Tuesday, 24 February 2026 15:00

Double Standard

Written by The Hound

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OPINION: The proverbial has really hit the fan in Wellington and exposed a glaring example of a double standard in environmental accountability.

Your old mate can only imagine the uproar if a dairy farmer had pumped raw effluent into a local waterway, even by accident.

They'd be crucified by the powers that be and the media for resource consent breaches, investigations would follow and criminal charges would be laid.

Karl Dean, Federated Farmers dairy chair, is asking will we see the same scrutiny of publicly managed infrastructure?

Will the manager of the wastewater treatment plant be held personally responsible?

Will Wellington's mayor, councillors or chief executive be held accountable?

And will enforcement action against the council be taken?

Dean reckons it's fair to answer the answer will probably be a resounding no.

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