that the funding that they thought they were going to get from 3 waters has magically disappeared, they are proposing continuing to dump it into the river as the only viable financial solution.
Once again, the current coalition Governments intentions have been made clear. In their own words:
“I want to be clear that this Government is open to PPPs, sale and leasebacks and unsolicited proposals for private sector infrastructure investment… A classic is water infrastructure. Under the new regime, grant funding will become a last resort after private sector financing options such as public private partnerships or unsolicited bids to build new infrastructure are all explored.”
Privatisation
So, to fund their infrastructure, councils will be required to seek private financial equity, as getting anything from central government will be extremely unlikely. It really doesn’t matter whether it is one of the myriads of Singapore-based firms, or whether it is Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, Ferrari, Yum China Holdings, ABB, Experian, or Siemens; the money and the corporations are international. But they share a common purpose – to maximise investment returns to their shareholders.
This is the privatisation of publicly owned infrastructure by insisting that it is financed by private equity outside of government.
And as we see with the Auckland Water Care agreement, if the Council gets into financial difficulties servicing the private financial arrangements, a liquidator will be called in who can levy ratepayers whatever they like to recover the funds, with no comeback from the Council or anyone else. Again, as we see with the Auckland Water Care agreement with government, the result is higher interest for longer periods for ratepayers.
None of this should really come as a great surprise. It is straight from the Atlas Network handbook. The same network that has now infiltrated our government and media. The fact that there are numerous examples from overseas where such policies and practices have failed miserably is irrelevant. The single objective is to funnel money upwards into the international mega-corporations and the obscenely wealthy 1%, while imposing a compliant but unsustainable consumer philosophy on everyone else.
Both the current government and private industry (who are increasingly becoming one and the same thing) can see no monetary value in protecting our rivers or their biodiversity, so they certainly aren’t going to fund that. There might be a push to privatise recreational fisheries through exclusive capture, but I would expect that to be overtaken by the already signalled commercial farming of recreational species, despite its high costs, environmental damage and failure rates.
Repealing the hierarchy of the NPS FM is yet another backward decision.
We can only live 3 days without water.
We can do without neo-liberal capitalism forever.
Brilliant piece of writing.
However on one detail, I would disagree the Department of Conservation is under-funded. It’s priorities and culture need re-ordering. A large measure of DOC’s culture is based on an anti-introduced phobia and trout, perch and salmon come into that.
On funding DoC ‘wastes’ millions and millions on 1080 drops based of fallacious claims. The reality – and it’s there in Landcare Research science studies – that aerial 1080 drops result in surviving rats (super prolific breeders under top conditions as after 1080) going into top reproductive gear and four years later, are 3 to 4 times pre-poison numbers. Then stoats whose main prey is rats, have abundant food and surge upwards in similar explosive increase.
A reliable source from “inside” says each aerial 1080 drop costs $2 million dollars.
So DoC wastes millions and millions of public money on senseless poison drops that create first a rat plague followed by a stoat plague.
Apologies for digressing, but the truth needs to come out and DOC told to get its act together and re-order its priorities and spending.
Where is DoC on threats like nitrate levels , irrigation all eroding the habitat and quality of water for all aquatic life, that includes native fish too? DoC is silent and inert.
Well done Ken Sims for a splendid piece.
Corporatism and all out exploitation go hand in hand. As an example industries like wine and forestry are about 80% foreign owned – by corporates. Farming is rapidly transitioning to corporate farming. And corporates are strong donors to political parties. So the plot thickens.
The one obstacle to stopping this cancerous trend is the apathy and inertia by most New Zealanders and that includes trout and salmon anglers. As a wise man long, long ago called Plato said, “The price of apathy is to be ruled by evil men.”
apathy is the enemy of freedom…
I well remember a decade or so ago, when DOC had their funding cut by around $60M. The then Director General, Lou Sanson, insisted that there would be no reduction in staff numbers, rather a “review” of expenditure.
Prior to this occurrence, DOC had always rejected any suggestion from the organisations I was associated with to assist in maintaining or improving access and facilities.
Shortly after the loss of revenue, Lou suddenly changed his position and invited strong participation from interested groups.
“Adopt a Track” and “Adopt a Hut” became rallying calls from the newly reinvented DOC.
So, many volunteer groups picked up the slack, and still operate to this date.
But this allowed the bureaucratic lunacy to prevail and the unfettered attacks on wildlife to continue unabated.
Like all of our modern-day Government Departments, until they get rid of all the top-heavy “Chiefs” and replace them with talented “Indians” they remain a drain on NZ’s economy for little or no benefit.
I attended a pest management strategy at a MAF Biosecurity meeting in Ch Ch many years ago where there were reps from interested parties came from all over the country. Including Landcare scientists and councillors Foresters ect. We all had a turn at speaking, my short but to the point suggestion was that
“ if the DoC didn’t piss so many people off there was an army of volunteers out there that would help them”. I got a huge amount of agreement from attendees and Graham Nugent of Landcare woke up from his slumber and the minute taker actually got writing quite quickly. It took a year or two but some changes you mentioned started to happen.
I can see where the Coalition Government are coming from with their new “Fast Track” legislation, given the almost insurmountable hurdles that previous Governments have created. When major projects are stalled for decades due to red tape of one form or another, the frustration seems to have built to such an extent that the pressure has exploded
Sadly, it seems that the policies are now swinging violently in the opposite direction. Instead of road-blocks to any form of progress, we now are likely to see an open highway to projects that may or may not benefit the Country, its Economy nor its Environment.
Dave Rhodes is correct in outlining decades of red tape, but does not excuse the bulldozer tactics that this government is taking, the the only winner, will be the fat cats, the environment will be the victim
Mussolini defined fascism as the merger of corporate and governmental power. And it always devolves into gangsterism. That’s what we have with this coalition. It’s funded by the Atlas Network and a host of companies that pose a threat to public health. RMA ‘Reform’ Minister Chris Bishop was a lobbyist for Big Tobacco, which kills 11 million people a year and is the single most preventable health problem; Nicola Willis was a lobbyist for Fonterra, New Zealand’s biggest polluter, which is responsible for dangerous nitrate levels in drinking water, which gives Canterbury one of the world’s highest bowel cancer rates; and Shane Jones is too close to the mining and sea-trawling industries. No wonder they want to exclude the public from having their say, as well as banning input from the Environment and Conservation Ministers and appeals to the Environment Court. As Labour’s Rachel Brooking points out, any projects approved under Fast Track, including the government’s attempt to relax water pollution, can just as easily be reversed in 30 months.
As a conservationist and environmental educator for many years I am in complete agreement with Tony’s comment above. DOC was well funded; it was just captured by the “nature studies” brigade. The people who saw conservation as a religious crusade rather than focusing on the causes of sick ecosystems; usually the result of commercial enterprises. To reword an old saying they were looking at the trees (and birds) and not at the whole forest. Removal of willows on a lake edge in Canterbury that led to immediate and on-going erosion and siltation was typical. I don’t always agree with Ken’s views but in this article he is right on the button. Well done Ken.
Follow the money….one “favor” begets another “favor”….Greed and Power rule these politicians….they use their positions to enrich themselves. It is very clear that it has become Good vs Evil. The environment, the fishes, the streams, Nature only have YOU to fight for its survival. It’s that simple. If you Love something…fight for it…Apathy is the enemy of Freedom.
The photo with the article shows an angler in a beautiful NZ river. Freedom to do that is part of our birthright (and our children’s). It is not to be auctioned to the highest bidder.
Let’s work to keep it that way.