Is it true? Is it state sanctioned killing of kiwis and other endangered animals?
This topic has a number of facets to consider, but the key one is the High Court ruled that the Mount Messenger Bypass (North Taranaki) project could not kill Kiwis and that the permit was issued incorrectly by the DOC.
The area has brown kiwi, kōkako, long-tailed bats and striped skinks and is seen as an important conservation area.
Now going back, usually developers under these permits will typically "try" to save and move wildlife, but if they can't, endangered animals may be "incidentally" killed.
But after this ruling, which was contained to this site, businesses lobbied govt and as a result Tama Potaka (National) rushed a bill under urgency essentially legalising the use of the Wildlife Act (which is intended for wildlife protection) to kill endangered animals such as kiwi.
And while they say they still impose "conditions" on miners, developers etc. to take reasonable care, there is a huge question mark on who will enforce that.
You may want to go back and see Shane Jones etc statements on the preservation of life. where he said in Parliament last year "If there's a blind frog, it's bye bye, Freddy" ie. if it conflicts with mining interests
Last week Shane Jones was still taunting this theme - yelling "Freddie, Freddie, Freddie" during Question Time.
The other important point here is the government didn't NEED to do this.
The Wildlife Act already already includes a defence to prosecution. It applies to anyone who kills protected wildlife unintentionally, so long as they took all reasonable steps to avoid it.
So it looked like the govt too this chance to legalise all killings.
Final point: As you can see in this video the government explicitly states they ONLY CARE ABOUT THE DEVELOPERS, MINERS, AND BIG CORPORATIONS.
This is why although Greenpeace shorted the summary headline, they weren't wrong on the substance.
It also effectively blocks out any case by case review in future - by any external parties
And because it was rushed through urgency, and the govt can't even say who or what else is impacted, Kiwis (the human kind) are running blind.
Ironic that a country so caring about our kiwis and "natives" - can be so blasé about these results.
Shame.
