Tonight on Close Up ` the foul state of some of our waterways and one man's plan to make things right. Plus, what the legal victory over Crafar farms means for selling our land to foreigners. and we take you back to the weird and wonderful world of Alan Gibbs. Due to the live nature of Close Up, captions for some items may be incomplete. ONE News captions by Pippa Jefferies and Hannah Reynolds. Close Up captions by Alecia Bland and Angela Alice. Would you drink out of your river? Swim in it, even? It very much depends where you live. Our clean green image took a hammering two years ago when the Manawatu was named one of the most polluted rivers in the western world. The factors there are what's hitting rivers in other part of the country ` sewage, dead stock, dairy run-off. The problem is we don't really know. Who's monitoring it? Well, one man's taken it upon himself to keep an eye on his local river ` the Wairoa River near Whangarei. What he sees isn't always pretty. Gill Higgins went along for a look. OMINOUS GUITAR MUSIC It's absolutely shocking. So, you don't think it's farmers' responsibility to fence it? I'm disappointed to see the river like this. I had no idea. The Kaipara Harbour is in crisis, and I say that this is why they're in crisis. BIRD CHIRP So, how fresh are our freshwater rivers? I Know what it was like, how it was. And it ain't the same. It's a ditch now. There's plenty of talk of cleaning them up, but little action. We've left that job to regional councils and we actually can't, because it's not working. You actually have to be on the river, get your bum wet and go out have a look. We'll go down to the Jordan Bridge, eh? With little fanfare and no funding, Millan Ruka has begun his own campaign to save the nation's rivers. He is 100% committed to it. He's` Right back to 30, 35 years ago I can remember Millan writing to the newspapers about the rivers. He's a quiet crusader. 9 to 5, he's a professional building assessor, but every other waking hour he does this. He's out paddling in winter, summer, all hours, all days by himself. I'm the auditor now... (CHUCKLES) on this river. This rohe up here was always longfin, eh? Yeah, years and years ago. It was the decline of eels that first sparked his interest. People used to live on the eels in the old days. OMINOUS MUSIC One time we could swim in and drink the water, you know? You can't now. You wouldn't drink it? Nah, no way. Millan began his battle in 2010, armed with a camera and notebook. He began documenting in detail the ravaging of our riverbanks. There's deep pock marks all the way through. So, how big an area have you actually covered, would you say? 25 K's down from here, but up and down it 3 times. As we look around, there's not a drinking trough in sight ` no fences either. There is a Clean Stream Accord calling for fencing, and according to Federated Farmers, compliance last year was 90%. But it only applies to dairy stock, not beef, and it's self-assessed. Which fence, you know? Is it the fence on the other side of this particular levee here? Or here? Are they dairy cows? No, but they're dairy stock, you know? So very blurry. Another cause of confusion is land is often leased. I spoke to a farmer who didn't want to be identified, but clearly thought the problem wasn't his. So should be them? Millan believes it is up to farmers, and he wants the regional council to force compliance. So he's sending them his reports. That's their job, not mine. And one would expect at least if I do my little bit and report it, they would do what they're meant to do and rectify it. How would you sum up the response you've had from the councils? I did expect them to respond. The outcome has been no ` zero. And they've stated clearly in writing and in` verbally that they cannot take any action. We thought we'd test the water quality for ourselves. We took samples from six sites and sent them to a lab for testing. E coli bacteria levels should be less than one for drinking and less