A Cautionary Tale T Loomis presentation to the Auckland Inspiring Communities symposium, Nov 2012

1. Petroleum, Politics and People Power A Cautionary Tale T Loomis presentation to the Auckland Inspiring Communities symposium, Nov 2012

2. The Emergence of CLD • Community-led development has emerged as a distinctive approach to community development in recent years. • It’s usually associated with the notion of “community building” (e.g. ABCD) • See research paper and critique of CLD on achievingsustainablecommunities.com

3. Distinguishing features of CLD • A place-based perspective (locality). • A holistic approach: working across interrelated sectors in a strategic, outcome-driven way (priorities may change over time). • Promoting authentic grassroots leadership and community-wide engagement. • Addressing broader structural processes impacting communities.

4. What we know about structural processes impacting communities • They often appear as the normal operations and reasonable requirements of political institutions and commercial organisations (eg new legislation, CTV surveillance, bank profits, financial deregulation, oil tax breaks) • They are controlled by (and represent) powerful interests who often share a similar worldview and agenda driven by that worldview. • National & local development frequently is about the unequal exercise of power. • Structural processes and power relations are often overlooked by CD practitioners.

5. Petroleum expansion on the E Coast • Government introduces minerals policies & RMA amendments to ‘make NZ attractive to foreign investment’. • Apache/TAG acquires 3 permits around Gisborne(Already operating in Taranaki with 23 wells). • 80 wells are projected on the E Coast over the next 5-10 years; most will be ‘fracked’. • The average fracked well requires 5-25 million litres of water and disposal of wastes. • Gisborne Council has no Resource Mgmt Plan; Freshwater planning is expected to take until 2021. • FFT, lobbying GDC, PR campaigns, anti-fracking petition. Govt & big oil fight back with PR etc.

6. Instruments in the exercise of power • Legislation (RMA, LGA) • Political power (Cabinet) • Networks & influence • Resources (Taxes, policy personnel, C&V funding cuts) • Research & expertise • Public relations (media spin, ‘collaboration’, partners) • Force (Police, ‘Security’) • 10 yr plan, FWater Plan • Iwi, Council (elections) • FFT, Environment Cntr • FWAG, volunteers • Council, local experts • FFT, individuals (media articles, events, protests) • Community action Tools of external political & economic forces Tools available to the community

7. But is the power equal?

8. Learnings from Gisborne’s experience • External interventions can highlight divisions; raise questions about what values and aspirations the community shares (What kind of ‘development’? To what end?) • CLD requires some basic consensus on purpose & intended outcomes (External forces exploit divisions -‘extremists’). • New leadership opportunities emerge (eg Lobbying LG and getting elected; new community groups). • An action group needs to build local alliances; tap into national & international movements (eg Australia’s “Lock the Gate”, Bill McKibben’s “Gofossilfree.org” stock divestment campaign) • The resources, skills, influence, determination (& deviousness) of agenda-driven political & economic forces should not be underestimated (cf David Korten, 2001)

9. Forewarned is Forearmed “Given recent political and economic developments in NZ, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that communities and local councils are being systematically divested of their power to plan, decide and manage their own development in the name of the ‘national interest’.....“These days the struggle seems to be more about inciting and organising communities than simply inspiring them.” -- Community activist

10. Peter Finch as newscaster Howard Beale, Network 1976 Note: With minor editorial changes to reflect today’s situation. “I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a recession. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys 5 cents worth, banks are ripping us off, Government’s selling off the country....We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had five homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. “So... we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' “Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your MP because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the recession and big corporations and climate change.... All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, God damn it! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' .... Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the economy and unemployment [and fracking?]. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell...: "I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!“