Friday, April 3, 2026
1080 is destroying the forest tapu, polluting papatuanuku. ‘It’s like shitting in your own backyard.”. He believes 1080 is damaging the mauri of the forest. ‘the forest is traditionally considered our food basket, 1080 is damaging it for everyone.
https://dailytelegraph.co.nz/opinion/unredacted-food-sovereignty-and-the-1080-files/
Unredacted – Food Sovereignty and the 1080 Files
Tick tock what time is it?
It’s dinner time, but the butter is green and there is no bread. As the cost of living rises people are increasingly feeling the pinch – Fuel, rates, taxes, rents, and food prices pushing through the roof – New Zealanders are looking beyond supermarkets for solutions. There is a resurgence in growing food and fishing, a boom in foraging and hunting as people find other ways to feed the whanau – but when our government still throws 1080 at the bush – is it actually safe for us to eat from the Ngahere? This self-sufficiency momma bear wanted to know exactly, what are the risks to our health?
The story begins in Medieval England. Post Norman conquest laws prohibited common folk from hunting in forests. This privilege is reserved for Elite,… and poaching comes with deadly consequences. Loss of limb, even death – a hungry family poses no excuse. ‘Give us this day our daily bread!’ Poor harvests meant the price of bread was high and the people suffered. By and by the people looked to the state for relief, but little was offered to allay hunger and death. Along came the hungry 1840s. Enclosure of common land meant rural villagers could not plant crops, or graze animals. Lands were taken by force. The poor left to suffer and die unnoticed “from absolute want of the necessaries of life”. With major starvation, industrialisation called. The starvation act was passed offering relief only to workhouse workers which drove rapid urbanisation. It was dire, crowded city streets filthy with poor sanitation, child labour, and unsafe workplace conditions.
Enter Captain Cook – and the buzz word of the day is ‘colonialism’ ….Presented as an opportunity to start life anew, a chance to escape deprivation and class based inequalities. New Zealand the ideal, New Zealand the idyllic. Exotic lands were to be established as a self-supporting nation. The New Zealand company depicted brochures of rural, rolling downs – a ‘Britain of the South’. A utopia with the promise of the ‘gift of a 40 acre farm’. – For people who had lived a millennia in the same regions, who had built their history, surrounded by ancestors and towns with kin – to leave, the situation had to be dire. Families packed worldly goods, and crammed into tiny ships for months. Some didn’t make it. Upon arrival they learned the situation had been grossly misrepresented. Seeing the forests to be ‘void of game, and the rivers empty of fish’. The lands were largely covered in bush and marshes with little fertility for grazing, no animals for meat, and nowhere for crops to be planted.
There was much to do. New Zealand was to be a self supporting nation with the goal of supplying its own food. The establishment of public lands for hunting and fishing were to be the “beau ideal of a new country”. Working class were guaranteed the right to a national estate. A common land to be enjoyed by all. It was a vision of ‘the largest unfenced farm in the world’.
Acclimatisation societies were formed in the 1860’s with the hope to improve upon nature. Forests were stocked with possums, moose, pigs, goats, tahr, rabbits, deer and the rivers with salmon, and trout. The Government was responsible for the bulk of mustelid releases. Letters back to England were full of stories about hunting pigs, goats, rabbits and birds, ‘free from fear of prosecution.’ When hunting was becoming increasingly restricted overseas by the 1930s New Zealand hunting was not only free to all, it was strongly encouraged. Plants too were introduced. With most of our pastoral plants, grasses, plantain, dock, clover, chickweed and dandelion coming from England. By 1925 pasture covered 16.5 million acres, almost a quarter of the country. Early settlers and Maori alike had established crops, with livestock for farms and hunting a vital way of life…..
2010, Hari Hari, West Coast ‘What we need is to get media attention on this problem’. The idea was to get publicity and they wanted a whole lot of people who were prepared to get arrested. They gathered a group together – Peter Salter, Dan lane, Phil Patterson and others contacted media and said to them that ‘if they wanted a story then they had better be there.’
We went up the paddock with z nails – like a road spike of which if you drive over it would puncture tyres, and we put these on the road just on the turn of light.’ The guys gathered on site until the cops came.
Peter Salter (aka Pete the Bushman of HariHari possum pies) had the media with him at the gate – and he had a walkie talkie. Dan heard a helicopter coming – a big chopper – it was landing in the paddock. He was coming into land. Dan said to Peter ‘Do you see this, is it coming in?’. ‘Yep, yep.’ So Dan runs out and stands in front of the helicopter yelling at him – the helicopter sees Dan in shock and pulls up – Chopper is gone. Dan walks into a crowd that had gathered.
Security are having a tussle with the guys. Media, and cops are coming, creating excellent entertainment. The cops said to each of them that they had been trespassed.…the paddy wagon comes up and tries to arrest them. Dan messaged Peter to ‘tell the media as they would be driving past, and were getting arrested and were going to create hell as they went past!’
This hit the news in a big way and that’s when the conversation around 1080 really kicked off.
In the 2010’s I was one of the few foragers around, today foraging has become a booming trend. I raised the kids foraging mushrooms, nuts, wild vegetables, berries, fruits and medicinal herbs. My own 1080 story began in 2016 we moved to the wilderness where our family really ramped up the self sufficient dream.
A cabin in the woods existence. Establishing food gardens, foraging and fishing – my husband hunting and butchering carcasses, learning to skin and process meat as a family. Filling the freezer for the price of a bullet.
I just love to harvest from the maara and take hunted meat from the freezer especially when money is tight because we know we can still eat well. It’s our way of life, we live for the adventure and independence. It’s cheaper and a healthier way to be.
But soon after we moved to the bush we learned our safety was under threat. “The first time the helicopters came it felt like we were under siege. We had been presented with a map which showed an expansive red area with a little white blob in the middle. That was our land, surrounded by the aerial 1080 redzone. For days the helicopters came – dropping 1080 again and again with our little home perched in the middle – a constant dukka dukka dukka of helicopters reverberating across the valley. You couldn’t escape the sound, it felt like a military attack. I worried for my kids and animals, I worried about 1080 dust drifting onto our garden and into our water tanks. ‘You can’t hunt for at least 6 months after a drop’ our neighbour said. He wouldn’t touch his creek water for a year. And I felt like we were being shunted out of the bush.
Over the years I’ve seen a major shift – In 2026 the cost of living is high and rising.
Many cannot afford to eat, and people are choosing between feeding their kids and heating their homes. Westport’s budget advisory service said they had 750 people who needed food parcels last year and they are one of three such services in Westport alone – a town of just 5000. Questions are being raised around food security. With most relying heavily on supermarkets for all food what exactly is New Zealand’s food strategy? Vulnerabilities were revealed during the quakes and covid with entire regions outsourcing food supplies. Scientist Di Rossiter says ’99.7% of all food is sourced from outside the Buller district.’ And this raises questions around a modern food strategy which seems to be leaving citizens vulnerable.
Facebook influencer Josh Morgan made the important link between the cost of living and a need to return to traditional methods of feeding the family. “Consider a typical family shopping list. Items like bread, milk, meat, and fresh produce have all seen significant price increases. This is forcing families to make difficult choices, such as buying cheaper, less healthy alternatives, reducing portion sizes, or relying on food banks. For low-income households, the impact is even more severe, as they spend a larger proportion of their income on food. The rising cost of food can lead to food insecurity, impacting people’s health and well-being. To combat rising food costs, many Kiwis are exploring alternative strategies.”
Josh describes himself as a hard out hunter and Kaitiaki. He believes many people are too proud to say they are struggling. “People are finding it hard, they can’t eat. Food prices have gone ridiculous, rates, fuel everything hiked.’ He says how he copes is to hunt ‘Most of my life I’ve been hunting. I learnt from one of my uncles didn’t go hard out till later in my teens I learnt how to process it all at age 6. People are now detached from the animal. They look at a steak in a packet and just think that’s what it is, they are detached from hunting, and death. He believes in showing respect for the animal by teaching his own kids the traditional ways of Kaitiakitanga. Josh says he’s seeing kiwis struggling with the cost of living and having to move away overseas. He believes we need to boycott the supermarkets.
