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KAKA Press Releases |
Karameans Advocating Kahurangi Action (KAKA)–a community group established in January 2008 to address local concern over the broad-scale, indiscriminate use of the poison sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) by the Department of Conservation and the Animal Health Board–has launched a website to share information on the 1080 issue and inform interested people of the groups activities. The site www.kaka1080.co.nz contains accurate information such as: research documents, legal news and images relating to the use of 1080 in New Zealand. It will be regularly updated. Feedback from site visitors is welcomed by KAKA and will be used to further improve the site. The website is an important element of KAKA’s ongoing campaign to ban the aerial distribution of 1080 and demand the implementation of viable alternatives to pest control. Alternatives that truly enable New Zealanders to promote our country’s Clean/Green/100% Pure image and agricultural products with confidence and pride. KAKA Objectives: In conjunction with like-minded groups and individuals across the West Coast (and New Zealand): Disseminate valid reliable information on 1080 related issues. Foster linkages and information sharing between anti-1080 groups. Ensure that those responsible for pest-control activities are fully accountable. Implement a politically based regional strategy to force an effective ban, no later than 2011, on 1080 air drops across the West Coast. Contribute to the development and implementation of effective alternative methods for pest and bovine tuberculosis control. Ensure that the level of funding currently used by Councils, the AHB and DOC and others on pest control programs across the Coast continues to be available for implementing alternative (non-1080) pest control methods. Ensure that any alternative programs maximise the employment of local residents in small communities. Make a positive contribution towards a possible future national ban on 1080. Paul Murray __________________________________________________________________ KAKA Press Release: June 17, 2008 1080: Age of Consent? It has come to the attention of 1080 action group Karameans Advocating Kahurangi Action (KAKA) that the Animal Health Board and pest-control contractor EPRO have been sneakily organising new consents through the West Coast Regional Council to substantially expand the area of a scheduled 1080 drop in Karamea on the northern West Coast from 30,631 hectares to 52,196 hectares without public consultation. The consent applications have not been publicly notified and while this behaviour may be legal, is it ethical? The use of 1080 on the West Coast is an extremely contentious issue and many Coasters have serious and justifiable concerns about their personal safety and the environmental impact of the process. Accordingly, West Coast residents should be clearly informed of any changes to the 1080 programme and this has not been the case. For the AHB, EPRO and the WCRC to then covertly change the conditions of the consent and expand the scope of the programme without alerting the residents that may be affected must surely bring into question the ethics of the procedure in which such bodies are bound and the level of trust the public can afford them. In addition, the use of carrot baits has been introduced into the programme, whereas in the initial (publicly informed consent) only cereal baits were to be used. Carrot baits are particularly attractive to deer, could it be that the Department of Conservation is pulling the strings to have the programme expanded? KAKA will continue to work for the people of the West Coast to closely watch the activities of the aforementioned government agencies and poison contractor to reveal the truth and provide information to the public that should reasonably be available. Paul Murray _______________________________________________________________ KAKA Press Release: Karameans Advocating Kahurangi Action (KAKA) is pleased the Animal Health Board (AHB) has postponed the scheduled 1080-drop for Karamea and applauds the West Coast Regional Council for requiring the AHB to reconfirm landowner consent. However, we still believe that the AHB is determined to proceed with the drop and will do so by redrawing the boundaries of the drop away from privately owned land to eliminate the need for landowner consent. In addition, the comments made in relation to the consultation process by AHB vector-control manager Chris Pullen are at best misleading. KAKA has yet to find a single local resident who has a clear understanding that a new consent was being pursued, despite the AHB having several opportunities to publicly state that the application to the WCRC for a new consent with a larger area (from 30,000 hectares to 52, 000 hectares and increase of about 60%) and different bait type (from cereal to carrot baits) had been initiated. To highlight this fact, KAKA has also yet to find a single landowner approached directly by employees of pest-control contractor EPRO to seek their agreement to a new consent application--as is required under the process--who was given a clear indication of the new consent application and what it entailed. This is precisely why many landowners have decided to withdraw their signatures on the grounds that they did not fully understand what was being asked of them. The existence of a new consent application was in fact inadvertently discovered by KAKA members in the process of researching the activities of the AHB, the WCRC and EPRO on behalf of the people of Karamea and the West Coast. _______________________________________________________________ KAKA Press Release: KAKA Legal Appeal
