Pham LanLAN PHAM (Green): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. These are my first own words in this House so I'd first like to congratulate you on taking up this rather courageous endeavour of keeping us members in order and I want to thank you for that.It's an honour and a privilege to have a place and a voice in this House and it is with disappointment that I speak today in these rather short-sighted and misguided circumstances of this repeal. We're at a real crunch point in time in human history where if we don't move forward in our thinking and treatment of our precious environment te taiao we will set up our kids our grandkids and future generations with a truly impoverished future—something I'm sure not one member in this House is aiming to do. Yet here we are in urgency with this Government taking a sledgehammer to what could be amended with appropriate and fair public consultation. We're yet to hear a defendable argument from the Government that stacks up as to why amendments could not remedy the concerns expressed in a way that actually honours both the sheer cost and time that the public and official engagement has put into this and ultimately would achieve better outcomes for all of us.As a past local government councillor I'm particularly horrified at the disservice this does to the 3000 people iwi hapū businesses industry academic local government and Public Service organisations who engaged in the process of creating these bills over the term of the last Government. I want to acknowledge the considerable time and effort of members across this House who were part of that robust select committee process led by the Hon Eugenie Sage. Within the time constraints that they did have they went through the appropriate processes of democratic rigor and public accountability they listened to submitters and they actually changed things in the bill as a result. If we're getting rid of something that's a step forward we at least want to have something better to step to. But no like canning our world-leading smoke-free laws like reopening deep-sea oil and gas drilling like scrapping fair pay agreements this Government is stepping us back decades—back to the Resource Management Act (RMA) which has largely and comprehensively been concluded to be a failure; failed because we bought into the false idea and we're hearing it again here this afternoon that we can balance the environment and the economy rather than understanding that there is no economy without a functional environment.In the time since the RMA was enacted we've been evolving as a country in understanding our history and the rightful place of tangata whenua in exercising tino rangatiratanga. The Natural and Built Environment Act (NBA) was finally reflecting that evolution alongside the immense body of evidence and acceptance that indigenous wisdom and mātauranga—that when we ensure the health and wellbeing of our environment te taiao we ensure the health and wellbeing of ourselves.Did the NBA and the Spatial Planning Act go all the way in fully recognising these important Te Tiriti concepts? No they did not but they went a step forward and the Green Party acknowledged and welcomed that. No matter the framework that the Government may fashion ahead we need to see progress towards a stronger Te Tiriti - based relationship that upholds and resources the kaitiaki role and tino rangatiratanga of tangata whenua across Aotearoa and works with them to protect taonga species landscapes seas and significant places. Ki uta ki tai—mountains to sea.Despite my frustration at the short-sightedness and political pettiness of this bill being brought to the House I still believe that it is not only possible but entirely necessary to build an awesome future for everyone within the limits of our fragile and beautiful planet. To do so we need effective laws and a planning and environmental management system that upholds Te Tiriti and provides for younger and future generations. Sadly the repeal of this legislation takes us backwards and much further away from that goal.Finally if this repeal is indicative of this Government's approach to environmental matters then it's something every New Zealander who cares about our environment needs to be aware of and I'd like to assure them that the Green Party will continue to be a voice for nature and Te Tiriti in this House in the face of a Government that does not appear to understand value or uphold the importance of either.