The climate's changed for National

Go Gareth!

You've got my vote, mate! This latest post from you on water and who's doing what with it, is gold. Look at this:

"Secondly, much can be done at the level of local government. Local governments are responsible for implementing resource management laws and have powers (and the legal obligation) to set their own environmental targets. However there is no escaping the conflict between polluters and the public at the local level and if the overall message coming out of Parliament is soft on polluting, it can make it hard for local bodies to find the courage to set tough standards"

This is just what we are battling on our council and somehow, Mr Morgan has it sussed. Here's more:

"Eventually Parliament may reconnect with the public will on fresh water – and the 2014 election may be the catalyst for that – but in the meantime it is pretty clear that those who can make a difference should get on regardless. What is needed then is a joining of the dots across local government and community groups to make the efforts of both more effective. Community groups and local councils could collaborate on a much greater scale than they do at present both within each community and across communities. The onus for taking this step towards greater collaboration and connection sits with councils who have both the resources to engage with other councils and communities and a legislated responsibility to protect the environment."

This is excellent stuff from Gareth Morgan. I'm liking his style - not at all afraid to call it how it is. Read his entire article here and think, if you are so inclined, about what he's proposing.

Morgan exposes Carter

"Minister mouthpiece for dirty dairy" declares Gareth Morgan in his expose of the interference by Agriculture minister David Carter in the decisions being made by Horizons Regional Council to control industrial dairying in the central North Island.

"What is astonishing and truly sobering about the Horizons case is the new low it has set for the willingness of Cabinet Ministers to use their position to further the interests of businesses at the expense of the public and to hell with the environment. Federated Farmers’ onslaught on Horizons has been aided and abetted by David Carter, Minister for Primary Industries. As a Cabinet Minister one might think Carter would represent the wider public interest, rather than just the farming lobby. However he has set out to undermine public acceptance of One Plan, claiming that it will “dramatically reduce” the productivity (read profitability) of farming and as a result be harmful to the public. He’s said he’ll get the RMA changed – continuing a string of abuses on environmental protection from National’s senior ministers of late who can’t conceive of economic growth without accompanying environmental destruction. It is a regressive view but one National, faced with a flat economy, is wholeheartedly embracing."

Gareth Morgan is proving a constant thorn in the side for this business-supportive government and repeatedly hits both the nail, and National, on the head with his insightful columns.
Read the rest here.

Federated Farmers need to own their shit

Gareth Morgan chooses a blunt title for his post on Conor English's excuse-making around farm-created pollution.
Morgan says:

"The problem with Conor English is that he stubbornly refuses to answer the charge that Fed Farmers think that it is a birthright for its members to vandalise the environment and smash the rights of others, all for the pursuit of profit."

That's putting it out there, Gareth! Our local Feds are going to be squirming when they read that! Morgan goes on:

" That’s the issue here and as the dairy herd increases from 2 to 4.5 million and ever upwards, this constraint will enforce a change in farming practice. If you want more cows and you’re not allowed to impact the waterways with their presence, then you need to change practices. Connor English does not accept this, he argues farmers should be allowed to raise their pollution in line with their herd size. There is no logic to his lobby group challenging the Environment Court otherwise. Conor’s form of guardianship is not quite the kaitiakitanga that preceded industrial farming."

Mr Morgan sums up the National Government's (I call them the John Key/John Banks Government) position on this with:

" It’s noticeable that National are pulling back from siding with Fish and Game and conservationists challenging Fed Farmers through the Courts on this issue now, and instead are switching sides as the raw reality of rural politics is brought to bear on the Conservation Minister.
This fits with National’s demolition of the ETS, withdrawal from Kyoto and Steven Joyce’s championing of GDP growth founded on continued destruction of natural assets. We truly have stepped back to a conservative, non-progressive government."

And here, in big text, the nub of the issue:

" Let’s repeat it. If Fed Farmers’ view was that you can’t despoil the environment for others in your pursuit of personal gain, it would not be squealing and saying the Environment Court is raising the barrier too high in terms of what pollution is acceptable. No more pollution is acceptable so it doesn’t matter how high the hurdle is."

Morgan on the sea

"To begin with, if there really is an economic benefit from salmon farming, then they should pay rates – substantial ones, just like land users. These rates should be used to finance the council to set standards for environmental management, just as they do on land.

We also need to sort out how to use ocean space, just as we have done on land. We need to zone the coastal ocean, starting with the Hauraki Gulf and Marlborough Sounds. This process, called integrated marine spatial planning, is now commonplace overseas, but has not been picked up in New Zealand. By comparison, we are quite backward."

Gareth Morgan adds intelligent comment to the Aquaculture/King Salmon debate.