Police and firefighters were called to a demonstration this morning outside the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) where actors and demonstrators from Climate Liberation Aotearoa (CLA) took on the personas of the Coalition party leaders and set fire to a range of environmental policies.

The action was in protest against the Government’s proposed Bill to disestablish the Environment Ministry and replace it with a new mega-Ministry focused on urban development, infrastructure and economic growth.

Actors playing Luxon, Seymour, Peters and Bishop were shown pieces of paper displaying a range of environmental concerns, including ‘clean water’, ‘the climate’, ‘future generations’, ‘Te Tiriti o Waitangi’, ‘zero waste’ and ‘Ministry for the Environment’. They disparaged each as unnecessary or unimportant and ordered they be burned, which actors playing their staff dutifully carried out.

“Our action today highlighted the Government’s destructive, anti-scientific attitude to the natural world”, says spokesperson Michelle Ducat.

“The latest reckless proposal to shut down MfE and replace it with a new mega-Ministry is part and parcel of the huge range of ecologically destructive actions this Government has implemented or put in motion.”

“Our lives and our children are all being willfully thrown into a future hellscape where our life-giving systems simply no longer function.”

Forty years ago, MfE was created through the Environment Act. The need for a dedicated environmental agency was considered so important that Parliament chose to write it into law.

Now, under the direction of Housing, Transport, RMA Reform and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop, with Environment Minister Penny Simmonds cheering from the sidelines, the Government has introduced a Bill to bin MfE.

The proposal has appeared out of nowhere, with no prior consultation, barely any government scrutiny, and is now being rammed through Parliament with a truncated select committee phase that restricts public participation.

“The Government alleges the Bill is only “minor and technical”, but anyone can see that it’s the exact opposite. Abolishing MfE is a monumental change to the machinery of government, specifically calculated to remove evidence-based independent advice about the planetary limits to endless growth, and the deteriorating health of Aotearoa’s climate, waterways, coastlines, marine environment, and biodiversity.”

“The Government clearly finds this advice irritating because it conflicts with its reckless pro-development agenda. Rather than stepping in to invest in urgent actions and real solutions to protect our environment and the interconnected wellbeing of people and planet, this Government has chosen to respond with a Bill to silence environmental perspectives.”

The Bill will also delete the provisions in the Environment Act that would specifically allow the new mega-Ministry to hire specialised staff to support with achieving environmental functions, and that require every Ministry officer or employee to have regard to environmental matters.

“This throws into question what will happen to existing MfE staff and whether their expertise - or any environmental expertise - will still be welcome in the new Ministry.”

“We are less than three months into 2026 and already the same number of weather-related states of emergency have been declared as in the entirety of 2025. The climate crisis is upon us. At a time when a dedicated voice for the environment within government is needed more than ever, the coalition of chaos wants to silence it.”

Firefighters called to the scene put out the contained embers with a watering can supplied by the demonstrators.

“If only extinguishing this Government’s terrible anti-environment agenda could be so easy” says Ducat.

Submissions to the Environment Select Committee on the Environment (Disestablishment of Ministry for the Environment) Amendment Bill close today.

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