Smith Nick: Fiordland Marine Management Bill — First Reading 
Smith Nick: Fiordland Marine Management Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:622;Page:18118] 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
: 
 The National Party strongly commends the Guardians of Fiordland’s Fisheries and Marine Environment for the huge amount of work they have done over many years going back to the period when National was in Government in bringing together the ideas that make up this bill to provide for an effective management regime for the very special and spectacular area of New Zealand known for so long as Fiordland. 
The National Party welcomes the fact that different groups coming from a wide range of interests—tourism interests commercial fishing interests and recreational fishermen as well as environmentalists and people from a number of industries—have come together and said: “We think we can work it out better ourselves.” and have come up with some quite exciting proposals for Fiordland. But I say to the House that this bill very much illustrates what is wrong with the whole legislative framework for the way in which we deal with the foreshore and ocean environment. This legislation shows that the only way we can bring together community groups to develop a comprehensive plan for an area of oceans is to do it by way of special legislation. I think the real challenge with this legislation is to use it as a model for the far wider reform that is required of the Resource Management Act the Marine Reserves Act our fisheries legislation and the Foreshore and Seabed Act because that package of law is an awful piecemeal mess that requires substantive change and reform. I must note my disappointment that the oceans policy work initiated by Simon Upton a former environment Minister and myself back in 1999 has completely lost its way. If the Government had done that work properly we would not now be requiring special legislation to do what is sensible. 
It is noteworthy that the volunteers of the Fiordland guardians with this bill propose eight new marine reserves in the area of Fiordland. That is more marine reserves than the Government has been able to achieve over the last 5 years. The Government despite being critical of National’s record of creating 15 reserves during the 1990s has created a mere three in 5 years. Its ideological legislative approach to marine reserves its unique capacity to peeve off recreationalists means that it has made very very little progress at all. It could learn some lessons from the way in which the pragmatic Southland and Fiordland communities have put this bill together. 
I also want to highlight the nonsense of the Government’s goal of having 10 percent of the marine environment in what it calls marine protected areas. Interestingly at the select committee last week we asked what “marine protected areas” meant and the honest truth was that the Government had absolutely no idea. I think it means marine reserves—because of course there is no such legal phrase as “marine protected areas” in any of our statutes. It is noteworthy that Labour’s strategy is to provide for 10 percent of New Zealand’s coast to be in marine reserves yet even with the very comprehensive approach that has been applied to Fiordland it has not been able to get 1 percent—and this would have to be one of the remotest areas of New Zealand. The Government does not have a bolter’s show of ever achieving the goal of 10 percent—nor should it because that is a dumb silly approach. The approach that is required is that taken by the Fiordland guardians. They have said that they want a representative sample of the different areas of coastline set aside in marine reserves. National supports that approach not the Government’s arbitrary percentage goal that is not backed up. 
I also need to point out that it is somewhat ironic that Labour has taken the view that marine reserves shall be absolute no-take zones. These are areas that are to be absolutely protected. There shall be no mining in marine reserves. Scientists shall not be allowed to take any samples in marine reserves. Recreationalists shall not be allowed to take any fish in marine reserves. But this bill says that if one is Maori one can still take greenstone. What sort of PC sop is that? Remember this is only 1 percent of the Fiordland marine area. Are we really depriving NgaiTahu of their treaty rights with respect to pounamu by saying that they cannot take pounamu or greenstone from these eight little marine reserves in Fiordland? Why do we take this absolutist view? Nobody shall take any—except a bit of greenstone for NgaiTahu. That again shows the Government’s sickly liberal approach whereby it will—[ 
Interruption 
] I say to the Minister— 
Hon Marian Hobbs 
: You are belittling the guardians. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: No I ask the Minister just to take a deep breath for a moment. Under the Marine Reserves Act the Government has said that no exceptions whatsoever will be made to no-take zones in marine reserves. In the Marine Reserves Bill that the Minister has introduced into the Parliament she has reinforced the policy that there is to be absolutely no removal of any minerals or of any natural element from a marine reserve. 
What the Minister has done—[ 
Interruption 
] Could the Minister for the Environment just calm herself. I know we are under urgency. I know it is a long week and I know you are likely to get fired on Monday— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: No I am not likely to get fired. Please do not bring me into the debate. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: We all know on this side of the House that the Prime Minister is likely to sack the Minister for the Environment. She has been sacked from every other job she has had so she should be sacked from this job as well. I simply say that from this side of the House it seems extraordinary that under the Marine Reserves Bill there is a process that communities are required to go through in order to create a marine reserve. It is a bureaucratic slow process. The Government has had a Marine Reserves Bill around for 2½ years that it has not processed and which is stalled in the select committee because the Government cannot get its ideas clear. Now we have to have special piecemeal legislation to advance those ideas. 
This bill contains very sound ideas that have been developed by the Guardians of Fiordland’s Fisheries and Marine Environment but it really exposes the failure of the Government to develop any sort of comprehensive policy in respect of the marine environment. They have fudged and stalled—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I think your mother is in the gallery. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: I assure the member that she is not but I thank the person for his or her support regardless. It shows a complete failure of the Government’s approach— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Doesn’t look like it. He’s been with Nick so it’s probably not his mother. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Will you allow that to be said Mr Speaker? 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I advise those in the gallery that the debate takes place inside the Chamber. There will be no comment whatsoever from outside the Chamber or else the person will be removed from the precincts. 
Simon Power 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think on reflection that the Minister of Education will form the view that his comments were inappropriate and that an apology is due to Dr Smith. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I withdraw. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: I conclude by saying that this is good for Fiordland. What we need though is a legislative framework that allows communities all over New Zealand to take this sort of approach so that different groups are able to come together and come up with the marine reserves and resource management plans that will see the marine environment managed in a local community way that delivers for tourism interests recreational interests and those who want to see properly protected marine areas in marine reserves. Again I commend the Fiordland guardians for their work. I congratulate Bill English the local member who has put a lot of energy into trying to make this happen. I look forward to the bill progressing.