Greens will fight Ruahine law change

The Green Party will fiercely oppose Bill English’s plan to override the Supreme Court decision that saved part of the Ruahine Forest Park from being flooded for the Ruataniwha dam.

Bill English signalled yesterday that he would change the law to override the Supreme Court’s ruling that prevents the Department of Conservation from swapping conservation land for private farmland.

“If National changes this law then specially protected forest and the habitat of threatened species will be destroyed forever,” said Green Party conservation spokesperson Mojo Mathers.

“The Green Party will fight National all the way if they pursue this cynical and destructive law change – and so will thousands of New Zealanders who care about our protected parks and forests.

“New Zealand’s protected parks and forests are meant to be safe and preserved for future generations, not traded away to make a quick buck.

“It’s a slippery slope. How many other areas of our protected parks and forests will be traded away and destroyed so that they can be dammed or mined for private gain?

“National is being disingenuous by claiming the conservation estate will gain from the exchange of protected forest for private land. This ignores the fact that the private land in this case is not threatened, so if we lose part of the Ruahine Forest there will be a net loss of native bush and habitat.

“This dam doesn’t stack up economically, it doesn’t stack up environmentally and it requires the destruction of habitat of threatened species. It’s time to walk away from this dam,” said Ms Mathers.

Latest Environment Announcements

Story

Forestry sector must compensate for slash damage

The Green Party welcomes today’s release of the report of the Ministerial Inquiry into slash and sediment, and are clear that the forestry industry...
Read More

Story

Greens launch petition to protect conservation lands from mining by Mineralogy International Limited

The Green Party has today launched a petition calling for conservation land to be protected from mining by big overseas companies such as Mineralog...
Read More

Story

National's drought of ideas won't help farmers facing climate change

Christopher Luxon and the National Party have once again presented another lazy, back-of-the-napkin policy to Aotearoa.
Read More

Story

Freshwater crisis needs stronger government action

New Zealand’s rivers, lakes and freshwater are in crisis and there needs to be a more ambitious Government plan to clean them up and protect agains...
Read More

Story

Greens welcome waste strategy release and work

The Green Party is today welcoming the release of the Government’s waste strategy, but says it has a big gap without action on the container return...
Read More

Story

NZ needs strong protection against water privatisation

New Zealanders deserve strong protection against the future privatisation of water assets, the Green Party says.
Read More

Latest Conservation Announcements

Story

Inquiry into forestry slash and land use welcome, but more needed

Today’s news of a Ministerial inquiry into forestry slash and land use in Te Tarāwhiti/Gisborne and Wairoa is welcome, but the forestry sector shou...
Read More

Story

Time for Labour to deliver on No New Mines

The Green Party is today welcoming reports of Government progress towards having no new mines on conservation land.
Read More

Story

Urgent action needed at home following global deal for nature

The Green Party welcomes an historic new global agreement to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade and calls on the Governm...
Read More

Story

Swimmable rivers and healthy lakes could soon be out of reach

The Green Party is calling on the Government to tighten the rules on synthetic fertiliser use and intensive land use, including intensive winter gr...
Read More

Story

Bill to ban mining on conservation land pulled from biscuit tin

Following months of work by the Green Party and community and environmental organisations, Parliament will have the opportunity to pass legislation...
Read More

Story

Stewardship land recommendations fall short of protecting nature

The proposed reclassification of stewardship land on the West Coast doesn’t go far enough to protect nature and the area’s spectacular landscapes, ...
Read More