Climate Conversation Group
18 December 2009
in association with the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition (NZCSC)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NZ climate scandal escalates: NIWA deceives us, but why?
NIWA have published misleading material on their web site and seems to have advised the Hon Dr Nick Smith, the Minister
for Climate Change Issues, to misinform Parliament, according to the Climate Conversation Group and the New Zealand
Climate Science Coalition. The two organisations claim that NIWA’s response to their enquiries for simple information
about the national temperature record has been unnecessarily defensive and obstructive.
Spokesman for the project, Richard Treadgold, said that claims from NIWA that they gave the information to the Coalition
in 2006 are wrong. “They have quoted a private email from one of their scientists to a colleague. It was sent almost
before the Coalition existed, when they hadn’t even talked about the temperature record, it mentions neither NIWA nor
the Coalition and does not contain the information we asked for. NIWA’s assertion that that email contains the requested
information is not supported by reading the email,” said Mr Treadgold, adding, “We invite them to release it, so
everyone can see what it says.”
“To expect the whole Coalition to know that one scientist was sent an email several years ago suggests mere ignorance;
but to refuse to resend that email or a copy of a paper betrays a reluctance to help, and that’s disgraceful. If any
other government department gave deliberately obstructive answers to questions from their clients (much less
Parliamentary questions), heads would roll.
“We put only three questions and they haven’t answered any of them. For seven stations, it would take about half an hour
to pull out the figures and send them over.
“The longer NIWA obfuscate, produce red herrings, answer questions we haven’t asked and criticise us for what we haven’t
alleged and haven’t challenged, the more suspicious everybody gets. Time is passing,” said Mr Treadgold, “and the
question is actually changing; people are starting to ask why they don’t answer.”
Mr Treadgold explained that the parliamentary misinformation relates to Nick Smith’s comment that the Coalition have had
certain information “since 2003”; the Coalition didn’t exist in 2003. Also, the information he told Parliament was in
their possession was in fact not.
The full story is posted at the Climate Conversation Group web site, at http://www.climateconversation.wordshine.co.nz/
ENDS