27 November 2012

Straterra welcomes common sense approach to fracking

The representative group for the minerals and mining industry, Straterra, welcomes the Interim Report on Fracking by Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright.

Straterra was responding to the release of Dr Wright’s interim report on hydraulic fracturing today which found that a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing is not warranted. However, she reported she needed to delve deeper to be confident that all regulatory processes are working well.

Straterra Chief Executive Officer Chris Baker, says Dr Wright provides a much-needed, common-sense approach to the hydraulic fracturing debate.

“The minerals and mining sector – like all other industries – fully embraces the need to look after New Zealand water resources and our environment. Examples of fracking so far in New Zealand provide a pretty good track record of having done that.

“The industry deserves to be given the opportunity to submit on work carried out in New Zealand to show how they are protecting New Zealand’s environment as part of their everyday activities, and that is what the Commissioner is allowing to happen,” Mr Baker says.

“It is important that fracking, like any resource sector activity that impacts on the environment, is carried out to a high standard, and that we have good regulations in place for that activity. That said, fracking and new technologies have made a major positive impact on the availability and cost of energy elsewhere in the world.

“Economically, New Zealand can ill afford to turn its back on the opportunities fracking offers in energy security and increased wealth,” Mr Baker says.

According to the 2012 International Energy Agency World Environment Outlook, technologies like fracking in the United States are spurring economic activity to the point where, by around 2020 the USA will be the largest global oil producer, overtaking Saudi Arabia - making it largely self-sufficient.

The implication for New Zealand is that fracking, done properly, has the potential to unlock energy resources that otherwise could not be used, helping us achieve energy security and affordability, which are among key priorities of the New Zealand Energy Strategy 2011-2021.

For more information visit www.straterra.co.nz

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>