Pressures are driving individual Food Sovereignty to mainstream think – By 2021 I was teaching bush foraging and medicine. Last year I was invited by West Coast Health to run a 6 week series of workshops on Food Sovereignty to ‘meet the real need out there’ – teaching people how to produce good food for free or cheaply for themselves. The participants left feeling empowered and inspired. But I am concerned that there are dangers surrounding harvesting food from the bush and have begun to express concerns around 1080. As a result I was also invited to speak at Flora and Fauna’s Annual forum in 2025 around the subject of Food Sovereignty and the impact of 1080.
Self-sufficiency is idyllic and empowering but there is a caveat to this existence….
There are very real risks when harvesting from the bush. Josh Morgan says 1080 is destroying the forest tapu, polluting papatuanuku. ‘It’s like shitting in your own backyard.”. He believes 1080 is damaging the mauri of the forest. ‘the forest is traditionally considered our food basket, 1080 is damaging it for everyone. It’s not just the land it’s the water too Koura, native trout, eels, watercress, rongoa for medicines. 1080 doesn’t take into account history and there is little to no consultation with iwi.”
In 2021 I had the pleasure of meeting Nate Smith at a workshop I was teaching in Invercargill. Nate is a Parent, Rakiura spokesman, Iwi and owner operator of Gravity Sustainable Fishing. Nate was homeschooling and teaching his children at the time, showing them how to live sustainably off the land. I later ran into Nate at the jetty in Rakiura while taking a short break on the island. There I learnt about his sustainable Gravity fishing business. Nate has been passionate about conservation for a very long time, and he intimately knows this land.
I asked him how he feels about 1080. He tells me ‘1080 could be a potential breach of the treaty and a public consultation process is underway.’ The Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840, established a partnership between Māori and the Crown, ensuring Māori rights to their lands and resources. Concerns have been raised about the use of 1080 in relation to the Treaty, particularly regarding: Environmental Impact: The potential harm to native wildlife, which is significant to Māori culture and identity and the need for proper consultation with Māori communities before implementing pest control measures that may affect their lands and resources.
Nate says ‘Out of a Community of 500 only around 10-12 people on the island are in support of 1080. Every second house has a no 1080 sign on it. DOC led the community to believe they had a say but they were not listening even to people who had been there for 80 plus years including kaumatua. We are 5/6th generations of people who care about the land and sea as a food resource. Mandated iwi organisations are making decisions for the island who don’t actually live on the island.”
To support the case Nate has been leading a group of 37 people into bush with him – Its a peaceful observation of what is going on in the Mana whenua. They are there to observe drops before, during and after – a clear cut observation. They have observed no birdsong, no bugs, no moths even in tents with their torches on. It’s quite a different picture to the abundance I personally experienced when I was there in 2021.
Nate says ‘There are dead moths and insects everywhere, they found dead white-tailed deer – pellets on track after 28 days, and these are supposed to degrade in 48 hours max. This is because the government spent 29 million dollars in 2019 to slow down degradation of capsule with a double wax coating. After one month Nate and his team found – Dead insects, dead deer, dead kiwi, 1 dead cat, skinks, wetas, spiders, tomtit, kakareki, tui, 3 possum, 2 rats all dead. According to DOC, Rakiura is supposedly overrun with mustelids and rats and cats. Based on what?, residents only know of one stoat and one cat sighting.
Nates generational view is that when you live within a balanced ecosystem the sign of a few rats is seen as a sign of abundance, the rats die off when there is lack. This view comes from intimate understanding and direct relationship with the ecosystem. The juxtaposition of the 1080 world view to Nate’s sustainable mindset appears to be at polar opposites.
Furthermore – with amendments to the wild life bill DOC are now allowed to kill wildlife in operations. As a consequence 100 tonnes of 1080 is being dumped creating massive imbalances in the ecosystem. Fungi, bacteria, bugs, lizards and so on….all impacted. Nate says ‘Little creatures are needed in the forest. They are food, they breakdown matter, they feed the mycelium which in turns feeds the trees. If you take out all these little creatures, you take out the ability to spread seed.’ He believes most people are against 1080 including DOC, but there is an attitude around 1080 of. “If you not with us you are against us…..there is only yes minister.”
As a fisherman he’s seen changes ‘Its affecting the sea too, we noticed after previous drops of 1080 there were not as much cod. When filleting fish, some had 1080 in the gut contents. And we know water samples from DOC were not taken from the drop zone.’ This alone should be of concern.
The American manufacturer of Compound 1080 warns that it ‘should never enter watercourses because of the extreme toxicity to aquatic life.’ (Based on findings in a 2004 study undertaken by scientists employed at the time by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA) and funded by the Animal Health Board, when they undertook an important experiment). The aim of the study was to test the resilience of some fish and eels to poison Compound 1080. Despite the well-established risks of Compound 1080, NIWA decided that no human ethics application was necessary. No rationale has been supplied by NIWA for this decision.
Nate says ‘Our economy is hurting, and it’s a tough place to be right now. Hunting and fishing parties have dropped off with no bookings due to 1080, it’s the same with tourism. Rakiura was a Peaceful community. It’s been really detrimental to community and morale is down as we are not being listened to. It’s impacting those who choose to live in these places, eroding our resilience psychologically and taking away our wild food resources. Rakiura leans heavily on its wild food, hunting and fishing which provides the backbone to this economy and is essential food for residents.’
In New Zealand the first trials for 1080 were carried out in 1954, and by 1957 its use had become widespread. 1080 is a poison which is dropped indiscriminately from the air in New Zealand tonnes upon tonnes annually. (The baits contain 0.15% pure poison). It kills human beings at the rate of 0.5 to 2 mgs per kg bodyweight (LD50 – Negherbon). This has been calculated to equate to enough poison this year alone to kill 85 million people.
I wonder where does the 1080 go and what tests are done across the food sector to ensure we are safe?
Gerrit Groeneveld West Coast pig, cattle and sheep farmer. “Around 1994 I had 80 acres of farming property surrounded by DOC land backing onto the Paparoas with cattle, sheep, pigs and hunting dogs. I had an incident with 1080 with one of their many drops that were happening in those days. I got a phone call from my partner when I was at work. She was really worried that stock and our dog were in a really bad way. They were toppling over and showing signs of poisoning. They were shaking their heads and frothing at the mouth. I straight away rushed back and had to kill my dog, and then around 6 heifers and 2 young yearlings. Looking for the cause, I went up to the edge of my block and found 1080 bait 500 meters inside my boundary.
They hadn’t refined their drop zone. It went into the creek which fed into the Inangahua river. All arbitraries had been impacted. People downstream used the water for stock, drinking, swimming and trout fishing. I was a keen hunter back in those days. My neighbours were all keen fishermen, hunters, farmers and what they said to me was that they had seen a drop in wildlife numbers, and a drastic drop in trout, bird life and game. The areas that were getting targeting included areas that were close to pastoral land, and close to living areas for people. We had these drops yearly at the time. The impact on hunting was so great that I started a restocking program with my neighbours.
I made a complaint, we all jumped up and down – these were generational farmers all against the drops. And the outcome was very little. We got an apology, they took note and said they would revise the drop area. There was no compensation for loss of stock, there was no follow up around toxicology tests of the soil, plants or water ways and no advice around safety including precautions with selling meat or screening tests of butchered meat.
We got a digger in and dug quite a deep hole but we hadn’t been given any advice on potential leeching into the soil, or toxicology of the bones which I learned lingers for years.
I now tell people overseas about what we are doing here in NZ with 1080 and their jaw drops.”
According to tests the degradation of 1080 is slow in soil and sediments, taking 1 -4 weeks under favourable conditions. The rate of degradation will be influenced by the presence of soil or litter micro-organisms, and temperature, soil moisture and rainfall. (Wright et al. 2002). Sodium mono-fluoroacetate 1080 is highly water soluble and is highly mobile, therefore leaching into soil will occur. 1080 degrades at different rates depending on its concentration. The recommended time to avoid hunting an area is 6 months however in long life trials with double wax coatings baits took 9 months to degrade by 30%, Morgan 2004. 1080, Brodifacoum and Glyphosate are all being used widely throughout New Zealand’s waterways, verges, parks and forests. Run off seeps into water ways and covers common land.