http://www.chenpalmer.com/ Karameans Advocating Kahurangi Action (KAKA) is a community group formed in Karamea late last year to address the concerns of the people living in our region about scheduled 1080 air drops. KAKA’s activities have drawn considerable attention to this issue on the West Coast and have added weight to the efforts of other 1080 groups around the country. The efforts of the KAKA committee and members have now reached the point where legal advice is required to sustain and build on the public momentum we have gained. Recently, a KAKA member approached top public law firm Chen Palmer, which has now agreed to provide legal advice to KAKA and provide representations as needed. Chen Palmer’s support will prove critical to consolidating our gains and forcing decision makers at the political level to properly address legitimate public concerns about the use of 1080. Any legal information or advice that KAKA receives from Chen Palmer will be shared with all 1080 campaigners nation wide to enable us all to find a better alternative to 1080, one that is acceptable to all stakeholders. KAKA is appealing for financial support to cover on-going legal costs. Donations, large or small, will be gratefully accepted. Paul Murray. KAKA 1080 Legal Fund Cheques can be sent to: _______________________________________________________________ KAKA Press Release: Chen Palmer Agree to Provide Legal Advice to West Coast Individuals with close connections to 1080 action group Karameans Advocating Kahurangi Action (KAKA) have enlisted the services of top public law firm Chen Palmer to provide them with legal advice over the use of sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) by the Animal Health Board and the Department of Conservation. That advice will also cover the West Coast Regional Council's consents process for the use of 1080. Nick Russell, a public law specialist for Chen Palmer, will be working on issues pertaining to the use of 1080 on the West Coast and his advice will inform KAKA committee decisions. KAKA will continue to represent the people of Karamea and the West Coast who are adversely effected by or opposed to the AHB-sponsored 1080 poison programme. _______________________________________________________________ KAKA Press Release: 1080: Midwives Advise Pregnant Women to Karamea women fear damaging effect of 1080 on developing foetuses The midwife of a pregnant Karamea woman Danielle Yealands has advised her client to relocate during the Animal Health Board 1080 poison drop scheduled in the Karamea region from July 1 to July 10 and the subsequent period while the baits are active. Sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) is a suspected endocrine disruptor and pregnant women are justifiably concerned that the toxin may influence the development of their unborn children. Yealands, a self-employed as a massage therapist and body alignment specialist, has applied to the Animal Health Board (AHB) for compensation for loss of income and relocation and travel expenses that will be incurred as a result of the AHB’s scheduled 1080 operation in the Karamea region. Two other pregnant Karamea women have been similarly advised by their midwives are and will also relocate to avoid possible pregnancy complications resulting from exposure to the toxin during the AHB-sponsored programme. There have been numerous reported cases of women miscarrying following previous 1080 drops in the Karamea and other regions and the midwife is concerned for the safety of the woman and her developing child. Community group Karameans Advocating Kahurangi Action (KAKA), which was formed late last year to address community concerns over the indiscriminate use of 1080, supports the compensation claim and hopes that the AHB addresses the issue promptly and comprehensively to allay the concerns of the women and the community over the possibility that the 1080 programme may cause birth defects or miscarriages. ________________________________________________________________ KAKA Press Release: 1080 Poison Signs on Heaphy Track It is understandable that pregnant women have serious concerns about the potential for 1080 to damage foetuses and the potential effects of the poison on male and female fertility. The AHB routinely claims that 1080 is relatively harmless if used properly. Also, last week the AHB Communications Manager Nick Hancox said, “Human health is not the domain of the Animal Health Board.” Finally, the AHB claims that the 1080 operation does not decimate native birdlife, or contaminate the soil, water and air. Tourism operators, many dairy farmers and other residents living in the 1080-drop zones vehemently disagree