Will you speak out with us against the Government’s plan to rollback protections of freshwater? Consultation for the government’s freshwater pollution plan closes this Sunday, July 27th. Find out how you can do that here: greenpeace.nz/fresh-water-...

You know what, it’s time that Federated Farmers were accountable to the people of New Zealand. And they should do right by the rural communities whose drinking water that they and Fonterra have polluted. And all this for a block of butter no one can afford!

The Government right now is proposing to remove the cap on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser - the cap that limits how much fertiliser the intensive dairy industry can put into the environment and leach into waterways.

Dairy pollution is contaminating people's drinking water. Fed Farmers are opposing every measure to protect freshwater, and pushing the Government to remove existing protections on freshwater.

Of course, Federated Farmers (I would tag them but they’re not on BlueSky) didn’t like being held to account for their environmental vandalism and complained about our artwork. They didn’t seem to care what the people of Gore thought about their drinking water being undrinkable, and why it's unsafe.

I’m the freshwater campaigner at @greenpeace.org.nz and naturally I thought more people should be worried about this. Surely the Government should be tightening regulations around nitrate contamination? We sent a message this week by decorating Gore’s famous trout.

High levels of nitrate in drinking water have been associated with an increased risk of blue baby syndrome. This is why we have a ‘maximum acceptable value’ of 11.3mg per litre - to protect babies from harm. But there's also an increased risk of cancer and preterm birth at much lower levels.

The main source of nitrate contamination is the overuse of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser in the intensive dairy industry.

In case you missed it, last Friday routine testing of Gore’s town water supply exceeded legal limits for nitrate contamination, and the township was issued a do not drink notice.

📢 Make a submission. It's super easy, just use the submission tool at the link below and tell the Government what you care about:

🔗 greenpeace.nz/fresh-water-...

💧 Everyone deserves safe drinking water. Everyone deserves rivers they can swim in. Let’s fight for it.

The proposals are open for public consultation until 27 July. This is our change to push back
→ Say no to removing the fertiliser cap.
→ Say no to irrigation deregulation.
→ Say no to weakening the protections that prioritise the health of water bodies and safe drinking water.

When you consider everything that's been proposed, it's clear what this Luxon and his Government's agenda is.

They're tipping the scales in favour of big dairy and corporate profits at the expense of lakes, rivers, and drinking water.

💧And they want to prioritise commercial water use at the expense of the health of freshwater ecosystems and safe drinking water, by removing the core protections in our freshwater regulations.

💧They also want to make it easier to build irrigation infrastructure, which would enable further dairy intensification

Because nothing says “clean rivers” like fuelling even more dairy expansion.

Last year seven water supplies exceeded the level of nitrate associated with pre-term birth. Between 2019-2024, 12.4% of monitored groundwater sites exceeded the legal health limit for nitrate.

Nitrogen fertiliser is a major source of nitrate contamination. We need more action on nitrate, not less.

💧They want to scrap the synthetic nitrogen fertiliser cap which exists to prevent further nitrate contamination of drinking water.

Nitrate contamination is a risk to public health, and this government wants to get rid of the one tool we have to limit this pollution at the source.

I always feel crap after a jab. Just admit me into the nearest ward post vaccination please.