A murky affair

The revelation that the Department of Conservation (DOC) agreed to take "hush" money from the state-owned energy company Meridian has a disturbing feel to it, writes The Press in an editorial.

DOC agreed to take $175,000 on condition that it did not object to the generator's Project Hayes wind farm. In a nation which has long prided itself on its clean business and government, this is a murky affair.

DOC's job is to safeguard the conservation estate. Even after the former administration announced its whole-of-government support for Project Hayes, DOC might still have continued to press its concerns within government ranks. The suspicion is that, instead, it took the chance to extract $175,000 from Meridian. Fuelling this suspicion is the secrecy of the deal. Although Meridian says it was made public in mid-2007, it is curious that some environmentalists, such as Green co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, have only just learned of it.

DOC strenuously denies that the deal was hush money. It argues that following the previous government's support for the project, it talked to Meridian directly to resolve conservation issues. The objections had been dealt with and the $175,000 was money to mitigate DOC's concerns and not simply to shut the department up, although it did achieve this.

DOC's explanations are not convincing, with the former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Morgan Williams, describing the deal as one of buying silence to avoid political embarrassment. Nor is DOC the only organisation ready to take Meridian money. The Historic Places Trust negotiated a substantial sum for mitigation measures and dropped its objections to Project Hayes, with Ngai Tahu believed to have done likewise.

After Solid Energy's spying on protesters, the Meridian payouts raise questions about the tactics of government companies. While more infrastructure is needed, the Government must remind its own companies that they must always be perceived to be above board in their dealings.

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