with the AHB, as 1080 is a class A toxin as classified by the World Health Organisation. It is deadly to all living things, including birds, insects, invertebrates and aquatic animals. It also pollutes waterways and can persist in the soil. Also, the manner in which 1080 is used and applied by the AHB directly contradicts the instructions given by the manufacturers of the poison and the recommendations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Residents are also concerned about the human health implications of the broad scale; indiscriminate use of 1080 and this is also of concern to the tourism operators who are responsible for the safety of their guests. The AHB's 1080 programme has a real and significant negative impact on the local tourism industry while putting New Zealand’s Clean/Green/100%Pure international brand in jeopardy. Their activities conflict directly with the efforts of the tourism operators, disrupt communities and creating considerable anxieties among people living in the drop zones. The AHB programme should not interfere with businesses activity, the unique West Coast environment (a major international tourist draw card), or risk the health of Coasters. If the AHB is not prepared to take responsibility for disrupting the lives and livelihoods of people affected by their activities by compensating them, they should immediately cease all 1080 operations and genuinely implement the viable alternative solutions that are currently available. KAKA will continue to represent people in the Karamea and other West Coast regions who are concerned about the impact of the AHB and the Department of Conservation's 1080 programmes. __________________________________________________________________ KAKA Press Release: AHB-Who's Your Daddy? The Animal Health Board (AHB) has rejected requests for compensation from tourism operators and pregnant women who will be adversely affected by the ongoing AHB 1080 programme. In rejecting those claims, the AHB stated that they are legally unable to offer compensation to businesses or individuals affected by its activities with one exception--cattle slaughtered because they are Tb positive or cannot be moved as a result of livestock movement restrictions. The AHB communications Manager also stated, "human health is not the domain of the Animal Health Board." Also, in response to a serious submission to the Ombudsman about the activities of the AHB made by community group Karameans Advocating Kahurangi Action (KAKA), John Haynes of the Office of the Ombudsman stated recently, "The Animal Health Board is an incorporated society and is not answerable to anyone." These responses by the AHB and the Ombudsman raise the serious issue of the accountability of the AHB for its actions. KAKA and others are now wondering whether the AHB is essentially an unrestrained, feral quango that is not accountable to the New Zealand public. Is the AHB in fact accountable to any organisation or individual? If so, the public would be interested to know what regulatory bodies, government ministers or other individuals control and monitor the activities of the AHB. Is anyone accountable for the activities of the AHB? _________________________________________________________________ KAKA Press Release: AHB Should Compensate People Adversely Affected by its Activities The Animal Health Board (AHB) has rejected compensation claims filed in June by West Coast tourism business owners in Karamea and Granity for business interruption and restriction to trade resulting from the AHB aerial 1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate) operation. The AHB has also refused to pay compensation to pregnant women who were advised to leave the Karamea district for the duration of the 1080 operation to cover their accommodation and travel expenses. The AHB claim that they are legally unable to offer compensation to businesses or individuals affected by the 1080 programme with one exception--cattle slaughtered because they are Tb positive or cannot be moved as a result of livestock movement restrictions. New Zealand is marketed internationally as “Clean Green/100%Pure” holiday destination and the West Coast is promoted on the same basis. Each tourism operator has spent considerable time, money and effort to promote their respective businesses by advertising their facilities, services and regions as environmentally clean, green, pure, pristine, safe, natural, scenic and beautiful. The tourism operators want to ensure the regions they are promoting remain beautiful, unspoilt and clean for visitors to enjoy. The West Coast is one of the most beautiful regions of New Zealand and it should be maintained accordingly so that future generations of New Zealanders can enjoy what the Coast has to offer. The tourism business owners feel it is improper and even fraudulent to encourage visitors to Karamea and Granity following the 1080 drop given that every tourist attraction in the region will be poisoned by the AHB aerial 1080 programme and the bush walks, scenic spots and tourist attractions and will be blighted with skull and crossbones “Warning 1080 Poison” signs.
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©Kaka 1080 Group 2008