The Maori Party is calling for a moratorium on the use of 1080 for poisoning possums.
Prime Minister John Key says there is was no other way to rid some areas of the pest.
But the party's conservation spokesperson, Te Ururoa Flavell, disagrees.
Mr Flavell says the party wants a moratorium until such time as more research is done on the effect of 1080 on waterways.
He says the Government should run a large-scale trapping programme, employing jobless people to carry out the work.
