25 July 2018

National’s List MP Maureen Pugh, has slammed incumbent West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O’Connor for what she describes as twenty five years of absence and continued failure to stick up for the interests of his constituents at the most critical times for the West Coast region.

During her speech in Parliament’s General Debate, Pugh described the moves by Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage to implement a blanket ban on conservation mining as “deja vu” for West Coasters, who had suffered the wrath of Labour-Green extremism once before through the West Coast Forest Accord which decimated the West Coast’s Sustainable Native logging industry.

“there's a popular misconception that Coasters rape and pillage the land, and that misconception is fed by the garbage and fear-mongering that we hear from the green spin doctors. I can tell you, there is no greater conservationist than a person who lives on the land and who is surrounded by their native forest and their clean-running rivers. That's a West Coaster.”

Pugh took further aim at O’Connor for seeking glory last Sunday at the opening of the new Taramaku Bridge, which was signed off and funded by the last National Government.

“This is the birthplace of the Labour Party, but what do they care? It's not their grassroots miners that they're representing now; it is their latte-drinking greenie friends in the cities, and the person the electorate should be looking to for support, who's occupied his role for 25 years and delivered absolutely nothing to the Coast—nothing to protect the existing industries or to diversify—has been completely absent and we feel extremely let down by him.”

Pugh’s full speech in the General Debate can be found here for viewing: https://www.youtube.com/embed/rSNOELrtPks?rel=0&start=6

Or here for the Hansard transcript: https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/HansS_20180725_055575000/pugh-maureen

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