Dyson RuthHon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills): Rau rangatira mā tēnei te mihi i runga i te kaupapa o te rā. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā huihui koutou katoa. [Esteemed elders and others I pay tribute to our purpose today. Greetings greetings greetings to all gathered here.]It gives me great pleasure to speak in this first reading of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill. I want to commend the Minister of Conservation the Hon Eugenie Sage for her work in this area and in many other conservation areas. She's an inspiration to people around New Zealand who care about our freshwater species our bird life our forests and our environment. So I want to acknowledge her work and her passion in this area.Freshwater fish has not been an area of particular attraction I would say for a lot of conservation Ministers in the past because it doesn't get people up and bouncing in the way that saving a kākāpō or a kiwi does. People love cuddling kākāpōs and I can highly recommend it having done it myself but if you talk about the protection of whitebait or other freshwater fish people don't get as passionate about it. You don't cuddle whitebait. I think as the previous speaker Ian McKelvie saw there is a different destiny for whitebait in the minds of most New Zealanders. So protection of them is not high in people's minds. But our indigenous freshwater fish are a really precious part of our natural heritage. I'm delighted that the Minister of Conservation has recognised the lack of robustness in our protection mechanisms and has taken what is quite a small step to be fair—as I think the Minister even acknowledged in her first reading speech—but it's a really vital step and it's a step on the path to better protection.I also want to acknowledge that these freshwater fish are important not just in terms of being part of our culture but being important socially and being important economically. We've got a legislative framework that is very outdated. It doesn't allow for decent data to be used it doesn't allow for review of protection mechanisms and it doesn't provide the robustness that we need to ensure our fisheries are fit for purpose in the future. In fact the only fish that is legally protected in New Zealand is extinct which is quite a bizarre fact for this House to ponder. So it's pretty obvious I think to all the speakers—and I'm delighted that we seem to have unanimous support for this legislation. I'm really pleased that people have recognised that our legislative framework isn't any longer fit for purpose.This bill doesn't cover the full gambit of fish and I was really pleased to hear the Minister of Conservation's personal commitment to working with iwi and consulting the public before we consider our extensions to protection for fish in lakes in streams and in wetlands. So the Minister indicated a clear path of work ahead but also a very good process for making sure that iwi and other members of the public are involved in that.One of the first things that I know members of Parliament often ask when they look at a bill that's before the House for consideration is: is there a problem do we need this legislation to fix the problem and is it the right way to fix it? We've got 77 species of freshwater fish; 56 of those are indigenous and many—in fact most—are found nowhere else in the world. So we have a resource in New Zealand for which we are responsible for protecting.Out of those 56 indigenous freshwater fish species 21 out of 56 are threatened with extinction. So I don't think anyone would deny that we have a problem. As I said earlier we talk about protecting kiwi but to have 21 of 56 freshwater fish species threatened with extinction is not something that you hear in the mainstream media or talked about you know over the barbecue when people are doing their whitebait patties. So we certainly have a problem. In my view the legislative fix that is proposed in this bill is an appropriate way of dealing with it. But I have confidence in the Environment Committee to which the bill is proposed to be referred under the leadership of Deborah Russell who has shown an extraordinary talent in bringing out the best of people on that select committee and she's got some very experienced and competent people on that committee—I am really confident that she will be able to use her skills and the skills of the committee to rigorously assess the content of this bill hear the submissions that I'm sure will be forthcoming and bring back to Parliament perhaps even an improved bit of legislation. So I'm delighted that it's proposed that it go to that committee.Of course there are always considerations which we need to make and as Ian McKelvie and others have mentioned we don't want to put the recreational activities of many New Zealanders—we don't want to threaten them. But at the same time we have to balance our responsibility which I think is superior to recreational needs to ensure that these freshwater fish survive in the future for our children and grandchildren and their children and grandchildren. I do think that the bill has been drafted with a lot of consideration of that balance that needs to be met. There appears to have been a lot of care taken in ensuring that we don't have any threats that we only have win-wins.The contribution of Fish & Game to the consideration of this bill should be noted. They have a valuable contribution as guardians of our waterways around New Zealand and I understand that they've had a good amount of input into this bill and I'm sure will make further submissions.So I'm pleased that at last the Minister of Conservation—the current Minister of Conservation—has recognised other less interesting less attractive species that are worthy of protection and has brought this legislation to Parliament. I look forward to the deliberation of the Environment Committee. I am sure they'll receive a lot of submissions and as I said under the competent chairpersonship of Deborah Russell I'm sure that this House will receive a good report back at the second reading and in the meantime I commend the progress of this bill to the House.Bill read a first time. Bill referred to the Environment Committee.