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	<title>Comments on: Destroying our heritage</title>
	<atom:link href="http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/</link>
	<description>The New Zealand labour movement used to have its own newspaper. A group of us thought that now might be a good time for it to be digitally reborn: The Standard v2.0 - now in a new format The Standard v3.0</description>
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		<title>By: Robyn Clayton</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-192448</link>
		<dc:creator>Robyn Clayton</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:20:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-192448</guid>
		<description>Just shows that Labour, the Greens and the media must be agreeing with what National are doing.    Instead of being vocal on shares that John Key holds - get grumpy about things that matter</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Just shows that Labour, the Greens and the media must be agreeing with what National are doing.    Instead of being vocal on shares that John Key holds &#8211; get grumpy about things that matter</p>
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		<title>By: Pat Magill</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-192051</link>
		<dc:creator>Pat Magill</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:49:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-192051</guid>
		<description>Yes John is a tricky Johnny (dickey)
From my perspective as a very concerned voluntary  social  activist, John has hosted 2 conferences in Wellington in   association with the Maori Party John invited the expertise from the hardest most effective early intervention people in NZ. Yet when the chips are down  John endorses  his  legislation from the kaupapa of the Act Party.The Sensible Sentencing Trust,  and Judith  Collins. Political deceipt at its worst. Aotearoa is still supportive of retribute justice as per USA. No votes in emulating the caring skin built into the Scandanavian nations, concern for all  people.  
You can publish  my name. I am a Community Justice Of the Peace (born in Napier 29.9.1926.

&lt;strong&gt;[lprent: We just leave in the name you give. ] &lt;/strong&gt;</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yes John is a tricky Johnny (dickey)<br />
From my perspective as a very concerned voluntary  social  activist, John has hosted 2 conferences in Wellington in   association with the Maori Party John invited the expertise from the hardest most effective early intervention people in NZ. Yet when the chips are down  John endorses  his  legislation from the kaupapa of the Act Party.The Sensible Sentencing Trust,  and Judith  Collins. Political deceipt at its worst. Aotearoa is still supportive of retribute justice as per USA. No votes in emulating the caring skin built into the Scandanavian nations, concern for all  people.<br />
You can publish  my name. I am a Community Justice Of the Peace (born in Napier 29.9.1926.</p>
<p><strong>[lprent: We just leave in the name you give. ] </strong></p>
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		<title>By: gitmo</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190914</link>
		<dc:creator>gitmo</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:43:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190914</guid>
		<description>&quot;the logical inconsistency of conservatism necessitates sophistry&quot;

Shall I translate for the dullards ?

