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Action Station believes a protest involving giant inflatable tutae emojis has given the message to the Government that its water standards fall short.
The 50 inflatables were launched on Lake Ohakuri on the Waikato River, just downstream from Wairakei Resort where National’s environmentally conscious BlueGreens held a breakfast session on Sunday morning.
Campaign director Laura O'Connell Rapira says the protest got international attention, as its message Cut the crap National, resonates with people concerned that more than 60 percent of New Zealand’s monitored waterways are polluted.
She says the current policy of 90 percent swimmable rivers by 2040 is a joke.
"When in fact we dug into the detail of those policies, it looked as though they had just changed the legal definition of what swimmable meant so this is a way to say to National and leaders and decision makers we aren't going away, we are going to keep this issue in the media, we are going to keep conversation going unless you actually take action for our rivers rather than just work around the words to make it look like you’re taking action," Ms O'Connell Rapira says.
The protest was moved from Lake Taupo because Ngati Tuwharetoa did not want its awa associated with tutae, even in plastic inflatable form.
LAURA O'CONNELL RAPIRA INTERVIEW
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