Editorial: The dolphins should have campaigned harder

Wanganui Chronicle editor Mark Dawson

The election result was good news for some, but probably not for many of the creatures we share the Earth with.

A study of policy - and further correspondence with the political parties - was undertaken on behalf of Maui and Hector's dolphins, the world's smallest marine mammals and unique to New Zealand. Inevitably, endangered species.

The study found that Labour, the Green Party and the Maori Party offered the strongest protection. Well, the Maori Party is out in the cold and Labour and the Greens unlikely to be in government.

Set net and trawl fishing are arguably the greatest threat to these creatures and, according to the study, all parties except for National said they would support/compensate affected fishers to transition away from destructive fishing methods.

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Throw in the National government's support of seabed mining and others forms of extraction, despite having no real idea of the impacts on sea life and its eco-systems, and Saturday was a bad result for the ocean.

Of course, these creatures - like the human prison population - don't get a vote. They rely on us to do the right thing.

We can be appreciative that our new National Party MP, Harete Hipango, opposes Trans-Tasman Resources ironsand mining of the seabed off the South Taranaki coast, even though it puts her at odds with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

The study found that New Zealand First had no policy for protecting dolphins and restoring fisheries, so here's a chance for Winston Peters to do the right thing and make it one of his bottom lines in coalition negotiations.

There has been some better news for our co-inhabitants.

Foodstuffs, which operates New World and Pak'nSave supermarkets and Four Squares, has announced its eggs will be 100 per cent cage free by 2027.

That date seems an awful long way off, but at least it is better than Nick Smith's "swimmable" rivers by 2040.

The pressure from Foodstuffs customers has told, and 1.25 million hens will be grateful.