IN SEARCH OF LABOUR'S GREEN AGENDA

Forest and Bird, Issue 268, 1 May 1993, Page 17

IN SEARCH OF LABOUR'S GREEN AGENDA

Tivo new MPs with a history of environmental activism front Labour's shadow conservation and environment portfolios. John Blincoe, conservation, and Pete Hodgson, environment, are very keen to retain those jobs should Labour win the next election. ADAM LEAVESLEY spoke to them. IGH IDEALS, sentiment and a strong record from the 1980s aside, what has Labour got to offer environmentalists in the 1990s? What is the likelihood that two relatively junior MPs will secure the backing of the party and give environment and conservation the priority they need? John Blincoe and Pete Hodgson have brought a new style of cooperation to the green shadow ministries. They point out that the boundaries between their portfolos are blurred. "We have no strict demarcation lines," says Blincoe. An example of cooperation is in the area of resource management. Blincoe with his legal training has played a prominent role, despite the fact that it is technically part of Hodgson’s portfolio. In the Labour caucus, green issues are no longer confined to the conservation and environment portfolios. Attempts are being made to integrate environmental concerns in the Economic, Environmental and Employment Committee of caucus. The party is doing a lot of talking about new creative solutions which incorporate environment at the ground floor. The rhetoric is about "community involvement’, "vision", "ownership of decisions" and the "harnessing of people’s wisdom and imagination". "Any government will make dramatically more progress if they work with the community than if they don’t," says Hodgson. "You will end up with better policy and

better outcomes. You can’t ram the Resource Management Act or marine reserves down people’s throats." Energy issues have also been incorporated into the caucus committee. Energy spokesperson David Caygill was Labour’s representative at the Earth Summit. He and Chris Laidlaw, whose responsibilities include disarmament and international environmental issues, work closely with Blincoe and Hodgson. As associate energy spokesperson Hodgson plays a dual role on the committee and it would appear that energy policy is a major focus of the group. F LABOUR wins the next election and John Blincoe acquires the conservation ministry, he will be taking on the job at a time when some fundamental, long-term issues must be addressed. Much of DoC land has a low ranking as stewardship land and is overdue for reclassification. Possums and other pests are seriously degrading conservation areas. The long term future of many native animal species outside the network of offshore island sanctuaries is in doubt. Conservation values are being compro-

mised by the requirement to raise income through concessions. Marine ecosystems are subject to heavy exploitation and are virtually unprotected. A considerable proportion of the estate is subject to Maori claims. Direct DoC funding has been cut ten percent by this government, says Blincoe. "Denis Marshall is fighting a losing battle, but we will find the means to hold the line and keep the values of the estate together." Labour says it will do some creative thinking on the pest problems, in particular on possums. Blincoe favours a mix of controls including a bounty system but the size of the effort will be subject to funding. He cannot promise a major research effort to deal with the problem. Blincoe would like to introduce the sidelined Protected Natural Areas legislation and speed up the process of selecting and gazetting appropriate natural areas. High Country pastoral land which is marginal economically or of high conservation value will be de-stocked. The requirement that forces DoC to raise revenue through commercial concessions does not find favour with Blincoe. Unfortunately the problem can only be completely solved by giving the department a bigger allocation. Labour

shadow ministers say they are not able to give funding promises so the issue remains up in the air. While he would like to ban mining in national parks, Blincoe doesn’t oppose the use of the DoC estate as part of the settlement for Ngai Tahu claims nor a Ngai Tahu management role. "However, a public process must be involved," he says. "Otherwise hostility will result. If you do things by the right process you get good outcomes. The present process is not up to that." He argues that any settlement would involve guaranteed public access and that Ngai Tahu development would be subject to the same regulations as everybody else. The expansion of the marine reserve

network and protection of marine ecosystems 1s a major project Blincoe would like to take on. "We should regard the marine environment the same as the coast," he says, and he would like to implement the ambitious Forest and Bird target of placing ten percent of the coastline into marine reserves by the year 2000.

He believes public attitudes are changing and that the target is possible. The problems facing the conservation estate, however, cannot be solved without a commitment of resources, and it is put to Blincoe that volunteers will not establish marine reserves, deal with the pest problems, survey land under the Protected Natural Area Programme or release DoC from the pressure to find funding through concessions. "We'll have to look really hard at how we can achieve more," he responds. "The level of funding needs to be addressed. Clearly I’d like to have more funds but I’m not allowed to promise to spend more money." While Labour supports the ban on the export of native woodchips and logs,

Blincoe does not support a ban on the logging of native forest or a ban on the export of value-added forest products. He believes all logging must be carried out sustainably. Blincoe would like to apply one definition of sustainability to all forest owners including the Crown. "We want as much native forest standing as possible." However he would not guarantee that the present controls on private land would be extended to cover the Crown’s indigenous production forests. To protect more forest, Blincoe would like to extend the national park system. He supports the Forest Heritage Fund and Nga Whenua Rahui, brainchild of the last Labour administration, but cannot promise more funding to extend their work. ABOUR APPEARS set to make an election issue of energy policy. "Energy efficiency, as the fifth fuel, (the others are electricity, oil, gas and coal)," states a direction paper on energy released last August, "will become the most important new energy source under a Labour Government". Energy efficiency is a "rare gem’, says Pete Hodgson, which simultaneously offers economic, environmental and social benefits. It must be integrated into industry and not treated as a "bolt on" policy. Labour gives a commitment not to privatise Electricorp. Hodgson says some energy regulation is necessary and Labour is considering the use of economic instruments such as progressive pricing to facilitate energy efficiency. The current spate of private sector proposals to build environmentally damaging power stations such as the Ngakawau hydro scheme will not be implemented under Labour, claims Hodgson. Regulation and an efficient energy environment will discourage them. Hodgson sees "no significant future for stand-alone thermal generation" and believes that the Electricorp production monopoly will be broken by Electricity Supply Authorities building wind farms. Labour’s response to global warming hinges on the success of their energy efficiency policy. Officially the party still pursues the aim of reducing the 1990 level of carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by the year 2000. The party’s direction paper points out that a ten percent reduction in electricity use would result in an eight percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. However energy efficiency would have to be extended to other sectors if the goal is to be achieved.

