Eric Roy

Opposition Conservation Spokesperson

2 June 2000

Arbor Day gift to nation should be end of SILNA logging

The Government's lack of action over the clear-felling of native forests in Southland shows how duplicitous they are on conservation issues says Opposition Conservation Spokesman MP Eric Roy.

"The Government will be out hugging trees for the TV cameras on Arbor Day, but only because they want to 'be seen to be green' in the eyes of their politically correct hangers-on.

"If they had any consistency at all they would do something meaningful on Arbor Day - by tackling the destruction of SILNA forests (South Island Landless Native Act forests).

"The Government's wildly erratic approach has seen them stop sustainable logging on the West Coast - but completely fail to address the unsustainable destruction of SILNA forests, many of which are being clear felled.

"National negotiated a one year voluntary moratorium on that logging - but since Labour took office they haven't so much as lifted a finger to address the issue.

"The Government is backing away from confronting this issue because they fear a backlash from their own Maori caucus - which clearly demonstrates that they have one set of rules for Maori and a different set for the rest of New Zealand.

"If Arbor Day passes without the SILNA issue being addressed the Government will have clear-felled its own conservation credibility," Eric Roy concludes.

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