This page last modified 23 May 2000
"Committed to resist private predation of the public estate"
Since our inception in 1992, PANZ has been responding reactively to the efforts of successive Governments to privatise the control and/or ownership of the public outdoors. With most of what we hold dear under constant attack, this has been a harrowing experience for us and our thousands of supporters. But, we have held the line during this period. The task now is to advance the objects of PANZ in the public and political perception.
As many supporters have remarked - how much worse the situation would have been without PANZ around! As we have learned from the politicians themselves, PANZ's resolute and well-informed objections to Governments' plans for the Queen's Chain and the South Island high country have been instrumental in blocking the worst aspects of their reforms. Single-handedly, we elevated major civil liberty issues to prominence in the road reform debate. Our advocacy of these vital issues may have contributed to their demise. In concert with a disappointedly few NGO's, we restrained the use of the conservation estate for Treaty settlements despite increasingly strident demands for the alienation of this priceless public heritage.
In a political environment overshadowed by privatisation agendas, PANZ has been dismayed by the actions of one or two NGO's who appear to have gone "soft" on some issues, to the extent of being antagonistic to those who have stuck their necks out to defend the public interest. This hostile stance appears not to be mandated by their memberships.
PANZ will continue to evaluate, in a reasoned, well researched manner, the impact of Government policies and practices affecting recreational rights. Where our interests are shared, we will strive to work with other groups to protect public rights of use and to have a meaningful say on the management and use of the outdoors.
Eight years on, it is prudent to remind ourselves of our capacity and obligations as an organisation. PANZ is distinguished from other NGO's in having express objectives in our Constitution - our Deed of Trust - which commit us not only to advancing the interests of recreation generally, but to achieving this through retention of recreation resources in public ownership and control. As PANZ spokesman Brian Turner has observed astutely, "what our opponents don't like about us is that we are committed to resist private predation of the public estate".
The power and legitimacy of our agenda is derived from the commitment of our Board of Trustees and you, our Supporters. We are legally bound by the provisions of the Charitable Trusts Act to uphold our constitutional objectives. Our legal obligations also extend to remaining non-partisan in our dealings with political parties. In fact, our charitable status depends on this.
PANZ does not have a voting membership like most incorporated societies do. Instead, our enterprise relies on the achievement and integrity of our Board of Trustees. As a supporter of PANZ, your subscriptions and donations 'vote' both as endorsement of our performance and as an on-going commitment to our objectives.
The Board invites you to renew your support for us. You are assured that your contributions will be used strictly in accordance with our objectives. PANZ prides itself on being an organisation genuinely able to give such an undertaking.
Hugh is co-plaintiff with PANZ on the Hikurangi case.
NZPA report, 21 September 1999
Mountaineer and conservationist Hugh Barr, who suffered serious back and neck injuries in an accident on Mount Ruapehu, says he may be walking again this week.
Speaking from Burwood Hospital's spinal unit yesterday, Dr Barr, 58, who dislocated his neck and suffered crushed spinal vertebrae in a fall above Whakapapa Skifield, said an operation to stabilise and pin his neck had been successful.
Doctors have told him he may be able to walk again this week after being flat on his back for three weeks, and he expects to make a full recovery. He has movement in all limbs.
Dr Barr said he did not know if he would return to climbing: "I'm not going to give up on the outdoors and will definitely maintain an interest in tramping. The danger level is somewhat lower. It will need thought to go back to climbing."
"I'm not going to give up on the outdoors and will definitely maintain an interest in tramping. The danger level is somewhat lower," he said.
"It will need thought to go back to climbing."
Dr Barr has progressed to the stage where his bed can be raised 40deg, and he can talk on the telephone, read, and write short letters. He hopes to be using a laptop computer this week.
He has also been exercising in the spinal unit's gym.
"It will be hard work when I finally stand up because I will be so weak," he said.
He gave full marks to unit staff, who he said made it a "great place," and were dedicated to getting patients up and about. He also appreciated the messages from well-wishers.
Full recuperation was likely to take up to 12 weeks.
Dr Barr was climbing a gully roped to two others when they fell about 100m in difficult snow conditions. A second injured climber was discharged earlier this month from Wellington Hospital.
Dr Barr, A Tararua Tramping Club member for more than 20 years, is a former national president of Federated Mountain Clubs, and is co-chairman of the Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations.
[Hugh has now returned to his
home in Wellington --23/10/99]
(Public Access, October 1998)
The headline may appear startling coming from an organisation with a focus on outdoor recreation. What business do we have in making such a sweeping statement, in effect raising the possibility of a severe erosion of democracy in New Zealand?