John Blincoe

HE MEMBER for Nelson might be new to Parliament, but he’s not new to politics. His political career dates back to his student days when he served as president of the New Zealand University Students Association for three years. It was here that he learned the tools of the political trade. Lucky for him that he did. Former conservation minister Philip Woollaston dropped out of the 1990 election with only a month to go leaving Blincoe to fight a very shaky seat. To the surprise of many, Blincoe held it for Labour and has followed Woollaston into the conservation arena as well.

A lawyer by training, he has never practised, preferring to use the law as a tool to help in formulating and writing policy. It is in this field he believes his best contribution can be made. Describing himself as an "instinctive conservationist", he has been a member of Forest and Bird for longer than he can remember. He was the founding convener ‘of the Wellington Clean Water Campaign which was set up to solve the sewage disposal problem on the Wellington South Coast. When the council showed little interest in solving the problem he stood on the issue of clean water and was elected in 1986. Blincoe is a keen tramper and his favourite spot is in the headwaters of

the Anatoki River (north of the Cobb valley in North West Nelson). Anybody who enjoys the mountains of New Zealand has got to be a conservationist, he says. "This is how you refresh your spirit."

NE OF THE biggest disappointments with the Resource Management Act was the separation of the Crown Minerals Act so that sustainability principles did not apply to the use of minerals. When the Acts were passed in 1991, Labour said they would put the two back together. Blincoe today has backed away from that position. He says that since they are now separate, the least disruptive solution for those responsible for applying the law will be to change the Crown Minerals Act so that sustainablity and depletion principles apply. The Resource Management Act provided for the establishment of a body to control hazardous substances and new organisms. Almost two years later the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms legislation has not even been drafted. "Progress 1s zero," says Hodgson. He

wants to see categories defined for toxic substances and clear policy on new organisms. He is particularly concerned about micro-organisms because they are impos- . sible to control. Blincoe says Labour will be rigorous in protecting New Zealand from new pest species. He adds that he is adamantly opposed to the introduction of myxomatosis which he describes as crazy, inhumane and a "short-term dirty solution". Another area which remains outside the ambit of the Resource Management Act is fisheries. Blincoe and Hodgson are concerned about the management of marine ecosystems. Blincoe’s electorate relies on the orange roughy harvest. However, he is happy to suggest that quotas will have to be reduced. He adds that the economic implications of the fishery collapsing would be felt across New Zealand.

Internationally, Hodgson would like to return New Zealand to the forefront of the global environment movement. Under the 1984-90 government, New Zealand led the world with the Resource Management Act and had instrumental roles in drift netting and ozone agreements as well as nuclear policy. Hodgson says New Zealand’s moral authority on the global stage was high because the government was rigorous at home. Hodgson would like to see New Zealand make further progress on nuclear issues, Ozone protection and whaling. He would also like to introduce a labelling scheme for imported timber and suggests that local forestry expertise could allow New Zealand to play a key role in international forest conservation. HILST BOTH Hodgson and Blincoe are keen to make things happen, the commitment of the Labour hierarchy to environmental issues must still be in question. Both MPs point out that David Caygill is Labour’s number three, and deputy leader Helen Clark was a former Conservation Minister. They say that Mike Moore is right behind them. Some other Labour MPs, however, do not have a sparkling environmental history. Sources close to Geoffrey Palmer reported his exasperation in Cabinet with the fiercely anti-green views of some ministers. A number of these ministers departed in 1990, but there are still senior figures such as Richard Prebble who remain trenchantly opposed to an environmental agenda. Also curbing Labour’s environmental enthusiasm is the influence of marginal rural electorates, including the West Coast, where crude anti-green politics still hold sway. Labour’s inclination in these areas is to sit tight and avoid commitments. Yet a more visionary approach could be more productive. On the West Coast, for example, tourism has long displaced native sawmilling as an economic force. While funding remains undisclosed, doubts about Labour’s commitment remain. Despite their enthusiasm, will two relatively junior ministers in a Labour government be able to convince Cabinet of the need for strong environmental initiatives and find the funding to make them happen?

Adam Leavesley is a member of the Wellington Rainforest Action Group.

Pete Hodgson

HE FIRST thing Pete Hodgson suggests to newcomers to his office is that they take a few minutes admiring the harbour view, before getting down to business. He is new to Parliament, having won the Dunedin North seat in 1990. Despite his inexperience, colleagues describe him as a key strategist in the Labour caucus. He is responsible for the portfolios of Environment and Research, Science and Technology and is associate Energy spokesperson.

After school in Whangarei and veterinary science at Massey University, he worked in rural and urban veterinary practices both in New Zealand and overseas, and also as a teacher, fruit and vegie retailer, and Labour Party organiser. Opposition to the Vietnam War was one of the first causes Hodgson took up. This was followed by involvement in issues such as the Springbok tour and the environment.

The campaign to stop the raising of Lake Manapouri in the early seventies was his first taste of environmental activism. He also opposed the Clyde Dam and the proposed Aramoana aluminium smelter. Hodgson is a member of Forest and Bird. He enjoys gardening and often spends free time turning his small corner of Sawyers Bay (near Dunedin) from exotic to indigenous vegetation. He says the garden is starting to look good. Other interests are swimming, skindiving, windsurfing, tennis and woodwork.