The Green Party says Conservation Minister Tama Potaka's decision to drop the disposal and exchange clauses from his Conservation Amendment Bill shows public pressure is working, but the whole Bill needs to be pulled and the reform started again.
"This is a backdown forced by tens of thousands of New Zealanders who refused to let their wild places be put on the market. The Minister has finally heard them, but removing these clauses does not fix a Bill that was built to serve developers instead of nature," says Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson.
"This Bill still rewrites the purpose of the Conservation Act so commercial development comes first and nature comes second. Removing these clauses does not change what this reform was designed to do."
"You cannot fix a Bill written for developers by trimming the worst bits and hoping no one notices. The honest thing to do is stop, pull the whole Bill, and start again with a process that puts protecting nature for future generations at its heart."
"Our public conservation land is not the Government's to sell, carve up, or quietly hand to commercial interests. The Green Party will keep fighting until this Bill is gone and the reform is started again properly, giving effect to Te Tiriti and putting indigenous-led stewardship at the centre," says Davidson.
