On Thursday the 17th of September I attended an envirohub candidate event at the cargo sheds. On Sunday the 20th of September I attended a wading bird event at Cooney reserve in Omokoroa (pictured above). They couldn’t have been more different. Both about the environment. One had politicians, the other didn’t. Does anyone want to guess which one I preferred?
The election candidate evening featured four candidates in person from the main political parties: Labour, Greens, Opportunity and New Zealand First, with a cameo appearance from National. As an independent I don’t get invited to speak at these events but it is very interesting to go along and meet the candidates and hear what they have to say.
It is silly season, so it is all about promises and how they can spend billions of our dollars to fix the environment. Of course we need a whole team of commissioners, zero carbon, emissions trading scheme (ETS), and gazillions of dollars etc. Money no object but not sure where it all goes and if there are any results. Are results important to our politicians? It all makes a good story, and perhaps that is the most important part.
Sunday at Omokoroa was completely different. No politicians (I don’t count yet). Just a very dedicated genuine bunch of volunteers who do amazing work protecting the birds along the Omokoroa foreshore. It doesn’t get much better than that. Best of all, it is all done on the smell of an oily rag. Maybe that is why there were no candidates there from the main parties?
Omokoroa is what I like. Simple, cost effective, and it delivers real results.