Bill English MP
National Party Deputy Leader

Nick Smith MP
National Party Environment Spokesman

6 October 2007

Transparent environmental reporting needed

National will introduce new environmental reporting laws to ensure New Zealand lives up to its clean, green image.

The plan was announced by Deputy Leader Bill English at National’s Bluegreen Forum in Te Anau today with Environment spokesman Nick Smith.

“Our current environmental reporting is woeful, and well behind that of most developed countries. We are not going to make progress on important issues like water quality, air quality, waste, and protecting natural habitat without reliable information on the state of the environment,” says Bill English.

“In the 1990’s, National’s Fiscal Responsibility Act required open and reliable disclosure of New Zealand’s public finance, and this resulted in far better performance. National’s education policies are based on open and honest reporting of children’s achievement. This drives better education standards. The same principles should equally apply to the environment.”

Nick Smith says: “It is a disgrace that New Zealand has not produced a State of the Environment report since 1997. In Australia, the UK, and many other countries, regular reports are required by law. National will require comprehensive State of the Environment reporting on a five-yearly basis. This will inform New Zealanders if, and where, our environment is getting better or worse.

“Such reporting is crucial to the accountability of regional councils, which have so many environmental responsibilities. There are serious concerns about water quality in areas like Canterbury, Southland, and Waikato, but no standardised information that the public can access. We propose a system that will rate New Zealand’s 76 major river systems and 42 significant lakes and report on whether their waters are deteriorating or improving.

“National is proposing that the new system of environmental reporting be overseen by the independent Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. There is a risk that if regional councils or the Ministry for the Environment do the report, it will be a public relations exercise rather than a robust, factual assessment. Just as the Office of the Auditor-General is crucial to the reliability of financial reporting, we want these environmental reports to be independent of the government of the day.”

ends

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