Why Oppose the Game Animal Council Amendment Bill
This is not about conservation — it’s about concession. The Bill weakens the National Parks Act, grants political power to protect invasive species, and invites recreational interests to override ecological and Treaty-based safeguards.
Here’s what the bill actually does, why it’s dangerous, and how it fits into a broader pattern of environmental deregulation and centralised power.
What This Bill Really Does
- Overrides the National Parks Act: Removes the legal requirement to exterminate introduced species in protected areas if they’re declared "herds of special interest."
- Grants excessive power to a single Minister: Eliminates oversight from the New Zealand Conservation Authority, centralising control in one portfolio without checks.
- Lacks scientific thresholds or public safeguards: Provides no definition of what makes a herd “special,” no environmental criteria, and no mandatory consultation.
- Legalises the protection of destructive species: Allows deer, tahr, chamois, and other browsers to remain in national parks, accelerating ecosystem decline.
- Ignores Te Tiriti o Waitangi: Excludes tangata whenua from decision-making about invasive species, land care, or conservation law reform.
Why This Threatens Everyone
- Turns public parks into hunting playgrounds: Opens the door to private recreational or trophy interests within public conservation land.
- Undermines science-based management: Shifts conservation law from ecological evidence to ministerial preference.
- Accelerates biodiversity loss: Invasive species devastate native ecosystems — and this bill protects them instead of removing them.
- Silences tangata whenua environmental leadership: No obligation to consult iwi on decisions affecting their ancestral landscapes and taonga species.
- Weakens long-term conservation law: Sets a precedent where commercial or cultural popularity can override ecological need.
The Bigger Pattern
This is not an isolated move. It’s part of a wider political shift to deregulate conservation, fast-track resource exploitation, and reframe public land as a commercial asset base.
From this bill to mining expansions, fast-track approvals, and undermining Te Mana o Te Wai, the direction is clear: centralise power, cut scientific and Māori input, and unlock public nature for private use.
Once national parks become multi-use zones shaped by ministers and hunters, the idea of protected land loses meaning — and the natural world pays the price.
If You Care About Conservation
This bill is not reform — it is regression. It does not protect — it permits harm. It does not balance — it betrays the very purpose of the National Parks Act.
If you believe public conservation land should protect native life, not preserve hunting grounds…
If you believe biodiversity loss is a national crisis, not a negotiable hobby…
If you believe tangata whenua have a right to lead, not be sidelined…
Then now is the time to oppose this bill.
“You don’t preserve the wild by protecting the invaders.” — Ukes Baha