Hughes Gareth: Annual Review Debate — In CommitteeText is subject to correctionHughes Gareth: Annual Review Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 29 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:2977. Text is subject to correction.]GARETH HUGHES (Green):Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora. I rise to take a call on the Appropriation (2013/14 Confirmation and Validation) Bill the annual review debate and on the natural resources theme. I would like to touch on the Department of Conservation annual review. For anyone viewing this broadcast this is a new debate with a new structure where we have grouped the annual reviews of Crown entities into these various issue themes. To begin my address I would actually like to look at the naming of this section. My understanding of the process is that the Government put out the proposal of what the various issue themes could be. I would actually like to take issue with this theme that is called natural resources. I would like to posit that some of the many issues you are seeing facing the conservation estate and facing natural New Zealand come from a mind-set where we are viewing these things as simply resources to be exploited when we should actually be thinking about them in terms of natural capital natural treasures or taonga or in terms of natural carbon sinks not just somewhere we can “drill it mine it frack it”.When we group the Department of Conservation and our natural heritage and special places as natural resources you are obviously going to think about them simply to be exploited. When you see something simply as a resource such as the conservation estate of course you are going to open it up to mining drilling and fracking interests. In fact we can see it. We can see it with the actions of the Government which sees our natural environment as simply a resource to be exploited. Just a few months ago we saw Simon Bridges open up an area of our oceanic estate larger than the entire landmass of Greenland more than 400000 square kilometres. We have seen the Māui’s dolphin sanctuary opened up for oil drilling permits. We have seen Victoria Forest Park which the Department of Conservation itself describes as being pristine a home to kiwi and with some untouched landscapes opened up for oil drilling.When you view the natural environment simply as a resource you are actually going to support those companies that are trying to exploit it. We have seen that. In the last week we have seen the clear hypocrisy of the Government at the international level—and we heard it again in the crowdsourced climate questions—that is railing against fossil fuel subsidies globally. But it is being very nuanced about it. It is saying “consumption subsidies” because clearly we do not do that in New Zealand. But when it comes to the production subsidies like the $46 million in annual tax breaks that the taxpayer is paying to big oil the $20 million in seismic survey subsidies and the $210000 spent by Minister Simon Bridges to host only 11 oil executives over 4 days these are the subsidies that are not being addressed by the Government.We have seen the Māui’s dolphin sanctuary opened up for oil drilling and the conservation estate of Victoria Forest Park opened up for oil drilling. We have seen a massive historic amount of New Zealand’s natural environment opened up for oil interests. We should be talking about these not in terms of resources to be exploited but as treasures. The last 55 Māui’s dolphins on the planet—the world’s smallest and most endangered dolphin—are a natural taonga and we should not be seeing their habitat and environment their home simply as a resource. We should be looking at this area and imagine we were debating around natural capital and the ecosystem service benefits of this corner of the country a significant area of our marine environment for the New Zealand economy. We have seen an estimate previously that the “clean green” brand in which the conservation estate plays such a critical and vital role has been estimated at $20 billion annually. Obviously it is a key plank in a more livable New Zealand. My vision of New Zealand is one where talent wants to live and having beautiful untouched unspoilt unmined undrilled and unfracked places is an important part of it.Finally we should not be seeing them just as natural resources because in fact when you look at the coal oil and gas resources those holes the Government is racing to throw taxpayer subsidies down to exploit they are actually natural carbon sinks. This is in fact sunlight that fell on the Earth more than 100 million years ago. Those plants that decayed formed those fossil fuels. Scientists are advising us that we cannot afford to burn between 70 and 90 percent of all the stuff we have found let alone throw taxpayers’ money at subsidies hoping someone finds some more. No matter what you call it and even if you call it a resource we have seen Kiwis stand up against it. We have seen groups such as the Dunedin City Council yesterday the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church making strong statements. They want to see our natural environment protected not just natural resources.