NZ First vows to stop 1080 poison drops if in office

A locked gate and sign in the Hunua Ranges Regional Park in August 2015 as DoC executed an aerial drop of 1080 poison in the forest park south of Auckland.

The use of 1080 to control predators and pests isn't working and New Zealand First will work to stop it being used without compromising pest control, party leader and Northland MP Winston Peters says.

NZ First has come out in opposition to 1080 and says if it's part of the next government it wants to stop it being used.

Mr Peters said NZ First is the committed to ending the use of 1080, and is the only party with a plan to replace it.

"1080 has been spread all across this country for nearly 60 years, yet we still have the problems it is meant to have solved," Mr Peters said.

"Clearly it isn't working, clearly it is causing serious harm to our native species, our people, our ecosystem, our environment, and our international reputation, and clearly something has to be done."

He says if it gains office NZ First will immediately provide adequate resourcing for, and initiate, trapping and other ground-based measures for pest control, in all areas where this is known to be feasible.

It will also immediately allocate adequate resourcing, and initiate proper and urgent research into alternatives to 1080.

And before any further aerial application of 1080 is permitted, it wants resource and initiate comprehensive and accurate surveys to ascertain both native and pest populations in areas currently regarded as "inaccessible", in order to justify, or exclude, any possible recommencement or continuation of the aerial application of 1080, or its alternatives, in these areas.