June 22, 2015
Swamp tricks raises stink over kauri exports
Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis says the swamp kauri trade is failing the sniff test and there needs to be an inquiry.
Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says landowners have a right to extract the ancient trees on their land.
But Mr Davis says there seems to be a lot of deception involved, and not just with timber getting a surface layer of Maori carving to get around restrictions on the export of raw logs.
He says the inquiry needs to look at not just the actions of Customs and other government agencies but also at what Northland farmers are doing.
"Kauri is under protected wetlands so what I am hearing is some farmers are spraying their wetlands everything dies on it. When DOC or the Ministry of Business and Enterprise turn to examine where these diggers are going to go. All they see is dead grass and that and they go oh thats not a wetland. Theres something dodgy going on. We all know, we can all smell and it needs to be looked at" says Kelvin Davis.
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