No price high enough for DOC land grab

new-zealand-national-party

Wed Jun 02 2004 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

No price high enough for DOC land grab

Wednesday, 2 June 2004, 8:47 am
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

No amount of money will help change farmers' attitudes to tenure review, says David Carter, National's Agriculture spokesman.

He is commenting on the $79 million package announced by the Government today to fund the creation of a series of conservation parks from the South Island High Country. The announcement coincided with a forum organised by the High Country Accord in Christchurch today.

"New Zealanders are faced with biggest land grab in history because of the Department of Conservation's intransigent attitude to land tenure," Mr Carter says.

"Thousands of hectares will be at stake if Labour decides to take the land out of farmers' hands and give it to DOC.

"It is inevitable that if this occurs there will be negative economic consequences for high country farmers and the merino industry, not to mention the long-term environmental damage that will occur to this land under DOC management.

"I can assure the Government that after attending the High Country Forum today, what is urgently required is a dramatic change in attitude by this Government and the Department of Conservation," says Mr Carter.

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