The Water Issue

The stone cairn from the water protest in Cathedral Square.

05 Aug 2010

In the greater Canterbury region, the issue of water is generating a lot of steam. Debates over water use and storage, which now seem to be inextricably linked to local governance and the dissolution of the regional council, have tended to polarise people and local communities.
The Anglican Church has waded into the debate, most visibly by attending the gathering organised by Our Water, Our Vote in Cathedral Square on 13th June. Dean Peter Beck was one of a number of speakers who addressed the 2,500 citizens from throughout the region, and Bishop Victoria blessed the cairn made of rocks from Canterbury’s iconic braided rivers.
Anglican Care’s Social Justice Enabler, Jolyon White, also attended the rally and had liaised with its organisers in the lead-up to the event. Unrepentant about the Church’s involvement, he believes Christians shouldn’t shy away from getting involved in the current debates over water and that, in fact, we can offer fresh perspectives on how the issues might be resolved.
“My concern was that, if we are going to add a voice to the conversation, we should make sure that we’re adding a distinctly Christian voice – that we’re finding something new to say, that there’s something of value added to the conversation,” says Jolyon.
His assessment of what that new voice might say is that Christian stewardship and social justice need to inform our approach to the debate. “The reason I got involved in that big rally was because the protests that had happened until then were just angry, hostile protests with people waving banners…. That’s not a healthy or helpful way for a debate or a conversation about what stewardship is actually about,” explains Jolyon. He wants middle New Zealand to get involved in the debate about the region’s economic and political future, so that there is more substance than steam in future discussions. “Let’s keep the tone right; let’s keep it calm; let’s make sure we have a variety of voices that are spoken; and let’s make sure that we start to get the debate in the public light in a way other than just rampant hostility.”
This fervent but mild-mannered advocate identifies a number of concerns that he would like to see discussed within a larger public context. They can, broadly speaking, be distilled down to three main topics: our approach to economic growth; transparency in the political process; and the long-term effects (on such things as our health, wellbeing and environment) of decisions made today.
In terms of economics, he challenges a prevailing belief that economic growth should take precedence over, for example, social and environmental considerations. “We always need to ask who a particular economic development benefits most; if it benefits one group of people over another group of people, then the fact that there is economic growth in and of itself isn’t of any great value. New Zealand has one of the fastest growing gaps between rich and poor in a western country; our economy and GDP may be going up but, in the process of our GDP going up, we simply widen that gap.” He explains that the gap in wealth has a detrimental effect on everyone – not only those who are left behind financially. He quotes research that shows a correlation between the level of social problems in a society and how wide the gap is between rich and poor. “A country with a wider gap will have higher suicide rates, higher depression rates, larger amounts of its budget going towards incarceration costs … and all these things affect you no matter where you are in society,” he adds.
In the context of the current debate, Jolyon believes the Church has a role to play in identifying the questions that need to be asked – and answered – before decisions on water-use and the region’s future can be made. “Within a Christian worldview, I would say that exploitation in any form is inappropriate – and that goes for people or the environment. We need to be asking other questions that are more appropriate than simply, 'Is there money in this?' – and they’re the stewardship questions. Are we doing things in such a way that it’s reducing the ability of future generations to also use a resource and have a safe and clean environment?” High on Jolyon’s wish-list is to see Christians take an active interest in what is happening in our region and to help the community work through the issues in a more collaborative way. “All of this isn’t saying that farmers are enemies or that there’s a rural-urban split or any of those sorts of things; it’s saying we need to learn to consider together how we can grow healthy communities that benefit everybody.”
South Canterbury farmer and locally ordained minister Bill Penno agrees that the polarisation of viewpoints is not helpful and that the extreme tone in which some of the views are expressed is having a detrimental and divisive effect. “Some people read headlines and take fright and shout slogans without knowing the full picture. … We should get to know the facts and be working as one people towards a common end,” he says. “Some of our region’s heavily polluted areas are city waterways, so it’s not just an urban-rural thing at all; it’s something we all need to be involved in. I would hate somewhere like Christchurch or Timaru or Waimate or wherever to feel that they need to be separated out from these ‘bad’ people in rural areas,” he adds.
Bill was a regional councillor for fifteen years prior to 2005, and has been farming for more than forty years (originally sheep and crops, but more recently dry stock and silage). He is open about the fact that his son, John, is the CEO of the dairy export company Synlait Milk.
A Presbyterian minister, Bill is part of the six-person Ministry Support Team of the Waihao Co-operating parish located near Waimate. The parish is a co-operating venture between the Presbyterian and Anglican Churches. “As Christian people, we can’t just stand to one side from community involvement and community effort: we’ve got to live our Christian beliefs in the community. This applies to environmental management just as much as it does to welfare work,” he says. “It doesn’t mean to say we take extreme positions, but it means our own lives are consistent with what we say and that we take a responsible attitude to using the resources that God’s placed in the world for the betterment of our community.”

Bill questions whether the public rally in Cathedral Square – which he did not attend – has enhanced the relationship between town and country. He has reservations about the event, and his approach to Christian involvement in community issues differs from Jolyon’s Christian activism. Regardless, both men maintain the importance of Christians effecting positive change in the community. “Obviously we all have different perspectives, but as Christian people we need to not just stand back and criticise – or not have an involvement because it doesn’t suit us. We need to be quietly involved in the community whether it be at a political level or social level or simply doing our task well at work – as part of our Christian witness.” He acknowledges that some might view a moderate voice in the community as “insipid.” The challenge, he believes, is to be heard amidst the clamour of the two dissenting positions that have dominated the debate to date.
For the rural Waihao parish, a further challenge is how to remain visible in the changing social landscape. The district has seen many of its family-operated farms become corporate enterprises, and turnover of dairy staff is high from year to year. Bill says the congregation has had to take more of a mission-focused approach when connecting with the families and dairy workers who are new to the area.
According to Jolyon, good stewardship involves knowing what’s going on around us. He encourages us to keep informed and to ask the difficult questions of our scientists and decision-makers. “I hope that, by opening up this debate and putting on the table some of the other things to think about – rather than considering this a rural versus urban or an economic versus environment debate – parishes and individuals will continue to make their voices heard.”

Words: Megan Blakie
Photos: Dave Wethey