Letters: Freshwater fantasies

Freshwater is an important national resource, says a reader.

As everyone knows, freshwater is an extremely valuable resource.

The government has quite rightly always stated that no one owns the water. In reality however, the New Zealand government, in a fiduciary role, controls the water for all its citizens, and in effect administers freshwater, its use and allocation as guardian and trustee for all Kiwis.

That hasn't however stopped National having secret, clandestine, squirrel talks with Iwi Chairs forum representatives about management and control of freshwater, which is an absolute farce. Kiwis should be outraged about this race-based possibility.

Turning to bottled water, I seriously question whether many of those involved don't have their own little agendas for freshwater.

Clearly any pure aquifer/springs water taken and shipped offshore from New Zealand should be levied, in my view at least 20 cents per litre, and if there are only 10 million litres exported annually (some suggest that figure is billions) this equates to $2 million per annum in levies, which could be ploughed back into essential infrastructure like water storage facilities in drought areas such as Northland, North Otago and Hawke's Bay.

The first consideration, however, must always be, can New Zealand permit anyone to take freshwater without first addressing whether or not it is more precious to us as a nation if it is not hocked off, and certainly if no payment's being received, then leave it in the ground.

Finally, would other countries allow anyone to take their natural resources free of charge? Not.... likely.

The Greens currently rabbit on about charging 10 cents per litre for exported bottled water, but eventually seemingly want that levy to apply to all other water users, potentially accessing trillions of litres per annum.

Taken to its ridiculous conclusion, the full levy, or even a one cent levy, would return millions p a to each and every Kiwi citizen. I leave this absurdity to the mathematicians to calculate.

Check out the Greens' manifesto and race-based utterances, whereby they would look to give 50 per cent of all water revenue to vested Maori interests. That is scary, unacceptable, race-based preference stuff.

New Zealand First freshwater policy, on the other hand, is right on the money.

ROB PATERSON
Mount Maunganui