Paula Thompson BOP Regional Councillor www.envbop.govt.nz

Happy New Year. As the current shareholders of ‘NZ Inc', we have the opportunity to give those in the seats of ‘power' a clear message about the values we believe need to underpin the ‘operations' of this wonderfully beautiful and unique country. And one of those values is that respect, protection and enhancement of our environment must be a non negotiable part of how we exist and seek to develop.
The Rena disaster has left us with mind-boggling cost and unanswered questions. Fran Osullivan – business commentator for the NZ Herald has called for a Commission of Inquiry and says bluntly that 'the NZ taxpayer must not be tail-end Charlie for the environmental fallout from the...incompetent...actions” that led to the grounding of the Rena. Ditto for the ratepayers Fran.
Clearly, there is a lot of work and enquiring to be done on the Rena, but bottom line is that our environment, plant and animal life, has been cruelly breached as have our environmental values. But the values of environmental respect et al must equally apply to all aspects of our environment; air, land, water.
Mining is looming large as an issue for public debate. As the chief executive BusNZ said recently, 'Because of new global economic needs and technologies, our hard commodities –minerals and petroleum – offer outstanding rewards”. He went on to say that through public debate on the Crown Minerals Act review New Zealanders can have a say over the development of our resources.
The upcoming public consultation provides an opportunity to reinforce the paramount importance of ensuring that NZ Inc's economic development is truly aligned with environmental values. I expect the government will have its foot to the pedal in 2012 as it looks to the Productivity Commissions recommendations for improving productivity. The Mining review is hugely important. We must be vigilant to ensure that our environmental values are central to NZ Inc's progress and not just words. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or phone 027 2222 419.