Recreationalists Dismayed at 1080 Whitewash

The Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of New Zealand (CORANZ) has expressed strong disappointment at the ERMA panel's endorsement of 1080 poison.

CORANZ termed the outcome "a predictable whitewash and a dereliction of duty to the public interest" by ERMA. Co-chairman of CORANZ Steve Veail said there were ominous signs of a
whitewash in the early stages of the review when it was found ERMA had placed on the panel a former Department of Conservation officer who had a strong pro-1080 background.

"The ERMA panel admitted the deception but then let the person remain as a consultant. At the same time, stung by being caught out, the panel in a tit-for-tat reaction, then removed a Mari representative who was concerned about 1080," said Veail.

Other indicators of a whitewash were the actions of both the Department of Conservation and ERMA itself, in pre-empting the submission process by issuing public statements lauding the toxin.

"The whitewash does nothing to alter the facts that 1080 is spread in haphazard fashion for dubious reasons at an enormous cost to the taxpayer. It only reinforces calls for a totally independent Royal Commission of Enquiry into the whole poison regime New Zealand is
involved in," he said. "The use of 1080 and now its sanctioning by a Kangaroo Court makes a mockery of New Zealand's claim to be clean, pure and green."

ENDS

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