27 February 2017

GOVERNMENT’S 1080 PLANS SYMPTOMATIC OF WIDER WORRYING TREND

UnitedFuture leader Hon Peter Dunne says the Government’s announcement that decision-making regarding the use of 1080 is to be centralised is a slap in the face for regional New Zealand.

Mr Dunne says he supports the goal of making New Zealand predator-free, but the decision to centralise 1080 decision-making strongly suggests the government no longer trusts Regional Councils to make the “right” decisions.

“The best way to ruin the predator-free New Zealand goal is to shut local communities out of any involvement in attaining it, and this announcement is a pretty good step on the way to doing just that!

“But the most worrying aspect is that it forms part of an emerging pattern to shut local communities and local government out of environmental decisions that affect them.

“The Government’s planned changes to the Resource Management Act already shift power away from the local communities to the Minister, and this decision is just one more step in that process,” Mr Dunne says.

Mr Dunne says all New Zealanders support our clean, green natural environment, and want a say in its ongoing management.

“Sending them a clear signal, as the 1080 decision does, that they are no longer to be trusted to act responsibly is far from helpful, and likely to create a backlash that could thwart the achievement of the overall goal,” he says.

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