The Ministry for the Environment invites our website visitors (you) to participate in the sustainability.govt.nz site by posting comments in forums on our website and providing by case studies and images. By registering to sustainability.govt.nz you are agreeing to the terms and conditions, you are also confirming that you have read and understood these terms and conditions.
Disclaimer
Any opinions, statements or other content expressed by third parties on the website are those of third parties only. The Ministry does not endorse any opinion, statement or other content posted on, or accessible through, the website .
Neither the Ministry for the Environment nor any of its employees make any express or implied representations or warranties regarding the content posted on or referred to in this site, nor do we accept any liability for any loss or damage whatsoever which may arise in any way out of the use of any of the content on the sustainability.govt.nz; for errors in or omissions from the content; or for the accuracy of any information obtained through use of this site.
We have used a variety of sources in providing information on this website. If you would like to provide feedback on the site, please email info@sustainability.govt.nz
Our rights
The Ministry will not be responsible for screening, monitoring or verifying the content of the material posted on the sustainability.govt.nz, including content's accuracy, reliability or compliance with copyright or other laws. However, we may from time to time monitor or review these postings.
The Ministry reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to edit, refuse to post or remove any material submitted to or posted on sustainability.govt.nz.
We can terminate your access to the forum if we believe you are abusing the services in any way, or have breached these terms and conditions.
You consent to our collecting and storing your email and IP address for security purposes.
Your obligations
You may not submit to the sustainability.govt.nz any material that is unlawful, harmful, harassing, threatening, abusive, hateful, libellous, defamatory, obscene, profane, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable.
To respect the privacy of others you may not submit personal information about third parties (e.g. names, addresses or other identifying information) nor may you submit any material that is protected by copyright, patent, or other proprietary right without obtaining permission of the copyright or patent owner or right holder.
Sustainability.govt.nz shall not be used for any commercial purposes. You will not submit any material to solicit funds or to promote, advertise, or solicit the sale of any goods or services.
You grant us the right to use and distribute, without limitation, in any format, any content that you submit to sustainability.govt.nz.
Indemnities
You will indemnify and hold the Ministry and their employees, officers or agents harmless from and against any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of material or information you submit, post to or transmit through sustainability.govt.nz, your violation of the Terms and Conditions of Use, or your violation of any rights of another.
Correcting or accessing your personal information
If you provide personal information through the consultation website, you will be able to demand that this information be updated, corrected, accessed or removed from the website, by sending an e-mail to info@sustainability.govt.nz identifying the information you wish to be changed, modified, removed or accessed.
Governing law
These terms and conditions shall be construed and applied in accordance with the laws of New Zealand, and you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand Courts to determine any matter or dispute which arises under these terms and conditions in accordance with the laws of New Zealand.
This is a public forum so people have various shades of views. Be courteous, respect other readers' viewpoints. Make others feel comfortable about expressing their thoughts. Lively debate is encouraged but your comments must not be personally abusive about people, including others who have had their comments posted. Never use threatening language or terms and please don't use swearwords.
Who can participate in the forum and submit site content?
All site visitors are welcome to participate in the forum and submit content or comments when invited. We try to post as many entries as we can but can not guarantee every entry will be posted. We encourage wide debate. That is what the internet is all about! However, as in any community, there have to be guidelines and rules. Submissions that do not follow those rules will not be considered for posting.
What are the commenting rules?
- In keeping with New Zealand law, do not use language or make comments that can be considered discriminatory on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual preference, nationality, age, disability, etc. Your comments must not contain defamatory, obscene, pornographic, or otherwise illegal material.
- Putting whole words or sentences in CAPITAL letters is considered shouting in the internet world. Our moderator does not have the time to correct comments that use this method of getting a strongly held point across. Lots of exclamation marks are also annoying for readers. One used sparingly is enough, please!
- Do not use text messaging short forms. Our moderators will sometimes change spelling or grammar so everyone can understand a comment. It would be appreciated if you could run your comments through a spell checker to speed up the posting process.
- Do not waste your time using the forums to try to spread gossip, breach court orders or make allegations about people. This is one of the reasons we have to moderate the forums.
- If you are a business, please do not use the forums to try to slip in free advertising.
- By submitting a comment you are consenting to its display on the site and for any related online and offline use we choose. In submitting the comment, you are agreeing to abide by the rules, take responsibility for your comments and accept that these comments may be edited, deleted or not used.
When can I expect my comments to appear?
For legislative and security reasons, we are required to review all submissions before any are posted online. We will generally endeavour to do this within two working days of your submission, depending on how many posts we are receiving at the time.
Why do I have to tell you my region when signing up for the pledge or sending comments?
We are trying to ask the bare minimum, as we want to encourage free debate. Many forums ask for such details and more, even full registration as a "member" which has to be approved before you can start posting any comments.
We would prefer you to allow your full name to be published with your comments as happens in letters published in the newspaper. However, we appreciate that this does not suit some people so we give you the opportunity to opt for your first name or nickname to be used if the comment is published.
There are times when we need to clarify something and if we can't contact you we won't be able to post the comment. Providing your email address allows us to do this if necessary. We also feel that this is a show of good faith that you are genuine in the views you have submitted. We will not publish your email address.
Can I make suggestions or submit a complaint?
Enjoy the opportunity to engage in healthy debate. We look forward to reading them.
If you have any general thoughts about our community offerings, or consider something published inappropriate, let us know.
Contact the Forum Moderator.
Privacy policy
You may browse and access information contained within this website without providing any personal information. Where you voluntarily provide personal information (for example, through online forms or email requests), we will only use that information for the purpose for which you provide it. The Ministry will hold all information you provide in accordance with the Privacy Act 1993.
- In posting comments to sustainability.govt.nz, you are posting content that can be seen by anyone visiting sustainability.govt.nz. Displayed along with your comment will be your user name, and the date and time you made the comment.
- We use software that receives and records the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer that has contacted the sustainability.govt.nz. We make no attempt to link these addresses with the identity of the individuals contacting the sustainability.govt.nz. Only general information, such as the IP address and time of visit, is tracked. Furthermore, information regarding which pages are being accessed is collected and aggregated. The information is used internally, and only in aggregate form to manage the site, diagnose technical problems and improve content. No personal information provided by you is passively collected by electronic means and "cookies" are only used for authentication and login purposes. (A "cookie" is a file that may be placed on your hard drive without your knowledge by a web site to allow it to monitor your use of the site.
If you would like to access and/or correct any personal information
we hold, please contact:
Privacy Officer
Ministry for the Environment
PO Box 10362
Wellington
New Zealand
or email privacy@mfe.govt.nz.
