Court Simon; Brooking RachelSIMON COURT (ACT): Thank you Mr Chair. Minister I just want to come back to clause 15(1)(a) which states that (1) A regional spatial strategy must—(a) set the strategic direction for use development protection restoration and enhancement of the environment of the region for a time-span of not less than 30 years". Minister I want to focus specifically on use of land for ports roads and rail. Now I think it would be fair to say that any resource consent issued under the Resource Management Act 1991 has required developers of roads rail and ports to avoid remedy or mitigate adverse effects on the environment. If you drive along any motorway corridor built after 1991 you'll see restorative planting along the berms on the road corridor. You'll see stormwater detention ponds designed to receive runoff from the road corridor and to provide for filtering of any hydrocarbon residues or any sediment or any spills that might occur on the road corridor. If you look at any ports that have had to obtain a resource consent since 1991 they have had to address their effects on the environment tidal flows existing users of harbours and so on. Yet this clause would require spatial plans to set the strategic direction for the protection restoration and enhancement of the environment in areas which have existing consents. Now if there's a port like Port of Auckland which has been there since Auckland was first established since our colonial forefathers pulled up their ships on the hard to scrub the barnacles off after a long journey across the Pacific—then the founders of Auckland built wharves and jetties which were then filled in well beyond the foreshore to create the built environment that we know now. The Port of Auckland the Viaduct Harbour Wynyard wharf Victoria Park even—all infilled land that was the harbour. Then we have a working port in Auckland a container terminal which serves about 800000 containers a year out of the between 3 and 4 million a year that come in out of New Zealand. They handle general cargo that goes to and from the Pacific. They handle bulk cargo scrap steel all kinds of materials. They handle roll-on roll-off ships that deliver trucks diggers tractors every kind of machine on tracks and wheels that comes into Port of Auckland. How on earth is the Port of Auckland within the strategic direction of a regional spatial strategy supposed to restore and enhance the environment? They are a port. They have wharves. They have hardstands. They have cranes. Are they seriously expected to be restoring or enhancing the natural environment back to some pre-European or pre-human state? What is this target for the environment they're supposed to restore and enhance back to? This makes no sense. This shouldn't be in the bill. This belongs in a different bill maybe an environmental protection Act which says if we're going to have a port maybe that port should have sediment detention ponds hydrocarbon interceptors so we don't get oil spills going to the harbour. But you know what Minister? They already do. They already do. So Minister would you care to explain how on earth a port which exists because we need the port to do what ports do—and apart from some woolly thinkers people chasing rainbows or hunting unicorns no one would ever expect a port to move—is supposed to restore and enhance the land it sits on? This is the crux of this legislation. Nothing is more important. This could be the ultimate flaw in this legislation. Minister would you care to explain how a port might enhance and restore the environment?Hon RACHEL BROOKING (Associate Minister for the Environment): Thank you. As I've already noted in relation to clause 15(1) we need to read it in context and also it is a strategic direction and it's not saying exactly what needs to happen. I point the member back to with his examples of ports roads and rails clause 17 "Contents of regional spatial strategy: key matters" and to subclause (1)(h) "relating to infrastructure including—(iaaa) existing planned or potential infrastructure that is or may be required to meet current and future needs:" and going to his point about the existing port "(i) opportunities to make better use of existing infrastructure". Those are useful provisions for a piece of legislation that is trying to do integrated long-term management."