Greenpeace is slamming the Government for proceeding with a controversial bill to strip back freshwater protections, which passed its second reading late last night.

Greenpeace freshwater spokesperson Will Appelbe says, "New Zealanders value clean, swimmable lakes and rivers, and access to safe drinking water is a fundamental human right.

"By stripping away freshwater protections, the Government will undermine these key values that New Zealanders hold dear. Christopher Luxon’s coalition Government is positioning itself as anti-environment by putting commercial interests over the health of communities and ecosystems."

The Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill seeks to remove the requirement for resource consent applicants to comply with Te Mana o Te Wai, as well as removing restrictions on mud farming or intensive winter grazing.

"Nobody wants to see cows giving birth knee-deep in mud. Nobody wants local streams choked with algal blooms or their tap water contaminated. But these are the real consequences of pushing this bill through Parliament," says Appelbe.

Already, many rural communities across the country, especially in Canterbury, are facing high levels of nitrate in their drinking water. A growing body of science shows that long-term exposure to levels of nitrate above 1 mg/L can lead to an increased risk of developing bowel cancer, and at levels above 5 mg/L, the New Zealand College of Midwives advises pregnant people to find an alternative water source due to an increased risk of preterm birth.

"Greenpeace will continue to stand with communities and fight to end pollution of lakes, rivers, and drinking water at source. This means reducing the dairy herd, ending the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, and stopping new big irrigation schemes," says Appelbe.

Greenpeace is hosting a town hall meeting this Saturday in Rangiora to discuss the water pollution crisis in Canterbury - the hotspot of freshwater pollution in Aotearoa - and to support local communities in taking action on the issue. Additionally, more than twenty thousand people have signed a Greenpeace petition calling on the Government to leave New Zealand’s freshwater protections alone.

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