Public Access New Zealand (PANZ) was launched in 1992 full of hope that the voices of the people still mattered in New Zealand - that our political institutions and processes, and the bureaucracies that service them, still subscribed to democratic ideals of equality of standing for the individual, as well as basic standards of honesty in public affairs. In 1993 our 'Queen's Chain' campaign seriously reminded Government that they cannot ignore the will of the people, the weight of popular opinion.
In a rare turn-around for a governing party, they were forced to reverse their plan to allow the leasing of the 'Queen's Chain' to private interests. Seasoned political commentators identified this as an issue which had a bearing on the outcome of that election. This was no small feat for a small, embryonic organisation with almost no resources to back it, other than our knowledge, determination, and popular support.
How New Zealand has changed since! Our sense of betrayal persists. Within months of the 1993 election the Government broke its promises, as it has in so many areas of public policy. For the first time in New Zealand's history publicly owned water margins can now become privately occupied to the exclusion of the public.
When dealing directly with the proponents it was a revelation to us to witness the determination of politicians and officials to have their way, no matter what the interested public thought. This was a chilling insight into how the leadership of this country has changed. The wise and politically experienced may observe, well, this is politics, what else can you expect? Perhaps, but our experience from earlier political involvements was that, while we often met plain old-fashioned nepotism and expediency, negotiations were usually conducted with an air of dignity and fair-play.
Now those in governance view the electorate with ill-concealed contempt. They, and the market-forces theorists who exert most influence, know best. They alone have found the one true direction. This has the characteristics of a fundamentalist religious order, but without the sincerity necessary for it to be called a faith. Other viewpoints are cynically dismissed, deemed to have no merit. Just about every organ of Government has been so infected.
A particularly disturbing aspect of the present malaise is that it has spread into the broader community. Obvious self-serving interests like the Business Roundtable claim to advance policies that, for instance, give 'choice' to the under-privileged and disadvantaged (while giving far greater 'choice' to themselves), and even 'conservation' of public lands whilst depriving the owner-public of the benefits. It has also been alleged that some Wellington-based lobbyists can be captured and persuaded to support legislation which is contrary to the objects of their own organisations. PANZ hasn't found this easy to take, but it has better prepared us for the present unsavoury age. We can only rely on those who act in accordance with their words, not by words alone, inside and outside of Parliamentary circles.
The consolation for PANZ has been the realisation that we are not alone. In just about every sector of public affairs we hear daily expressions of despair and outrage at Government's actions and indifference. The country in now divided by ideology and self-interest.
The greatest danger is that we may become an "unconscious civilisation", a phrase coined by Canadian writer John Ralston Saul to describe the mindsets of the perpetrators and the victims of corporate influence acting at the expense of individual democratic rights. Such a civilisation is characterised by decision-makers' wilfully excluding relevant information, information which should have a bearing on their decisions, but which is set aside because it conflicts with their vision. This has necessitated a protective wall of insubstantive techno/managerial-speak (the role of 'communications managers'/spin doctors). The perpetrators end up believing their own illusions. The rest of us find the whole package incomprehensible, and are swept aside by the momentum of change.
Saul was describing an international phenomenon that is sweeping the western world with New Zealand at the forefront. Some still may not realise that we are at the cutting edge of the market-forces onslaught. We appear to be the World's laboratory guinea pigs for field testing of the latest pestilential ideology, one that Saul thinks is more akin to Mussolini's fascist Italy than any democratic traditions.
An additional phenomenon in New Zealand, is the ascendency of a parallel 'Treaty' industry of Maori grievances to the extent that all the major political parties are committed to appeasement through transferring public resources to the aggrieved, irrespective of the validity of claims. A global guilt consciousness has been created whereby measures to placate tend to be uncritically adopted, and scorn is heaped upon individuals or organisations who dare to question.
Our political process was badly let down by Labour's commitment to supporting the legislative enactment of the Ngai Tahu settlement before they had seen the reported back version. Earlier the nation witnessed the chief Ngai Tahu negotiator threatening "war" if Parliament dared to amend his agreement with the Crown. Such a threat, and the lack of defence of our Parliamentary process by the Government, shakes at the foundation of our democracy.
Though the actions and example of successive governments, community of interest is almost dead. Self-serving interests are daily rewarded by the actions and omissions of Government. No wonder there is a deepening sense of alienation, of disenfranchisement. It appears that no matter which way we vote, and what promises are extracted from politicians, they go their own way and disregard the wider wishes of the electorate.
