1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,000
Speaker 1: An independent review of freshwater standards has found that our

2
00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:06,920
Speaker 1: sediment and e coal lie national targets will be hard

3
00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,840
Speaker 1: to meet. Beef and Lambs say, if agriculture get this,

4
00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,119
Speaker 1: if agriculture across the country was stopped, Even if we

5
00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,840
Speaker 1: did that, thirty eight percent of our rivers still wouldn't

6
00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,680
Speaker 1: meet the requirements if they were returned to their natural state.

7
00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,200
Speaker 1: It's currently up to each council to determine if they

8
00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,919
Speaker 1: implement the targets. And Kate Ackland is the chair of

9
00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:26,840
Speaker 1: Beef and Lamb New Zealand. She's with us this morning.

10
00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:31,320
Speaker 1: Good morning, explain to us what these standards actually say.

11
00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,040
Speaker 2: For these standards of that essentially they give bottom lines

12
00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,400
Speaker 2: that have to be meat or all minimum standards that

13
00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:43,839
Speaker 2: farmers would have to meet. I think, as you've explained

14
00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,160
Speaker 2: in the opening, all this report shows is that those

15
00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:49,240
Speaker 2: standards actually physically can't be mean. I mean a reveal

16
00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,560
Speaker 2: of the published literature also indicated that about twenty percent

17
00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:55,600
Speaker 2: of our waterways currently coming out of the catchments in

18
00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,320
Speaker 2: their natural state, so that's coming straight out of national parks,

19
00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:02,120
Speaker 2: don't meet those requirements.

20
00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,720
Speaker 1: So even in the most pristine environments, twenty percent of

21
00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,080
Speaker 1: those rivers wouldn't meet the wouldn't meet the standards, so

22
00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:11,160
Speaker 1: they're obviously a bit too high according to this review,

23
00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:13,839
Speaker 1: can you change them?

24
00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,200
Speaker 2: So what we're asking actually is that we just just

25
00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:23,160
Speaker 2: pause and essentially remove those two standards, so not all

26
00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:25,399
Speaker 2: of the standards, but just those two that where the

27
00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,240
Speaker 2: science that's been put into how they're set is fought,

28
00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:31,720
Speaker 2: and we work on something that's a bit more practical,

29
00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,120
Speaker 2: because you know, this is not about us trying to

30
00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,200
Speaker 2: delay regulation or remove regulations. We adally acknowledge that farming

31
00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:40,920
Speaker 2: can have an impact on freshwater quality and it needs

32
00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,080
Speaker 2: to be managed. But what we're wanting isn't enduring framework.

33
00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,200
Speaker 2: So the targets need to be realistic, and they need

34
00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,760
Speaker 2: to be achievable, and they need to be based on

35
00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:49,840
Speaker 2: really sound science.

36
00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,160
Speaker 1: Is this a government issue or is it a council

37
00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:54,760
Speaker 1: issue that you're going to have to tackle.

38
00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,320
Speaker 2: Well, look, it's a government issue because it comes from

39
00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,960
Speaker 2: the National Policy Statement for fresh Water Management twenty twenty.

40
00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,080
Speaker 2: It's councils that are implementing that regionally, and I guess

41
00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,640
Speaker 2: that's where our real concern is, is that the government's

42
00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,120
Speaker 2: indicated that they're going to replace the National Policy Statement

43
00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,160
Speaker 2: for freshwater management, but there is a bit of a

44
00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,560
Speaker 2: delay period and some of these targets or bottom lines

45
00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:21,160
Speaker 2: are becoming embedded in regional policy of planning space. So

46
00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:23,799
Speaker 2: you know, this is quite an urgent matter, it's quite

47
00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:24,840
Speaker 2: a pressing matter.

48
00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:30,040
Speaker 1: Very quickly. And just finally, if the standards were implemented,

49
00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:32,880
Speaker 1: how much would it cost the country, How much would

50
00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:34,959
Speaker 1: it cost business?

51
00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,080
Speaker 2: So the reports suggests that forty four percent of all

52
00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,360
Speaker 2: seed and bee farmland would need to be retired. Then

53
00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,360
Speaker 2: there needs to be further really extensive measures like pole

54
00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:49,000
Speaker 2: planting and additional fencing that would cost in the billions

55
00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:51,520
Speaker 2: of dollars. And then even if all of those mitigations

56
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:53,839
Speaker 2: were put in place, you know, half of the time,

57
00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,520
Speaker 2: Western wouldn't be meeting those those current national boss lines.

58
00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,960
Speaker 2: So they're just not realistic and they're just not based

59
00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:02,000
Speaker 2: on sound science.

60
00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,000
Speaker 1: Kate, thank you very much for your time this morning.

61
00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,160
Speaker 1: Kate Ackland sherif Beef and Land New Zealand on that

62
00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,560
Speaker 1: independent review into our freshwater standards. For more from News

63
00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,760
Speaker 1: Talk sed B, listen live on air or online, and

64
00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:15,280
Speaker 1: keep our shows with you wherever you go with our

65
00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:17,080
Speaker 1: podcasts on iHeartRadio,