‘If I hold this hand behind my back, the other one won't know what it is doing'.

This is the strategy of the Department of Conservation, who pretty much sued itself on the Ruataniwha affair. DOC's kneejerk response is to threaten to change the law that caused the loss so that it can, in effect, move above the law.

We have traded conservation lands of varying quality for years, argued Maggie Barry, the newbie minister with her hands newly tied. True, but she left out that bit about the normal practice being to trade low quality for high quality land. In Ruataniwha, DOC would give up high quality forest for some scrappy farmland. That does not sound or look like a win for conservation.

It is routine for environmental values (David) to lose to economic growth (Goliath). It is still a shock-horror event when somebody actually stands up and says 'enough”.

But David and Goliath were on opposite sides. The minister, who signed up to protect the conservation estate, has been wasting her very limited resources fighting a conservation organisation that wants to protect that same estate. The political agenda is obvious, but the logic defies belief. Thank you Forest & Bird for your commitment.

I McLean, Tauranga South.