Norman Russel William: General Debate 
Norman Russel William: General Debate 
[Volume:650;Page:18705] 
Dr RUSSEL NORMAN (Co-Leader—Green) 
: 
 We are a nation distracted. We are distracted from the vital issues of our times by the New Zealand First funding saga. I acknowledge to members that it is a distracting show and an important issue. I look forward to the support of National and Labour to reform campaign finance laws so that we can try to avoid these kinds of things happening in future. 
But we need to remember what really matters. One of the things that really matters in this country is the calamitous pollution of our rivers lakes and aquifers. Environment Waikato has just released a report showing that three-quarters of rivers in the Waikato region are unsafe to swim in and about three-quarters are unsafe for stock to drink from. These rivers have increased nutrient faecal and sediment loads and nitrogen and phosphorous are increasing at a rate of about 2 percent a year. 
Water pollution from intensive industrial dairy conversions is threatening the water supplies of Christchurch and Auckland. It is threatening the native species that live in and around our rivers and lakes. Our kids can no longer safely swim in our rivers and even whitebaiting is becoming an endangered activity. The economic futures of tourism and the primary sector are actually endangered. Whitebait is a treasured and iconic cultural food resource but this New Zealand institution is being eliminated in front of our very eyes by industrial dairy conversions. Only the Greens are speaking out about it and calling for action. Our rivers and streams are now so polluted and degraded that two of the species that make up the whitebait catch are actually endangered. 
We would never let Parliament outlaw whitebaiting but the parties in this House are perfectly happy to let the giant industrial dairy polluter CraFarm pour so much cow faeces and urine and fertiliser into our rivers that it kills the species that make up the whitebait catch. CraFarm are known colloquially as “CrapFarm”. We would never let a regional council stop people whitebaiting but when the industrial dairy polluter CraFarm ends up in front of the Environment Court four times in a row for polluting rivers and groundwater with cow faeces and urine we just let them carry on doing it. When “CrapFarm” got pinged in the Environment Court with a $37500 fine for polluting a pristine river in the Hawke’s Bay it did not care. It did not care because it had a $5 million turnover on that property—it was a minor expense. 
How stupid are we that we let “CrapFarm” sell its milk to Fonterra which happily buys the milk—making a fortune for both—and then tells us how clean and green it is? Well aside from being sick and tired of hearing about the New Zealand First funding saga I am also sick and tired of hearing Fonterra make promises about being clean and green while continuing to collect milk from “CrapFarm”. 
What is the Government doing about it? It has released the draft national policy statement on freshwater management. Let us see what is in it. The unenforceable preamble to the draft national policy statement states that one of the goals is to “meet the recreational aspirations of New Zealanders including that Freshwater Resources are swimmable.” Well I can go along with that; I agree with that. The objective section of the national policy statement waters this down a little—if members will excuse the pun—to “actions to ensure appropriate Freshwater Resources can reach or exceed a swimmable standard.” So if it is not an appropriate freshwater resource if that river is not deemed appropriate then “CrapFarm” is free to defecate in it and members’ kids will not be able to swim in it. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I do not really want to interrupt the member; he is talking about one of the worst polluters in the country and a company that is very challenging to regulators around the country. However I think he should refer to it by its proper name rather than the name he is calling it at the moment. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I thought that was the proper name. If it is not the use of that word in this Chamber is unacceptable. 
Ron Mark 
: I think the name that Dr Norman should be using is Crafar is it not? 
Dr RUSSEL NORMAN 
: CraFarm. 
Ron Mark 
: Well that is not what we understand. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Is that a word that you are just using to describe this farm Dr Norman or is it the correct name of the farm? 
Dr RUSSEL NORMAN 
: The name of the farm is CraFarm; it is known colloquially as “CrapFarm” because it constantly pollutes rivers and streams. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: No. You may use another description but not that—not in this Chamber. 
Dr RUSSEL NORMAN 
: Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. As long as a river is not deemed to be an “appropriate” freshwater resource then CraFarm is free to defecate in it and members’ kids cannot swim in it. 
The policy part of the draft national policy statement which is the guts of it says that regional councils when making regional policy statements or plans must consider eight factors related to water the eighth and last of which is: “The value of swimmability to the community.” This has to be weighed up against the seven other factors including the economic value of existing investments in irrigation—we all know what that means. 
While the majority of our lowland rivers are so polluted that it is dangerous for our kids to swim in them our whitebait is disappearing because of pollution and habitat destruction and we are in the middle of a massive conversion to intensive dairy across the country the Government’s response is to produce a toothless national policy statement that will probably take a decade to come into force anyway. So is it any wonder that the newspaper  
Rural News  
wrote recently “Fonterra must be sitting smugly on the back of its lobbying against the Government’s … hard line for the dairy sector”? It was a victory for what  
Rural News  
called “a powerful consortium of agriculture interests”. This powerful consortium is the new face of farming. Family farms that have looked after the land and rivers for generations are being replaced by huge dairy corporations.