The Greenpeace organised March for Nature is on tomorrow in Auckland, starting from Aotea Square at 1 pm.
There is already significant interest in the march but this is a numbers game. Be there, bring your whanau, bring friends. Make it noisy and passionate and make it count.
And why are we marching?
Because the Fast-Track Projects bill presents the biggest threat to the environment of any piece of legislation passed in the last 50 years.
If enacted three ministers will be able to override existing environmental protections and allow essentially anything to happen.
Want to open cast mine in a World Heritage site? No problems.
Want to do something that the current system frowns on like sand mining at Piha? Knock your socks off.
File your application and if it is accepted for consideration not only do you get the processing sped up, you also do not have to put up with pesky Mana Whenua, residents and environmental groups trying to stop it on the basis that it is a crazy thing to do in a fragile environment.
And if the expert panel tries to put conditions that you think are onerous just bypass them and talk to your old mate Shane. I am sure that he will see you right.
There is a special category of projects under the bill which will bypass the already extremely weak protections that are in the bill.
But dear reader there is a problem. This is kafkaesque in the extreme but we still don’t know what these projects are.
As I said previously these projects do not have to meet the criteria contained in section 17 of the Bill. They do not have to be an identified priority project, or deliver regionally or nationally significant infrastructure, or increase the supply of housing or deliver significant economic benefits or support primary industries or the development of natural resources, or support climate change mitigation or recovery from natural hazards or address significant environmental issues or be consistent with local or regional environmental issues.
By their very inclusion they are deemed to be of national or regional significance.
But dear reader there is a major problem with schedule 2, for it is empty.
The Government has confirmed that the schedule will be completed before the legislation is passed. But there is still no sign of what these projects are. The Government is treating us as fools trying to get us to submit on a list when we do not know what is in that list.
It is not only the potential for environmental devastation that is of concern, it is the possibility that this legislation will turn us into a banana republic.
Because the possibility of corruption is extreme. Which entity would not donate to a political party if it knew that instead of pesky panels and judges a small select group of Ministers would be the effective decision makers?
And the returns are such that a small amount of money sent the right way can assist in decisions that the mining companies and others prefer.
Why else would Bathurst Resources fund the campaign of an independent candidate that effectively caused the defeat of Labour’s Damien O’Connor?
And how do you explain why a quarrying company would donate money to Shane Jones, David Macleod and give NZ First a nice Christmas present last year and then submit that the Fast Track Projects Bill should be allowed to unwind QEII covenants? And clearly this is not the only case of donations being received from those who would benefit from the bill being passed.
If this bill is passed there will be completely inadequate time to consider applications properly, effectively no chance for public input on what could be environmentally devastating projects, and already there is a deep concern that our reputation of being corruption free is being damaged.
So please come along to the protest. Be there, bring your whanau, bring friends. Make it noisy and passionate and make it count.
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