‘ Come for a swim, Tim’

Dairy NZ wants Sir Tim Smit to come to New Zealand for a dip in a river after the prominent British environmental entrepreneur publicly likened the country to “a beautiful person with cancer”. “You know, what is the brand New Zealand guys? You know, it’s the oldest advertising thing for a place in the whole of the world — Pure New Zealand,” Sir Tim told the Country Land and Business Association’s Redefining Farming conference at Westminster. “It’s so pure that the people of Christchurch won’t even swim in the River Avon. It is like a beautiful person with cancer.” DairyNZ strategy leader Bruce Thorrold said the industry group was “extremely disappointed” at the comments. “We acknowledge that not all of our waterways are pristine but compared to the rest of the world, New Zealand’s waterways are in good condition, and our farmers and communities are working hard to be even better,” Thorrold said.