1,100+ to Gather in Rotorua for Water Conference

1,100+ to Gather in Rotorua for Water Conference

Wellington, 21 September 2009

Over eleven hundred delegates, exhibitors and speakers will gather in Rotorua tomorrow (Tuesday) for New Zealand’s most significant water industry conference and expo. Water 2020 – From Fragmentation to Efficiency is industry association Water New Zealand’s annual conference and the largest event of its type in New Zealand.

“In spite of the recession our annual conference has again attracted a full house, which shows how important our members and related industry providers see the need to gather to network and debate issues relating to water, its management and the regulations that underpin its use,” said Water New Zealand Chief Executive Murray Gibb.

Mr Gibb says the success of the conference is also due to the strong technical component of the event.

“As New Zealand’s most significant water industry representative organisation Water New Zealand not only plays a role in the formation of public policy as it relates to water. We also provide a vehicle for the dissemination of technically-relevant information and the latest research into water management trends.”

This duality creates a conference environment that allows for professional development as well as rigorous debate.

“And debate there will certainly be this year,” says Mr Gibb.

“Our theme is particularly relevant and timely given local and central government deliberations of the moment. We believe that the fragmentation of water management arrangements is simply an inefficient way of looking after our most precious resource.

“We have been on the public record advocating for a more unified approach and have purposefully chosen a theme that states this and then invited speakers to come and put their views on the table,” said Mr Gibb.

Speakers include daily keynotes such as Hon Dr Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment; Dr Michael Bassett, political historian and commentator; and Mai Chen, public law specialist and founding partner of Chen Palmer.

The Conference programme also features a panel discussion on Public Use & Private Property Rights with panellists Stephen Franks, Director/Partner of Franks & Ogilvie Law Firm; David Green, former Queensland Water Commissioner and Director of the Murray Darling Basin Authority; Guy Salmon, Executive Director of Ecologic Foundation and Dr Terry Heiler, member of the Infrastructure Advisory Board.

Mr Gibb said that water was often treated as the “invisible” resource and few people appeared to understand the significant economic role it played.

ENDS

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