Heatley Phil: Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Extension) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Heatley Phil: Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Extension) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:616;Page:11664] 
PHIL HEATLEY (National—Whangarei) 
: 
 Again I will be making some attempt to improve this bill. As I have said the Government seems hell-bent on ramming it through this Parliament and ignoring the plight of marine farmers throughout the country—Maori and non-Maori alike. I have two amendments to suggest for the title. The first amendment is that the title of “Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Extension) Amendment Act” be deleted and the words “Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Further Extension) Amendment Act” be inserted. I do that simply because this extension although the first extension to the initial moratorium— 
Hon David Carter 
: A once-only! 
PHIL HEATLEY 
: —which was a once-only apparently at the time is actually one of many moratoriums that have been put on the aquaculture industry over the last 5 to 10 years. The thought that this is the only extension or one of only two moratoriums is false. There have been a number of moratoriums. It is time the handbrakes were taken off the aquaculture industry and that those businesses were allowed to get on with the job. 
The other amendment I will be tabling is a change from the title of the “Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Extension) Amendment Act” to the “Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium—Seabed and Foreshore) Amendment Act” because we all know in this Parliament—and we are under no illusions—that this is all to do with the fact that the Government has been unable to resolve the seabed and foreshore issues quickly and properly. The Government has controversy in its ranks. It has controversy in the provinces in the cities and throughout New Zealand on this issue mainly because it has never stuck to its guns on any single policy. It keeps doing U-turns. I have counted five U-turns. I sleep at nights and there could have been some U-turns in the dead of night. But I have counted five U-turns so far during waking hours. No wonder there has been controversy! No one knows where the Government is going next and no one knows where it is heading or why. This bill should be called the Resource Management Aquaculture Moratorium (Seabed and Foreshore) Amendment Bill. 
I say that the Government should get on with making public the aquaculture reforms so that regional councils are not flying in the dark when trying to develop aquaculture management areas. Although the Government says that the intention of this delay is to enable more clarity around the foreshore and seabed issue and I have alluded to that it is not the only intention. The reality is that regional councils also need more time to establish aquaculture management areas and to date only four regions have made any progress or come close at all. We have no confidence on this side of the Chamber that an additional time frame of 9 months will be sufficient to resolve the foreshore and seabed issue and enact the aquaculture reform legislation which actually has not seen the light of day yet and we have no confidence that 9 months will help regional councils plan for aquaculture management areas. 
It is somewhat of a joke to restrict this title to just the aquaculture moratorium extension. There is a lot more to it than that. There is a lot more that has been swept under the carpet and there is a lot more to come to light. What are the reforms for the aquaculture industry? What is the Government tossing Maori? What bone is the Government throwing Maori so they will accept its seabed and foreshore policy? Is it 10 20 30 or 40 percent of aquaculture management areas to Maori? All these questions have to be resolved. Nine months is certainly not long enough to enact the reform legislation if the Ministry of Fisheries is not sharing information with regional councils throughout this country. We unashamedly oppose this bill; we always have and we continue to do so.