An estimated 20,000 – 30,000 people gathered in Aotea Square last Saturday 8 June for the March for Nature to protest the Luxon coalition government’s contentious Fast Track Approvals Bill. The bill would give three ministers the final say over major infrastructure and development projects, speeding up consent times but potentially bypassing environmental checks and balances and limiting public input.
A strong Waiheke contingent joined a diverse crowd that crossed the social and political spectrum. Protestors – including former Green Party co-leader and current Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman, Forest and Bird chief executive Nicola Toki and actress Robyn Malcolm – then made their way down Queen Street in what organisers say is one of the biggest in recent history, with demonstrators filling Queen Street from Aotea Square almost to the waterfront. • Merrie Hewetson
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© Waiheke Gulf News Ltd
