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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Forestry Minister Stuart Nash rejects criticism of slash inquiry

Hamish Bidwell
By Hamish Bidwell
Multimedia Journalist, Hawke's Bay Today·Hawkes Bay Today·
24 Feb, 2023 01:35 AM3 mins to read

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Stuart Nash said the slash inquiry needs to be "short, sharp and very targeted". Photo / NZME

Stuart Nash said the slash inquiry needs to be "short, sharp and very targeted". Photo / NZME

Stuart Nash’s faith in forestry hasn’t been shaken by recent events.

If folk hadn’t heard of slash until a week or so ago, they’re well aware of it now as commentators - expert or otherwise - suggest it’s to blame for much of the flood damage wrought upon Hawke’s Bay.

Nash, the Minister of Forestry and MP for Napier, announced an inquiry into forestry slash on Thursday, centred around its impact on Tairāwhiti and Wairoa.

That’s led some - not least National Party candidate for Tukituki Catherine Wedd - to suggest Nash has not looked after his own constituents here.

Anecdotal evidence abounds in Hawke’s Bay about the destructive influence of slash in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, but Nash said this inquiry couldn’t deal in generalities and conjecture.

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“It’s very specific around the highly-erodible soils of the Tairāwhiti district and out of this will come a series of recommendations that may well be applicable to forestry in general and land use practices up and down the East Coast,’’ Nash told Hawke’s Bay Today.

“But the wider you make this, the longer it will take and we needed a short, sharp, very targeted inquiry that dealt with the issue at hand.’’

The inquiry members are former government minister and Gisborne resident Hon Hekia Parata (Chair), former regional council chief executive Bill Bayfield, and forestry engineer Matthew McCloy.

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“We needed to get some experts on board, because there’s a lot of he said, she said at the moment,’' said Nash.

“I’m of the belief that forestry actually is the answer to a lot of land use issues, but we do need to know what sort of trees and what sort of management regime needs to be undertaken in certain areas.

“There are different types of forestry: you’ve got your production forestry, your permanent forestry and you’ve got your natives and your exotics. Forestry can play a whole raft of roles right across our environment, but it’s getting that right which is the key.’’

The inquiry’s findings are due in April and, Nash added, might include recommendations that were applicable to Hawke’s Bay.

“But at this point, it is a really narrow inquiry, targeting a very specific region,’’ Nash said.

Wedd, meanwhile, couldn’t fathom why Nash would exclude the bulk of this region from the debate about slash.

“Soft, waffly talk and promises is not enough. We need action fast to prevent this happening again,’’ Wedd said in a release to media.

“Forestry is an industry we want to see succeed as it supports so many families across Hawke’s Bay and the East Coast, but there is an acute need to look at practices and look at whether penalties are required.

“There needs to be consequences and people here in Hawke’s Bay need assurance that they won’t be the victims of forestry slash again.”

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