Lukewarm interest in climate hui

By EUGENE BINGHAM

Bureaucrats sometimes outnumbered attendees at a $30,000 series of hui to consult Maori over global-warming issues.

Just 75 people turned up for the 10 regional meetings on the impact of ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, making the cost more than $400 a head.

But the Government has defended the expenditure, saying the hui were the best way to reach Maori forestry owners who play a key part in the process.

Act MP Rodney Hide said the exercise was "political correctness gone mad" and doubted it was the most efficient way to reach Maori. He also asked why they got separate briefings.

The Environment Minister, Marian Hobbs, said Mr Hide had singled out one group of the many involved in the consultation.

The Government had budgeted $800,000 to consult the public over the Kyoto Protocol, an international package to deal with climate change.

Ms Hobbs said the issue affected forestry and thus had a big impact on Maori.

Officials from the Ministry for the Environment, Te Puni Kokiri (the Ministry of Maori Development) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry made presentations to the hui over the past two months.

A written parliamentary answer to Mr Hide said that the median number of officials who attended the meetings was five.

Ms Hobbs said the first two meetings had five and 11 people.