than 200 for swimming. All six of our samples exceeded these limits, and at two sites, the figure signalled septic discharge. Bad news for those trying to restore the Kaipara Harbour. I'm concerned with the entire river. All of the people up` upriver and downriver are all linked. The results suggest cows are the culprits, but the farmer we spoke to disagreed. As for the idea of fencing off his cows... You can see the fencing just over the back here. And the banks are very stable ` nice and clean. A neighbouring farmer shows it's not too hard. He said it wasn't a big cost. He actually told me that he could fence whole river off, 25 K's, in couple of weeks on his own, just about. Millan wants all farmers to follow suit, and if the council won't act, he may change tactics. Go public internet... So name and shame? Yeah, name and shame. I don't think he'll ever stop making sure that it's` that people live up to what they say they'll do. It'll happen. We'll get it clean. Joining me now ` Denis Anderson from Federated Farmers and Riaan Elliot from the Northland Regional Council. DENIS, IT'S YOUR MEMBERS CAUSING THIS TROUBLE, ISN'T IT? WELL, IT'S- YOU COULD SAY IT'S FARMERS. BUT I'D CONTEND IT'S A SMALL MINORITY AND BY AND LARGE FARMERS ARE MAKING HUGE STPES TO CLEAN UP THEIR ACT. MILLAN SAID ONLY ABOUT 10% WAS FENCED OF HIS RIVER AND THAT DOESN'T COVER OFF ALL THE DAIRY FARMERS O THAT STRETCH. A PORTION OF THAT RIVER IS DIFFICULT TO FENSE IT'S INSIDE FLOOD LEVEES AND SUSCEPTIBLE TO FREQUENT FLOODS, SO THE JOB IS MORE DIFFICULT THE OTHER PROBLEM IS THAT DAIRY FARMERS HAVE REACHED THIS ACCORD, BUT IF YOU'RE NEXT DOOR WITH A BEEF FARM, THEY PRODUCE THE SAME AMOUNT OF EXCREMENT. HOW COME THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE FENCED OFF? OVER WHAT SORT OF TIME? I BELEIVE THE FONTERRA ACCORD WILL FORCE EVERYBODY TO MEET CERTAIN STANDARDS DAIRY FARMERS HAVE TILL THE END OF THIS SEASON TO ENSURE THAT STREAMS ARE FENCED. THERE'LL BE MORE LEAD-IN TIME FOR THE MORE DIFFICULT JOBS. BUT IT CERTIANLY THE PENALTIES FOR NOT MEETING STANDARDS WILL MEAN MILK WON'T BE OICKED UP. I WANT TO BRING IN RIAAN ELLIOT NOW. WE SAW THE WATER TESTS IN THAT PIECE. WHAT DO YOUR TESTS SHOW? IT'S NOT THE BEST WATER QUALITY IN THE WORLD. DRINKING STANDARDS ARE BASED ON TREATED WATER EVEN A PRISTINE WATERWAY WOULDN'T MEET THE DRINKING CRITERIA. SO YOU FOCUS ON BATHING CRITERIA. THE ISSUE IS PROBLEMATIC IN TERMS OF THE GUIDELINES IT'S SIMPLE, ISN'T IT? YOU WANT CLEAN WATER, YOU STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT, NOT WANTING TO TAKE THE ISSUE TOO MUCH FURTHER, WE'VE LOOKEED AT OUR PRISTINE AREAS, AND EVEN THOSE CACHEMENTS WON'T COMPLY 100% OF THE TIME SO WHEN COUNCILS SET WITH THE TASK OF SETTING EATER QUALITY TARGETS, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE ACHIEVABLE AND THAT IN TERMS OF CENTRAL POLICY, THAT WE ALSO CONSIDER THE ECONOMIC IMPACT THE GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVELY CHARGES THE LOCAL COUNCILS WITH POLICING IT, WHY AREN'T YOU THERE TELLING FARMERS TO PUT FENCES UP? RIGHT. CURRENTLY IT'S THE RUELS IN OUR PLANS THAT SAY WHAT PEOPLE CAN'T DO. WE'VE EXPLAINED THIS TO MILLAN. THE PLANS DON'T REQUIRE FARMERS TO FENCE WATERWAYS SO WE ARE SOMEWHAT HAMSTRUNG. THESE ARE COUNCIL'S PLANS? SO YOU ARE HAMSTRUNG BY THE REGIONAL COUNCIL? NOT THE COUNCIL, BY THE PLANS IN THE CURRENT FORMAT COUNCIL, WE'VE INFORMED MILLAN THAT THERE A RE PROCESSES WE GO THROUGH. THE COUNCIL'S CURRENTLY PUTTING OUT A POLICY STATEMENT IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS YEAR AND TEHRE'S AN OPPRTUNITY TO SAY WE WANT MORE IN TERMS OF WATER QUALITY. SO MORE MEETIGNS, MORE SUBMISSIONS? WE HOPE SOMETHIGN COMES OUT OF IT. THANK YOU BOTH. Well, tell us what your views are by going to our website or email us at closeup@tvnz.co.nz. And you can post on our Facebook page. That is facebook.com/closeup. Coming up ` the Crafar farms back on the selling block ` what it means for foreign ownership. And we return to