The Prime Minister and his Forestry Minister seem to be at odds on what the forestry slash inquiry will focus on, National’s Forestry spokesperson Joseph Mooney says.

“Only three days after the Prime Minister announced a ministerial inquiry into forestry slash, Forestry Minister Stuart Nash said on Q+A on Sunday that the inquiry won’t be about forestry, only land use.

“This raises serious questions about whether the inquiry will address community concerns about woody debris and the role of forestry slash following cyclone Hale and Gabrielle. This would be a major let-down for communities seeking answers.

"Mr Nash also mentioned slash traps as a possible solution but said those are not within his ministerial responsibility and instead consenting for those is the responsibility of councils.

“However, previous reports Mr Nash has received warned that it was becoming harder to get resource consents for slash traps because of regulatory issues that the Minister is responsible for.

“Mr Nash has delayed acting on those previous warnings for almost three years, despite receiving them in 2020 and the Labour Government declaring a Climate Emergency the same year.

“It is increasingly looking like the Government and its Minister is doing everything it can to avoid responsibility by setting the Ministerial Inquiry up for failure, at a time when New Zealanders need answers and urgent action.”

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