In yesterday’s post, I talked about the dire state of New Zealand’s waterways, much-related to dairy farming and its shitloads of poo.
There’s an election in September, so it’s all aboard for the “promise” land:
“Labour Congress: Jacinda Ardern outlines $162m plan for cleaner waterways, 2000 more jobs”
Quelle surprise!
“The Government hopes 2000 jobs will be created over six years from pouring $162 million into cleaning up waterways in the regions.
“Most of the package, announced today by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
at the Labour Party congress in Wellington, is for Kaipara Harbour, which will get a $100m clean-up that is expected to result in 1000 more jobs over six years.”
Nitty gritty:
“The environment package aims to create 500 jobs in its first year, and includes 22 projects that were selected for, among other things, "immediate job creation".
“They span the country and include land restoration, riparian fencing, pest control, flood protection and new plans for farms, as well as a conservation cadets programme in the Bay of Plenty to engage the unemployed or under-employed.
“They came from a list of more than 300 projects, submitted by regional councils, and were chosen by a panel from the Ministry for the Environment, Department of Conservation and Ministry for Primary Industries.”
On Kaipara harbour:
“Last year, Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced $12m for fencing and riparian planting along Kaipara estuaries, but today that has been turbo-boosted to $100m.
“It is New Zealand's largest estuarine ecosystem but its rare ecosystems, which are a habitat for white sharks and snapper as well as orca and critically endangered fairy tern - are increasingly clogged with sediment and mangroves.
“The projects were also about marketing New Zealand's clean, green image to attract trade and, when borders reopen, tourism, Ardern said.”
As usual, no one mentions the irony of using environmental projects to lure back millions of tourists to flying CO2-spewing airplanes halfway across the planet to…ahem… “Clean Green New Zealand”.