KEY POINTS:
The Government has called on the Department of Conservation to be more transparent when accepting cash deals related to resource consents.
Acting Conservation Minister Nick Smith said the department was not "sufficiently transparent in its involvement with Meridian Energy" during the resource consent process for Meridian's Otago windfarm.
But Mr Smith said the Government was supporting the windfarm as a project of national importance.
"It makes no sense for the taxpayer to pay for different lawyers representing different parts of the Government arguing different sides of the debate in the Environment Court," Mr Smith said.
Earlier this week DoC was criticised over its secret agreement worth $175,000 with Meridian Energy in May, 2007.
DoC agreed that it would drop all its outstanding issues in relation to Project Hayes and adopt a neutral stance on the project.
The Green party and the Environmental Defence Society attacked the confidential nature of the agreement.
Green Party co-leader Ms Fitzsimons said the issue of bartering over developments was not new, and was an ongoing saga of development and conservation clashing.
While there were many options in terms of mitigating conservation damage, money changing hands in secrecy for silence was unacceptable, Ms Fitzsimons said.
DoC's Otago Conservator Jeff Connell stood by the agreement on Radio NZ on Monday.
He told Radio NZ that it would have been inappropriate to oppose the scheme when the Labour-led Government at the time supported it.
The minister for the Environment at the time the deal was made between Meridian and DoC was David Benson-Pope.
He told nzherald.co.nz he had no recollection of the deal but said Cabinet decided there would be a "Government decision" on wind farms.
National Conservation Minister Tim Groser called for a report into the matter earlier this week.
His colleague, Mr Smith received the report today.
"I am confident that DOC has learnt lessons from the public's reaction to its deal with Meridian over Project Hayes," Mr Smith said.
