Source: Greenpeace
Greenpeace says a comprehensive timeline of the anti-environmental actions of the Luxon Government highlights the shocking extent of the coalition’s war on nature.
Next week marks the second anniversary of the swearing-in of the National, ACT, New Zealand First coalition Government.
“It’s hard to keep track of all the anti-environment policies of this Government since it took power nearly two years ago, there are simply so many of them,” says Greenpeace Aotearoa Executive Director Dr Russel Norman.
“The Government has launched a blitzkrieg attack on nature, on behalf of polluting industries and their lobbyists. They are aiming to overwhelm those seeking to defend nature by sheer volume.
“The first step to defending nature is to understand the attacks on nature, and that is the purpose of this comprehensive timeline.”
The timeline covers everything from the Government’s attempts to dig up more new fossil fuels, to undermining freshwater protections, and everything in between, week by week, over two years.
“The Luxon-led government’s ‘fossil of the day’ award at the COP30 climate talks last week was well earned.
“It’s only when you see it laid out in black and white, page after page, week after week, does the full extent of this Government’s war on nature become clear,” says Dr Norman.
But Dr Norman says New Zealanders have stood up to defend nature from the moment the coalition took office.
“The coalition’s hostile policies are deeply concerning to many New Zealanders.
“It’s driving them to take to the streets, whether it’s the tens of thousands taking part in the March for Nature or protests by local communities determined to stop seabed mining taking place off the Taranaki coast. Hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders have made submissions to Parliament against the Government’s anti-environment laws.
“We will not be silenced – there is simply too much at stake.”
