Ian McLean Spokesperson for the Green Party

Our economic system assumes that the environment can and will maintain itself, with a bit of help from the RMA.

Evidence that the assumption is wrong includes polluted rivers, frequent flooding, silt-laden estuaries, failed fisheries, lost species, and more.

Our governance separates conservation from environment, and assigns land management to Conservation. But DOC is not resourced to manage the landscapes that it has responsibility for.

Last year, the government spent almost as much on motorway consultants as on the entire DoC annual budget.

We have failed to understand that conservation is not just about kakapo. It is also about an environment that delivers fresh water, pollination for horticulture, forests for all to enjoy, kai moana in the estuaries, and management of environmental hazards.

The obsession with building infrastructure has caused us to lose sight of Aotearoa. To be genuinely clean and green, we must give teeth to the RMA, reboot our environmental management, and resource DOC properly.