= &quot;wank wank, pontificate, moral superiority, wank wank trotsky spank spoof&quot;</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;the logical inconsistency of conservatism necessitates sophistry&#8221;</p>
<p>Shall I translate for the dullards ?</p>
<p>= &#8220;wank wank, pontificate, moral superiority, wank wank trotsky spank spoof&#8221;</p>
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		<title>By: kiwiteen123</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190911</link>
		<dc:creator>kiwiteen123</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:42:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190911</guid>
		<description>I think they will mine some National Parks. I never said otherwise.
Felix said that Key had said in his speech on tuesday that he would &quot;tear-up&quot; our National Parks.
Mr. Key said no such thing. Felix lies.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I think they will mine some National Parks. I never said otherwise.<br />
Felix said that Key had said in his speech on tuesday that he would &#8220;tear-up&#8221; our National Parks.<br />
Mr. Key said no such thing. Felix lies.</p>
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		<title>By: kiwiteen123</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190910</link>
		<dc:creator>kiwiteen123</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:41:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190910</guid>
		<description>@TVOR
Sound&#039;s like a good movie.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>@TVOR<br />
Sound&#8217;s like a good movie.</p>
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		<title>By: kiwiteen123</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190908</link>
		<dc:creator>kiwiteen123</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:40:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190908</guid>
		<description>Well, I disagree</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Well, I disagree</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: kiwiteen123</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190904</link>
		<dc:creator>kiwiteen123</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:34:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190904</guid>
		<description>@All
I thank you, felix, for your compliment. :)
I presume I can know call BLiP &quot;shit&quot; because presumably BLiP is a s/he/it.
Poor things getting to close to you, Felix.
the sprout:
I am a teenager.
I look forward to these attacks. You see, it does not matter to me. I enjoy it.
Good to have a genius like you back.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>@All<br />
I thank you, felix, for your compliment. <img src='http://thestandard.org.nz/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /><br />
I presume I can know call BLiP &#8220;shit&#8221; because presumably BLiP is a s/he/it.<br />
Poor things getting to close to you, Felix.<br />
the sprout:<br />
I am a teenager.<br />
I look forward to these attacks. You see, it does not matter to me. I enjoy it.<br />
Good to have a genius like you back.</p>
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		<title>By: Armchair Critic</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190830</link>
		<dc:creator>Armchair Critic</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:34:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190830</guid>
		<description>&quot;I guarantee you when Labour gets back in power they&#039;ll keep it going.&quot;
The land can&#039;t be un-mined.  And post-mining restoration is like getting convicted criminals to pay reparations, it can never make up for the original wrongdoing.
You and LP are both probably correct with a &quot;Labour wouldn&#039;t stop any mining National starts&quot; hypothesis.  I agree.  But that doesn&#039;t mean it is okay to start it in the first place.  Nor is it any justification for starting mining.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;I guarantee you when Labour gets back in power they&#8217;ll keep it going.&#8221;<br />
The land can&#8217;t be un-mined.  And post-mining restoration is like getting convicted criminals to pay reparations, it can never make up for the original wrongdoing.<br />
You and LP are both probably correct with a &#8220;Labour wouldn&#8217;t stop any mining National starts&#8221; hypothesis.  I agree.  But that doesn&#8217;t mean it is okay to start it in the first place.  Nor is it any justification for starting mining.</p>
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		<title>By: lprent</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190824</link>
		<dc:creator>lprent</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:23:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190824</guid>
		<description>Because the litigation involved in kicking them out or changing the conditions will be too high.

However, you can expect that they&#039;d shut-down any further mining or prospecting that doesn&#039;t help NZ long-term. That means long-term retention of profit in NZ and/or significant long-term employment compared to alternate uses like tourism. This is a long-term Labour &#039;policy&#039;.

None of the existing proposals apart from the offshore basin exploration fit those criteria. They all look like get-rich propositions for people outside of NZ and a way to get unsustainable medium-term tax for the government. I&#039;d anticipate that there will be a fast axing of whatever National puts in place that can be axed.

Of course if you can show that these projects do fit the general criteria? But you notice that information never gets released to the public.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Because the litigation involved in kicking them out or changing the conditions will be too high.</p>
<p>However, you can expect that they&#8217;d shut-down any further mining or prospecting that doesn&#8217;t help NZ long-term. That means long-term retention of profit in NZ and/or significant long-term employment compared to alternate uses like tourism. This is a long-term Labour &#8216;policy&#8217;.</p>
<p>None of the existing proposals apart from the offshore basin exploration fit those criteria. They all look like get-rich propositions for people outside of NZ and a way to get unsustainable medium-term tax for the government. I&#8217;d anticipate that there will be a fast axing of whatever National puts in place that can be axed.</p>
<p>Of course if you can show that these projects do fit the general criteria? But you notice that information never gets released to the public.</p>
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		<title>By: gingercrush</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190819</link>
		<dc:creator>gingercrush</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:15:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190819</guid>
		<description>Lets say National gets two terms. By that time they have 2 or 3 mining operations going and 2-5 on their way. I guarantee you when Labour gets back in power they&#039;ll keep it going.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Lets say National gets two terms. By that time they have 2 or 3 mining operations going and 2-5 on their way. I guarantee you when Labour gets back in power they&#8217;ll keep it going.</p>
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		<title>By: lprent</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190817</link>
		<dc:creator>lprent</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:09:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190817</guid>
		<description>Yeah, he is getting pretty damn good with those lists. I grabbed a similar comment as a post a few weeks ago.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yeah, he is getting pretty damn good with those lists. I grabbed a similar comment as a post a few weeks ago.</p>
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		<title>By: marty mars</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190747</link>
		<dc:creator>marty mars</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:49:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190747</guid>
		<description>thanks for that BLiP - hope you don&#039;t mind but i&#039;ve posted it :)

