It is heartening to read a scientifically researched, factual and unemotive view of our environment rather than the emotively charged rubbish we are generally fed.
Having said that, there are issues the rural sector needs to take on board, which, I would argue, we are strenuously doing.
The good news is that the general population believes the management of our environment is adequate to good and better than other countries.
Water issues are considered the single most important environmental issue and I don’t have a problem with that.
I was pleased the survey found most respondents considered our management of water quality adequate, good or very good.
That leaves room for improvement, certainly in the perception stakes, but what I found profoundly reassuring was the general public recognised sewage and industrial waste were up there with farming.
In fact, although farming was the single highest figure if you add industrial pollution, hazardous chemicals, solid waste disposal and sewerage disposal the figure becomes many times that of agriculture.
People reading the general hysteria in the media from the Greens, Greenpeace and others could think differently but it is a credit to NZ people that they can see through the rhetoric.
Farming does need to get its message out and a lot better than we are doing.
Right is on the agricultural side with farmers spending more than $1 billion on mitigating pollution and erecting 27,000 kilometres of riparian fences.
What was also heartening to me was the statement by Environment Minister Nick Smith to the recent Federated Farmers executive meeting that water quality was a high priority and that it would be the quality of all freshwater that would be under the microscope.
That is a welcome change from the green brigade’s utterances that everything is fine except with farming.
That statement came on the heels of a consultation document, Next Steps for Fresh Water, which came from Smith and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.
I have little argument with the thrust of the document and regard it as a positive step.
Water quality has to improve and that means all water.
It is going to pose an interesting question for the green lobby who do all they can to whip up hysteria over clean rivers then happily ignore dirty harbours and polluted urban streams.
For example, I was fascinated to see a complete load of cods on the Greenpeace Facebook site about dairy pollution.
A person went onto Facebook asking “What about Auckland harbour?”
Stunningly, the Greenpeace response was that the Auckland council was spending millions cleaning it up and farmers had spent nothing, which, to use an army expression, is a flat-arsed lie.
I’ve previously written about Auckland harbour, that that they’d pushed the cleanout from 2021 to 2035 plus the fact the council has refused to increase rates to clean the harbour up.
Ex Green MP Jeanette Fitzsimons didn’t like my story regarding coal at Clandeboye. As she is obviously an avid reader of my column maybe she’d explain that one.
An important point to make is that farmers have spent their own money in a time of a severe dairy downturn to improve the environment, $1b in fact.
Cleaning up Auckland harbour won’t be achieved by individual contributions as in farming but with other people’s money, ratepayers and taxpayers.
To look briefly at pollution that has nothing to do with farming.
Auckland harbour, as I’ve mentioned in a previous article, puts the equivalent of 400 Olympic swimming pools of pure pollution into the water each year at more than 41 separate sites.
The Manukau Harbour is severely polluted as is Wellington’s where you’re advised not to swim after heavy rain.
The most polluted streams in Auckland are the Oakley and Otara. There’s not a farm animal in sight but plenty of dogs, ducks and rubbish.
Obviously, we need to ban dogs and ducks from our waterways.
Wellington has seven streams that have failed water quality standards and there’s not a cow in the area.
The two most polluted rivers in Canterbury are the Heathcote and the Avon and there isn’t a farm animal to be seen.
So, farmers need to be congratulated for realising there is an issue and spending $1b cleaning it up.
The urban brigade needs a reality check as to their own backyard. I remain optimistic that can occur.
The green lobby needs to start debating scientific fact as against witchcraft but I’m not holding my breath.
Smith is to be congratulated for playing an even hand on the vexed issue of water quality.
The green lobby would be well advised to do the same.
