Shifting baselines and political expediency in New Zealand’s freshwater management
M. K. Joy
A C and A. D. Canning B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, 23 Lambton Quay, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand.
B Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), James Cook University, 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: mike.joy@vuc.ac.nz
Marine and Freshwater Research 72(4) 456-461 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF20210
Submitted: 8 July 2020 Accepted: 22 August 2020 Published: 15 October 2020
Abstract
The New Zealand government has been praised for heeding scientific advice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but when it comes to environmental protections the scientific advice seems to be negotiable. Freshwaters have been in decline for decades, despite clear science on limits needed to protect them. There are many examples of ‘shifting baselines’, where limits have been progressively weakened through agency regulatory capture and political expediency.
Keywords: agency capture, freshwater management, New Zealand, nutrients, political expediency, shifting baselines.
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