Welcome to The People's Republic of New Zealand, where politicians know better than everyone. Yesterday the Minister of Conservation Chris Carter denied the Resource Management Permit for the Whangamata Marina, going against the decision of the Environment Court.

The question I ask is how did we end up in a situation where a minister can overrule a court? Why bother actually going to the Environment Court where even if you win, a minister can simply veto the court's decision?

The Whangamata Marina Society spent 14 years and $1 million to get resource consent for their project, only to have Chris Carter veto it because he doesn't like coastal developments. After listening to him on the radio this morning mention Gulf Harbour and Pauanui with a real sneer in his voice this is the only conclusion I can draw.

He harped on about the salt marshes that he felt were ecologically important, something 3 experts testified to, while 1 testified against. Mr Carter said he had to "go with the numbers". That statement staggered me, it is up to the court to weigh up evidence. If the evidence of 1 expert outweighs the evidence of 3 experts, then that is what the court will accept. If we start playing the numbers game in the judicial process we might as well throw the whole process out the window.

The National Government brought in the Resource Management Act in 1991. Labour have now used this act to veto the marina development, proving that they are each as bad as each other. The marina development should be handled by local government, there is no good reason central government should ever get involved. But they do, because they have been allowed to. It is time for New Zealanders to say "no more!". Large government doesn't work, and the New Zealand government has grown larger and larger, becoming more and more intrusive into our lives. We need to pare it back to its bare minimum.

"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny" - Thomas Jefferson