Gerry Brownlee National MP

16 May 2000

Donald running scared of the Coast

Rod Donald is running scared after agreeing to a debate on the West Coast, says National MP Gerry Brownlee.

"His party must take some of the responsibility for the loss of over 600 jobs on the West Coast. Instead, he is trying to worm his way out of a debate on the Coast.

"Regions will prosper if they have population and resources but the Coast has had its resources unreasonably locked up by a Government with blinkers on. The population will decline further as Coasters leave to find work elsewhere.

"Mr Donald needs to understand that without access to resources on a sustainable basis, hundreds of businesses will close resulting in significant job losses.

"I challenge Mr Donald to debate the core issue of sustainable access to the West Coast's timber resources. If he is not prepared to debate this he should say so and stop trying to squirm out of facing up to the horrific damage his policies are doing to Coasters. Maybe Mr Anderton will be prepared to step in and debate sustainability issues when he visits the Coast," Mr Brownlee said.

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