http://mars2earth.blogspot.com/2010/02/record-speaks-for-itself.html</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>thanks for that BLiP &#8211; hope you don&#8217;t mind but i&#8217;ve posted it <img src='http://thestandard.org.nz/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p><a href="http://mars2earth.blogspot.com/2010/02/record-speaks-for-itself.html" rel="nofollow">http://mars2earth.blogspot.com/2010/02/record-speaks-for-itself.html</a></p>
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		<title>By: the sprout</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190686</link>
		<dc:creator>the sprout</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:31:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190686</guid>
		<description>and let&#039;s face it, the logical inconsistency of conservatism necessitates sophistry</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>and let&#8217;s face it, the logical inconsistency of conservatism necessitates sophistry</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: Draco T Bastard</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190684</link>
		<dc:creator>Draco T Bastard</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:25:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190684</guid>
		<description>I&#039;d say that you&#039;re the only one trying to redefine English but it&#039;s common amongst from the right. They try to hide their immorality behind technicalities because otherwise they&#039;d have to admit that they&#039;re delusional.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;d say that you&#8217;re the only one trying to redefine English but it&#8217;s common amongst from the right. They try to hide their immorality behind technicalities because otherwise they&#8217;d have to admit that they&#8217;re delusional.</p>
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		<title>By: BLiP</title>
		<link>http://thestandard.org.nz/destroying-our-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-190683</link>
		<dc:creator>BLiP</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:25:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=29922#comment-190683</guid>
		<description>One need only consider the actions of the John Key led National Ltdâ„¢ on the environmental front to catch a glimpse of what&#039;s in store. Since November 2008, John Key has watched as his government:

- has been caught out repeatedly lying in the run up to and during the election campaign about its real intentions in relation to the environment

- celebrated the opening of the foreign-owned Pike River Coal Ltd  mine on DOC land  adjacent to the Paparoa National Park from which 1 megatonne of coal will be extracted per year for the next 20 years  Pike River Coal Ltd has announced that it has found additional coal in the national park

- removed a proposed efficiency standard (MEPS) on incandescent lightbulbs 

- reversed a moratorium on building new gas/oil/coal power stations 

- removed the bio fuel subsidy 

- scrapped the scheme that would have penalised imported vehicles producing high emissions 

- removed regulations for water efficient new housing 

- renewed leases on sensitive high country farms which were meant to return to DOC 

- reversed restrictions on the freeholding of vast swathes of land on the edge of the Southern Lakes 

- arbitrarily excised 400 hectares from the brand new Oteake Conservation Park, including the most important and, ecologically, the rarest part of the new Park, the tussock and shrubland that went right down to the banks of the Manuherikia River, to enable future access to lignite

- said nothing to say in regard to the World Commission on Protected areas of IUCN&#039;s severe criticism of its  intention to investigate mineral resources and mining opportunities in protected conservation areas including our three  UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Te Wahi Pounamu-South West New Zealand, Tongariro National Park and the Sub Antarctic Islands 

- approved two prospecting permit applications lodged by Australian iron-ore giant Fortescue Metals Group subsidiary FMG Pacific lodged in June - areas covered by the two-year permits include an 8204-square-kilometre area of seabed adjoining the west coast from Cape Reinga to the Manukau Harbour and a 3798-square-kilometre prospecting area of land from Cape Reinga to the Kaipara Harbour including  Ninety Mile Beach, the west side of the Aupouri Peninsula, Kaitaia and the Hokianga. 

