Greenpeace: Luxon bulldozes on in war on nature with 90-day ‘hit list’

Written By: - Date published: 3:17 pm, April 2nd, 2024 - 5 comments
Categories: Christopher Luxon, climate change - Tags:

Greenpeace press release, by Amanda Larson.

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Greenpeace is calling the Government’s new policy priority list “the next onslaught in the war on nature” following Christopher Luxon’s announcement this morning.

Greenpeace spokesperson Amanda Larsson says, “Luxon’s 90-day hit list outlines his intention to further open the floodgates to environmental destruction.

“Christopher Luxon seems intent on turning New Zealand’s forests and oceans into open cast mines, while making rivers and lakes into sewers. People may have voted for change last election, but they didn’t vote for the wholesale destruction of nature.

“The vast majority of New Zealanders care about nature and environmental regulations exist for a reason – to look after the places that we care about and the things we depend on, like clean drinking water, clean air and a stable climate.”

The 90-day “hit list” includes introducing legislation to amend the Resource Management Act to deprioritise the health of freshwater under the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, and keeping New Zealand’s biggest climate polluter – agriculture – out of the Emissions Trading Scheme.

“Luxon is willing to sacrifice New Zealanders’ drinking water, precious rivers and lakes, and the very climate that we depend on at the altar of industry,” says Larsson. 

“Most of New Zealand’s lakes and rivers are already unswimmable, and many rural communities are facing potentially serious health impacts from high levels of nitrate contamination in drinking water. Weakening the national policy statement on freshwater, for example by removing Te Mana o Te Wai, will only make this worse.”

The 90-day “hit list” also includes taking decisions on reversing the ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration, something which Luxon has faced widespread opposition for.

5 comments on “Greenpeace: Luxon bulldozes on in war on nature with 90-day ‘hit list’ ”

  1. Anne 1

    Something has got to be done about this Luxon clown, He's a f*****g menace – a one eyed, tunnel visioned, intellectually barren empty shell of a man.

    He took the credit for "saving" Air NZ from the scrap heap when it was his predecessor who did the saving. Now he's throwing out all the steps taken to prevent NZ from a total CC initiated collapse… because he thinks he can.

    He parades himself as a 'man of God' when he's nothing but a shallow, greedy piece of s**t. His only god is mammon.

    What to do about him and his equally clownish coalition partners – not to mention the bunch of losers who make up his team.

    • Anne 1.1

      And true to form:

      https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/one-news-at-6pm/live

      2 :10 mins in:

      … as someone who has come to this job over the last 3 years in politics having led large corporations and turned a lot of things around…

      Liar.

    • Grey Area 1.2

      Don't hold back Anne. Tell us what you really think. 🙂

      I agree.

    • Christopher Randal 1.3

      He was the reason that the Government purchased 51% of Air NZ shares to bail them out and save them from closure.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 1.4

      His only god is mammon.

      "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

      Prosperity theology always seemed a bit skew-whiff to me – a licence to exploit even.

      At the age of 35, Carnegie decided to limit his personal wealth and donate the surplus to benevolent causes. He was determined to be remembered for his good deeds rather than his wealth. He became a "radical" philanthropist.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gospel_of_Wealth

      Do Luxon/Willis/Key/Richardson/Seymour/Douglas care about what they will be remembered for? Maybe, but one thing is absolutely certain – they will resist any shift towards a fairer, more progresssive tax system with every fibre of their being.

      The big money up against Parker [27 April 2023]
      Nearly 12 per cent (41) of the 352 families [each] with an estimated net worth of at least $20 million did not agree to respond even though the Tax Administration Act makes such surveys compulsory.

      The survey started in November 2021, and the questioning was over by May last year.

      As early as November 2021, there were reports that high-net-worth individuals were seeking legal advice to avoid having to participate.

      At about the same time, substantial donations from some of the country’s wealthiest individuals began to flow to the National Party.

      Inevitably it pitches the ordinary taxpayer against the very wealthy and National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday defended the ultra-wealthy. “It’s not the wealthy that are the problem here,” he said.

      The IRD study found that the 311 high net-worth families had paid, on average, 8.9 per cent of their economic income (as distinct from their wages and salaries income) in tax.