If we consider the mantra ‘first do no harm’ surely there is a better way?
Shay hunter/trapper from Keeping It Wild Facebook page and winner of Australian Alone 2025 says “1080 and other long lasting food chain poisons are really detrimental to people’s connection to the bush. You drop a poison like that somewhere and all of a sudden the deer, pigs, possums etc aren’t safe for eating. The eels are eating the poisoned carcasses in the creeks so they aren’t great to eat either anymore and the list goes on. It drives a bit of a wedge between the bush and the people who actually have the means to replace 1080 as a pest control method.”
Porky pig Hawera (aka the Maori Gardener) has a fantastic down to earth approach which is really hitting the mark with his Facebook followers around the subject of gardening. His family have always lived in close partnership with the land. He believes 1080 kills everything ‘I’ve seen no bird’s left after a aerial drop.…The system that’s in place has us fighting to survive. We work 5 to 6 days a week just to buy food and pay rent. It’s not a good life for anyone and it takes us away from our families. Our children grow up, and we don’t really know them. We haven’t taught them valuable life skills like how to feed them selves which I think is the most important life lesson ever. .
1080 doesn’t work I’ve seen places that have had aerial drops done two or three times and they’re still thousands of possums. Just look what men have done, how many species are gone and how many are endangered. The solution to pest control is manpower. I can go anywhere and catch every last possum and so can many other people.’
Brando Yelavich aka Wild Boy – author, adventurer, forager who walked the length of New Zealand’s coastline. “About 1080 — I don’t really have a strict timeframe, but if I’m being honest, once an area has had a drop, I pretty much consider it written-off for a good 5–10 years. When that poison goes in, it’s effective. It wipes out almost everything that touches it, and the species that get hit the hardest are usually the same ones I’d normally be hunting for kai. So for deer, pigs, any of those larger animals, you’re looking at a long recovery before the area is worth going back into.
And on the food security side of things, this is where we have to be realistic. If everyone suddenly switched to hunting, fishing, and foraging as their main food source, our wild populations would crash almost instantly. It’s just not a sustainable model for the whole country — or the world. The only reason there are so many of us on the planet today is because supermarkets, agriculture, and supply chains exist. Without that system, human population would be a fraction of what it is. Foraging, hunting, and fishing are beautiful skills to have, and they absolutely strengthen your connection to the land and your own food. But they shouldn’t be the primary thing people rely on for survival.
The real power lies in sustainable farming and people growing even a small portion of their own kai — a garden with potatoes, greens, herbs. If everyone produced even a little bit for themselves, the whole system would be healthier and people would feel more secure. Hunting and gathering are incredible practices, but they’re just the icing, not the cake. No point in having a voice if I don’t use it right?’
Fair point Brando, balance in all things is key and as Porky Pig Hawera would say ‘grow hard’. I myself keep animals for meat, eggs, milk and have an extensive garden but DOC claims the bush is overrun and under pressure from grazing animals – Its a problem/solution scenario – why not organise a program to harvest this resource sustainably?
And what of the cruelty factor? Johnnie Currie 40 years living in the bush, forester, hunter, and featured on 7sharp for his bushman lifestyle. Jonnie sits down to a cuppa tea telling me that in the late 1990’s 1080 was used in a fish-based paste form to control wasps. ‘They painted the jelly under the leaves of broadleaf which deer browsed from. But it was horrific there were so many deer heard screaming in agony they had to take deer cullers in to shoot them.’ Laurie Collins was one of those cullers ‘Most of them after a few days of hearing the deer screaming pulled out of the job because they couldn’t handle it.’ Which is precisely what Laurie Collins did ….and Laurie was so disturbed by the things he witnessed he spent the following decades fighting 1080 up to present day.
Johnnie once came across a deer lying in a drain when he was leaving his home in the bush. Its eyes were quivering quite dramatically, it struggled to get up and get away from him. He went to get a knife to kill it – but it got up and fell down the bank struggling and kicking. Immediately he went down to kill it, then took a photo which went into the Westport news with objections to the cruelty. Laurie says ‘as a country we should care about being humane.’
The SPCA is against the use of poisons to kill animals due to the level of suffering it causes. ‘We would like to see a ban on the use of poisons such as 1080, because these substances cause such intense and prolonged suffering to animals that we believe their use can never be justified.’
The SPCA encourages research and development of humane alternatives to species control.
Bushman/deer culler Laurie Collins has over 70 years experience in the bush with a relentless passion against the subject. It was Laurie who was instrumental in providing much impetus and insight into the origins of 1080 use in NZ. Laurie says ‘Because animals are smart they can learn. I asked why the death from 1080 was so slow? I was told the prolonged death was purposeful, its intent is so animals do not make a connection between seeing an another animal eating 1080 and the consequential suffering they endure.’
As a 1080 pioneer.…it was flying helicopters in the cowboy days, boots on ground and with rifle in hand. It was thrilling work with many risky manoeuvres – flying by the seat of the pants, he recalls being involved in the very first GPS. To return to the exact same spot to drop 1080, a roll of toilet paper was dropped out that left a thin white line which served beautifully to mark the spot for the next day.
‘1080 was developed as a pesticide and it was meant to be the answer to the possum problem’. But as a young man who deeply loved nature the sight of an animal dead or dying from 1080 haunts him to this day – he remembers fauns standing by their dead mum’s and one deer who had ripped its guts open with its own hind leg to try to get the pain to stop. It wasn’t long before he left the job and has spoken out ever since. ‘There’s no such thing as a target species.’ He says. ’How can they have a target species when they are broadcasting 1080 everywhere from a helicopter – everything is their target species. The lizards, native birds, rats, bats, insects, mustelids, goats, possum, deer – everything.’ Laurie recounted times when he was asked to fill sacks with dead birds….’we were each asked to each take a sack, 3 guys, one in front of the other – the first one picked up the birds, the next picked up the ones he missed and the third got any that were still there. Laurie says. ‘The deer cullers had been so effective with a rifle, they really kept the numbers down and as a deer culler, we never shot the birds.’
Then there was the bumblebee incident. Laurie had come across 1000s of dead bumblebees around a pile of 1080 that had been illegally dumped in the bush, 1080 being a pesticide that is. At the end of the day when there’s leftovers this can sometimes happen. Roy Arbon, the West Coast man who went missing last year, was fervently against the use of 1080. He was an organic beekeeper based on the West Coast. I met him when doing market stalls at Fox river and had many chats. He spoke about 1080 impacting his honey at Arthurs Pass. (EPA Report 2022 – Arthurs Pass a number of bees from multiple hives were found dead, from possible 1080 contamination). (Photo
Roy had once made a living exporting organic honey to the USA but in 2009 this stopped because under the USDA organic standards for wild managed land, no chemical input is allowed within 3 kms, and even though the last aerial 1080 poison drop near Roy’s property was three years prior, it was still not allowed. In his affidavit he claimed ‘This is a real problem for most people living on the West Coast of the South Island, as in most places there is a relatively narrow band of flat farmland between the Southern Alps and the sea, and the West Coast is where the Department of Conservation absolutely hammers the rainforest and mountains with aerial 1080 poison, year upon year.’ He said ‘There is no-one testing for 1080 in honey, apart from Landcare, and Landcare are a government-owned organisation, and can you trust them ?” (Report after interview with staff from AsureQuality – who stopped honey being exported in 2009 to the USA due to possible 1080 contamination.)
Dan Lane and Phil Patterson of Hari Hari are self titled 1080 activists who proudly claim to have brought the medias attention to the problem of 1080. ‘They are poisoning my kids’- says Dan Lane. Dan hunts and runs hunting parties, he also can be seen teaming up with Josh James Kiwi Bushman on his YouTube channel . He is worried about 1080 being dropped along the upper water catchment for Hari Hari’s drinking water. “They only test for parts for billion in water. They only test at a certain time so it’s not taken during the peak risk period. And parts per trillion is known to affect the unborn foetus.’