Alan Gibbs' one-of-a-kind hideaway. BRIGHT POP INTRO PLAYS # It's all ours now. # I see things clearer. # It's clearer now. # Now. # OPSM's advanced lens technology is here. Finally, you can enjoy prescription sunglasses in almost any style. The Crafar farm deal took another dramatic turn today with the High Court overruling the government's sign-off and telling the ministers to reconsider. It's a victory for now for the groups that challenged it: Maori trusts involved in farming, along with Sir Michael Faye and David Richwhite ` the merchant bankers who in a previous life revelled in flogging off Kiwi assets. So, sell Telecom and railways to Americans: good; sell farms to Chinese: bad? Regardless of the irony, Justice Miller effectively found the case for selling them overseas didn't show any greater benefit than if they were sold locally. So what happens now? What does it mean? Mai Chen is here to make sense of it all. SO IS THIS A DEFEAT FOR THOSE GOVERNMENT MINISTER? NO, THE MINISTERS ACTED ON ADVCE FROM THE OVERSEAS INVESTMENT OFFICE. THEY PUT UP A RECOMMENDATIION. THERE WERE TWO ERRORS THAT THE FAY RICHWHITE CAMP WERE PUTTING FORWARD: ONE WAS THAT THE CHINESE DDIN'T KNOW ONE END OF A COW FROM ANOTHER. IF THE JUDGE HAD FOUDNT HAT WAS PROVEN, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE ERROR THEY FOUND IS FIXABLE. THE OVERSEAS INVESTMENT OFFICE CONSIDERS IT AGAIN AND AS OPPPOSED TO SAYING IT'S THEN VERSUS NOW IF THERE'S SOMEONE WHO PICKS UP THE FARM, WILL THAT BE BETTER? THEY'RE SAYING THE TEST IS WITH OR WITHOUT FOREIGN INVESTMENT AS OPPOSED TO A NZ BID. SO THIS HASN'T SCUPPERED THE DEAL? NO, THE APPLICATION IS STILL THERE. THE MINISTERS INTEND TO SEND IT BACK TO THE OVERSEAS INVESTMENT OFFICE. AS THE JUDGE SAID. THE MINISTERS SAID IT COULD BE DAYS, NOT WEEKS. I WOULD, IF I WAS ADVISING THE OVERSEAS INVESTMENT OFFICE, TELL THEM TO TAKE THEIR TIME WE WOUDLN'T WANT THE CHALLENGE NEXT TO BE THAT THEY WERE JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS. THEY NEED TO CONSIDER THE NEW TEST AND APPLY IT TO THE FACTS AND PROVE THAT THERE IS BENEFIT AND TEHN THEY WILL PUT IT TO THE MINISTER, AND THEY COULD MAKE THE SAME DECISION. MAURICE WILLIAMSON SAID HE LOOKS AT THESE THINGS CAREFULLY WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE PRICE OFFERED, DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE THAT THE CHINESE MADE A BIGGER OFFER? YES. IT'S THE AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT THAT YOU'RE BRINGING TO THE COUNTRY. THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF ECOMONIC STUFF YOU HAVE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT. SO IT'S JOB, GREATER TECHNOLOGY, GREAT EXPORT, PRESERVING FLORA ND FAUNA. IN THIS CASE, THEY ARE ASLO PROVIDING TRAINING. IF YOU BID FOR A FARM AND NO ONE ELSE WANTS IT, THE BEFORE AND AFTER TEST STILL APPLIES. BUTIF TEHRE'S A WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE WHO WANT IT, YOU HAVE TO UP YOUR GAME AND SHOW YOU WANT IT. YOU PICK IS THE DEAL WILL GO AHEAD WITH ADJUSTMENTS? THEY COULD DO IT. Coming up ` we return to the unique world of businessman Alan Gibbs to find out what wonderland an art-loving millionaire can create when money's no object. Alan Gibbs is a man who doesn't do things by halves. Last week we talked to this entrepreneur about the years of work and millions of dollars he put into pursuing his dream of creating a commercial amphibious vehicle. When we did that story, you got glimpses of Alan Gibbs' farm, a secret wonderland. You see, he didn't do that by halves either. It's bristling with exotic animals and some of the best outdoor sculptures in the world. It is literally an outdoor art gallery that very few get to see. Tonight you can join that exclusive club. Michael Holland with a revealing insight into a man and his passion. GENTLE MUSIC Oh, I sort of call it my turangawaewae. It's my sort of core place on earth. These are my NZ roots. Restful, serene? Yes, plus dynamic, irritating, interesting, wild. (CHUCKLES) He