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Mike Petersen (Spokesperson, Tukituki Water Security Project (TWSP), and Ian Walker (Chairperson, Centralines’ Board) recently had Talking Points published which took offence at being named for spending $200,000 of power consumers’ money on a report which concluded that Ruataniwha v.2 should be built.
Interestingly, neither addressed the issues of:
Lack of transparency in not publicly announcing the spend, or itemising it in Centralines’ Financial Statements;
The perceived conflict of interest in having both Ian Walker and fellow Centralines’ board member, Sarah von Dadelszen also sitting on the TWSP group which spent the money; or
Mention that the Report states that Hawkes Bay ratepayers will pick up the tab for 20m m3 of water to be released from the dam to allegedly maintain the health of the river (via a Regional Council rate increase of around 17%). This is simply a public subsidy to enable corporate agri-business to keep irrigating through summer like they’re putting out an Aussie bush fire!
Dr Trevor Le Lievre’s (Spokesperson, Wise Water Use) response, published as a letter to the editor in HB Today (24/3/2022) is below. The unabridged version of this letter, as submitted, is posted underneath.
Both Mike Petersen and Ian Walker are upset at being named publicly for their part in the Centralines fiasco (Talking Points of 17/3/2022 and 19/2/2022). In response, I say they can spend as much of their own money as they wish for on-farm water storage; however, when they dip into the public’s back pockets to build a mega irrigation dam taking water from the commons for private agri-business profit, they become accountable: “he who pays the piper, calls the tune”. If they or their fellow travelers are uncomfortable with this reality, then perhaps they should consider least-cost solutions to CHB’s water issues. We at Wise Water Use are discussing alternative options to current unsustainable farming practices requiring large water consents, and calling for review and reform of those large consents, which presently have 6 large dairy farms allotted 43% of the Ruataniwha catchment’s water allocation – and still looking to take more under Tranche 2. We certainly look forward to engaging further in this unfolding conversation.
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