The challenge for PANZ, and those we seek to serve, is not to succumb to the apparent hopelessness of the present. We must continue to analyse the actions of Government, and other bodies set up to advocate somewhat similar interests to us, and to speak out forcefully whenever necessary. The popular will must prevail eventually.
Alternatively Government will have to move to repress civil rights if it is to continue to enforce its unmandated views on a large proportion of the population. There are grounds for fearing that Government is sliding towards such a draconian state. The intention to introduce direct user charges as substitutes for centuries-old rights of freedom of movement under so-called road 'reforms' is the most glaring example to date.
We need to be better organised politically so that greater force can be given to our concerns. To this end PANZ is an inaugural member of the Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations (CORA). This is a new body set up to provide a large collective voice for recreationists in the political arena. It is interesting to note that the co-chairs of CORA appear to share our views on the current political situation.
CORA is not a substitute for PANZ. Our specialist knowledge is valued by the other member bodies and we are making a significant contribution to its work. That effort still needs to be funded by our supporters, as well as our commitments to tenure review in the South Island high country, watching road 'reforms' and the management of the public estate in general.
We are all living in difficult times, and PANZ is no exception. However we feel that we have a duty to all New Zealanders to persist in the face of adversity. Anything less would be a capitulation to the intolerable, and that we are not about to do.
Public Access No. 10. October 1998
PANZ supports the aims and objects of CORA and thinks readers will be interested in a few of the sentiments expressed by CORA's Co-Chairmen at their 1998 AGM on 13 September. What follows are Extracts from their lengthy report...
It is vital that the outdoor sporting public jointly refine our arguments and intensify our lobbying to make sure politicians understand our viewpoint. And that we endeavour to keep them to their word.
The formation of the Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of saw trout fishing, tramping, skiing, recreational canoeing, deerstalking, public access and salmon angling interests sitting around a table and discussing ways to achieve that numerically powerful voice. Estimates indicate 750,000 and probably nearer one million New Zealanders' outdoor interests were directly and indirectly represented.
The public outdoor sector has been like a slumbering giant but it seems at last it is awakening with the new council the catalyst and umbrella... The old issues are there or lurking such as the Queen's Chain, ethnic fishing rights as in the Wanganui test case and the Ngai Tahu bill, privatisation of public land in the high country and others. All require vigilance.
Frustratingly others have surfaced. One was a Business Roundtable proposal for all, including New Zealanders, to pay an access fee to public lands such as National Parks. This is totally contrary to our social and outdoor sporting traditions.
Another was the proposal for roading reform... In essence this would be a huge "access tax" on outdoor users whether trampers, anglers, hunters, or picnickers driving to their sport. Think of the mileage you do for your recreation. Again the group behind this was the Business Roundtable who proposed the concept two years ago.
A discussion document on the Resource Management Act showed a distinct free market, de-regulation flavour with no controls on development or on consideration of society or future generations. Under the guise of de-regulation, the proposals are alarming with respect to the public's environment.
Electricity reforms was another. Unfortunately and dangerously, there are a group of politicians who seem imbued with the free market ideology and are more concerned with representing that ideology than the public's interest or wishes.
The Ngai Tahu Bill was another.
However the most alarming aspect of these issues was the snub to democracy by politicians. Just recently Treaty Minister Doug Graham declared the decision of the Maori Affairs select committee would have had no influence on the final outcome that was decided on several months ago. The impression was that he did not care a damn for the New Zealanders who spent money and valuable time in making submissions. Frankly they were wasting their time it seems.
This is in spite of him telling the public at the time of negotiations with Ngai Tahu that they would have a chance to influence things at the select committee stage...
The behaviour of a number of MPs on the select committee was also a snub to democracy...arrogant and aggressive... and seemingly had no intention of listening and considering submissions that were contrary to their own opinions.
We had the situation on the Electricity reform where minister Max Bradford... decided on a course before the select committee had heard submissions and made its report.
They all come down to a "profits before people" philosophy.
Whether you look at the roading reform, trout farming, plans to charge New Zealanders entry to public lands, DoC removing public wilderness huts, tradeable water rights, electricity reforms which mean a free-for-all in building dams on trout and canoeing rivers, and others - they are all driven by the political free market lobby and the profit-instead-of-service syndrome.
This is the reality. Politics in our sport is simply "cause and effect". The sooner more and more realise that, the better! More must put their shoulder to the wheel of the common cause if we are to retain New Zealand's tradition of free and equitable access to the outdoors.
The challenge to the public and the council, its groups and other kindred organisations such as Fish and Game, are immense.