He says people in Harihari have had gold fish die after filling their tank with water after a drop. Concerned about the drinking water, he turns his water off at the river supply, and also has to watch for potential exposure when showering. As a precaution Dan switches to rainwater collection after a drop but then there is the risk of hazdust on the roof but no tests have been done. ‘We used to say you had to wait 6 months but they have slowed down 1080 deterioration by coating it in wax which means areas remain unsafe for much longer. And on top of that leaving carcasses in the river also creates risk of e coli. Every animal that dies has a bacteria in them and they will rot away fairly quickly but when an animal eats 1080 flies land on it and lays maggots which dies and bacteria dies. 6 months later a carcass will just be black with absolutely no decay. Dan Lane speculates that this may lead to human disease if this animal is left in water.’
Phil Patterson has a background in agricultural science and an indepth knowledge of the science of 1080 and legal issues around its use. Phil turned against 1080 when he lived in the Arahura in the late 90’s. He killed 2000 possums as a caretaker working for the regional council. Phil lived in a hut and trapped possums with $30 a week rent and collected 30 bucks per possum skin 30 years ago. It was good money. But the first year he was on the job the West Coast regional council poisoned the area all in one hit. People stopped trapping, and then the possum population got out of control. You have to ask yourself!!!
Phil took us to cast a rod down the river, a beautiful spot. Idyllic – but not quite untouched…..Phil wonders what we are loosing – ‘there are so many negative impacts to 1080 around nature and food, and the medicines we are trying to protect. They are dropping 1080 on our property boundaries over and over, and when they dropped poison in the Harihari water catchment we took them to court in 2008. But court is a financial game and the judge dismissed the case because we didn’t have the funds to see it though.’
In 2010 pellets were found dropped in a 100 meter stretch all the way up the Harihari water supply. Phil says ‘it’s being dropped into all the water supplies but they don’t test for 1080 in the water round here. Dan agrees.
Dan was asked to check an elderly lady’s water intake after a drop which was 1/2 way up the hill. ‘With 1080 all over the place, the lines of the drop area were going into her catchment. I phoned the regional council and asked them if they had excluded this lady’s catchment area as there was 1080 littered all over the place. They said they hadn’t as the lady ‘had not complained.’ I asked ‘would you like it if someone put 1080 in your drinking water?’ The DOC worker said he’d drink it. So Dan said ‘oh great because I’ve got some from picking it up from the lady’s catchment and I’ll bring it over so you can put his money where your mouth is!’
Dan waited a week and went to the DOC office and asked for the guy. He went in and shook him by the hand and said ‘so you are you the guy who’s going to drink this 1080 are ya?’ The guy was livid and kicked him out of the office.
Phil says they rarely test water for 1080 contamination ‘There is a lack of adequate testing and no independent testing because there is a lack of funding and labs, and who will process this for you?’
Why is there no regular testing?
Is it that the remote West Coast towns don’t matter? Journalist Paul Murray and creator of the ‘stop the drop’ slogan thinks so. He says ‘The political nature of 1080 is this – if 1080 is not directly impacting people in populated areas then they won’t be bothered by it. So potentially polluting water sources, and food supplies of people who live in rural areas is simply not going to worry people in cities because it’s not impacting them. And the government knows that.’
‘Back in the day’ he says….’it was necessary to manufacture events to get the message to the people – no one would take 1080 protesters credibly, concerns were ignored. So in 2008 this fellow, who has now passed away, tried to bring it to the attention of the urban areas. He dyed dog food biscuits green and took it to Hagley park in Christchurch, then copied the 1080 signs and put them up around the park – ‘dogs beware’, ‘poison laid’ and then changed the phone number on the signs to that of the Christchurch Press. So in the morning when people were out walking their poodles – concerned people immediately started to call the press. What happened was incredible. Hagley park and the botanical gardens were closed for two days when DOC sent in biosecurity teams in hazmat suits with breathing apparatus picking up every single piece of bait to decontaminate the gardens. Look at the double standards. But where we live we are confronted with 90 tonnes of the stuff.’
What is the toxicology of 1080?
When Dan lane claimed ‘they are poisoning my kids’. I leaned in …this is not the first time I’ve heard this. And as a bush mum my own child developed autoimmune type 1 diabetes after just 1 year of living in the bush. Laurie Collins’ daughter developed a brain tumour at the age of 8….he wonders about a potential link to his exposure while working with 1080 and what he may have passed onto his child. Certainly, here on the coast there is an obvious pathology of high rates of cancer, heart attacks, autoimmune conditions and strokes so I ask ‘Have the long term health risks to humans from exposure to non lethal doses of 1080 in the environment been properly investigated?’ If not, all 1080 operations should be halted till it has. I want to know that my children are safe.
“1080 Pesticide Information Review.” Department of Conservation. Fairweather AAC et al. (2008, updated). The estimated lethal dose of 1080 in humans lies in the range of 0.7 and 10.0 mg kg-1 which is absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract or via the lungs if inhaled. 1080 is not readily absorbed through intact skin, but can be absorbed via the eyes through dust, and contact through cuts and abrasions or through ingestion. The onset clinical signs usually range from 30 minutes to about 2-3 hours. Signs of poisoning include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain initially, followed by respiratory distress, anxiety, agitation, muscle spasms, stupor, seizures, and coma. It has sub-lethal effects on reproduction and is classified as a teratogen meaning it can affect the unborn foetus. There is no effective antidote for 1080 poisoning in humans.
Paul Murray who works in tourism at Karamea says “Here we are Promoting clean and green New Zealand inviting people to come and experience nature and when they get here everywhere all they see is skull and crossbones with poisons laid. I have so many disappointed customers coming here who find they can’t drink the water. They feel uncomfortable walking around in silent forests. And the only thing green about it is the 1080 pellets. Is that what the government meant, I wonder?
What about foraging and crops, it likely that plants could take 1080 up in solution?
Many organic acids are phloem-mobile in plants. Phloem is a type of tissue in vascular plants that transports sugars and other products of photosynthesis from the leaves to other parts of the plant. It plays a crucial role in the plant’s vascular system, working alongside xylem, which carries water and nutrients. Mobility is the distribution of energy to growing parts and storage organs. This process, known as translocation, is essential for the plant’s growth and development. This means that because 1080 is water soluble it can be taken up by plants.
1080 uptake has been reported in a number of plants in our bush, farms and vege gardens. A few of which include: käpuka, käramuramu, puha, broad beans, cabbage, lettuce, peanut, perennial ryegrass and sugar cane.
In one field trial, Miller et al. (2009) scientists placed a single 0.15% 1080 Wanganui #7 pellet at the base of NZ foraging favourite …puha. The highest level of 1080 detected in the puha was 15 µg kg-1 of leaf material 3 days after the pellets were placed at the bottom of the plants. 1080 has also been detected in watercress. A laboratory study by David & Gardiner (1951) showed that broad bean plants could take up fluoroacetate through their roots and subsequently become toxic to aphids feeding on them (i.e. 1080 acted as a systemic insecticide). Potentially making rongoa and forageables toxic in non lethal doses to humans. The maximum length of time 1080 residues have been tested to persist in plants is approximately 38 days (Ogilvie et al. 1998; Miller et al. 2009).
Does 1080 impact the health of plants?
1080 is promoted as a way to save the trees from grazing animals. Most plants are believed to be relatively insensitive to the effects of 1080 (Bong et al. 1980). However this is not always the case and not every plant has been tested. Duckweeds have been shown to have a high sensitivity, with the growth of Spirodela polyrrhiza being totally inhibited by 0.5 mmol of 1080, Proving that some plants are negatively impacted by 1080. And there are down stream impacts even with just duck weed. Duck weed is food to aquatic life such as New Zealand’s endangered blue duck.
And what about farm animals – as with farmer Gerrit Groeneveld isn’t 1080 sometimes found on paddock verges? In a laboratory experiment by Ogilvie et al. (1998), single 0.15% 1080 RS5 pellets were added to the soil of pots containing either broadleaf or ryegrass. The 1080 residues in the plants were near the Method Detection Limit (MDL) after 38 days in broadleaf such as plantain and 7 days in ryegrass.
Rongoa and herbal medicine must be considered. Ogilvie et al. (2004) reported that after karamu took up 1080 during field trials, the concentration of 1080 in the plants decreased to zero at 28 days. The authors recommended that a withholding period of 30 days after an aerial application of 1080 should be adopted for plants within the operational area.
