Activists arrested in Fonterra protest

The protestors had set up piles of flood-damaged furniture and personal effects outside the co-operative’s offices on Fanshawe St, pasting stickers labelling the company ‘Floodterra’ to its windows along with cardboard floodwater.

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell says the protest caused no disruption at the co-op headoffice.

“People are allowed to express their views at any time,” he says.

The protest comes mere weeks after Cyclone Gabrielle made landfall in New Zealand. At that time, Nick Young, Greenpeace Aotearoa’s head of communications, laid claim that the storm had been caused by the dairy industry.

Two protestors were arrested outside Fonterra's Auckland offices. Photo Credit: Greenpeace

The climate activist organisation has long been at odds with the co-operative, and the dairy sector as a whole, arguing for a move away from synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and towards regenerative agriculture.

They say the Government needs to do more to regulate the industry, a move the charity claims would protect New Zealanders from flooding, storms, and cyclones.

“While many communities are carrying the cost of climate driven storms, Fonterra… is reaping the profits,” says Greenpeace Aotearoa climate campaigner Christine Rose.

“Everyone deserves to live in a flourishing environment with a safe and stable climate, but big dairy’s greenhouse gas emissions are putting everything we know and love at risk,” she says.

Protestors stickered Fonterra's offices with stickers that read 'Floodterra'. Photo Credit: Greenpeace