PRESS RELEASE:
Fast-track Bill a fraud being perpetrated on all future generations.
The Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources.
That is not democracy; democracy allows for reasoned discussion and evidenced debate. In short, democracy is about the greater good. Until now, public-interest groups and concerned scientists have – at least in theory – been able to hold immediate-greed to account, and society has developed legal forums for this.
Those groups and scientists have been, by default, the only representation of a much bigger, unrepresented cohort. That cohort is future generations; hopefully many.
Already inadequately represented until now, they stand to be completely unrepresented if this Bill passes into Law. The ‘now’ extraction of one-off resources, including bio-capacity and land-use ones, is theft, from them. Done knowingly; not just theft, but fraud.
Rather than this one-off privatization of New Zealand’s remaining resources by an in-house cohort, we need legislation safeguarding the right of future generations; their rights to resource-access; their rights to a livable planet and country.
Contact: Prof. emer. Thomas Neitzert
Secretary, Wise Response Society Inc.
The Wise Response submission is available as a PDF here.
The Wise Response Society Inc. is a broad coalition of scientists, engineers, planners, artists and sportspeople who are urging New Zealand to face up to the question “As demand for growth exceeds earth’s physical limits, causing unprecedented risks, what knowledge and changes do we need to secure New Zealand’s future wellbeing?”. Our website – www.wiseresponse.org.nz – contains more information, including references to the case studies and Wise Response’s other initiatives. Our Patrons are Sir Alan Mark and Sir Geoffrey Palmer.