Robertson Grant: Marine Legislation Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Robertson Grant: Marine Legislation Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 11 September 2012. Volume:683;Page:5085. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Deputy Leader—Labour) 
: 
 David Bennett who has just resumed his seat has clearly been asleep for longer than I thought. I know he has been asleep for some time but it was clearly longer because he appears to have forgotten that the  
Rena 
 did actually run aground on Astrolabe Reef. A large amount of oil washed up on the beaches Mr Bennett—a very large amount of oil—and ordinary New Zealanders got out there with their shovels and their buckets and put their gloves on and helped clean up those beaches because it mattered to them. Meanwhile they said to themselves: “What is the National Government doing? What’s it been doing to make sure that when things like this happen the cost to New Zealanders is mitigated?”. The truth that Mr Bennett knows is that when his Government came in in 2008 not only had a select committee recommended that these conventions be signed up to but the drafting instructions for this legislation for putting those international conventions into New Zealand law—which would have significantly limited the liability on New Zealand taxpayers—had been written. 
We have the Official Information Act documents that show us that the drafting instructions were already written. The Government was ready to go on this and it sat on it. It sat on this from day one of coming into Government. Then in October 2011 we had the worst ever maritime disaster in this country and that Government over there had had 3 years to get that law in place. The work had been done by the previous Labour Government. It was ready to go. The conventions were looked at and studied the drafting instructions were written and that Government let New Zealanders down by not making sure that legislation was in place. 
Today we have New Zealanders who believe in protecting their coastline and who got out there and worked hard to make sure that they cleaned up those beaches. They have been let down by this Government because this Government failed to put in place the law so that there was an obligation on those shipping companies to meet their fair share of the costs. So today the bill comes here and we support it because of course it is the right thing to do. But we support it knowing that this need not have happened. New Zealanders need not have had to foot such a huge bill if the Government had done its job properly and implemented these conventions. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Before the break we had been discussing the Marine Legislation Bill and in particular the aspect of the bill that the Labour Party strongly supports which is finally passing into New Zealand law the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage and the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims. These are two essential pieces of international law that can protect New Zealand’s environment and New Zealand taxpayers and that should have been done by this Government which when it came into office in 2008 had a bill. The drafting instructions had gone to the Parliamentary Counsel Office—we have got the papers; it shows that—and it sat on its hands. We have had had a lot of criticism coming across the House about what the previous Labour Government had done. What the previous Labour Government had done is do what it should have done: it had taken those conventions to a select committee and the select committee had looked at them and approved them. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: When was that? 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: That was in 2008. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: 2008? 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: That was in 2008. The Government comes into office it gets a briefing that says these are ready to go the drafting instructions have gone to the Parliamentary Counsel Office and it sat on its hands. Then in October 2011 we had New Zealand’s worst ever maritime disaster which at the moment the Government thinks will cost us up to $50 million and this Government sat on its hands. It means that we will wear the majority of that cost as a country. This Government has let New Zealanders down. This Government has let the people of the Bay of Plenty down because it failed to do its job and put these conventions into law. So today a bill comes to Parliament and we say: “Yes thank you very much that’s great.” But it is too little too late from this Government. 
While we are on the subject of the  
Rena 
 it stands to me as remarkable as we come towards the 1-year anniversary that we still have not had a proper comprehensive inquiry into our worst ever maritime disaster. This merits a royal commission. I know Gareth Hughes from the Greens has been calling for that Labour has been calling for that and the Government does not want to talk about it. It does not want to talk about it because it sat on its hands for 3 years when it should have been putting in place the conventions that would have limited the liability for the taxpayer. It does not want to talk about it because in those 5 clear days after the  
Rena 
 ran aground when so little happened when something could have been done to prevent the worst of the damage nothing happened. There should be an inquiry into the  
Rena 
 and it is outrageous that this Government has stepped back from that. So we do welcome the introduction of these conventions into law. We know that this is the right thing to do. The Government knows it is the right thing to do. It is just that it has taken it 3 years to finally do the right thing. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: What have they been doing? 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: What has it been doing? That is a very good question Ruth Dyson. What is this Government doing? It is distracted on issues and stuff-ups of its own making around asset sales. It is not doing the kind of work that is actually important for protecting our environment and protecting New Zealand taxpayers. 
I want to move on to another matter which my colleague Phil Twyford did raise and that is the change within this particular law around the question of blood-alcohol limits for masters officers and other merchant seafarers performing safety security or marine environmental duties. This comes under the International Convention on Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. This is an important area. We want to be assured that people controlling vessels in our area are not under the influence of alcohol. So it is fantastic to see that the bill will impose an alcohol limit of 0.05 grams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. That is a very good limit. It is a limit that obviously makes sense for people who are using vessels in the seas. Would it not also make sense for people who are using things on land in New Zealand? The other side of the House have been telling us: “Oh no we can’t reduce the blood-alcohol limit to 0.05 grams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood inside New Zealand.” But suddenly a bill shows up in the House that says we need to do it when people are in control of vessels in our waters. We support that on this side of the House but I look to the other side of the House and I say: “Why aren’t they capable of putting this in place for the safety of New Zealanders on the roads in New Zealand?”. 
Hon Steven Joyce 
: Ah! 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Mr Joyce is here. 
Hon Steven Joyce 
: Because you were so good at that! 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Mr Joyce is on the other side of the House. Mr Joyce used to think this was a good idea. He went on radio and said: “I was shocked at how much wine I could drink and still be under the limit.” But then he backed off. He backed off. The focus group must have mentioned the nanny State word and Steven Joyce backed off. This is the right thing to do on the high seas Mr Joyce. It is the right thing to do in New Zealand. But once again the National Government lets down New Zealanders by not doing the right thing here on land but instead it puts up a law that says yes this should be right for masters on the sea. Well that is good; we support that. But it is time for Mr Joyce and the National Government to actually get up and do the right thing for New Zealanders on the roads not just on the high seas. 
The last matter I want to come to in this bill is the 37 pages of amendments to the exclusive economic zone legislation. Those people watching on Parliament TV tonight who follow Parliament regularly may be aware that we have spent quite a lot of time recently on the exclusive economic zone bill so it is some surprise to find that there are another 37 pages of amendments to a bill that we have only just passed in this House. I guess we should count our blessings. The Minister’s Supplementary Order Paper that she did put up on the exclusive economic zone legislation was long enough and it would have been a whole lot longer if this had happened. But it does point to the absolute shambles that is lawmaking under this Government. 
Maggie Barry 
: It’s called negotiating with you people. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Maggie Barry says it is called negotiation. That well-known mediator and peacemaker Maggie Barry is telling us that it is all about negotiation. Well what we know on this side of the House is that this is a bill that should pass. We are supporting it on its first reading but it is a bill that should have been before this House long ago. It would have limited the liability that New Zealanders have had from the  
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. It is something that we want to see pass through this House but this Government needs to own up to New Zealanders that it let New Zealanders down by not putting this legislation in place when it already had the legislation drafted and when it knew it was the right thing to do. It sat on its hands to New Zealanders’ cost. Finally tonight it is doing something about it.