They once held the highest offices in central and local government, calling the shots on conservation matters.
It couldn’t be clearer on Sunday that their interest in the topic hasn’t diminished.
The Right Honourable Helen Clark was at the Māpua Community Hall on Sunday with her former parliamentary colleague, former conservation minister and former Nelson mayor, The Honourable Philip Woollaston, for a conservation conversation to a packed house.
Hosted by Labour candidate for West Coast-Tasman Rory Paterson, the event explored the development of New Zealand’s conservation legislation, the challenges of balancing environmental protection with competing interests, and the legacy of those decisions for future generations.
In an interview with the Weekly prior to their time on stage, Aotearoa’s 37th Prime Minister recalled attending an International Women’s Day dinner in Māpua during her time with the United Nations, and praised Abel Tasman National Park, which she’s walked in herself.
However, with the region’s intensifying flooding events, sea-level rise and fire risk, said a lack of long-term political consistency threatened Nelson Tasman’s environmental progress.
“We need a very strong climate action strategy for New Zealand, and we don't yet have the political agreement across the spectrum to get that in a way which will sustain,” she said.
“So what we've seen over a number of years is ‘go’, ‘stop’, ‘go’, and we don't end up with a plan that's adhered to over time that gets results.
“We need that kind of blue-green input into policy here because otherwise we just keep lurching.”
The theme is also a key motif to the Helen Clark Foundation’s new book, Facing Up to Our Future: Challenges and Choices for New Zealand, which examines the long-term pressures shaping the nation over coming decades, including climate change and environmental decline.
Philip echoed Clark’s call for a longer-term approach to conservation policy.
“It's so easy in an election year to start scratching itchy sections and say, ‘Yes, we'll give you what you want’,” he said.
“We actually need government that works on principle, forgets the petty politics of it, and instead takes action that will still matter in 10 years' time, 15 years' time and 20 years' time.
“We can only do that with cross-party agreement.”
Helen Clark also took a swipe at the “shocking” and “obnoxious on every level” Conservation Amendment Bill which is intended to overhaul conservation legislation by lessening red tape, fast-tracking commercial approvals and modernising public conservation management.
A clause in the contentious bill, which was open to submissions until 2 July, would require DOC to give greater weight to economic opportunities when making decisions about conservation land and according to Forest & Bird’s maps, that included Tākaka Hill Scenic Reserve.
