Police open to dialogue with blackmailer

The government won't be negotiating with whoever's behind a threat to contaminate infant formula with 1080, Prime Minister John Key says.

It's been revealed on Tuesday that anonymous letters were sent to Fonterra and Federated Farmers in November last year, along with small packages of milk powder which have since tested positive for concentrated 1080.

The letters threatened to contaminate infant and other formula with the poison unless New Zealand stopped using 1080 for pest control by the end of March.

Mr Key says there's no chance the government will stop using 1080 once the deadline passes.

He's also ruled out any negotiations with the person behind the threat.

"If you start negotiating with eco terrorists, then that's a technique people could use for any particular issue that they don't like about the government," Mr Key said.

"We use 1080 because it is the best product to deal with the two issues that we have: the impact of rats, stoats and possums that are other predators to our natural birdlife, and because we want to control tuberculosis.

"Without it we'd have serious issues on another front."

The government has become more cautious about its use of 1080 in recent years, Mr Key said.

He added that Forest and Bird is one of the groups that supports the use of 1080 and the parliamentary commissioner for the environment has conducted an inquiry into it.

Read more from the original source:
Police open to dialogue with blackmailer