What evidence is there of our food chain being impacted?
Deny deny deny. Doc claims there is no evidence that drinking water has ever been contaminated with 1080. In Awatere Valley Marlborough district in 1995 Hundreds of dead trout fish were reported by land owners in the Black Birch Catchment. Landowners suspected the fish were poisoned by recently deposited 1080 poison baits. Despite numerous water and dead fish samples being given to the council, the cause was never formally confirmed. At Pureora in 1996 (at least) Six cattle were killed when they ate 1080 baits in the bush edge. A farmer reported 252 dead sheep and stillborn lambs at Ratanui in a 1080 drop that was done by Southland Regional Council. Letter received offering compensation subject to confidentiality. The authorities tried to confiscate the evidence and failing that to compensate under conditions of confidentiality. Overview of “Ratanui” sheep poisoning. Southland Times 5 June (1997). Auckland Council confirmed in an OIA to Councillor Kathy White at WRC that 13 out of 14 feral pigs from Hauraki Gulf islands tested positive for brodifacoum in their monitoring programme. OIA Auckland Council. And the list goes on…
- 2017 Jackson River Toxic bait deposited in Jackson River – where whitebait fishing occurs, after reassurance had been given that baits would not be sown in the river.
- 2016 Taupo farmer Lance Aldridge finds 10 poisoned deer laying around his farm following an aerial poisoning operation, eventuating in a health and safety situation and impeding on his ability to undertake farming duties.
- 2015 Coromandel communities had 1080 poison dropped directly into the streams they were drawing water from, without being informed by the Department of Conservation. DOC said they weren’t required to walk the streams to identify people drawing water from streams. Coromandel Water Supplies Poisoned (email correspondence to the Thames-Coromandel Waikato Regional Councillor)
- 2011 King Country A number of sheep (10?) were found dead and suspected of being poisoned by 1080 as they were near the boundary where 1080 had been applied.
- 2012 Taihape – Deer repellent used in a poison drop didn’t work. Sheep farmers Lynn and Allan Westerman complain about poisoned deer dying on their farm. Taihape Deer Mass-poisoned – Farmer Speaks Out –https://youtu.be/u7RFiz4lShA
- 2002 Coromandel Peninsula – 30/40 1080 poisoned carcasses carried into public areas and streams and beaches by floods. A poisoned dog was found squealing who swam out to sea and was later found dead. People who drew drinking water from affected streams were not told to stop drawing water during the 1080 drop. No mention of the poison in the media.
- 2002 Takaka – 40 tonnes of butter and 20 tonnes of the by-product casein were being held in Takaka after a helicopter dumped 1080 pellets into water supplying a group of dairy farms. Cattle deaths unknown. It was the second time in a week that 1080 had been dropped in Golden Bay.
- 2003 Laurie Collins flew from Springs Junction to the Pell Stream Hut by helicopter. The Pell Stream Hut is approximately five hours walk from the main road via a rough and non-maintained DOC track. It is a public hut and no permit is required to use it. DOC poisoned this valley with 20,000 pellets. Lauire felt it was necessary to supply fresh drinking water to this hut but they did not supply fresh drinking water nor did they display warning signs warn against drinking contaminated water. During the remaining time he spent in the valley he attempted to source drinking water that may not have been contaminated but in retrospect he thought this was probably impossible. The second issue of concern was the condition and length of time the majority of 1080 pellets he observed had been exposed to the weather including heavy rain with almost no deterioration. As far as he was aware these pellets may have been able to contaminate what is in effect a public drinking water supply and other people (hunters and trampers) may face some contamination (through game meat, and water) without their knowledge.
- 2008 kaiata – A West Coast deer farmer lost two thirds of his herd after deadly 1080 pellets were dropped over his property. Before the Animal Health Board drop, allegedly including a night time drop, Wayne Fairhall of Kaiata, 5km east of Greymouth, had 16 deer grazing his farm block. 10 of the animals were dead after grazing on the poisoned pellets and most of the others were holed up in a clump of bush on the farm, their fate unknown.
- 1998 Waiarapa – Kiwi Dairies was alerted to possible milk contamination after the milk from 9 dairy cows that had subsequently died from 1080 were processed into milk powder. “In the Wairarapa nine dairy cows that had eaten hand laid 1080 baits in the owners bush had their milk sent to the local dairy factory. Later on, these cows died and ‘all hell broke loose’ when Kiwi Co-operative Dairies Ltd. found out that the poisoned milk entered their processing system”. MAF kept this event quiet for six weeks then said that the levels would’ve been “so low there was no risk.” Outcomes long-term unknown. Cited in ‘1080 scare for 1080 milk’. Rural News June 22 1998. Issue 203 Page 2
- 2017 Molesworth More than 345 red deer killed inhumanely after a 1080 aerial drop over a large area: 61,000 hectares. This was particularly inhumane because at this time the deer have young.
Ecologist Ganantchian Claire specialises in eco-agriculture and she is passionate about finding ways beyond fossil fuels to live, through living basically off the land. She grows and raises around 90% of all her food, using oxen as her form of transport. She says ‘All around the world we have walked on the wrong path for around 200 years putting the economy ahead of decisions, below that we have the people and then we want the best for the environment. I’ve learnt a lot from working with Maoridom specifically Mike smith, who chopped the flag pole. Papatuanuku is at the top of decision making because she is part of the earth, part of decision making as she provides for us. Then it’s the people, He Tangata. And then the economy – trade is 3rd on the list for decision making.
The health of the environment is what is going to make the people healthy. We can’t trade if we can’t grow food, we can’t trade if there’s no more fish in the sea. We need to completely disassemble the system the way it’s been and reassemble from strong foundations which is to look at the earth first. We need to apply ecology to agriculture to bring balance and return to healthy food producing systems. To have a healthy food producing system we need to have biodiversity that is at least 5O% native, then we can feed off that.
There are a lot of natural systems that help – for example – the white butterfly that attacks our garden can be managed by the tomtit and fantails. Except instead we kill the butterflies with insecticide so long term it cannot work as insecticides impact both.
I don’t have an opinion about 1080 either way but we did poison rats in tunnels on our farm which helped to diminish the rat population. We did it in tunnels so we didn’t hit the possums, mice and kingfishers.’
But could there be another way?
Shane Hyde – a farmer in sustainable land management says: ‘1080 is a convenient tool’ In 1999 Shane challenged regional councils. He would not let 1080 happen by crossing his land. Regional council pushed 1080 on landowners as their preferred poison, its a tool used for convenience, a crude method. He says financially aerial drops make no sense ‘contractors trapping poisoning stations is actually cheaper than aerial 1080.’ Shane said ‘1080 Tipped over my cows and I had to burn my cows, but the charred bone remains. These bones were eaten by a dog 2 years later and it died.” He says the poison lingers in bones for years. (Ross & McCoskery (2012) in a study they found residues of 1080 in bones of poisoned deer carcasses 213 days after death…the study ended then, so no one really knows how long 1080 stays in bone.
Shane says ‘1080 is linked to sterility, studs are made sterile, and sheep have had their ovaries affected.’ He believes ‘Food security, the way things are going New Zealanders will effectively be starved”
I asked if farms are tested for 1080. He says ‘the only studies that I am aware of is of the operators and ground staff implementing pest control or manufacturing plants. Also a Wanganui backcountry drinking stream, during or after 1080 operations, had a high rate of infant mortality….’ In locals who drank from it.
Shane says ‘There needs to be a cultural change in thinking, we need to work with nature not against. We are caught by a group looking at controlling us as a country, controlling food mass and making it more difficult for people to access and hunt game.’ He has observed that once bountiful crayfish are now absent in Pukate forest, prior to 1080 water courses were teeming with crayfish, since then kiwi numbers have been declining despite pest control. With the aerial drops toxins are not restricted, he suggests as a compromise we poison 1080 only in restricted sections with a carefully designed trap.’ With no antidote he wonders ‘what is the long term watered down effect of 1080 in the environment?’
