It appears that Hekia Parata is a liar. From The Gisborne Herald:
Gisborne District councillor Manu Caddie accused her of lying, or “deliberately misleading the public”, in an article in The Gisborne Herald on Saturday in which she said the exploration permit would involve only 2D and 3D data gathering, not drilling.
But Manu Caddie says this was a blatant lie.
The permit signed last year by her predecessor allowed the company to drill one exploratory well within 60 months of the commencement of the permit, he said in a written statement.
To her credit, she later acknowledged her dishonesty:
She acknowledged this morning that the exploration permit granted to Petrobras allowed Petrobras to drill an exploration well.
However, she did no forget to offer a pretext:
“A decision on whether an exploration well will be drilled is dependent on the outcome of the 2D and 3D seismic survey” she said.
Hekia is in an uncomfortable position. On a personal level, her people (Ngati Porou) are firmly against oil exploration and any consequent activities. However, on an ideological level, the idea of mineral exploitation appeals to Hekia’s neoliberal tendencies. This is possibly an oversimplification, but the choice appears to be between representing the views of her people or toeing the party line. It’s a shame she did not chose the former.
Calling Hekia a liar is a bit harsh. I think it is fairer to say that she did not reveal the whole truth at first. Does anyone else think it was a bit hypocritical of last year's fires on the beach protesters to have been throwing fuel on the fires. It is clearly visible on the video clips that have been shown on tv. What do Ngati Porou and other East Coast iwi use in their cars? Is this a case of nimby-ism?
ReplyDeleteChoosing not to reveal the truth is the same as lying. And as for pouring fuel on the fires - this was obviously a symbolic act - not a hypocritical one! At this point in time most of the NZ population has no choice but to run their cars using petrol - this is no justification for supporting such high risk drilling in one of the most pristine areas of our country. Any forward thinking country would be moving away from oil exploration and investing in the search for cleaner greener fuel.
ReplyDeleteum, this situation is very simple.
ReplyDeleteWE own a space - some rude govt representative mandated himself to invite a guest to this space without asking.
aue - govt rep - plain common sense would have you direct your guest to reverse his waka and haere atu. no more talk.
time wasters! we have mokopuna to look after and elderly to take care of and a planet to maintain. We have whanau to engage with - dreams to dream, mahi to mahi, seeds to germinate, food forests to develop, sacred spaces to honour...
It's 2011 - post fossil fuel era is necessary - bring it on!
Apparently all Aotearoa will pick up is 5% of the takings from the dirty oil coffers - hardly worth it - definitely irresponsible, definitely unintelligent, definitely disconnected, definitely nothing much going on re considering the wider good or win/win...
when will they ever learn...? green economics would be good - and quite do-able.
Hekia originally said the permit was only for 2D and 3D seismic surveying and Petrobras would need to get another permit if they wanted to drill. The permit says Petrobras "shall drill an exploratory well within 60 months of the issue of this permit"... If that is not a lie I'm not sure what a lie actually is.
ReplyDeleteHekia does not represent Ngati Porou, she is a list MP and has chosen Mana as her constituency base. She has also lived in Wellington for a very long time, so it is probably a lost cause to be bleating on about betraying her people. So get over it!
ReplyDelete