Peter Dunne has lashed out at the Greens, saying some of that party's MPs are extreme as Afghanistan's Taleban and that the political left has hijacked the making of environmental policy and shut mainstream New Zealanders out of the debate.
Speaking at his party's annual conference in Wellington today, the United Future leader said being pro-business and pro-jobs did not mean being anti-environment.
However, some elements of the environmental lobby were showing "arrogant intolerance" towards businesses in the mineral and energy sectors, labelling those firms and their staff as "pariahs" and "being worse than vandals".
Some activists considered it acceptable to abuse business leaders as being corrupt simply because they wanted to make a profit and give people jobs.
Mr Dunne said that by nature of their special bond with the land and waterways, all New Zealanders considered themselves to be environmentalists, but were feeling shut out of the debate.