A small North Otago group is spearheading a campaign to raise national awareness about what could happen to New Zealand's rivers if parts of state-owned hydro-electricity companies are sold by government.
The non-political group, under the slogan "riversnotforsale", is using pamphlets, film clips on YouTube and the thoughts and poems of Brian Turner at a picnic in Oamaru tomorrow to publicise the issue.
Last weekend, the group marched in the Oamaru Victorian street parade with placards, then distributed pamphlets afterwards.
It is made up of a core of about half a dozen people who have been fighting since 2001 various projects on the lower Waitaki River, including state-owned Meridian Energy's Project Aqua and north bank tunnel concept power schemes.
A member of the group, Alison MacTavish, said they felt they had been let down by all political parties who had failed to raise questions or provide answers about the effect of asset sales on New Zealand rivers.
While political parties had debated the proposal by the National Party to sell up to 49% of its state-owned hydro-electricity companies, none, including the Green Party, had made a correlation with the effect on rivers.
The group questions what asset sales would mean for rivers, not only those already controlled for hydro generation but others considered for development in the future.
