Government Axes Ministry for the Environment

The Green Party is condemning the Government’s disestablishment of the Ministry for the Environment, following the law change required to scrap the Ministry passing through Parliament on Wednesday.

“This Government is cementing their place as the most anti-environment Government in New Zealand’s history. This is a shameful end of an era,” said Green Party environment spokesperson Lan Pham.

The Environment (Disestablishment of Ministry for the Environment) Amendment Bill is set to pass through parliament today despite substantial opposition from the public, with more than 99% of submitters against the proposal to merge environmental functions into a new mega-ministry focused on development.

“The Ministry for the Environment was set up because in 1986 New Zealanders called for a dedicated voice for nature at the heart of government.”

“Not one of the political parties in power campaigned on this. And when they asked New Zealanders what they thought, the voice of submitters and experts was so clear and so strong, that this is a bad idea.”

“New Zealanders of all political stripes care about the environment, swim in rivers, lakes, and at the beach, and fish for kai. They know that nature is the backbone of our economy. They did not ask for this.”

“The Environment Select Committee considered this law change for a pitiful 40 minutes, despite wide-ranging implications and a complete absence of critical information like the risks to transparency of budget decisions and the risks to Ministry for Environment work programme which documents released to us under the official information act show are recklessly high. To add insult to injury, the Government will then cut their jobs.”

Advice against the passing of the Bill included that of University of Canterbury Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Bronwyn Hayward, who found cabinet had been presented with incorrect information on the justification of the mega-ministry that environmental functions will be merged in to, calling the change “reckless”.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment advised that the Ministry for the Environment should “be left out of this merger” and that “this change is unlikely to help the environment”.

“At a time when all our environmental outcomes across freshwater, air, biodiversity and oceans are going backwards, climate change is flooding communities week after week, costing billions of dollars, lives, and livelihoods, this Government’s response is to dismantle the ministry responsible for environmental protection.”

“This is yet another callous blow to the environment where this Government is demonstrating their only intention for the environment is to exploit it for a quick buck. New Zealanders deserve so much better,” said Pham.