Environment at top of list

Election 2011 – the Environment

Political commentators are amazed and the leaders of all the political parties caught flat footed, by the results of a poll that asked New Zealanders, “What is the most important issue for you at this election?”. Not 'the economy', as most expected, nor 'law and order', 'education' or 'health', but ENVIRONMENT (I've written it in capital letters, in case you are just skim-reading – it's an important development and unprecedented.) New Zealanders, by a significant margin, believe that the environment; its health and management, is the most important issue at this time and the politicians should take more than just a passing interest in the finding. Here in Southland, our media moguls have picked it spot on, with their focus on water quality as the 'issue de jour', running a series of in-depth articles on all aspects of water in the south, from dirty dairying to the blotchy kanakana. How clever they were to pick it. Well done Mr Tulett. Elsewhere in the country, the Rena and the globby oil that spilled and is still spilling from her ruptured hull has drawn the attention and concern of ordinary New Zealanders to such a degree that they have pulled environmental concern from the backroom of their consciousness, into the front room, where they can see it in the light of day – and they don't like what they see. 3 years of National's assault on; our national parks, where Brownlee and Key proposed mining operations (Pike River hasn't helped their greedy and short-sighted cause) our deep oceans, where protesters have reminded us the a Gulf of Mexico disaster is practically un-stoppable, should it occur – we don't need that sort of catastrophe) and our rivers, where State of the Environment reports, such as the one released by Environment Southland this year, reveal that the system is sickening and that intensive farming, especially dairying, is degrading our water quality and threatening the life in our rivers and drinking from them is a thing of the past.

So we face a new era in politics, I believe, one where the old priorities have been pushed back by the more pressing and the state of our physical environment has taken it's rightful place front and centre. What this means for the Green Party remains to be seen. Elections are complex and often frustrating animals, that don't often reflect the real needs of people, though they might be told otherwise. That the environment features so strongly in this one is a sign of profound change, in my opinion, and I'm very hopeful that those politicians that understand what's need to reverse the damage we've already done to our habitat, and how to prevent more from occuring, will rise to the occasion, supported by the public, and be put into a position where they can do most good.

In 3 weeks time, we will know.