SpeechSARAH DOWIE (National—Invercargill): Oh great. Thank you Madam Speaker. I was waiting for another speaker on the other side but thank goodness I didn't because after hearing all of those contributions I have to say: Louisa Wall MP for Minister of Conservation. She was the most considered speaker on that side of the House who actually researched appropriately and put forward considered arguments—more considered than the Minister of Conservation.I want to address the main points that the opposition have raised for the reasons for declining to put this bill through to select committee. The first that they said is that there was no consultation with iwi. Well if they knew anything about conservation they would go back to the Conservation Act in itself and section 4 which says that with all matters conservation there will be effect given to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and that goes for all subordinate legislation. So that would take care of that. But equally just like the indigenous fish bill that the Minister put forward with zero consultation with iwi you would take it to select committee and consult with iwi and other affected parties to make sure that the bill was robust and to make sure that everybody had their say and that the information was presented documented and incorporated into a bill.The second thing is that this activity technically—albeit we are dealing with a post-COVID economy at the moment—is permitted at the moment unregulated. So technically it can go on and it is going on with no conditions surrounding it no protections around the shark no protection around other users and this bill seeks to regulate that and there are provisions in the bill. There are provisions that allow the director-general to consult with affected parties; to look at the information that is presented in the application in an objective way; to make sure that the shark is protected; to look at the geographical area in which the activity occurs; to look at the frequency the timings—all of those sorts of parameters that protect the sharks—and then look to mitigate the adverse effects on any other users in the ocean near the vicinity of that activity.So I think it's exactly as speakers on this side of the House have said in that it is simple that this Government is just playing politics. They don't like it that a National member has provided a solution to an issue that is ongoing that it strikes a balance between the competing interests of those interested in shark cage diving versus the community and they're simply going to vote it down.I note that Minister Sage says that she's going to look at a body of work that will come after the election. Again I reiterate: do they not see the economy recovering after COVID-19? Do they think that we're going into lockdown again that we won't have our tourism businesses up and running? I say if that's the case then that's very poor.I know in my community down in Southland Invercargill Bluff and Stewart Island that people want to get moving. They want to continue to generate revenue and wealth for families to give them jobs to put food on the table but oh no this anti-business Government wants to see tourism operations with respect to shark cage diving prohibited. That goes to the philosophy of Minister Eugenie Sage who doesn't like anything commercial on the conservation estate or with respect to wildlife. We know that there are many eco-tourism businesses that are doing very very well that have great respect for the environment and help educate people that go to the conservation estate and interact with wildlife. They take those messages home and they spread the word about the environment.So this bill is about that. It's about celebrating a midway point between the two. I have gone to Stewart Island many many times greater than three times. I have liaised with the community. I have liaised with Storm and PauaMAC5. PauaMAC5 are in support of this bill. I have liaised with shark cage operators. I have liaised extensively when it has come to the matters of this bill. The Supreme Court has put a spanner in the works. They have declared that this is activity is legal and therefore we require regulation in the meantime before somebody is hurt.