New Zealand’s lakes, rivers and most of our groundwater are in a critical state. Decades of misguided regulation and a free-for-all on diffuse pollution have encouraged agricultural intensification and driven our increasing reliance on imported feed and fertiliser.
The inevitable consequences have been devastating environmental impacts as well as increasing economic and biosecurity risks.
The solutions are many but require a paradigm shift; a move away from dependence on imported feed and fertiliser to keeping nutrients on farm and adding value to products, and strong leadership to move away from short-term thinking that accepts the massive ecological debt we are running up.
When: 18:30 Wednesday 15 October
Where: Maidment Theatre, Alfred Street, University of Auckland
And for an example of the problem, here he is on Nine To Noon this morning talking about how the Ministry for the Environment is misleading the public about water quality in our lakes and streams - another example of policy capture by the farming industry.