Predator free 2050 is the driving force behind 1080, and Brodifacoum used with its aim to reverse impacts of colonisation. Sue Grey Lawyer, says ‘the predator free 2050 strategy is what is driving the lack of obvious choices.’ This Strategy comprises three actions that describe how New Zealand will achieve the Predator Free 2050 goal to eradicate mustelids, rats and possums by 2050. The theory is that if we were to undertake sustained predator control or eradicate predators, then wildlife returns. This means that by 2050, the hope is that New Zealand could see native bird and other wildlife such as bat, lizard and insect numbers, at similar levels to a century ago.
Flora and Fauna NZ spokesperson Asha Jade says. “Predator Free 2050 is often presented as a bold conservation vision, but it also carries profound implications for our wildlife, environment and the everyday way of life of many New Zealanders. Such an absolute objective within a fixed time frame has created strong pressure to deliver results, and in practice, that pressure is resulting in increasingly aggressive pest-control strategies that rely on extremely harmful toxins, including chain poisons. This escalating use of toxins across landscapes which are also used by people for recreation, food gathering, and rural livelihoods is hugely concerning and even more so as we enter a period of austerity and drastically increasing costs of living.
For generations, hunting, fishing, and gathering wild food have been a normal part of life in Aotearoa. Many families rely on wild deer, pigs, goats, trout, possums and other natural resources to supplement their food supply, while others depend on guiding, tourism, and game management as part of their income. These activities are not only practical sources of food and livelihood but are deeply embedded cultural traditions that connect people to land and waterways. However, large-scale poison operations have become the dominant management tool under Predator Free 2050, which in turn has created uncertainty about the safety of wild meat, freshwater fisheries, and the broader ecosystems people depend on. Even the perception of contamination can discourage people from harvesting food from the land, weakening traditions and skills that have long supported resilient communities.
There is also a wider philosophical question about the relationship between conservation and people. While protecting native biodiversity is a goal shared by most New Zealanders, conservation policy should work alongside local communities rather than override them. Conservation goals must be able to coexist with hunting, fishing, and responsible stewardship. Protecting biodiversity should not come at the cost of undermining the rural knowledge, self-reliance, and food-gathering traditions that many consider central to the Kiwi way of life.
It’s clear we all agree we need to look after the natural world in a way that is respectful, seeing that it must be cared for not just because it is a treasure but because nature supports us in return with necessary resources for our survival. With understanding of nature, gathering at the table and finding this middle ground perhaps we can develop a solution that respects both human need and the needs of nature around us. This is the true kaitiaki way – a partnership of mutual care.”
Brendan Hoare, renowned researcher and practitioner who works in the organic sector has spent years living in Taiwan studying farming based on 5-10,000 years worth of practices. He had a great deal to say about the pastoralists ‘It was the pastoralists who brought the grasses and introduced animals and plants on mass to New Zealand. The western attitude to nature has its roots in pastoralist mentality of turning land to grazing for the production of meat and milk. Consider the Christian/judaic culture of ‘lord is my Shepard’ The western eye seeks to tame and shape nature – and is afraid of nature’s wildness, …1080 is a reflection of cultural attitude towards nature. It’s like a type of racism and fascism. Things that belong and things that don’t.’
He says ‘The Pastoral attitude seeks to control conquer overcome dominance and gain totality however in cultures across Asia and the pacific the earth is considered alive. For example in Taiwan, the dragon symbolises nature, they are powerful beings that control rain and agricultural prosperity. This connection reflects the dragon’s role as a guardian of the environment and a representation of the divine creative force in the universe. In the west – its more like nature is the enemy – St George slayed the dragon and killed the spirit. The indigenous cultural attitude is more akin to…’don’t disturb the spirits, we are guests here…’
‘Using pesticides is like world war with nature – and he says there are conversations happening. Brendan compares pesticides and herbicides to chemical weaponry and believes we need to work strategically with more care, there is a need for change in our cultural attitude. ‘To nature there are no pests and weeds there is just flora and fauna but we need to manage that responsibly. We need to ask why do we poison ourselves so willingly? The idea of eradicating a species is a cultural attitude. Let’s consider smart solutions. Eg. Overseas Possum meat is worth more than lamb, wild meat is popular in other countries. Why not consider possum a valuable resource?”
Eco Purists seek to eradicate but we need to find balance. Everyone has made mistakes. We need to work on attitude, stop blaming the past and accept the future to find a natural balance that works for us all.’
Josh The Kiwi bushman has a massive online following which centres around his hunting and lifestyle adventures in the West Coast bush, he is passionate about his lifestyle. ‘I’m my own boss things on own terms meaning there is less stress, Self sufficient in terms of food – fairly high percentage of food comes from lifestyle grow a lot of food, and catch fish and game. A 9/5 job you are just making someone else money while living off the land means what you do goes straight back onto your table.’ Josh says he still buys all the little stuff like butter, cheese, coffee. But he very rarely has to buy meat, and fish”.
Josh farms his own sheep, and keeps bees. He really loves being out there getting hands in the dirt to grow food and enjoys actually looking after something. He likes to eat his own produce because of the price of food, chemicals on food, GE, antibiotics that they pump in and the glyphosate that’s in them. All the unknown processes from paddock to plate. It’s knowing whats in your food and controlling what the animals are exposed to because if they are ingesting toxins from the soil then so are we.
Along with hunting and fishing Josh also dives for paua, kina, and crayfish. But he doesn’t know if 1080 kills the shellfish as nobody tests it. ‘Some places they hammer with 1080 every year and in places there is now no birdsong.’ However Josh believes there may be a place for 1080 by restricting it to targeted hard to get to places, managing the rest through hunting, culling and trapping. “Places like Landsborough are now death zones. Laurie Collins recounts ‘when I was culling deer there were ‘hot spots of animals in the bush where we would target, but these day they blanket poison everything.’
Many agree – It’s now pretty quiet in the bush.
Stuff mar 2026. ‘beef mince price soars in the largest annual price increase in 2 decades. Having risen by 23.25% since last year.’ Josh James realises people cannot afford to eat meat. “So many people are struggling while Woolworths and foodstuff gain a 100 million profit last year. New Zealand has some of the highest food prices in the world. The Cost of living is high and meat is particularly expensive. My biggest beef with 1080 is the impact on meat animals and not being able to hunt with no notification to hunters whatsoever. Because the bush is poisoned you can’t sell the meat to the public. Which means it’s not just what you are eating it’s also about what you are not eating’.
Josh says ‘Councils and government have vested interests in 1080, it’s a big gravy train with a massive profit margin. Too many people are making money out of these things. Hunting is a viable solution, people could hunt and sell deer. If hunters were allowed to sell meat the hunters could make an honest living off of that which would give them more incentive to hunt.”
And he’s right – the vetting process for selling meat comes with heavy regulations. Some companies have found a way forward. Fair Game is a hunting company down southland way who recently featured country calendar. They are selling farmed venison meat which also gets served at parliament.
To ensure their venison meets Maf standard – Vets must check the carcass before it can be sold, and it must be butchered at a freezing works. It’s a costly process for the individual hunter. Hunters for Hope is another incentive which has a group of hunters on track to donate 100,000 meals to a food charity this year from harvested venison. A fabulous incentive which began as a pest control problem on farms where they needed a way to deal with their excess of meat. That’s when they started to give the meat away to Tracey at Rangiora Hope Trust.
They now have 10 or 11 professional hunting outfits involved. Tracey says ‘they are visionaries but bigger than that they care enough to act.’ Very well done, well done indeed boys – its a fabulous way forwards and it would be great to see momentum gather with eased restrictions and costs to allow even more hunters to provide.
I asked Sue Grey what our rights are around food sovereignty and the use of 1080.
She explained “The Bill of rights in NZ is supposed to protect our fundamental rights, one of the things not covered, which on reflection should be covered, is our right to access to safe clean water to drink and our right to access food, and shelter. There are no legally protected rights in the act. There are protections under the crimes act, where people who are responsible for others must provide the necessities of life, so there are some protections but not in our highest law which is the NZ bill of rights act. It’s a policy now that having thought about it that the NZ outdoors and freedom party will be keen to progress. And that includes our right to go into the bush without fear of being poisoned and without fear that water is contaminated. We seem to have got things backward where we seem focussed on protecting our lesser rights and we seem to have forgotten to protect our most important rights.”
