New Zealand: Polluted Paradise

Al Jazeera English investigates New Zealand’s freshwater crisis

New Zealand’s sparkling and abundant rivers and lakes are fundamental to its image as a land of outstanding natural beauty – key features of a supposedly clean, green environment brand that attracts visitors from around the world.

But in a new two-part, year long, documentary investigation, Al Jazeera’s People & Power series discovers a murkier reality hidden in the depths: a disturbing tale of polluted and dried-up waterways, questionable irrigation schemes, an over-mighty farming lobby and claims of undue government interference.

New Zealand: Polluted Paradise (Part 2) airs on THURSDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2017 AT 10.30 AM AND 9:30 PM

In the second part of this exclusive People & Power investigation, as the machinations over the Ruataniwha project move to a climax, the Al Jazeera team examines disturbing allegations of undue political interference in the irrigation scheme at a national level. The episode also looks into the circumstances of the central government’s highly controversial 2010 sacking of anti-irrigation scheme councillors from a regional authority in Canterbury in New Zealand’s South Island and their replacement with non-elected officials.

A blog about the making of the film can be found here: http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/asia/2017/08/zealand-waters-polluted-170831090454283.html

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