Street Maryan: Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Street Maryan: Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:661;Page:9698] 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 I rise with great pleasure to speak to the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill. I do need to take issue however with my colleague Kelvin Davis in that his extension of an invitation to taste Bluff oysters to Maori colleagues only was seriously limiting and limited. I will talk to him about that issue later. Although this bill is about Maori commercial aquaculture claims settlements and we have not had this conversation yet I can assure the member that some Pakeha are also devotees of kai moana. So the next time that he has a pottle of Bluff oysters delivered to his office I will ask to be on the invitation list. They will go even less far than they went when the invitation was extended to the member’s Maori colleagues. 
The purpose of this bill is clearly to provide the Crown as the bill states with an additional option for complying with its aquaculture pre-commencement space obligations. As the Minister in the chair the Minister for the Environment said a few moments ago this of course was an issue of particular anxiety and difficulty in Te Tau Ihu. For the eight iwi who are associated with Te Tau Ihu the top of the South Island this bill has been a long time in coming and is something they have welcomed. I too have the privilege and the honour of living in the top of the South Island. It is an extraordinary place. It is imperative to make sure that the resources of that area are shared in a way that reflects the obligations that are incumbent upon both the Crown and iwi under the Treaty of Waitangi. This legislation goes some way towards correcting an imbalance of the past and towards addressing the contemporary needs. Therefore it has support from across the Chamber and that is as it should be. 
There is also of course the iwi of Hauraki who are engaged with this legislation. But Ngati Apa ki Te Ra To Ngati Koata Ngati Kuia Ngati Rarua Ngai Tahu of course in Te Waipounamu and Ngati Tama Ngati Toa Rangitane and Te Atiawa from the top of the South Island are all iwi with whom I engage on a regular basis. Their satisfaction at the resolution of this matter is of great satisfaction both to the Crown and to Maori. Although the wait has been a long one—and I recognise that—it is important that we move forward collectively as a Parliament and support this legislation because there is indeed enormous economic potential in the industry. Even just in the Te Tau Ihu area there is enormous potential in aquaculture and I look forward to it becoming a significant and thriving industry. 
There are some difficulties around the aquaculture industry at the moment as it is currently being experienced by the fishers and the industry representatives in the top of the South Island. I hope that we can move from where we are now with this industry on the basis of this legislation to something that is dynamic that is profitable that adds value that provides much-needed jobs in the top of the South Island and that provides employment that is properly remunerated. However much people love to live in the Nelson area they cannot live on “sunshine” wages. I look forward to the development of aquaculture benefiting not only New Zealand’s economic position but also very particularly the position of the people in the top of the South Island. Kia ora koutou.