A group of North Otago people involved for more than a decade in fighting to save the Waitaki River is leaving no stone unturned in its opposition to the Government's partial asset sales.
They formed RiversnotforSale before the general election last year to oppose partial asset sales, and have now joined the campaign to get signatures on a petition to force the Government to hold a citizens-initiated referendum.
Rather than holding a march like others in New Zealand today to protest against selling state-owned assets, the group in Oamaru plans to focus on the connection between energy company control over hydro rivers and getting signatures for the Greypower petition, also promoted by trade unions and opposition political parties.
It already has more than 100,000 signatures.
"But the Government is also moving fast, and we want to make sure that everybody knows exactly when and where the petition is available for signing," a member of RiversnotforSale, Alison MacTavish, said this week.
Today, it will set up outside the Countdown car park in Oamaru from 10am to 4pm for people to sign the petition and pick up a river stone from about 1000 it will have there.
"We hope there won't be a single stone left by the end of the day," Mrs MacTavish said.
The river stones were a reminder energy companies were not just entities people read about in newspapers, but also that the rivers generating their profits were an integral part of the Kiwi identity and the country's environment.
In particular, the group would focus on the Waitaki River, which had eight power stations owned by Meridian Energy and Genesis Energy.
The group would be joined by musicians, well-known artists and local identities, who would decorate the stones with drawings or signatures.
Members of the RiversnotforSale group have been involved in water resource issues on the Waitaki River since Meridian Energy proposed its Project Aqua power scheme in 2001.