“Another point with the bill of rights act is that in theory it does protect our rights but unfortunately there seems to be a real lack of education for our mp’s – so they don’t think about these rights when they make our laws. And the same goes for councils and our courts whereby these rights don’t get considered until the Supreme Court where the process is costly and lengthly.
“Isn’t Food isn’t considered a way to access health?” I asked. – “yes but is not protected under the bill of rights unless you consider ‘food as thy medicine’. there are quite a lot of international laws that protect things, the international covenant is much stronger on civil and political rights – such as the right to life. This extends from things like nuremberg. – which protects our dignity, our mana. Our right to preserve life. Maybe its because its always been assumed its never actually been written down in the bill of rights to provide necessity of life such as water, food and shelter – if these necessities for life were protected it would prevent the formation of policies which could cut off our access to food, from putting poison In the water, and making housing unaffordable. However the access to the necessities of life are not legally recognised however but we do have the right to life in the bill of rights.’
Hmm some big big points to think about there.
But what do these protections really mean?
Sue Grey ponders “Is this the right to keep living or is it the right to provide for a quality of life that requires the basic needs for life – water, food, shelter? To actually be alive and to thrive ultimately. And certainly the government should not be able to put obstacles in your way that undermine your right to life. In the international covenant on civil and political rights – the right to life is absolute. They cannot justify limitations to the right to life. And protection against Medical experimentation is absolute. The NZ government treats deadly 1080 poison as if it’s “safe and effective” when neither 1080 nor it’s breakdown products are safe. But as far as I’m aware there is no specific right to food sovereignty but it’s one that we should be fighting for.”
“One of the things that is not covered is our right to receive access to safe, clean water to drink and our right to access to food. What greater need do we have than food and water. There are protections under the crimes act that people that are responsible for other people must provide the necessities of life. So there are definitely some protections but not in our highest law which is the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. And that includes the right to go into the bush to gather and hunt food without fear of being poisoned, without fear of the water being contaminated. We have been busy protecting other rights and we have forgotten to protect our most important rights. Other problems we have with the Bill of Rights Act is that in theory it should protect our rights but there isn’t a lot of information and education through government officials so they don’t often think of our rights when they write or implement law.’ A bit of a worry really.
Unfortunately our rights are not considered in the lower courts – its when you get to the Supreme Court that this get considered but the process is costly and lengthly. Sue knows this too well, as when defending the Harihari water case for Dan Lane and Phil Patterson – the judge halted the hearing due to lack of funds.
Beyond everything else this is about the basics of life. ‘If the crimes act outlines our duty to provide necessities of life to people that we are responsible for- so why shouldn’t governments be criminally charged if they starve their people if they cut off access to food, poison food – contribute to hiked food prices, poison the water and forests and make laws which make providing for the basics of life impossible. Unfortunately most of the laws we have in NZ are for the government to control the people but the bill of rights, health and disability code is for the people to control the government.
Sue says ‘The first principle of law is ‘first do no harm.’ We need to be putting values into decision making – values and ethics matter – humanity matters not just money making. We are locked into a system that is harmful to human life.’
So what then becomes of that idyllic dream, the largest unfenced farm in the world, an answer to poverty of past and present. Our rights to life and the principle of ‘first do no harm’?
An individual posted on 1080 eyewitness Facebook page reporting on a number of questions they had posed to the National Poisons Centre about an upcoming 1080 drop in Wanaka. ‘Given that so many of us live around 1080 drop zones and are potentially exposed to the substance many times over.…. what testing kits are available here? The poison centre told him ‘There is a test available but it is not widely available. It’s attached to a scientist at Lincoln and is a urine test which is only any use within the first 24 hours after poisoning. The test is mostly used for testing workers’ urine levels when they have been working with 1080 poison.’ His conclusion – If you get poisoned by 1080 we cannot expect authorities to confirm it is 1080. Just hope you survive.
Could there be a compromise to the drops, a more careful way to manage? Instead of aerial drops could we use species specific targeting of possums through with smart traps with no chain poisons which don’t have the downstream impact to biodiversity (Suggested by Shane Hyde), or could we just drop 1080 in specific hard to get to zones that are inaccessible for trappers? This would mean the bulk of the bush would be left alone. (suggested by Josh James Kiwi bushman.). Laurie collins, Phil Patterson and Dan Lane strongly disagree with any use of 1080 – simply put – it’s inhumane. They believe traps and culling to be effective in their own right using no chain poisons. They believe hunting is a viable option and there is a market for these animals as a resource. Possum pies, venison steak, the fur industry, dog food and jobs. Some hunters who have been culling for predator control have aligned with charities such as hunters for hope with the aim to bring meat to the people. Two problems solved in one swoop. Well done but heres my beef. Its great to have charities doing this and a cooperative government to allow it to happen. But doesn’t this encourage dependence? Personally, I’m pretty big on sorting out things for ourselves. I see a big part of the problem being that we have all lean too heavily on the system. I would like to see restrictions lifted for the average hunter who are not allowed to sell, give away or barter meat. But because 1080 plays a part – risks of being poisoned means strict regulations hold much needed relief back.
The late Richard Prosser summed it up well. (Former New Zealand First minister for agriculture and primary industries). He was a prominent opponent of the use of 1080, advocating for a ban and calling for alternative pest control methods. He argued that 1080 poses risks to native wildlife and pushed for a moratorium on its use until safer alternatives could be developed. “Research into alternatives to 1080 is not being given sufficient priority while its use is allowed to continue.”
He was all for hunting and boots on the ground solutions and supported contractors walking in to the bush see if chew cards had been bitten by possums. ‘they dropped 1080 and walked back in again to see how many chew cards had been bitten…So, the question we ask is, why can’t they walk in with traps?”
Richard saw hunting an integral part of kiwi life. “New Zealanders pride themselves on being able to live off the land. Every single one of us knows at least one person who hunts … Stopping New Zealander’s from doing something that is quintessentially Kiwi doesn’t make sense.” And certainly Richard, with so many struggling right now this makes sense more than ever.
I say the burden of proof is on our government, it’s their product they are trying to push. Prove that 1080 is harmless, prove that it isn’t present in our food. – don’t gaslight, don’t shut down the conversation with a ‘no comment’, that is not acceptable. Logically, if you saturate and area with poison you will cause human illness. And as Laurie Collins would say “they could be doing a hell of a lot more good for the people than pouring it into 1080.” Let’s stop the drop and ease the cost of living today.
Cases of human illness due to exposure to 1080 from the New Zealand poison register…….listed below.
- 7th September 1966, Ian A Buchanan died from central nervous system depression accompanied by respiratory and cardiac failure due to 1080 poisoning.
- 1960’s A Galletly reports his father (and his two colleagues) died between the ages of 58 and 66 all from heart-related problems. “These three worked with 1080 throughout the 60s and 70s on the Canterbury Rabbit Board. They never wore protective clothing. They cut carrots which they covered in a 1080 solution and these were bagged and stacked on a trailer. Later they drove along a grubbed line and while standing on the trailer trickled the carrots onto the ground breathing in the dust as they went.
- 1977 A rabbiter who was repeatedly exposed to sodium mono-fluroacetate (compound 1080) developed renal failure and evidence of other organ damage. This is believed to be the first report of chronic sodium mono-fluroacetate intoxication occurring in man. Compound 1080 intoxication in a rabbiter March 1977, The New Zealand medical journal 85(581):93-6, P J Parkin, A R McGiven, R R Bailey.
- 1977 Submission (52 page report) to the Nature Conservation Council from New Zealand Deerstalkers details the suspected 1080 poisoning case of a child in Southland. (Details to follow, UE 08/03/18)
- 1984 At least one death and hundreds of people suffered impact of toxic fumes are a massive chemical fire at an ICI facility in Auckland. The inventory that went up in toxic smoke over residents’ houses included 5.5 tonnes of Brodifacoum, Paraquat, D 245T, and lots of other toxic poisons (see page 299 of this report for the full list). The fire service were ill-prepared and untrained for the event. MoH declined to test them and the security staff for chemical poisoning within the necessary time-frame (sound familiar?); the Government tried to cover-up the media exposure and downplay the dangers. Cancers, miscarriages, birth defects….many negative health effects were suffered in the years that followed – many people left without ACC. Report by MoH available here: (long term consequences unknown) . http://www.moh.govt.nz/notebook/nbbooks.nsf/0/6783D47AF1CAD2 D14C2565D7000DE2F7/$file/The+health+consequences+of+the+ICI +fire.pdf NB The extremely contaminated soil was dumped at Greenmount Landfill, an area now under a consent application to be developed into a public recreational park.
