Rt. Hon Winston Peters
Leader NZ First

October 7 2011

BOP Oil Spill – ‘Where’s The Leadership?’ Asks Peters

‘More than 72 hours after the grounding of the M V Rena, with over 1500 tons of oil on board, at the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga the lack of urgency and inertia demonstrated by the Government is to be deplored’, says Winston Peters, Leader of NZ First.

‘Sitting around waiting for some overseas expert to arrive is surely not the answer. Shippers have for years being paying a fee to cover such an event. Now that it is here the public should be demanding to know, where is Prime Minister Key, Transport Minister Joyce or Environmental Minister Smith. This is not a disaster waiting to happen. It has happened and failure to have already acted with the speed this event requires could have dire prospects for the Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and East Coast.’

‘Any dramatic worsening of sea conditions could spell further or total loss of the oil at sea and a breakup of the ship. The real issue is why hasn’t our training and preparation for such an event been met with a sense serious danger and appropriate response? Running around talking about good news and grabbing photo opportunities should be suspended and this issue dealt with now.

‘The oil should be taken off the boat now as should any dangerous cargo. That is not what is happening.’

‘Moreover the dispersal agent being used is likely to be as dangerous as the oil itself because its characteristics are to take the oil to the sea floor where it’s danger to the marine ecology will have tragic effects.

‘The economy of the Bay of Plenty is already under threat from Psa in the Kiwi Fruit industry. The danger is imminent from this shipping disaster and it calls for action and leadership. Where is it?’ said Mr Peters

ENDS

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