1080 "Road Show" Hits Regional Council Circuit
For Immediate Release
28 March 2008
In a bold new public relations campaign, an All Star team of New Zealand's top promoters of the use of 1080 has been
assembled to lobby regional councils for expanded use of the poison.
Facing the loss of millions of dollars in Animal Health Board funding as a result of a diminished bovine tuberculosis
threat, leaders of the 1080 industry are putting new pressure on councils to pick up their spending on the poison.
Starting Monday in Hamilton, a group of presenters will address Waikato Regional Council's pest management committee on
poison formulations, safety issues, and managing public relations.
The panel's presenters represent a range of interests, all dependent on continued and expanded use of the toxin
nationwide for financial support and ongoing funding.
They include Landcare researcher John Innes, poison company executive Charlie Eason, pro-1080 public relations
strategist Wren Green, and EW's own John Simmons, who as head of pest control for the Waikato worked for five years with
DOC and AHB on designing and managing the recent 1080 re-approval process at ERMA. Also part of the promotional panel is
Roger Lorigan, head of helicopter company EPRO, which receives millions of dollars in contracts to carry out aerial
drops.
Reaction from Waikato farmers, health and toxin experts, and community groups has been swift and outraged. They say that
the so-called "educational" event for council is actually a biased, misleading, and distorted "1080 Field Day" designed
to actively promote increased funding and use.
According to Upper Coromandel Landcare Association spokesperson Reihana Robinson, "Every single presenter is financially
dependent on contracts either to study, promote or apply the poison. This isn't education. This is all promo and
propaganda from New Zealand's 1080 industry leaders."
Says Robinson, "If councils here in the Waikato and around the country want complete information, they need to hear from
researchers without conflicts of interest, from qualified toxicologists, from physicians, from the farmers who lose
stock to 1080 accidents, and from the community members whose drinking water is being threatened."
"The fact is that the Tb threat isn't there anymore and neither is AHB funding for the 1080 industry. These people are
panicked and are kicking off a 1080 Road Show to convince ratepayers around the country to foot the bill‹to the tune of
tens of millions."
ENDS