Open Letter (email) sent to Jacinda Ardern ~ Winston Peters ~ Ron Mark ~ Shane Jones ~ Eugenie Sage ~ James Shaw ~ Simon Bridges
13 August 2018An Open Letter.
Good morning to you all,
You may be aware, or not as the case may be, that I have started a 'give a little' crowd funding campaign aimed at raising funds to buy back Lilydale Station for NZ. New Zealander's are becoming increasingly concerned about large tracts of land being snapped up by wealthy foreigners, & that successive Governments & the current one are doing little about this appalling situation. When I discovered that Lilydale Station in South Canterbury was on the market I felt it my duty to try to find a way to buy it back from its American owner for NZ, so that all Kiwis can enjoy what this pristine wilderness has to offer. The approach I've taken is too follow in the footsteps of the guys who bought the beach in Able Tasman National Park, as near the end of their campaign the Government stepped in & helped them get across the line. This is what I am hoping will happen with our campaign. Another reason for taking this action is to bring these matters to the attention of the general public. As the Forest & Bird spokesperson said recently on TV3 when she was interviewed about this campaign "the Government should be buying properties such as these", not the exact quote but the general idea. Another of my personal concerns, especially with the repercussions of accelerating climate change looming large before us, is future proofing & water & food security. If we are to act swiftly to adapt to these changes in our climate we will need to increase the conservation estate for a number of reasons such as; protecting water catchment areas & tracts of marginal land which may be required to grow such things as (edible) food forests, alternative multipurpose crops such a hemp & indigenous & exotic forests. Please do not see this email or the crowd funding campaign as a criticism of your government but as a call to arms at a critical time in our history. Crowd funding is just another tool in the tool box, & I'm sure, if the Government saw fit to support this buy back campaign, such a move would go down very well in the eyes of many Kiwis who feel not enough is being to safeguard our nation from foreign influence, ownership & control. We must regain control of our destiny & put our national interest before those of others if we are to meet the really important challenges of our times, & survive the hard times that may lie ahead. This may mean being not such a great little compliant global citizen for a wee while, but to be a better global global citizen in the future will firstly mean getting our own house in order, coming up with workable transitional solution's, & leading by example. This campaign, I believe is a small step in this localisation direction.
Best Regards,
John Overton