- approved an additional prospecting permit for Fortesque Metals in relation to 3568sq km right next door to the Kahurangi National Park where the Heaphy Track is

- was forced to release its Ministry of Economic Development (MED) report under the Official Information Act that proclaims &quot;significant mineral potential&quot; in the Fiordland, Kahurangi and Paparoa national parks  the report said the Waitutu area of the Fiordland National Park had sufficient petroleum reserves to be &quot;worthy&quot; of inclusion in a review of conservation land protected from mining

- secretly granted the minerals industry the right to veto proposed National Park boundaries and permission for any such vetoes to be kept confidential  in spite of recommendations from its own officials against any such a veto 

- Minster of Conservation Tim Grosser, on 29 August 2009,  called  for caring New Zealanders to halt their &quot;emotional hysteria&quot; and recognise that conservation land should be mined for minerals and went on to say &quot;Mining in a modern, technological way can have a negligible effect&quot; 

- Associate Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson, in an interview in &quot;Canterbury Farming&quot; rubbished her own department, DOC, suggesting it was incapable of looking after the high country reserves and parks under its control

- gutted the home insulation scheme 

- pulled $300 million out of public transport, walking and cycling schemes and added it to a pot of $2 billion to â€˜upgrade&#039; state highways 

- changed the law to provide billions of dollar in subsidies for polluters via the ETS casino which is now a target for scamming by international criminals

- begun a process of gutting the Resource Management Act to make it difficult/impossible for the public to lodge appeals against developers 

- removed the ability of Auckland to introduce a fuel levy to fund planned public transport upgrades 

- left electrification of the national rail network up in the air without promised funding commitments 

- removed the Ministry for the Environment&#039;s programme to make Government Departments â€˜carbon neutral&#039; 

- removed funding for public tv advertising on sustainability and energy efficiency 

- pulled funding for small-town public litter bin recycling schemes 

- cabinet ministers expressing public support the bulldozing of Fiordland 

- reduced Department of Conservation funding by about $50 million over three years 

- cancelled funding for the internationally acclaimed â€˜Enviroschools&#039; programme 

- usurped the democratic role of local Councils of determining policies for their citizens by requiring the abandonment of the efficient and well-established tree protection rules for urban areas 

- set about revamping Auckland governance in a way that is likely to greatly reduce the â€˜Environmental Watchdog&#039; role of the the current Regional Council 

- removed Auckland&#039;s metropolitan limits and opened the gateway for unfettered urban sprawl

- defended internationally the importation of rain-forest-wrecking palm kernel and stood silent while Federated Farmers called Greenpeace &quot;terrorists&#039; 

- stood silent while Godfrey Bloom, a Member of the European Parliament and infamous Climate Change Denialist, publicly rejoiced in the 1985 bombing of the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior  who was doing so while standing on a dock next to the replacement vessel

- took a 0% emissions reduction target to Copenhagen. Yes, seriously, that isn&#039;t a misprint  that was the lower bound of their negotiation platform - then missed the 01/02/10 deadline for commitment to action it had agreed to - meanwhile 55 of the 80 countries which attended did make the deadline

- secretly cancelled the internationally recognised scheme for the mandatory labelling of exotic woods to ensure the timber has not been taken from rain forests in direct contradiction of its own statements made at the 13th World Forestry Congress in Argentina

- supported the Department of Conservation&#039;s decision to open up the pristine Cathedral Cove to an ice-cream franchise

- taken no action to reduce existing pollution pouring into the Manawatu River and is  &quot;leaving it up to industry&#039; to come up with solutions to heal the river which was described by the Cawthorn Institute as &quot;one of the worst polluted in the Western world&#039; 

- announced a $1.1 million industry subsidy to kick start marine farming without identifying no-go areas nor putting in place a consultation process for individuals, communities, and other general coastal users 

- blamed New Zealanders after a Japanese whaling ship deliberately smashed into a smaller, more vulnerable craft in the open sea

