Sage Eugenie: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sage Eugenie: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 23 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2319. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
EUGENIE SAGE (Green) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. If we had a Green-led Government we would have a very different Budget from the one we will get tomorrow from National. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I apologise to the honourable member. Look Eugenie Sage is down at the back of the Chamber. I just cannot hear her if that level of interjection carries on. It is just discourteous. We are better than that—we are better than that. We do not need to behave like a bunch of brats. 
EUGENIE SAGE 
: A Green Budget would be based on smart Green economics. It would recognise that a healthy economy depends upon a healthy environment that we are nothing without the clean air the water the temperate climate and the fertile soils that nature provides us with. A Budget from a Green-led Government would recognise that the word “economy” has its roots in the Greek word “oikonomos”. “Nomos” means manager or steward. A Green Budget would ensure that our oikonomos or our economy was based on an ethic of stewardship or kaitiakitanga for our dwelling place these islands of Aotearoa and our larger dwelling place the planet itself.  
Meridian Energy’s decision to drop its plans to dam the Mokihinui this week was some very good news when we need it when we are looking at a zero Budget. It was a tribute to the thousands of New Zealanders who care about wild nature and about our rivers. They spoke up for the Mokihinui as a dwelling place for threatened species like tuna the long-finned eel and whio the blue duck and as a place to fish kayak walk and tramp. The Mokihinui dam would have drowned more than 200 hectares of conservation land flooding the largest area of public land since the Manapouri scheme. That people had to mobilise to protect the Mokihinui and the public conservation estate given the abundant scientific evidence about its outstanding landscape and ecological and recreational values shows what is wrong with the Government’s economic policy. That is that virtually nothing is off limits to National’s “sell it dig it drill it mine it irrigate it” agenda and its short-term thinking of getting the cash now and letting someone else take care of the environment and take care of our future.  
The Mokihinui is our seventh most important river in terms of its biodiversity values out of over 4700 rivers. It should have been obvious to Meridian Energy from the start that one of our top 10 rivers was no place for a dam particularly when Landcare Research had said that there was no way that you could offset the drowning and flooding of 200 hectares of conservation land through a land exchange.  
The Mokihinui debate should close the door on any more dams on our wild or braided rivers. Such dams are economically and environmentally unsound. We need a clear direction in Meridian Energy’s statement of intent that its energy generation should be sustainable and should recognise and provide for our nationally important rivers such as the Mokihinui. We need a sound environmental strategy as part of our economic policy. We have a network of national parks and reserves; we need a national network of permanently protected rivers. A Green Budget would include the funding and policy direction to secure permanent protection for a representative network of our rivers. A Green Budget would not weaken water conservation orders as this Government has done in Canterbury to expedite irrigation and hydro development.  
National’s Budget is likely to involve a further assault on our rivers through subsidies for irrigation and intensive agriculture. Emboldened by the prospect of the revenue generated from the sale of our assets the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is now contemplating a $250 million mega-impact mega-dam proposal and that is because the Government is handing out subsidies for intensive agriculture. The previous speaker the Hon Dr Nick Smith fails to recognise that if you subsidise intensive agriculture if you do not cap cow numbers in sensitive catchments like the Waituna Lagoon and Lake Ellesmere you will be throwing good money after bad by trying to clean up those catchments when you are not dealing with the source of the problem.  
A Green Budget would put a fair charge on the commercial use of water in order to generate revenue to invest in more sustainable land and water management to restore wetlands and to protect riparian areas—to fence them off. And we would invest more in environmental research. A fair charge for the commercial use of water would ensure that intensive dairying does not freeload on the environment as it currently does. It would have to take those environmental impacts into account.  
We saw the landmark recommendations of the Land and Water Forum last week—proposals for a suite of environmental standards to set clear bottom lines. We will be looking at the Budget tomorrow to see whether there is investment—