Bennett David: Marine Legislation Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Bennett David: Marine Legislation Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 11 September 2012. Volume:683;Page:5083. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 To members of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee who are here we welcome the Marine Legislation Bill to our select committee. I am sure all members will be working hard and diligently to make sure that it progresses through in a speedy and timely manner. I would just like to thank the acting Minister Maurice Williamson for his work in this area. Maurice Williamson has had a long history in transport matters especially maritime ones—[ 
Interruption 
]—a long and proud history as members of the Opposition are saying. 
Then we have Mr Phil Twyford who has just resumed his seat. Phil is a good member of our committee. He is a good member. He is somebody who listens and works hard so he is a good member. When he started off his speech the first 5 minutes were brilliant actually. He was going through the legislation and saying that he agrees with the changes that are being made and saying how supportive he is. The only thing he forgot to tell you was that it was a shame the Labour Party never did it when it had the chance. 
When Labour was in Government it did not pass the maritime legislation that was needed to protect New Zealand against a situation like the one caused by the  
Rena 
. Labour had the opportunity to do it and did not do it. It is all right to come into this House now and say in hindsight: “If you look at the statement to the incoming Minister it says that you should have passed this legislation.” when we had 9 long years of Labour members sitting there not passing it not doing anything and leaving it for a good National Government to have to deal with. 
We have had to deal with the problems that have been inflicted upon this country and this economy by the previous Government and this is just another example of what it did wrong and what we have to deal with now. So it is a little bit rich for the Opposition to come into this House now and talk about delays and things like that. Those delays are not the effect. The real effect is that we had a previous Government that would not do it when it should have done it and now we have to pick up the pieces. We are cleaning up after them. 
This bill is a good bill and I presume that the Labour Party will support it all the way through. I think Labour members will recognise that the bill has a lot of things that are needed and should have been done when they had the chance and I think they will support it. I think the New Zealand First Party will support it as well. I do not think we will have a problem there but I think you will find that the Green Party members will be the only people voting against it and that is because they will not read it and just want to vote against it like they normally do for everything else. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I find that offensive. Even I find that offensive. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: But I think that most reasonable parties in this House will vote for it. That is good. It means that we as a country can deliver good legislation going forward. Mr Mallard is over there saying something that is incomprehensible but that is typical over on that side of the House. 
When we look at the legislation we see there are some main provisions. There are some changes made to a number of other pieces of legislation and they include changes to the oversight of port harbour and navigation safety and the implementation— 
Phil Twyford 
: What a shambles. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: —of some international maritime conventions and protocols. Mr Twyford is again saying it is a shambles. His Government did not do it—that is the message that we have to get through to New Zealanders not the message he is trying to promote which is deliberately leading people down a path that is not the case. The real case is that Labour did not do it. There are also changes relating to the making of maritime and marine protection rules and the transferring of the regulation of the discharge and dumping of waste. 
So there are some very important changes there. All New Zealanders want to have a strong and beautiful natural environment on their coastlines. We are a country that has a lot of coast and coming from an inland city we are very fortunate to be able to go to— 
Hon Members 
: Where? 
DAVID BENNETT 
: The great city of Hamilton to those members who did not know. The ability to go to our harbours and enjoy our beaches is something that all New Zealanders love and cherish. This is important in providing that environmental balance in our community and hopefully the Greens will support it because they see the need and the desire to look after those environmental aspects. 
Brendan Horan 
: How much oil has been taken off the beaches? 
DAVID BENNETT 
: How much oil has been taken off the beaches? I do not know whether you can get oil off the beaches. Maybe that is something that the New Zealand First Party is looking at in its dreams. The reality is that you normally drill for oil I think members of the New Zealand First Party will find. 
This bill is a good bill. It is important for us going forward in regard to maritime legislation. This is a bill that makes the necessary changes. It is a bill that is overdue but it has been overdue for many many years and the Opposition cannot blame the Government for that. This is a bill that achieves the right result and we look forward to the select committee working through it in the best way possible. Thank you.