9. BRENDON BURNS (Labour—Christchurch Central) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does he stand by his statement on the BBC Hardtalk programme, where he said he didn’t share Massey University scientist Mike Joy’s view on the state of our rivers, saying “he’s one academic, and like lawyers, I could provide you with another one to give you a counter view”?
Rt Hon JOHN KEYCan we presume that the Prime Minister does not share the counter view of Professor David Hamilton, president of the New Zealand Freshwater Sciences Society, who said that the Yale University research the Prime Minister used to justify his “100% Pure” claim is outdated and has no credibility?
Firstly, I have the Yale University report with me. It is from 2010, so I do not think it is terribly outdated because it is a year old. Maybe I could quote from one of the other scientists who presented at the same conference that Mike Joy attended, Ken Hughey from Lincoln University. His slide said that the “Perceived state of NZ freshwater is good—a view supported by science;”.
Is the Prime Minister aware that Professor Hamilton leads research on the $90 million clean-up of the Rotorua lakes, which the Government is funding, and that although Waikato University has unsuccessfully requested the data used by Yale University, Waikato University’s own independent research suggests that New Zealand is in about the middle of the international water quality scale, not at No. 2 as the Prime Minister would have us believe?
If New Zealand is at the level that the member is proposing, why did he sit around for 9 years and let Labour do absolutely nothing about it other than allow further deterioration?
Does the Prime Minister also doubt research by Waikato University PhD student Jonathan Abell, who compared 134 New Zealand lakes with 1,500 internationally and found that our lakes have a water quality score of 66.7 percent, as opposed to the 99.2 percent overall rating the Prime Minister quoted to the House on 10 May?
I have not seen the research, but the member is backing up my exact point: there are scientists, and some hold one view and some hold another. Just like lawyers and just like economists, they all have a range of views.
Is the Prime Minister aware that the Government’s new National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management does not require regional councils to adopt water quality standards until 2030, and can he identify any other water quality scientist who says the Government’s national policy statement is sound environmental policy?