O'Connor Damien: Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Connor Damien: Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 30 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19728. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR (Labour—West Coast - Tasman):Labour welcomes this piece of legislation the Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill into the Committee. Indeed without the proactive cooperation of the Labour Opposition it would not be here. We made the offer to the Minister for Primary Industries in the knowledge that it was not on the Order Paper and indeed we were going to close Parliament tomorrow without this legislation passing.There are members of the Primary Production Committee on the Government side there and on this side who have put a lot of time and effort into this two of whom actually gave their valedictory speeches today Eric Roy and Shane Ardern. They have followed the fisheries legislation from 1997 right through and will welcome this piece of legislation giving effect to what has been the intent of the legislation for some time.In 1997 when the legislation was passed there was through the efforts of my colleague Graham Kelly an initiative in this House to ensure that anyone working on fishing boats catching New Zealand fish in our economic zone should be paid New Zealand rates of pay and work in conditions that we would expect for New Zealanders. We were given assurances and the legislation stated that in 1997 but actually by early 2000 it had become apparent that we were not guaranteeing those proper conditions for a lot of foreign fisherman who were coming in on foreign boats catching fish.So there was an inquiry and in fact Labour in Government sought further assurances from the Department of Labour at the time and from the guild as it was then to give better security and protection for fishermen who travelled a long way and came in these boats that were not ideal. The boats were not new. Some might have called them rust buckets but I guess they could still float. They had come into New Zealand waters to catch fish under contract to New Zealand companies. It then threw up some very sad situations like the Oyang 70 and a number of other situations at Lyttelton Port where boats had been tied up. It had become apparent that in fact our law was not being properly implemented.I acknowledge the Government conducted a ministerial inquiry. Our ex-colleague the Hon Paul Swain did a very good job and came back to the Government with recommendations. That piece of legislation came to the Primary Production Committee. On balance it was decided that reflagging under the New Zealand flag was the most appropriate way to protect the workers. They were working on those boats catching New Zealand fish in our economic zone for New Zealand companies who were profiting from this but they were effectively being treated like slaves.In fact in passing this legislation we should not pat ourselves on the back too much because as a TV article just over a week ago disclosed similar conditions are being applied to workers from the Philippines in the Christchurch rebuild. So I say to the Government in praising and assisting it here that we have got to look at that situation here in New Zealand with Christchurch and—dare I say it—on odd occasions with Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme workers throughout the country. But I will put that to one side.Labour as I say prompted the Government to take the initiative to introduce the bill and have it passed. We would have had it passed tomorrow if it was not for the Māori Party. I have to say it is absolutely shameful and disgraceful that a party that is here in this House to protect Māori people up and down this country—many of whom own quota own the right to access fisheries and in fact have many of their own people employed on fishing boats up and down this country—refused to give leave for us to pass this legislation in a way that would have seen it in place by 2016 as proposed in the bill and passed prior to the closure of this Parliament. I think we could have all held our heads up high because it required the leave of all parties to come in and pass this. We know it is not right. We know it is unjust. We know that we have had people treated like slaves in New Zealand in the 21st century—disgraceful.I acknowledge the Government for its good work and the collaboration and cooperation of the select committee and all the members of it to progress the bill. I have to make mention of a last-minute amendment to the legislation after the select committee had in fact gone through it extensively. There were exemptions put up by the Minister for Primary Industries. I am not going to ask him why because he has pulled them back now but they were exemptions for those who held a quota under Treaty settlements. I accept the reality that there are quota parcels owned by small iwi groups who have chosen to get that fish quota caught by foreign charter vessels because it is the only way they can realise the benefits of that quota or it has been. So they have utilised—and I would hope reluctantly—foreign charter vessels to catch their quota and get some benefit from it. That is OK in a transitional phase but this has been going on for too long.These incidents Oyang 70 and others have been a disgrace and have put New Zealand in the spotlight of the international market place to the point where we have been struggling to sell some of our high-quality fish into Europe because of the slave conditions in which it might have been caught. It is a real dilemma. The Government has moved so I acknowledge the Minister. But the Māori Party blocking this I find abhorrent and disgraceful. Everyone else in this Parliament has agreed that we should move it on under urgency and move it through because of its wonderful outcome for our international reputation and ultimately for quota owners as well. I think this Parliament if it thought that those small iwi quota owners were going to get rorted or squeezed would have moved to protect them. They should have trusted us and trusted the system to give them due benefit from the quota allocated to them under the Treaty settlements. They deserve a fair go but to get a fair go by way of slave labour is abhorrent to the sense of fairness and fair-minded values of just about each and every New Zealander. So we support the Government in passing this bill through.There is a very good summary of what has happened here in the regulatory impact statement. It outlines the dilemmas we have been facing as a country. Labour wants to move all of our exports from volume to value and move up the value chain. We do not want slaves catching our fish. We want the finest-quality fish caught by the best well-paid and protected workers and fisher people in this country. We have got 140000-plus people out of work. Kiwis will work for the right incentive. Pay them a decent wage on these boats and sell high-quality fish to Europe or any other market and there is money there for everyone—for the workers on the boats for the boat owners for the quota owners and for the people who are selling our fish into the market. That is what Labour stands for. That is what we want to build across all of the primary sector.Here is an opportunity to free us from the shackles of slave labour catching our fish and to move on. I trust that the block by the Māori Party now does not unnecessarily delay the passage of this bill. Labour commits when we are in Government on 21 September to this being the highest priority. We will move to complete the passage of this legislation. Shame on the Māori Party for blocking this. I acknowledge the good work as I say of my colleagues on the select committee. We did look at this from a wide perspective in trying to protect the interests of all those involved but ultimately the flagging of these vessels as New Zealand vessels ensures proper standards of health and hygiene and health and safety. I will not say any more than that other than to say that Labour supports this bill and the passage of it through the Committee stage. We would have liked to see it go through the third reading yesterday but alas the Māori Party blocked that. Kia ora.