Friday the 5th of October
marked one year since the container ship MV Rena struck an artificial reef off
the coast of Tauranga as it headed into port, triggering New Zealand’s worst
ever environmental disaster. The clean-up that followed took months, and is
still not complete: the Rena remains grounded on the Astrolabe Reef and oil
from the ship still occasionally washes up on Bay of Plenty beaches.
Media attention for much of the past year has vilified the ship's captains and
whipped up racism aimed at the Filipino crew.
Such scapegoating only serves to obscure the
real causes of the disastrous "accident".
A combination of lax
environmental, labour and maritime regulation combined to produce the perfect
conditions for the grounding. In accordance with New Zealand maritime
law, the crew of the Libyan flagged Rena were not allocated the same rights
as other workers in Aotearoa. They worked long periods at sea for little
pay. In court, the Rena's captain was described as being "obsessed
with reaching port by 3 am", leading him to take unnecessary risk. But
that's little wonder he was due for a period of shore leave and hadn't been
home to see his family in one and a half years. Meanwhile, the company
responsible for the Rena is under no obligation to pay for the clean-up.
Under New Zealand's flagship environmental law the Resource Management Act,
liability is limited to only $600,000. Maritime laws also put limits on the
ship owners' liability. Meanwhile the estimated cost of the disaster is as much
as $47 million. Without adequate regulation and penalties that amount to
a mere slap on the wrist, an environment was created where corporations run
rampant with little regard for the consequences of their actions.
In spite of having to foot for as much as a
$20 million shortfall in funds for the clean-up, the National government has no
plans to do anything about the situation. For National, the interests of
business trump the interests of the environment. "As a country that
significantly requires shipping into our ports, for our economy to survive, we
just have to wear this one" Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee told the
media on Tuesday the 2nd of October. In other words, penalties
that could hit importers in the pocket are out of the question. Furthermore,
even the limited provisions of the RMA are under attack as the government seeks
exemptions for industrial projects of "local significance" in
addition to the many exemptions already in place.
But they haven't got everything their own way.
The tactics of protest and direct action that made New Zealand nuclear free in
the 1980s are being resurrected. Protests by Te-Whanau-a-Apanui in the Rakamura
Basin succeeded in forcing out oil prospectors. They've shown what can be
achieved. We must organise to defend the environment.
Cory Anderson
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