The brunt of the work has fallen on too few shoulders. That results in skilled, invaluable people becoming stressed, burnt-out and forced to reluctantly opt to the sideline. We cannot afford that. We all have to ask ourselves how much do we care about our sports. Our children's sports, our grandchildren's sports. Do we care enough to jot down some ideas on paper to post or fax back? Do we care enough to work together for the common cause?
If every member of each club affiliated to national organisations, spent a half an hour - just 30 minutes - every six months penning a letter to some editor, at some paper or magazine, on the issues confronting our sport, we would have little of the threats.
Select committee submissions are time consuming and can be expensive also. The Council, groups and individuals should always make submissions, perhaps written and at times verbal, if judged warranted. However greater effectiveness and better use of resources might be to shift priority to the public debating arena, such as letters to the editor of papers and magazines, opinion pieces and even initiating television current affairs investigations.
Stand together, develop our strengths and be counted.
A quote by a former US president Theodore Roosevelt has some relevant thoughts -
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood - who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly - Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in that grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
If we don't care enough, then the tradition of public outdoors as we've known it in the past over 100 years is at a crisis stage and that crisis is urgent. The late John F Kennedy once said-
"The race between education and erosion, between wisdom and waste, has not run its course - each generation must deal anew with the raiders, the scramble to use public resources for private profit and with the tendency to prefer short-run profits to long run necessities.
The nation's battle to preserve the common estate is far from run - the crisis may be quiet but it is urgent."
We believe the matter is urgent. New Zealand stands at the cross-roads, whether to choose "short-run profits" or "long run necessities".
The next year will be of particular significance if only for the single fact that 1999 - or even 1998! - is election year. This is the public's chance, once at least every three years. Because of recent anti-democratic trends it is a key election.
Council sees giving its outdoor recreation associations a higher profile for funding with the Hillary Commission and Lottery Grants Board as of high priority. Our preliminary research shows that recreation and especially outdoor recreation at the national level, has all but been pushed out the door by sport and high performance sport.
This is especially the case with the high level of rugby funding. It is ironic that a Commission named after New Zealand's greatest outdoor recreationalist, Sir Ed, should have so turned its back on outdoor amateur recreation, one of the key parts of our national identity. Even Hillary Commission surveys show that outdoor recreation - fishing, tramping, skiing, walking - have participation rates above sports like rugby, and league. Yet our sports get almost no Hillary support at that national recreation level.
We are preparing a delegation to the Hillary Commission to get the justified level of funding for outdoor recreation groups. We will also be advocating acknowledgement of the need to help fund protection and management advocacy of the outdoor lands and resource.
The Hillary Commission's priorities should be funding amateur recreation and sport ahead of commercial and professional sport.
Dr Hugh Barr & Tony Orman, Co-chairmen
Tony is Past President of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater Anglers and well known writer on the outdoors. Hugh is a past president of the Federated Mountain Clubs
Inaugural Participants:
Canterbury Ski Association, NZ Deersalkers Association, NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers, NZ Recreational Canoe Association, NZ Rifle, Rod & Gun Sports Association, NZ Salmon Anglers Association, Public Access New Zealand
The objects of CORA include -
Strong recreational user voice : To promote the welfare and strength of its member associations, and outdoor recreation generally.
Protection and Wise Management : To promote the protection and wise management of outdoor recreation resources, and related natural environments, for the protection of intrinsic values, and for the benefit of recreational users, now and in the future.
Public Ownership and Management : To advocate the continuation in public ownership, with government responsibility for management, of all currently publicly owned outdoor recreation resources, and for the addition of further such resources to public ownership and management as the Council believes wise or appropriate. This includes working for a strong recreational user voice in the management of those resources.
Public Access : To work to retain free, egalitarian public access to, and use of, publicly managed lands, waters, and other resources, subject to wilderness protection and user conflict reduction considerations.
4 April 1994. Otago Daily Times
Nelson (PA)-- Developers might
be able to buy resource planning consent for their projects in
future, a Planning Tribunal judge said in Nelson yesterday.
In a speech to the Planning Institute's annual conference, Judge
John Treadwell there there was now more consultation among planners,
lawyers, developers and people potentially affected by a development
before projects went ahead.
It was possible that in future developers would pay people who
would otherwise make submissions against a planned project, in
order to achieve their consent. "I suspect that a time may
be reached when resource consents can, to a degree, be bought,"
the judge said. This approach may be more economic for a developer
rather than having to "run the gamut of the consent process"..."there
is an old Italian proverb which says: 'Where gold speaks every
tongue is silent'."
[Reprinted in 'Public Access', No. 4. May 1994]