Passions ran high in Wanaka last night at a meeting on the Labour Party's water policy.
About 60 people, mostly Labour supporters but also members of the farming community, filled the Armstrong Room at the Lake Wanaka Centre last night for the heated but civil public meeting.
Labour's water spokesman, David Parker, and its Waitaki candidate, Zelie Allan, attended the meeting but Mr Parker did most of the speaking and answered questions, most of which came from farmers concerned about the impact Labour's water royalty would have.
The Labour MP stressed the royalty was only one part of his party's plan for water quality, which included setting maximum nutrient levels for catchments and empowering the Ministry For the Environment to prosecute those who breached the Resource Management Act.
''People in New Zealand have said 'enough' and that is the background to why water quality is such an important issue in this election,'' Mr Parker said.
Andrew Paterson, of Omakau, told Mr Parker he had calculated the royalty would cost him between $80,000 and $100,000 a year, which would be better spent on making his farm more environmentally friendly.
After the meeting, Mr Paterson and Mr Parker continued to discuss the issue and even shook hands, but the Central Otago farmer was still concerned.
''I've had sleepless nights just thinking about this and what will happen to not just me, but my kids; that's who I'm thinking about now.''
He agreed something had to be done about water quality but the policy would only hurt farmers.
Mr Parker said the royalty was targeted not just at farmers but at any large user who gained private profit from the use of water.
Any royalty would be ''fair and affordable'', he said.
