Greenpeace Aotearoa is wading in on the beef between Fish & Game Southland and Federated Farmers. The organisation says that it is backing Fish & Game Southland, who successfully challenged farm pollution discharge rules in the courts, and are now the subject of a Federated Farmers smear campaign.

Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Will Appelbe says, "Freshwater in Aotearoa has been in decline for decades, and Fish & Game Southland has acted in the interest of all New Zealanders by challenging Environment Southland’s anti-nature legislation.

"Federated Farmers seem to think they have a right to pollute the water, and now that it has been proven in the courts that they do not, they’re throwing their toys out of the cot.

"The intensive dairy industry has been allowed to pollute people’s water for too long and we’re seeing the consequences of that with unswimmable lakes and rivers and elevated levels of nitrate in drinking water," says Appelbe.

"Christopher Luxon’s Government is pushing ahead with reckless plans to rollback freshwater protections and their list of damaging Fast Track Projects. We all need to resist Luxon’s war on nature, and Fish & Game Southland should be praised for doing so."

Already, many rural communities across the country, especially in Canterbury, are facing high levels of nitrate in their drinking water. A growing body of science shows that long-term exposure to levels of nitrate above 1 mg/L can lead to an increased risk of developing bowel cancer, and at levels above 5 mg/L, the New Zealand College of Midwives advises pregnant people to find an alternative water source due to an increased risk of preterm birth.

"We will continue to back the communities most impacted by water pollution, which is why we’re hosting two free drinking water nitrate testing events in Canterbury this weekend. Everyone should be able to drink a glass of water from their kitchen tap without worrying about getting sick, or take a swim in the lakes and rivers in their region," says Appelbe.

Greenpeace is hosting at own hall meeting this Saturday in Rangiora to discuss the water pollution crisis in Canterbury - the hotspot of freshwater pollution in Aotearoa - and to support local communities in taking action on the issue. Additionally, more than twenty thousand people have signed a Greenpeace petition calling on the Government to leave New Zealand’s freshwater protections alone.

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