Today’s sweeping changes to environmental protections paint a damning picture of a government hellbent on profit at all costs, openly allowing more environmentally harmful activities under the guise of progress.
“Today is a dark day for rivers, lakes, streams, beaches, forests and all who enjoy and rely on these taonga across Aotearoa,” says the Green Party’s Environment Spokesperson, Lan Pham.
“Taking freshwater as one example, ‘Te Mana o Te Wai’ offered us a clear legal framework that prioritised the health of our waterways and the health of our communities above corporate greed.
“Instead, the actions of this Government will go down in history as the most anti-environment we have ever seen. Councils and communities could be stripped of their ability to control the harmful impacts of industries like forestry, intensive farming, and mining.
“Further, the Government is making changes to enable more mining on wetlands, significant natural areas, and in places where our most precious indigenous biodiversity is.
“The Government has really shown their cards today. It could not be clearer that they are hellbent on pushing our natural environment to the brink, exploiting everything they can for any profit that can be squeezed out of it.
“If this feels like this is straight out of a deliberate playbook, it’s because it is. The language of ‘re-balancing’, ‘efficiency’, ‘cutting red tape’, and ‘enabling industry’ is often used, but what’s really happening here is a systematic and comprehensive erosion of environmental protections.
“Truly prosperous economic activity is only possible if our planet is also thriving. We depend on healthy nature and a stable climate for the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the materials for life,” says Lan Pham.
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