refers to it simply as his farm ` a label that seems ridiculously inadequate. But then what use are labels when merely trying to make sense, makes no sense at all? Describe that to me, someone who doesn't claim to understand? Oh, I don't understand either. You don't understand art; you feel art. Oh, I don't understand either. You don't understand art; you feel art. It's not an intellectual process That's why I like it. UPBEAT MUSIC It either does something to you ` you're moved by it or you are not, and the more people talk about art, the less I'm interested in listening because if you have to have it explained to you, then it's failed. In other words ` look, gawk feast your eyes, but don't worry took much about rationalising things. As curious as that advice is coming from this rich-lister who's spent his entire business career doing the exact opposite ` interpreting and analysing, searching for the bottom line. There is a pattern to all the art here, and it's called abstract minimalism ` abstract meaning it doesn't represent anything and minimalism is a type of art where the artist tries to achieve the most impact with the least stuff. What do you see right there, right now? I see a very attractive fleshy object that I can see right through. It's a monster. True. A good-looking monster. So, this is eight storeys? That's right 80ft, 25m. This work is Andy Goldsworthy. He's an English guy. They're natural arches in that they work by gravity and they have got a keystone, so there is nothing holding them together but their own weight. 250m long, weighs 550 tons, and it's 2 inches thick. This probably is the best example of a site-specific work, really meaning it has been completely inspired by this piece of land. You understand it with your emotions, not your intellect. It's like loving a woman. It's not a reasonable thing to do. (CHUCKLES) My daughter Emma was married on these blocks and all her bridal party stood on a block each. She and I walked down this hill, and her train was still leaving the top of the hill when we arrived at the bottom. (LAUGHS) The steel pipe was bought in Singapore. It was shipped to England where it was cut into sections, and then the shapes curved in the steel, there was nowhere in the Southern Hemisphere that could bend pipe that thick. While you're satisfying your artistic bent, you're creating all sorts of engineering challenges. Yes, well, the truth is that, you know, I love engineering, and that's half the fascination for me. The skin of that is what? It's rubberised fabric. What did you think it was? I assumed it was steel. Heathens make assumptions. Look at what a simple object this is and yet what it does. That's the whole significance of it ` doing a lot with a very very little. It's a fantastic aspect of this place is the combination of the animals and the art, the provocation that the animals can provide the artist. So we've chosen to only have animals that are good-looking or interesting-looking. You can be gangly and elegant, and I think he's extremely gangly and extremely elegant. This fence is a work by Daniel Buren, who's one of France's top sculptors. His standard style is stripes. Now, that's made of stainless steel. The Floating Island of the Immortals. Lovely the way it picks up the sun, isn't it? It sparkles. You tell me if that's not fascinating. That's the essence of minimalism. Looks like twiddle-sticks just thrown in the air. Has an engineer ever said, 'You've got to be kidding'? (CHUCKLES) Well, they often smile at me. Is that the same thing? And to put Alan Gibbs' collection into perspective ` Anish Kapoor, the sculptor of that huge red work entitled Dismemberment, Site 1 has created a 115m-high sculpture specially for the London Olympics. It's called Orbit Tower and is being hailed as Britain's answer to the Eiffel Tower. Time for your feedback now. Morry says... Now on Crafar, Doug says... And that's NZ Close Up. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2012