Delahunty Catherine: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDelahunty Catherine: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 06 April 2016. Volume:712;Page:10238. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]10.CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green) to the Minister for the Environment: Does he stand by the Prime Minister’s statement that in Aotearoa “nobody owns water”?Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Attorney-General) on behalf of theMinister for the Environment: Yes.Catherine Delahunty: How can he claim that no one owns our water when Ashburton council is trying to profit from selling the rights to bottle and sell fresh water to overseas companies?Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: Quite easily because the Ashburton council is not selling water.Catherine Delahunty: When a private company is right now advertising the sale of Canterbury land with rights to half a billion litres of water as “an outstanding opportunity for any major water soft drinks supplier” does he really believe this company is not acting like it owns the water?Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: Yes I am.Catherine Delahunty: I seek leave to table a website advertisement which has been taken down in most places showing the private sale of the rights for half a billion litres of Canterbury water.Mr SPEAKER: Am I clear in saying that it is a public advertisement the member is seeking to table?Catherine Delahunty: Yes that is correct.Mr SPEAKER: Well then that is available for all members. [Interruption] I will not be putting the leave. Further supplementary questions?Catherine Delahunty: You have got to have a go in this place.Mr SPEAKER: Order! Just finish your supplementary question otherwise I am happy to move on.Catherine Delahunty: If he thinks no one owns water then what did I just buy when I paid Coca-Cola $4 for this bottle of spring water taken from the Kaimai Ranges?Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: She bought a bottle of water.Catherine Delahunty: Who owns it Mr Speaker? Supplementary question?Mr SPEAKER: Supplementary question Catherine Delahunty. [Interruption] Order! I do acknowledge the reaction is to an interjection. Would the member please just ask her supplementary question.Catherine Delahunty: Certainly I would be delighted. Will the Minister accept—[Interruption] If you want a drink come and have one. Will he accept that if water were owned by tangata whenua and the public overseas companies would not be profiting from the sale of water allocations in Aotearoa?Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: It is well acknowledged by this Government that no one owns water in this country—that is the position going back many years across administrations—but Māori have rights and interests in water that are reflected in some of the excellent Treaty settlement negotiations his colleague the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations has negotiated.David Seymour: If it is wrong to have property rights in water then has the Minister considered rescinding our world-leading quota management system in fisheries?Mr SPEAKER: I fail to see that there is a ministerial responsibility but I will allow the Minister if he wishes to make it brief.Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: The Minister has no responsibility for fisheries matters.