- 1993 Taupo – D Peat begins work as a young man using poisons for Epro. He and his colleagues are not given any PPE or informed about the dangers of getting 1080 poison on his hands or clothing. later he documents the symptoms of ill-health that he connects to handling the poisons. Affidavit completed 2007.
- 1994 – A Taupo trucking contractor got 1080 poison (dust) on his hands during a transport operation. Could be this incident mentioned in Kate Winter’s book: “Chris Carrington was transporting a truckload of 1080 poison when a bucket split, spilling poison on his hands.” By lunchtime he had a headache, sore eyes, aching body, glazed eyes, pallor and tremors in his arms and legs. He suffered amnesia, couldn’t read, couldn’t comprehend what people were saying, didn’t know where he was. He remained very weak. His body ached, especially chest, face and throat. He was off work for three weeks, continuously exhausted, mentally and physically, and frequently collapse into semi−consciousness. Memory and co−ordination were diminished, he couldn’t eat, and had wild mood swings, heart spasms and stabbing pain.
- 1995 – 24 Aug internal correspondence within MoH confirms high level concerns about clusters of miscarriages and childhood disabilities in Featherstone community. A report is commissioned for then Minister of Health, Bill English by Prof Natalia Foronda, Otago toxicologist. OIAs reveal the content of memos but no report has been made available.
- 1996 Turangi – Following a 1080 drop, 15−month−old N Albert ate some 1080 baits at a Maori cemetery at the foot of Mt Tongariro. Her life was spared by quick acting parents who induced vomiting. They managed to keep her conscious during a 25−minute drive to Turangi Medical Centre, where further vomiting was induced.
- 2000 Porirua Forest – R Ryder a hunter out 10 days/months for deer. He was drinking water from the streams and eating the deer including the liver, kidney and tongue from the heavily 1080 poisoned area 1998-2000 (he believed the instruction that it was safe and not bio-accumulative in sub-lethal doses). Taken to hospital as emergency case when unable to walk and red blood cell count was very low. No diagnosis. Tests taken to Australia. GP medical records available. Now suffers from Hashimoto Disease (Thyroid). (Thyroid dysfunction is an identified symptom of 1080 poisoning:
- 2006 Queenstown – W Robie, An American lady aged 23 had been hiking, felt unwell, and that evening suddenly collapsed and died of – it was later ascertained.- a cardiac arrest. The area had recently been 1080’d and the doctor involved submitted her case to ERMA to be recorded as a cause for concern for 1080 poisoning. No valid tests were carried out and suspicions were heightened when inexplicably after the autopsy her heart ‘went missing’ from the laboratory so that no conclusive results could be established.
- 2008 Karamea – E Frankish – mother and community resident records the aerial drop of 1080 poison over her house and drank the water from her roof that she was assured was safe. She was a few months later to conceive a son who was later diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.
- 2013 Nydia track Inhalation of toxic dust. S and C Caley were walking the Nydia Track on Saturday when they say they were dusted with 1080 bait.
- 2014 Maori gully road – Two individuals suffered poisoning symptoms after aerial poisoning operation flew overhead. G Gardner and her sister K Bartlett were picnicking on Maori Gully Rd while checking out a property for sale, when a helicopter overhead opened a monsoon bucket and dropped poison pellets, some of which fell around their vehicle. The women were close by at the time. They remained in the area for several hours as they did not think it could have been 1080, partly because they say a sign was outdated. The sisters say theyfelt ill within 40 minutes of the aerial drop, but did not immediately associate it with 1080 poisoning. Medical tests undertaken afterwards by the locum Reefton GP showed Mrs Bartlett’s liver was not functioning as it should. After a year, they are still experiencing ongoing health problems
- 2014 Whanganui national park. Family suffers symptoms of 1080 poisoning after accidentally eating a goat which must have had a sub-lethal dose. Long term outcomes unknown.
- 2015 Great Barrier island After a Brodifacoum aerial operation on the island, residents complained of health problems consistent with Brodifacoum poisoning. An elderly resident still has ongoing medical problems as lives right next door to an area that was poisoned by DOC 4 years prior. (Okiwi estuary) Reported to Sue Grey, Laywer by Bruce Maxwell & Christine Schwemmer, Aotea Gas & Garden, Great Barrier Island.
- 2016 Rolleston Complaint made to Selwyn Council re: “pest control research” due to another breach of their resource consent for their Rolleston poison factory. Hot windy day, the large door to the production area was left open for several hours. The consent states only allowed open when unloading or loading (ie trucks or containers). This was not occurring.
- 2016 2 Dec 2016 – S Murray, a professional and highly experienced fishing guide was with clients who were hit by 1080 pellets on a West Coast river. River Haven Lodge, RD3, Murchison. Incident happened on December 2 when he and three other fishing parties were on the Mokihinui River, north of Westport. Fish died. Helicopters were flying in high winds at approx. 2000 ft over waterways. Complaint was made at the time but nothing done.
- 2017 Putaruru S Kochumman, S Shibu and A Daniel admitted to Waikato Hospital after becoming seriously ill after consuming wild hunted boar suspected to be contaminated with 1080 and/or strychnine 1080 was the first working diagnosis and continued to be mentioned throughout the patients’ notes. All other possible causes identified by the DHB and ACC were excluded. Prof Ian Shaw, University of Canterbury confirmed in letter to KW that 1080 poison likely cause rather than Botulism as claimed by WDHB. Ongoing health problems suffered by victims.
- 2018 Levin A depot belonging to the local council caught fire. 1080 and other toxic pesticides were stored inside. OIA sent to establish why residents were not evacuated for their safety. At least one individual (P Barton) is suffering adverse health effects after breathing in the toxic fumes.
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Artist says he's the man for Paul Henry role - 2010
Artist says he's the man for Paul Henry role
By MICHAEL FOX
The artist advocating unemployment is using his newfound notoriety to plump for axed Breakfast host Paul Henry's job.
Wellington beneficiary Tao Wells, 37, sparked controversy – and a heated reaction from Dominion Post readers – when it was revealed he was setting up a taxpayer-funded "beneficiaries' office" to promote the virtues of being unemployed.
Creative NZ provided a $3,500 grant for the Manners St office, which is open to the public for at least two weeks from today as part of the Letting Space public art series. The Beneficiary's Office urges people to forsake jobs they don't like rather than endure eight hours of "slavery".
Wells' benefit has since been suspended as Work and Income investigates him for receiving income above the maximum allowable as a result of the grants – something that he denies. He said it was an "absolute lie" to suggest he benefited personally from the Creative NZ funding, as it all went to the Wells Group, of which he is the director. He admitted the funding let him and five colleagues work on the exhibition.
Wells said the anger prompted by his argument was a response to the issues he raised, not an attack on him. "The anger is very real and it's not about me. It's about feeling ripped off – we are collectively being ripped off."
He disagreed that beneficiaries were getting paid for "doing nothing". "Everyone who is alive works to live. Now what is that work? Is it just purely financial? It can't be – we all rip off our jobs, we all participate in other things that we're not supposed to at work.
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"If we didn't, society in itself would collapse. If we didn't notice our neighbour, if we didn't say hello, if we didn't do the extra things – I feel ridiculous even having to make those points but this is the state of things."
He was not advocating for people living off the state but "living for the state". However, he did not have any ideas on how this would be achieved, admitting "we're making this up as we go".
When asked what he'd learnt from the experience, he said: "That I want Paul Henry's job. I'm outspoken, I'm not afraid to speak my mind, not politically correct – and if all those people thought that that was important about Paul Henry, then they should feel the same way about me. And I am unemployed."
An earlier version of this story said the Beneficiaries Office art programme, Letting Space, received $40,000 from Creative New Zealand. In fact, it was only given a total of $3,500.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4242452/Artist-says-hes-the-man-for-Paul-Henry-role
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