| WELLINGTON – Act Deputy Leader and forestry spokesman Ken Shirley has called for vast tracts of native bush in National Parks throughout New Zealand to be felled in order to make way for quick growing pine plantations.
Mr Shirley’s comments followed an attack on the government earlier in the week by Act leader, Richard Prebble. Prebble accused the Prime Minister of pandering to the whims of native species. Mr Prebble said that he was sick and tired of native flora being put before “ordinary, hardworking pakeha trees”. Mr Shirley explained how Pinus Radiata (white pine) and other commercially successful introduced species are participating in the economy for the good of all New Zealanders, whilst native species spend their days doing little that is productive. “I was out walking in the Urawera Ranges last weekend and was astounded by these natives just sitting around, doing nothing. Kowhai, Rata, Kahikatea, Pohutakawa. The lot of them!" He went on to warn that if the government continued to pander to the trees by providing them with an environment in which they can grow at their own slow pace, that a culture of dependency would continue to develop. “We are now seeing third, forth and fifth generations of native trees that have never worked for a living. Sitting around in the forest doing very little has become an attractive proposition, and this government is making it easy for them to do just that”. Act conservation spokesman Gerry Eckhoff seemed surprised to be contacted for comment, saying that he was not familiar with Act’s conservation policy. However, he believed that any further funding for native trees would inevitably end up being wasted at the local and down at the TAB.  Hard working Pakeha trees by a lake. |
| Act Proposal to Rid Country of Natives |
Wednesday, 01 November 2000 12:00
