You can only live a lie for so long. By Hamish McNeilly on Stuff this morning:
Lord of the Rings actor says NZ tourists shocked by polluted ‘sewer’ Middle-earth
Tourists are shocked to discover New Zealand’s “Middle-earth” is dirty and polluted, says a Lord of the Rings actor who now leads high-end tours.
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His criticisms come on top of a Ministry of Environment report noting water quality is poorer where there are pressures from agricultural and urban land use, and research by Waikato University’s Sandi Ringham that finds the clean, green brand is a sham. …
Johnathan Milne follows up:
Keeping us green and keeping us honest this summer
Lord of the Rings tour guide Bruce Hopkins is sure to get a whole bucketload of cow manure tipped over his head today.
That’s all too often what happens to those who are brave enough, or mad enough, to challenge New Zealand’s international tourism claims to be clean and green
We don’t like it. Just ask Dr Mike Joy. When the Massey University freshwater ecologist told the New York Times that New Zealand’s “picture perfect” 100% Pure brand was a fiction, he was slammed as a “traitor”. Climate change minister Tim Groser called his comment “deeply unhelpful”. Prime Minister John Key accused him of living in a different world from other New Zealanders; a world where the economy ground to a halt to keep the environmentalists happy.
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Tourism NZ rejects that: its spokeswoman says “100% Pure” is about the people, landscape and activities, not about our environment or waterways.With respect, that anonymous spin is, again, cow manure. The truth is tourists come from around the world believing our claim to purity, illustrated with stunning photos of our lakes, fiords and coastlines, to be a promise of cleanliness.
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But it’s not just farmers who must take responsibility for the damage; we all must do our share in preserving the most beautiful parts of this country. As we head off on our summer holidays, it’s as simple as cleaning up after ourselves; as treading lightly on our fragile coastlines. …
Good advice. And time to change the government.
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