SPEECH: Saving our Kauri

Good morning. Thank you for joining us here today.

As a West Auckland MP I am very aware the kauri is an important part of this place.

The Waitakere Ranges with their thousands of kauri, are a taonga.

A century ago they were milled almost to extinction. They have regenerated. But now they are under threat again.

In 2006 Peter Madison of Forest and Bird discovered trees suffering from a disease on Piha’s Maungaroa Ridge. 

Now we know there is a disease called Phytophthora agithidicia “the agathis killing phytophthora”, otherwise known as Kauri Dieback that that is killing the kauri.

It is a soil borne pathogen that gets in to the roots, damages the tissues that carry the nutrients and the tree starves to death.

Once infected, trees die.

An estimated 11% of kauri in the Waitakere Ranges are infected. The disease has spread throughout Northland, Great Barrier and it was recently detected in the Coromandel.

The Hunua Ranges seem to be the only significant population of trees that remains disease free.

Unless we act to stop the spread of the disease, this iconic New Zealand species could be wiped out.

If that happens the ecology of the northern bush will be changed forever.

Over the last five years a small band of scientists, iwi, Councils, biosecurity workers, and environmentalists have done tremendous work trying to learn more about the disease, find what works in stopping the spread, and make the public more aware.

Much has been achieved but it is early days.

That five-year programme runs out in two months’ time.

And over the last 18 months we in Labour have been horrified as the National Government has given every indication that it did not see the need to continue or increase the funding for it.

The Ministry of Primary Industries has been considering the option of winding back the programme, not seeking any new funding, and leaving the fight against kauri dieback to the Councils and the iwi.

It beggars belief that the kauri dieback programme asking for around $8 million over five years was getting the run around, when Government rightly invests tens of millions of dollars a year into biosecurity threats to our primary industries – $85 million for example on the threat painted apple moth posed to our pine plantations.

But somehow the fate of the kauri didn’t rate.

Labour has different priorities.

We rate saving the kauri as a project of national and generational significance.

Which is why today I am announcing a $20 million ten-year commitment to the fight against kauri dieback.

Labour will back the work of iwi, of local Councils in the North, Auckland and the Waikato, of the scientists, and the community.

We may never discover a “cure” for kauri dieback.

But we must continue the research that has been started. If we don’t, we may never understand the disease well enough to stop its spread, or limit its effect.

We know that the vectors of the disease are related to human activity – soil carried on the boots of trampers – and introduced species in the case of feral pigs.

We can do something about those things.

The combination of intensive control of feral pigs, the phyto-sanitary scrub and spray stations, mapping and surveillance of the trees, and track upgrades and closures – these measures can stop the spread of the disease.

These approaches have been deployed here in the Waitakere Ranges, but they have not been implemented systematically in Waipoua and the rest of the North. Nor in the Waikato.

Which is why this announcement goes further than just rolling over the activities and funding levels of what has been done over the last five years.

We are more than doubling the money the National Government has put into this work.

With $20 million from central government, and we believe another ten can be raised from Councils and other sources, our aim is to generate $30 million so this work can be not just continued but scaled up.

Finally, I want to say that it is appropriate to be making this announcement here today at the McCahon House.

Colin McCahon, our greatest painter, chose to live here among the kauri. He drew inspiration from them. He painted them. In fact he produced more than 50 works with kauri in the title.

The kauri, as McCahon saw, is a part of who we are as New Zealanders.

Saving the species from this disease demands a serious and committed response, and Labour will deliver just that.

Labour will spend $20 million over the next 10 years to stop the spread of Kauri dieback disease, says Labour Leader David Cunliffe.

“We are facing an ecological disaster with over 11 per cent of the Kauri trees in the Waitakere Ranges infected and thousands of trees killed by the disease.

“Earlier this month Kauri dieback was discovered in the Whangapoua forest in the Coromandel. It is now prevalent in the forests of Northland, and Great Barrier Island.

“Unless we act to stop its spread, this iconic New Zealand species could be wiped out.

“For 18 months now the National Government has refused to commit funding to continue the scientific research and disease control work by iwi, local Councils and DOC. The Ministry of Primary Industries has been considering the option of scaling back the programme, not seeking new budget and leaving iwi and Councils to do the work locally.

“The Government contributed only a little over $4 million to this work over the last five years. Labour is now more than doubling that level of funding.

“Good work has been done in the Waitakere Ranges with intensive control of feral pigs, setting up scrub and spray stations for trampers, surveillance and mapping , and track upgrades. These measures seem to have been successful at stopping the spread of the disease but they have not been implemented in Northland and the Waikato.

“Labour’s pledge of $20 million, supported by funding from Councils and other sources, will allow a programme of around $30 million to extend these measures to Northland and the Waikato.

“Saving the species from this disease demands a serious and committed response, and Labour will deliver just that.”

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