A Northland water-quality campaigner is calling on everyone, regardless of their political views, to support a Green Party campaign to clean up the country's rivers and streams.
Millan Ruka from Environment River Patrol Aotearoa said the party's "Swimmable Rivers" campaign should be supported by all political parties, and those that did not were out of step with what Kiwis wanted for their children.
The new campaign centres on improving water quality in 10 waterways around the country, including the Wairua River in Northland that Mr Ruka has long campaigned to be cleaned up.
To reach the goal of "swimmable" rivers, the Greens would introduce a moratorium on new land conversions for dairy. The party would also put a price on commercial use of water and reinvest the income in water-restoration projects. The party already has a policy of making all rivers in New Zealand clean enough to swim in, though it has not set a timeline or estimated the cost of such a measure.
Mr Ruka said the Dairy and Clean Streams Accord had no teeth and was a voluntary agreement that was not binding on all players.