LOVE AND CARE FOR NEW ZEALAND

Water is NOT a commodity!

Case you aren’t aware of it, Water has become the new Gold.Our New Zealand government has been courting overseas investment for our water, with very little thought as to the consequences, without the necessary legislative frameworks in place to actually manage and protect us from exploitation. As a result, international (and some national) corporate and commercial interests are being put ahead of New Zealand community needs.

What needs to happen?

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1. WATER IS NOT A COMMODITY

We should not be putting a price on our water. Water is the lifeblood of our planet!

2. STOP MINING WATER

We should not be exporting our water, FULL STOP! It is not a commodity.

3. PROTECTION PLAN.

We need to drive government to put in place a plan that will protect this resource.

Water is not a commodity!

Water is being treated as if it is gold.

A commodity product bartered by those that can.

BUT WATER IS NOT GOLD. We do not NEED gold to live.

We do need Water – clean, uncontaminated water.

Action Plan

1. FIGHT THE CURRENT WATER MINING INITIATIVES

2. DRIVE THE DEVELOPMENT OF GOOD WATER USE MANAGEMENT POLICIES

What does a good water use management plan look like?

We need to ensure that there is always enough ..

Clean drinking water for our communities.
Water to support our natural environment – the animals, birds, flaura etc.
Water to grow essential food (fruit, veges, meat) for local consumption
Water for commercial interests – fruit and wine exports
Water to support diary AND dairy to be limited within any water constraints AFTER the above have been delivered.
Any other usage over and above.

The assessment and measurement of this needs to be done near the END OF SUMMER, when it is in its shortest supply, not in the middle to late winter when it is most likely abundant.Water consents need to consider water usage, not simply the amount of water to be taken.

Remove the need for bottled water – make access to clean, uncontaminated water where required for people to drink or fill reuseable containers

OVERSEAS INVESTMENT OFFICE

Submission deadline 24th May 2019

The OIO charter is to make sure New Zealand’s sensitive assets are in good hands, and enables overseas investment that benefits New Zealand. Are they doing this the way we think they should?

We believe that the OIO needs to ensure:

That in assessing any applicant, there is the right to decline an applicant on the grounds that it is simply not in the best interests of New Zealand, or New Zealander’s well being, even if the application appears to “tick all the boxes”. Refer section 9.
Water itself should be considered a “sensitive asset”.
Any land that sits on top of a water source should be considered “sensitive land”.
That the export of water in any form (plastic bottles, cans or in bulk) should be declined. Refer Section 10.
Any application that involves the extraction of water needs to be carefully considered and fully screened. Refer Section 10.
That NZ water needs to be available first and foremost for New Zealanders.
The mining of water for export is of a completely different nature to the extraction of water for irrigation or local municipal use. Exported water is not going back into the natural ecosystem of New Zealand.
Any application for an operation that results in the production of single-use plastic should be declined – we do not want to become a plastic creation nation. We’ve taken a stand against single-use plastic bags in supermarkets, let’s not show up as hypocrites here.
The claim of creating jobs for a community needs to be carefully scrutinised – are these jobs that will actually improve the lives of the community, or do they result in jobs, that while potentially acceptable in the culture of the incoming business owner, are not the sort of jobs that suit New Zealand temperament or lifestyle (long hours on low pay). Or, do the new jobs require qualifications that is simply not what you would find within that local community, meaning people are being bought in to fill these jobs, creating, even more, pay disparity and even further displacing the local community? Are the jobs created really ones that you would like to do yourself, or would want your children to be doing?