WHEN this Government first took office, they ditched two initiatives they clearly hated. Those decisions may need to be reconsidered with the benefit of hindsight.
One was the healthy food in schools guidelines, which were set to remove a daily diet of pies, chippies and sugar-laden drinks from tuckshops and replace them with healthier options.
Then Education Minister Anne Tolley justified removing the guidelines by saying it was up to parents and students to make healthy choices.
Given it subsequently emerged that Ms Tolley had undergone gastric bypass surgery for weight loss, her faith in individual choices might seem misplaced.
When we are offered quick sugar, salt and fat hits it is hard to weigh long-term health against short-term comfort.
Another quickly euthanised project was the Education for Sustainability advisory team that worked with schools to implement UN agreements on the importance of environmental education.
The UN conventions had identified the need for an informed populace who could participate in action for the environment.
New Zealand signed on to those idealistic agreements but until the Labour-led government's support deals with the Greens, most of the running had come from the independent Enviroschools movement. For nine years the Helen Clark-led government did support environmental education through the Ministry of Education.
Anne Tolley
All that was gone by lunchtime when John Key's team took over and put all their emphasis on the National Standards testing regime.
It may seem surprising that a government wouldn't want an informed populace who had been educated to identify the state of their ecosystems and empowered to act at individual, community and political levels.
Maybe we were less surprised in 2010 when the Government sacked the democratically-elected Canterbury Regional Council ECAN and replaced it with government nominees to make more profit.
The empowered people ideals of Education for Sustainability do not mesh with a myopic focus on economic growth and this government has chilled opponents. Scientists and community groups fear their heavy hand on who gets resources.
Last week National Cabinet minister Alfred Ngaro apologised for threatening that funding would be withdrawn from groups who criticised the Government.
The only real surprise was that he was upfront about that method of dealing with unfavourable public debate.
Bill English certainly didn't like that.
In the US, President Donald Trump is defunding the scientists providing environmental information to the public.
From Nasa to the EPA, he is purging those who can blow the whistle on the fossil fuel industry and its effects on climate.