- was forced to release documents under the Official Information Act which confirm that DOC has &quot;giving up&#039; on ecologically valuable high-country land in the Mackenzie Basin because of funding cuts. The released documents cite &quot;statements made by ministers&quot;, &quot;diminishing funding&quot; and the Government&#039;s new high-country policies as reasons for the changed stance  the comments from DOC were made after Land Information New Zealand (Linz), which manages the tenure review process, ignored DOC&#039;s previous conservation recommendations for the farms

It would appear that his &quot;do nothing&quot; public performance has masked the cunning setting of an ambush for his foreign mates to rape te whenua. And what have the maori party had to say about it all - kore!!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One need only consider the actions of the John Key led National Ltdâ„¢ on the environmental front to catch a glimpse of what&#8217;s in store. Since November 2008, John Key has watched as his government:</p>
<p>- has been caught out repeatedly lying in the run up to and during the election campaign about its real intentions in relation to the environment</p>
<p>- celebrated the opening of the foreign-owned Pike River Coal Ltd  mine on DOC land  adjacent to the Paparoa National Park from which 1 megatonne of coal will be extracted per year for the next 20 years  Pike River Coal Ltd has announced that it has found additional coal in the national park</p>
<p>- removed a proposed efficiency standard (MEPS) on incandescent lightbulbs </p>
<p>- reversed a moratorium on building new gas/oil/coal power stations </p>
<p>- removed the bio fuel subsidy </p>
<p>- scrapped the scheme that would have penalised imported vehicles producing high emissions </p>
<p>- removed regulations for water efficient new housing </p>
<p>- renewed leases on sensitive high country farms which were meant to return to DOC </p>
<p>- reversed restrictions on the freeholding of vast swathes of land on the edge of the Southern Lakes </p>
<p>- arbitrarily excised 400 hectares from the brand new Oteake Conservation Park, including the most important and, ecologically, the rarest part of the new Park, the tussock and shrubland that went right down to the banks of the Manuherikia River, to enable future access to lignite</p>
<p>- said nothing to say in regard to the World Commission on Protected areas of IUCN&#8217;s severe criticism of its  intention to investigate mineral resources and mining opportunities in protected conservation areas including our three  UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Te Wahi Pounamu-South West New Zealand, Tongariro National Park and the Sub Antarctic Islands </p>
<p>- approved two prospecting permit applications lodged by Australian iron-ore giant Fortescue Metals Group subsidiary FMG Pacific lodged in June &#8211; areas covered by the two-year permits include an 8204-square-kilometre area of seabed adjoining the west coast from Cape Reinga to the Manukau Harbour and a 3798-square-kilometre prospecting area of land from Cape Reinga to the Kaipara Harbour including  Ninety Mile Beach, the west side of the Aupouri Peninsula, Kaitaia and the Hokianga. </p>
<p>- approved an additional prospecting permit for Fortesque Metals in relation to 3568sq km right next door to the Kahurangi National Park where the Heaphy Track is</p>
<p>- was forced to release its Ministry of Economic Development (MED) report under the Official Information Act that proclaims &#8220;significant mineral potential&#8221; in the Fiordland, Kahurangi and Paparoa national parks  the report said the Waitutu area of the Fiordland National Park had sufficient petroleum reserves to be &#8220;worthy&#8221; of inclusion in a review of conservation land protected from mining</p>
<p>- secretly granted the minerals industry the right to veto proposed National Park boundaries and permission for any such vetoes to be kept confidential  in spite of recommendations from its own officials against any such a veto </p>
<p>- Minster of Conservation Tim Grosser, on 29 August 2009,  called  for caring New Zealanders to halt their &#8220;emotional hysteria&#8221; and recognise that conservation land should be mined for minerals and went on to say &#8220;Mining in a modern, technological way can have a negligible effect&#8221; </p>
<p>- Associate Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson, in an interview in &#8220;Canterbury Farming&#8221; rubbished her own department, DOC, suggesting it was incapable of looking after the high country reserves and parks under its control</p>
