"The recital/discussion has happened on Waiheke Island, Auckland. People thoroughly enjoyed both events and raised interesting aspects for discussion. I was able to give Greenpeace New Zealand's Climate Campaign $1010.00, about 500 Euros from the proceeds. This will immediately be put to use to help a seaborne action against a huge oil prospecting vessel nick-named "the beast" which is now entering our offshore waters to hunt for oil and gas locked in our sea-bed. "The beast" has been here before and been severely inconvenienced by Greenpeace sea-protests. At this time there are two cases in our courts, brought under legislation passed by our previous government, against two Greenpeace protestors being charged with obstructing "the beast". Under a particularly odious amendment to our Maritime Crimes Act, passed by our previous government, the distinction, normally observed in law between a protestor and a terrorist, has been virtually erased. However, the courts are unlikely to be silly enough to bring down a judgement of terrorism against two Greenpeace campaigners swimming in the ocean near "the Beast". Also there's been a change here in the past few weeks to what we hope is an environmentally much more enlightened government. This government is led by a brilliant young woman (37) called Jacinda Ardern, who is 100% aware of the significance of climate change and made the statement during her election campaign that climate change was the defining issue of our time, just as being nuclear-free was the defining issue of voters here in the 1980s. Then, a new government passed nuclear-free legislation. Now we have some hopes that the Ardern government will stop issuing prospecting and mining licences to oil companies on our lands or in our waters.

"The beast" poses immediate threats to our marine environment, quite apart from the damage that may be caused by the fossil fuels it discovers. It uses a particularly brutal system of seismic sonar testing that causes shockingly loud reverberations in the ocean. These can destroy the aural navigation systems of marine mammals and many other sea -creatures." (Denys Trussell)