Restricted access to the areas we can visit - Conservation Amendment Bill

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The original post on Facebook is here:

But the text for those aren’t on there…

🚨 THIS IS SO IMPORTANT TO OUR KIWI WAY OF LIFE …ATTENTION ALL 4WD CLUBS, JET BOATERS, HUNTERS, FISHERS & OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS! 🚨So important The Government has just introduced the Conservation Amendment Bill, and it is the biggest threat to our traditional Kiwi outdoor heritage in 40 years. They are calling it “cutting red tape,” but what it really does is pave the way to commercialise and privatise our public conservation land.

If we don’t stand up right now, the open, unrestricted backcountry access we’ve enjoyed for generations could be gone for good.

How this Bill disadvantages everyday Kiwi outdoor lovers:
You lose your voice: It removes your automatic right to a public hearing.

If a big corporate wants to lock up your favorite river access or 4WD track, whether you get to object face-to-face is now entirely up to the Minister’s discretion.

60-Year private leases: It allows the Minister to grant exclusive commercial leases for up to 60 years!

That means corporate eco-lodges, private tourism ventures, or infrastructure projects can lock everyday Kiwis out of public valleys and tracks for generations.

60% of our conservation land could be swapped or sold: While National Parks are “safe,” the other 60%, including our stewardship lands, forest parks, and river margins where most of our 4WD tracks, hunting grounds, and boat launches sit is being opened up for easier land swaps and disposals.

Commercial priority over recreation: DOC will now have a legal mandate to actively look for and “enable economic opportunities.”

Volunteer clubs who maintain huts and tracks will be pushed to the back of the queue behind cashed-up commercial operators.

New Zealand Outdoors & Freedom Party is encouraging EVERYONE to have their say.

NB There ate two processes …the Conservation Amendment Bill AND the Conservation Management Strategy..Ideally make you views kniwn on both.

This is our land. We cannot let them hand the keys over to corporate interests and shut Kiwis out of our own backyard.

Submissions close Thursday, July 2, 2026. It only takes a few minutes to lodge your objection and demand that public access to the outdoors remains free, open, and protected for all New Zealanders.

https://www3.parliament.nz/…/54SCEN…/CreateSubmission… also Join us and support to fight for you this election! https://nzofp.co.nz/join-the-nzofp at Muddy Waters Hunting NZ New Zealand Pighunting Association fijiannz_4x4 4WD South Explorers Club Jet Boating New Zealand New Zealand Deerstalkers Association Inc Taihape Deer Stalkers Association

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Unfortunately the kiwi apathy, has become the norm. No one is willing to take a leadership role. We just allow it to happen knowing we don’t agree. BUT do nothing about it and just complain afterwards.

Look at how the no 8 mentality has been destroyed by Health & Safety

.

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That’s FUCKED. Selling out to user pays & tourism. All about money & thats on public/Crown land.:enraged_face:

Fucking over the kiwi tax payer who pay for DOC in the first place & the work they do on the pay to walk on tracks & huts already. No concessions for us. Still got to pay the full wack. Just more freedoms we used to have dwindling away. Got to pay now to drive up to Macetown. What’s going to happen driving up to Skippers & the closed Skippers Bridge. I heard the bridge can’t remain closed due to access needed to the cemetry.:roll_eyes:

JW :cowboy_hat_face:

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Makes you feel sick that this is even a thing they are considering.

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I really like Act, but this is just stupid. To deny access to most of us to our backcountry is a horrible idea. I like to put a pack on, take the dogs into the hills,and have adventures.

I guess it’s designed to get the farmers vote?

It’s just stupid vote grabbing idea.

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What if there are kiwi birds in that area, do you muzzle your dog?

JW :cowboy_hat_face:

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Would be interesting to hear from mangrove or someone else who knows how to interpret this sort of thing, as the legal speak is hard to decipher…. Sounds like a terrible piece of legislation if it gives corporates power to shut more gates, but is the Facebook summary of the bill accurate? And would it make life easier for people whose claims are on public land?

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Ha, well I’d probably be congratulatig them for finding the first kiwi birds in the maniototo for a few years….

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Ha ha, fair enough. Might find a moa then as some footprints were found a few years back in the Kyeburn river. :joy:

JW :cowboy_hat_face:

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As s kid in Alex, I was exploring and camping in the hills behind the clock. Found some great old places, shanty creek is the absolute jewel in the god mining/ roxburugh gorge. Apart from doctors point of course

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I’m sorry, I ment Colemans creek opposite butchers creek outlet.

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Hi, for people wanting to make a submission here’s a template:

Submission on the Conservation Amendment Bill

My name is ……………….., and I strongly oppose the Conservation Amendment Bill.

I believe conservation land should be managed first and foremost to protect New Zealand’s unique natural environment, native species, and wild places. I am concerned that this bill moves the focus away from conservation and instead makes it easier for development and commercial activity to occur on protected land.

Conservation land belongs to all New Zealanders and should be safeguarded for future generations. When natural habitats are damaged, divided, or destroyed, they can be very difficult — and sometimes impossible — to restore. For this reason, I believe any decisions about conservation land should follow a precautionary approach that places environmental protection above all else.

I am especially concerned about any provisions in the bill that could make it easier to exchange, dispose of, or develop conservation land. In my view, short-term economic gain should not take precedence over the long-term protection of ecosystems, landscapes, and biodiversity.

New Zealand’s natural environment is one of our greatest assets. It supports native wildlife, offers recreational opportunities, shapes our national identity, and draws visitors from across the globe. Strong conservation protections are essential to ensuring these values are preserved.

For these reasons, I urge the committee to reject the Conservation Amendment Bill, or at the very least make substantial changes to ensure conservation remains the highest priority for all conservation land and waters.

Thank you for considering my submission.

Your Name ………………….

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im on the fence a bit here,would love them to do something with the stewardship land on coast no one can seem to make a decision on that one,my personal experience is its easier to get access to my claim privately, than be held to ransom by doc or iwi.

kind of feel we have already sold some of our best areas to tourism, never needed to book to walk a track years ago now its nuts,and will never return to some areas in nz as I would like to remember them as they were before the tinted suvs and puffers overrun them,but good to get this out there I recon creates a great discussion ,govt must be trying to claw some coin back ,but at what cost?

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At what cost? At the cost of freedoms we use to have in this country as tax paying citizens.

JW :cowboy_hat_face:

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Bits & bobs aye……? How big are bits & bobs?

JW :cowboy_hat_face:

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