<p>- gutted the home insulation scheme </p>
<p>- pulled $300 million out of public transport, walking and cycling schemes and added it to a pot of $2 billion to â€˜upgrade&#8217; state highways </p>
<p>- changed the law to provide billions of dollar in subsidies for polluters via the ETS casino which is now a target for scamming by international criminals</p>
<p>- begun a process of gutting the Resource Management Act to make it difficult/impossible for the public to lodge appeals against developers </p>
<p>- removed the ability of Auckland to introduce a fuel levy to fund planned public transport upgrades </p>
<p>- left electrification of the national rail network up in the air without promised funding commitments </p>
<p>- removed the Ministry for the Environment&#8217;s programme to make Government Departments â€˜carbon neutral&#8217; </p>
<p>- removed funding for public tv advertising on sustainability and energy efficiency </p>
<p>- pulled funding for small-town public litter bin recycling schemes </p>
<p>- cabinet ministers expressing public support the bulldozing of Fiordland </p>
<p>- reduced Department of Conservation funding by about $50 million over three years </p>
<p>- cancelled funding for the internationally acclaimed â€˜Enviroschools&#8217; programme </p>
<p>- usurped the democratic role of local Councils of determining policies for their citizens by requiring the abandonment of the efficient and well-established tree protection rules for urban areas </p>
<p>- set about revamping Auckland governance in a way that is likely to greatly reduce the â€˜Environmental Watchdog&#8217; role of the the current Regional Council </p>
<p>- removed Auckland&#8217;s metropolitan limits and opened the gateway for unfettered urban sprawl</p>
<p>- defended internationally the importation of rain-forest-wrecking palm kernel and stood silent while Federated Farmers called Greenpeace &#8220;terrorists&#8217; </p>
<p>- stood silent while Godfrey Bloom, a Member of the European Parliament and infamous Climate Change Denialist, publicly rejoiced in the 1985 bombing of the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior  who was doing so while standing on a dock next to the replacement vessel</p>
<p>- took a 0% emissions reduction target to Copenhagen. Yes, seriously, that isn&#8217;t a misprint  that was the lower bound of their negotiation platform &#8211; then missed the 01/02/10 deadline for commitment to action it had agreed to &#8211; meanwhile 55 of the 80 countries which attended did make the deadline</p>
<p>- secretly cancelled the internationally recognised scheme for the mandatory labelling of exotic woods to ensure the timber has not been taken from rain forests in direct contradiction of its own statements made at the 13th World Forestry Congress in Argentina</p>
<p>- supported the Department of Conservation&#8217;s decision to open up the pristine Cathedral Cove to an ice-cream franchise</p>
<p>- taken no action to reduce existing pollution pouring into the Manawatu River and is  &#8220;leaving it up to industry&#8217; to come up with solutions to heal the river which was described by the Cawthorn Institute as &#8220;one of the worst polluted in the Western world&#8217; </p>
<p>- announced a $1.1 million industry subsidy to kick start marine farming without identifying no-go areas nor putting in place a consultation process for individuals, communities, and other general coastal users </p>
<p>- blamed New Zealanders after a Japanese whaling ship deliberately smashed into a smaller, more vulnerable craft in the open sea</p>
<p>- was forced to release documents under the Official Information Act which confirm that DOC has &#8220;giving up&#8217; on ecologically valuable high-country land in the Mackenzie Basin because of funding cuts. The released documents cite &#8220;statements made by ministers&#8221;, &#8220;diminishing funding&#8221; and the Government&#8217;s new high-country policies as reasons for the changed stance  the comments from DOC were made after Land Information New Zealand (Linz), which manages the tenure review process, ignored DOC&#8217;s previous conservation recommendations for the farms</p>
<p>It would appear that his &#8220;do nothing&#8221; public performance has masked the cunning setting of an ambush for his foreign mates to rape te whenua. And what have the maori party had to say about it all &#8211; kore!!</p>
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