Brian Rogers Rogers Rabbits www.sunlive.co.nz

You know that the country is short of real election issues to debate when mass hysteria breaks out over a cup of tea.

You'd think the citizens would have more real topics to ponder than what the Johns said at morning tea. Or whether the conversation should have been secretly recorded by the naughty journalist should reveal all.

While the country is in turmoil over the tea party, a real clanger has gone relatively un-noticed. Apparently John Banks, the Act candidate for Epsom, went on TV (The Nation) and announced that:

'If we continue the bankrupt response of just paying young Polynesian, young Maori men, in South Auckland the dole to sit front of TV smoking marijuana and watch pornography and plan more drug offending and more burglaries then we are going to have them coming through our window, regardless if we live in Epsom or anywhere else.”

John, this is a PC country. You can't say that. (You may be right, but you can't say that!)

Yawn. Wake me up when the real election issues come to light.
Here's one. Forget John Banks. Stop cows using the banks as a john. Riverbanks, that is.

The RR team attended a film this week promoted by the Green Party. But don't let that put you off. We knew we were close to a Green event when a clapped-out Corolla – with save the whales, stop the drilling, halt the tour, ban mining and hug a gecko bumper stickers – weaved across lanes and nearly rammed us off the road. The driver must have got his rattan sandals caught in the pedals and maybe snagged his home-spun cardie sleeve in the indicator stick while munching on an organic carrot.

Arriving at the theatre to see ‘River Dog' we were impressed with the movie that shows the idiocy of New Zealand's inability to keep its rivers clean, due to stock pollution.

It's the true story of one man and his dogs; standing up against dirty farming practices and threats of big block owners in the Wairarapa. His quest to keep cattle out of the Pahaoa River is a moody, but cleverly-crafted short film.

A quick search on the internet reveals you can also see the full movie here:
http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi2965018649/

And while it's set near Wellington, the problem and the message is the same New Zealand wide.

It's well time that New Zealand enforced the fencing of river systems, especially those sensitive catchments and waterways feeding our harbours. At least the smaller properties would be a good start. There must be massive logistical issues with larger stations, but there's no excuse for any of the waterways in the Bay of Plenty, bounded by relatively small holdings on easy terrain, to still have stock pugging, pooing and peeing into our pristine rivers.

Throw a picnic into a dinghy or kayak and take a trip up any of the tributaries of our harbour and you'll see foresightful riverside planting, well fenced with native bush and flax to the river's edge. In other places, you'll see where a few couldn't-care-less landowners are grazing right to the stream edge.

Not only is the stock pollution ruining the water quality and polluting the whole river and harbour downstream, but the erosion from pugging is costing them land and adding to siltation, which in turn encourages harbour degradation and, gasp horror, mangrove encroachment.

Yet the solution can be as simple as a single wire electric fence.

See our pictures from the Tauranga harbour of well fenced stock behind an electric wire; yet just a mile or two on, unfenced stock crashing the banks and pooping in the river:

After the film, Greens leader Russel Norman spoke about the loss of habitat and fish species that stock pollution in rivers is creating.
What wasn't covered was the effect on the sensitive harbours of the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel and what is happening downstream, because of a few irresponsible landowners. Russel wished everyone a safe journey home, which we figure is quite a sensible warning; since we've seen how some of these greenies drive.

It's time that residents of the Bay stood up against this pollution by a few; and time the regional council took a tougher line on riparian fencing. The Bay of Plenty Regional Council is one of many that apparently doesn't enforce provisions of the RMA to prevent stock entering waterways. We say, it's time the council did.

So many people have been jumping out of their skins about the Rena pollution, yet this insidious river disaster has been happening right under our noses for years and few people seem particularly concerned.

It's an issue that can be easily tackled in most cases and you don't need to be a dyed-in-the-wool greenie to see that. Nor does it need to be an anti-farming stance.

Let's not leave it to the toothless Greens to campaign for change – we need to get local and national government to pull finger on this.
Taking pride in the environment goes hand in hand with good farming practice and we applaud those farmers, lifestylers and growers who have already taken the initiative to fence river boundaries. For the small percentage who won't, the council's gentle carrot-on-a-stick approach of subsidies clearly doesn't work. Time to dispense with the carrot and swing the big stick.

Parting thought:
Now that Zac Guildford is back in the country, we were thinking of inviting him to a welcome home barbecue. But Zac, don't bring your friends. Such as Drinking Zac. Or Fighting Zac. Or bleeding and wet and naked Zac. Oh hang on, my wife says it's okay if you bring Naked Zac.