Conservation minister says saving every species may be too expensive
Some endangered native species may have to go extinct because it would be too expensive to save them all, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka suggested at a select committee hearing on Tuesday.
The two-hour inquiry into the implications of the Budget for the Department of Conservation came as part of Parliament’s first-ever scrutiny week. Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said it started to go off the rails early on, when Potaka freely volunteered that saving every species was merely “aspirational” and not something that could actually be achieved.
The minister was answering a question about how the department decides where to focus its biodiversity efforts when he went on a digression.
“Whilst there may be a view – and that’s a very strong view and I get it on a regular basis, especially from some of our comrades in the environmental space – that we have to save every single species, I think that that actually is a very aspirational and ambitious objective, and it’s one that we may not be able to deliver on,” he said.
“So we have to be very careful before we say every single species is going to be saved. We have to be very mindful that that comes at a cost which up until this point in time no one has figured out.”
Tama Potaka is not an idiot.
His problem is the exact same as Dr Shane Reti’s.
He has to defend the indefensible.
Tama is out there right now just as Reti is being the dutiful soldier to National’s agenda, here he is softening expectations up over extinction because he knows the policy agenda his Government has set out upon is going to actively kill species!
He’s being honest! As far as this Government is concerned, saving all species is too expensive for a right wing Government that doesn’t care about them in the first place.
It’s like the Tobacco smoke free u-turn. Sure it kills 8000, but it makes billions in taxation revenue!
Watching a Conservation Minister just shrug at extinctions and argue we can’t afford it let’s you know the Government the Right just elected.
Using the word ‘comrades’ like that makes it sound as if Mr. Potaka thinks decent conservationists are just communists in disguise, and therefore can be ignored and/or belittled.
He’s a disgrace but very typical of the Right where everything has to turn a profit and community values don’t matter.
Yes, the look on the woman’s face. She’s wondering why she got out of bed that morning, just to come and listen to uninformed drivel.
You draw the comparison between the two ministers, Potaka and Reti. Both quite happy to let people and animals die, if it saves money to be spent on much less aspirational things like tax-cuts for the already wealthy. The irony of the huge cost of these tax cuts using borrowed money, compared to saving people and unique animals, is lost on all of them. No consciences and can’t add either.
Ciga Reti
Props for having the most ironic name on this site Joy.
Props also Joy for telling the truth.
Another bible basher elected by all the mormons in his electorate .He was all keen on housing the homeless at election time and locking up every non believer as a criminal .
Correct. Dr Cigaretti was a chosen one Mormon kid too. Who immediately supported middle class pākehā residents against Whangārei homeless when a large state housing build was proposed in a middle class suburb (it got built in the end thanks to an independent Commissioner ruling, at Puriri Park Rd Maunu and is going well).
Mr Potaka is another potato who collaborates with the NZ ruling class. There have always been Māori supporters of capital of course, but many of them have the decency to admit it.
If you remove bible for koran, you’ll see the problem.
We have a similar situation in Chch were so.e people want to save all the old buildings damaged by the earthquake but there is not the money to do so . Why is it Important to save all Animals and plants effected by mankind . Like the buildings it would be nice but at what cost when u have limited funds.
The Christchurch response and rebuild under the NActs was a long-running shambles with poor leadership, planning and results ….. results which were bad for ordinary New Zealanders who had the misfortune to be hit with both a natural disaster ,,, and a crony capitalist NAct government that combined incompetence with corruption.,,,,,
ie
,, A survey of repaired homes” found that 32 of the 90 homes that met the survey criteria had structural repair work carried out that was non-compliant with the Building Code. An additional 23 homes were assessed as having minor repair defects”
The (NAct) ” Government signed a contract with Fletcher EQR ridding it of responsibility for poor repair work” ….
“The agreement signed in 2011, stated Fletcher was not responsible for the design of any works, the construction of any works or work of any contractor or consultant.”
Since then EQC had fielded more than 10,400 complaints and concerns about poor repair work by contractors/”
…. the private market insurance companies failed by needing a bailout (or no payout) ,,,”it is worth noting the Crown has to date allocated $1.48 billion towards bailing out the failed private insurer AMI in the wake of the Canterbury quakes.” ,,,
,,,, and the (private ) insurance companies low-balled and fucked people around with payouts ,,
,,, “Nearly seven years on, thousands of Christchurch earthquake insurance claims remain” — ” Karen Price cannot prove her cardiac arrest was caused by the stress of dealing with her Christchurch earthquake insurance claim, but she has no doubt the two are related.”–” Insurance Council New Zealand chief executive Tim Grafton could not say when he thought all claims would be settled”,,,,,
The NActs left Christchurch people to be victimized and rot for nearly a decade at the hands of the ‘Insurance market’ ,,,
,,,”,It was not until after there had been a change of government that the Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service was established to help settle claims for homeowners. It has now become the NZ Claims Resolution Service, which shows the benefit of having the model already in place.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance Tribunal, which was established to address the backlog of claims that had built up over the years, was a game changer when it was set up in 2019.”….
….I’m surprised the new NActFirst Govt have not axed this ‘red-tape’ yet ,,, because it’s expensive.
Learn to be concise. No one read this.
My father was a Morman, but he would never have voted for that dick, he Ciga reti talks through a hole in his arse and so was Maggie Apa, Whatu Oras’ CEO she was spinning her bullshit this morning on RNZ about work for our 500 graduate Nurses. Why doesn’t she come clean and just tell the fucken truth, the CoC has capped their budgets to spend on Nurses.
The truth is that at Te Whatu Ora they have frozen any new employment to meet National s cuts, fact!
Out of his depth like most National MPs
I agree. Perhaps Potu Williams could give them coaching.
Poto
Looking at the comments on here Jacinda should have saved costs and let the covid wipe them out as a species.The self centered specis has no room in a modern inclusive society.
There’s a big difference between being a CEO and a Minister. Potaka doesn’t seem to weild much power in cabinet and hes allowing for too much Maori bashing that shows he has no mana.
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