12. Conservation Department—Funding and Impact on Native BirdsMETIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister of ConservationConservation Department—Funding and Impact on Native Birds12. METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister of Conservation: E hia ā tātau momo manu kei te noho tino mōrearea e ai ki Te Kaitiaki Taiao a Te Whare Pāremata?[How many of our bird species are in serious trouble according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment?]Hon MAGGIE BARRY (Minister of Conservation): Talofa lava. I welcome Dr Jan Wright's report which has identified 54 species of birds as being in serious trouble. That is broadly consistent actually with the Department of Conservation's (DOC's) own assessment as released in the Threatened Species Strategy 2 weeks ago. The Government is under no illusions whatsoever about the danger our native birds are in. That is why we have committed to Predator Free 2050 that is why we have set up a board that has a plan to enact it and that is why we have spent $45 million on the Battle for our Birds in the last 2 years and the War on Weeds and wilding pines. There is more conservation work being done in New Zealand today than at any other time in New Zealand's history.Metiria Turei: Why has her Government cut DOC's funding in real terms by $422 million since 2009 when the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has now described the situation with our native birds as desperate"?Hon MAGGIE BARRY: I agree with Dr Jan Wright that we have a serious situation with our threatened species and that we need to do something about it. That is why DOC has moved so quickly into the space of appointing someone who at a senior leadership team level will have responsibility for biodiversity. This is an important thing to all New Zealanders and as Dr Wright pointed out in her budget it is not something that one department can do alone. The member remains—and is at least consistent in this—completely wrong in the idea that DOC's spending has not increased. It has; $107 million in this year's Budget is not a decrease by anybody's standards. There has in fact been a 20 percent increase in the Government investment in DOC since 2008 when we came into Government. Metiria Turei: Given her decision to cut DOC's funding will she—[Interruption] I know you do not agree; look at your numbers. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! Allow the member to complete the question.Metiria Turei: Thank you Mr Speaker. Given her decision to cut DOC's funding will she also accept responsibility for the extinction of the toroa our wandering albatross given the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's latest report which describes this great bird as being in serious trouble and at risk of extinction?Hon MAGGIE BARRY: I guess because the member has never been anywhere near Government she does not understand very much about the Budget process. The increase in spending in DOC is at $107 million this year. It has been a 20 percent increase since 2008. The member's wilful misrepresentation of the figures is pretty pathetic even by that member's standards. When we look at the birds that are in danger—the whio for example has had a 48 percent increase in bird numbers in the Kahurangi National Park alone. Those are figures that were released today. That is because of predator-scale biodiversity protection by DOC.Metiria Turei: Does the Minister accept that she and her Government have failed New Zealanders and the kākāpō when the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment finds: "To say we have brought the kākāpō back from the brink of extinction is not correct; rather it continues to teeter on the brink of extinction."?Hon MAGGIE BARRY: This Government and the Department of Conservation have worked tirelessly on the recovery of kākāpō. I feel that the work of Dr Andrew Digby and the kākāpō recovery team has been overshadowed by some of the misunderstandings that that member is helping push out there. The kākāpō is a species that is in grave danger it is one that we have put a great deal of resources into and there may well be a time when genetic diversity with that particular breed does need another level of action. But at the moment the results speak for themselves and we have greatly increased the number of kākāpō in New Zealand that are breeding to a high level. Genetic diversity and the size of a gene pool of such a critically endangered bird is a problem and it is one that we all need to grapple with. We have scientists on it and Predator Free 2050 and its board who have just received a report on this.Metiria Turei: Supplementary question.Mr SPEAKER: No—[Interruption] Order! Is the member seeking a further supplementary? No the Greens have used their full allocation. Metiria Turei: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. As I understand the allocation is 5-4. It would be worth checking. Mr SPEAKER: My recording shows six but on the basis that Mr Shaw is indicating there were not—it is hard for me to keep a tally and the Greens are normally very accurate in their accounting—I am going to accept that there is room for one more supplementary question.Metiria Turei: Yeah we're good at maths. Turns out we're good at maths.Mr SPEAKER: But I will be checking my maths later.Metiria Turei: Does the Minister accept that her and her Government have failed the Department of Conservation and our conservation estate when the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has revealed today that "… one in every three [of our native birds] is not far off from following the moa and many others into extinction. The situation is desperate."?Hon MAGGIE BARRY: It would appear to me that the member has just recently caught up with what most of us have known and understood for more than a decade and that is that our vulnerable threatened bird species are under threat. As I said in my first response the New Zealand Threatened Species Strategy the first one that has ever been released in New Zealand has detailed pretty much the same things that the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has detailed. So we are very aware. We have put a great deal of resources into this and a great deal of thought. The Predator Free 2050 board has met four times. It is about to announce its chief executive and the plan is well under way. Threatened species are a concern to all of us on this side of the House and the unknowing ignorant stance from that member is woeful. I would check your maths—Mr SPEAKER: Order!"