SOEs should also be environmentally responsible, Minister

The Green Party is wondering whether Trevor Mallard has already forgotten about his environment portfolio.

Mr Mallard - recently 'demoted' to Minister of the Environment - has announced today, as Minister of State Owned Enterprises, that all SOEs are now required to show a sense of social responsibility.

Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says this is great news.

"But what about the environment, Minister?

"We totally support a requirement for SOEs to be socially aware, but does this mean that they can ignore their environmental responsibilities?

"As Environment Minister, Mr Mallard should be including environmental considerations in everything he does, not just when he is wearing the Environment ministerial hat.

"If the Government is serious about being a world leader in sustainability, surely an environmental responsibility requirement should also have been included in today's announcement," Ms Fitzsimons says.

"There is a prime opportunity here to require Solid Energy to move much faster to clean up its environmental disaster that is the Stockton mine. Landcorp should be modelling sustainable farming principles on its farms. All SOEs should be adopting state of the art energy efficiency and working towards carbon neutrality.

"So far the Minister has let this opportunity slip by, but I'm happy to meet with him and give him some suggestions for ways he could demand better environmental performance from his SOEs."

ENDS

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