Dirty Dairying is back - not that it ever went away but the campaign to expose dirty dairying practice has risen into the public consciousness again due to the unacceptable behaviour of many Southland dairy farmers, the resounding silence from Fonterra and the active and public criticism of all concerned by Fish and Game NZ CE Bryce Johnston. Writing in today's paper, Bryce describes Fonterra's 'wishy-washy rhetoric', and rips into Environment Southland for its 'fence-sitting nonsense'. He calls particularly for ES to 'bare its teeth'. I suspect he really means 'bite'. Baring teeth is still only symbolic after all.
12 comments:
If only those blink-en councillors would represent the views of the constituency who voted them in..........................................................................................................................
What blows me away is that the dairy industry is ruining the rivers to NOT make a profit.
I had thought we had a problem with business exploiting the environment to make money. This week we find out that the dairy industry in total only paid 26 million in tax, so they're not the great money earners for the country that they make out and yet they are still stuffing the waterways. It's obvously a major concern when it comes to these incredibly inefficient businesses being able to pay for the clean up that is urgently needed.
If their expenses are so great now that a lot of them run at a loss, what effect will the inevitable increase in the price of fuel have on their economic bottom line in the future? If they go broke, then I guess it's ratepayers who'll pay for the clean up.
This vid explains it all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FavUpD_IjVY
It's awesome, strange, mind-bending, and catchy all at the same time WOW
On the West Coast, it is the councillors themselves that are polluting streams.
Brian (chairman of the resource management committee) has been a very naughty boy, but they weren't going to tell us, it took an OIA request from the local paper to expose his filthy ways.
You would love him Robert, he is a miner and a farmer!!
If I could get hold of one of them Bio, I'd wring my own neck!
Viv - well yes, that's the puzzle, only money is being made, great dollops of it, but it's not being passed through the tax system to the benefit of us all, more accrued and extracted at the point where those farms are sold. Non-farmers see the issue well enough but those who support the warped system woulfd say that your explanation is cock-eyed.
As for rate payers paying for any collapse farmers might experience, you can bet your bottom dollar on it, if AMI and South Canterbury Finance are indicative. Worse, is where taxpayers are paying for environmental destruction while it's happening, such as the likely subsidies we will be giving to Solid Energy when the start their mining at Mataura.
Shunda - Brian and I are like that!
What has been the result of his exposure?
Surely he's been drummed out of office?
Ha! not likely, this is the banana republic of the West Coast!
You should see the spot this guy (and his buddies) are mining, it is just utter destruction, they are literally moving a huge hill from one side of the highway to the other.
Get in their way Shunda!
I know that there is a lot of money being made & various write offs being used to present losses to the IRD, however the dairy sector has big 'cost of sales' and I wonder how financially secure a lot of them are. This latest budget was presented as being neccesary to keep interest rates low, because if they rise much then everyone will see how precarious the dairy sector is.
You make good observations Viv. My dairying insider says much the same thing and describes appalling inefficiencies and wrong-thinking when it comes to efficiencies of scale as major problems for most large dairying units.
Get in their way Shunda!
Well Robert, if there are any of your green brethren here, I certainly can't find them.
No letters to the paper (other than nutter anti 1080ers which don't really care about anything but game animals)
and to be honest, Kevin seems reluctant to really tackle these guys head on.
If environmentalists want a battle field, this is the place but to be honest, no one seems to really care.
They will wreck the place Robert, the council is now effectively representing the interests of federated farmers slash miners (many are both)
I have no idea where to start.
hornet's nest, stick (cover yourself well).
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