Post by Kiwi Frontline on Mar 9, 2016 7:21:07 GMT 12
Waikato Times 9/3/16
ISLAND FOR ELITE
So we’re congratulating ourselves on buying a South Island beach for the use of all New Zealanders. Doesn’t anybody ask the question ‘‘who is the person who owned it, and how did he come to win a piece of New Zealand that by common rights should have been ours already?’’ Certainly not the TV current affairs programmes. Why wasn’t the beach donated to the rest of New Zealand as a patriotic duty? Why could only the elite wealthy tender for it?
In the past Helen Clark and Labour placed the foreshore and seabed in public ownership. This was reversed by National to gather in the Maori vote and provide another asset sale, placing iconic parts of New Zealand in private ownership.
Why doesn't Labour go into the next election promising to put public ownership of the foreshore back in place? Or are they also in the pocket of the wealthy elite? We are losing our children's rights because we don't care enough.
P H W
Thames
Dominion Post 9/3/16
FRESHWATER 'REFORM'
Water is a precious, public resource. It is vital to all New Zealanders for a mix of recreational, ecological and commercial reasons. The Government intends to "reform" freshwater management and has set a roadshow programme for public meetings.
The list of centres is, frankly, "underwhelming" - only Wellington, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Timaru, Christchurch, Auckland, Nelson, Napier and Invercargill. Cities such as Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt, Hamilton, Tauranga, New Plymouth and Dunedin have been shunned, along with regional centres such as Masterton, Blenheim and all three West Coast towns to name a few.
Questions about ownership and future management are crucial. The prime minister has blithely uttered that freshwater belongs to no-one. Meanwhile, corporate dairy, grape and other interests want the public's water for private profit. Ecological and recreational considerations are left languishing. In the face of the token consultation, questions emerge about the Government's sincerity and possible ulterior motives.
Meanwhile, ponder on John F Kennedy's words: "Each generation must deal anew with the raiders with the scramble to use public resources for private profit and with the tendency to prefer short run profits to long run necessities."
ANDI COCKROFT
Co-Chairman, Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of New Zealand
ISLAND FOR ELITE
So we’re congratulating ourselves on buying a South Island beach for the use of all New Zealanders. Doesn’t anybody ask the question ‘‘who is the person who owned it, and how did he come to win a piece of New Zealand that by common rights should have been ours already?’’ Certainly not the TV current affairs programmes. Why wasn’t the beach donated to the rest of New Zealand as a patriotic duty? Why could only the elite wealthy tender for it?
In the past Helen Clark and Labour placed the foreshore and seabed in public ownership. This was reversed by National to gather in the Maori vote and provide another asset sale, placing iconic parts of New Zealand in private ownership.
Why doesn't Labour go into the next election promising to put public ownership of the foreshore back in place? Or are they also in the pocket of the wealthy elite? We are losing our children's rights because we don't care enough.
P H W
Thames
Dominion Post 9/3/16
FRESHWATER 'REFORM'
Water is a precious, public resource. It is vital to all New Zealanders for a mix of recreational, ecological and commercial reasons. The Government intends to "reform" freshwater management and has set a roadshow programme for public meetings.
The list of centres is, frankly, "underwhelming" - only Wellington, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Timaru, Christchurch, Auckland, Nelson, Napier and Invercargill. Cities such as Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt, Hamilton, Tauranga, New Plymouth and Dunedin have been shunned, along with regional centres such as Masterton, Blenheim and all three West Coast towns to name a few.
Questions about ownership and future management are crucial. The prime minister has blithely uttered that freshwater belongs to no-one. Meanwhile, corporate dairy, grape and other interests want the public's water for private profit. Ecological and recreational considerations are left languishing. In the face of the token consultation, questions emerge about the Government's sincerity and possible ulterior motives.
Meanwhile, ponder on John F Kennedy's words: "Each generation must deal anew with the raiders with the scramble to use public resources for private profit and with the tendency to prefer short run profits to long run necessities."
ANDI COCKROFT
Co-Chairman, Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of New Zealand