Mr Dunne is the longest, current serving member of parliament, with this term taking him over the 30 year threshold.
UnitedFuture is the only party in government to have the banning of 1080 poison included as one of it's policies.
Congratulations Peter Dunne, and we hope you will choose to continue to advocate for alternatives to the use of aerially spread 1080 poison.
Did Peter manage to get anything about 1080 into his agreement with National?
ReplyDeleteHello Aaron.
ReplyDeleteNo, nothing about 1080. Peter did manage to pick up Associate Minister of Conservation, which from our perspective is a good thing. It may help with getting a bit more balance into the decisions over the methods of wild animal management on the conservation estate.
In regard to 1080, the people of New Zealand didn't feel strongly enough to offer their party vote to UnitedFuture, rather giving their vote to NZ First, Conservatives or the Greens. Peter retained his electorate seat based on his own merits and his previous work, not because of his stance on 1080 poison. I think if those that didn't party vote UF, but would like to see 1080 banned from use in NZ, could now turn their attention to NZ First or the Greens (it will be a long wait), to initiate something.
I think it's a bit premature to give up on Peter Dunne. He's been against 1080 for decades and although he may not be saying upfront that it's a major issue for him, I'm hoping he'll find ways to work towards an international review of the way we use the poison.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I'm not giving up on Peter Dunne, yet. I'm trying to cut him some slack. He's been an advocate for alternatives to the use of 1080 poison for many years. However, I think it would be unfair for the public of New Zealand to lean on UnitedFuture as the party responsible for seeing 1080 banned - when the voters didn't support this stance in the election.
ReplyDeleteNow, It may be that the public don't mind the use of 1080 poison, and that is what seems to have come out in the election. I don't agree with the use of 1080 poison, but if the people of New Zealand wish to have its use continued, then we probably need to respect that wish.
There's one more doco on the use of 1080 poison in NZ, that we need to complete. After that, the is ample evidence of the harm this poison is doing to NZ ecosystems, available to the public and to the decision makers. If the people of NZ still support 1080 use in another 3 years, unfortunately, that's just the way it is.
"I don't agree with the use of 1080 poison, but if the people of New Zealand wish to have its use continued, then we probably need to respect that wish."
ReplyDeleteFair enough. It was nice to see that Peter Dunne got an agreement to stop helihunting/"Aerially Assisted Trophy Hunting" in his deal.