Turei Metiria: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Turei Metiria: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:627;Page:21973] 
METIRIA TUREI (Green) 
: 
 The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has done some amazing work in the last financial year and we look forward to more of his significant and very important reports in the coming year. At the end of last year the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment produced a report called  
Growing for Good: Intensive farming sustainability and New Zealand’s environment 
. This report followed other similar major reports such as  
See Change: Learning and education for sustainability 
. Those reports have challenged our collective failure to address farming sustainability in particular in this country. Clearly the biggest threat to farming and to the environment on which farming is critically dependent is the degradation of our clean waters rivers and streams. The agriculture sector is still the cornerstone of our export economy but the fundamental advantage that it enjoys today springs from the historical accident of New Zealand’s clean green image. Consumers are not going to continue to accept food from a system that is degrading water quality and overusing water quantity and the fact is that 95 percent of our rivers and streams are now unfit for human drinking and swimming. 
Growing for Good  
clearly identifies these major risks. Farming is becoming more intensive. Between 1994 and 2002 the number of dairy cows increased by 34 percent but the area of land used for dairying increased by only 12 percent. Intensification leads to greater use of nitrogen fertilisers and chemical pesticides and the dairy industry has increased its use of urea fertiliser by 162 percent in just 6 years. Nitrogen and phosphorous fertiliser runoff is poisoning our streams and causing algal blooms and oxygen depletion. We hear more and more reports of our lakes dying such as Lake Taupo which has been poisoned by runoff that is 50 years old. Effluent disposal especially from meat processing plants and land use intensification are all contributing to the poisoning of our fresh water. Long-finned eels are now endangered and short-finned eels are not far behind. Loss of habitat from this poisoning is the primary cause of their decline. 
The medium-term outlook for our waters is very bad. The long-term outlook is disastrous if we do not act now. Even those who care little for our environment for the species that we share it with and for the New Zealand way of life that is our beautiful outdoors might be spurred to action by the major economic implications that will arise from our declining water quality. The loss of our clean green image—no longer really deserved frankly—will degrade the competitiveness of our food exports and environmentally-conscious overseas markets. The cost of upgrading our water quality systems to render our water fit for human consumption will rise. Our tourism industry will face more difficulties as tourist attractions such as our lakes degrade and die and there will be increasing health costs arising from ill-health from the drinking of dirty water. 
 We have no choice but to act now and to follow the recommendations of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment in his report in order to repair our freshwater systems because ultimately the measure of how successful farmers are is not how hard they are trying but how clean the water in our rivers and lakes actually is. Practical indicators to measure the sustainability of farming and to monitor the state of the environment are critical. The Ministry for the Environment is working on this but it needs to be done urgently. 
Project Green stream fencing and planting shed effluent management and nutrient budgeting are all good sensible initiatives for farmers. Those who have adopted them should be congratulated. Sustainable land-use practices will add premiums to our food-export markets and increase our market share. That is all good for farmers who take action now and who do not lag behind. 
We must face the possibility that some limits will have to be put on the rapidly growing dairy industry. The faster and better farmers respond to the need for sustainable farming practices the more likely it is that we can postpone or avoid the inevitable decline. If farming is to become sustainable it must be rethought on the basis of ecological systems not just on the basis of short-term economics. Farming cannot be economic if it is destroying both its own resource base and the natural capital on which our future depends. 
The Greens look forward to further challenging reports from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment in the future and we hope that our country finally sees sense and does this work which urgently needs to be done.