Grigg NicolaNICOLA GRIGG (National—Selwyn): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of the National Party as our party spokesperson for Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and also rural communities to put for the record our continued opposition to this utterly utterly ridiculous bill. This Government seemingly has no idea or indeed little care for the consequences that these changes will mean to these leaseholders. These are real people with real businesses and real families. These will bring real consequences.Since the introduction of this bill many many members of the National Party have made a real effort to get out and visit as many of these high country leaseholders as possible. Just to name a few I've been to Ben Lomond Station Lake Heron Station Muller Station St James and Lakes Station. What we see time and time again is sophisticated farming operations that put the ecology and preservation of the natural environment first and foremost. What we also saw was evidence of decades and decades often generations of hard work care and attention. This is a deeply traditional way of life and the land is all the better for it.What we also saw was neighbouring Department of Conservation (DOC) land run rabid with gorse broom wilding pines rabbits feral goats and deer and here is the rub: this bill has been very clearly written by bureaucracy that does not understand this very specialised system of hill country and high country management and the preservation of those local ecologies. This is a bill that is ideologically driven. It is devoid of any understanding of any practical pragmatic implementation whatsoever. It is as usual a top-down approach rather than grassroots driven.On this side of the House we pride ourselves in taking a real effort to apply a factual scientific evidence-based approach to policy. We are not caught up in maintaining tradition for tradition's sake. We are not opposed to change for opposition's sake but in this case this change will result in worse outcomes for everyone and everything not least the land and the leaseholders involved.While the bill does have heroic intentions—it seeks to provide Stronger and clearer accountability and transparency of DOC's administration of Crown pastoral land"—we on this side of the House agree with the leaseholders that these changes will actually lead to worse environmental outcomes to these precious parts of New Zealand—for example this ridiculous new notion that a leaseholder would require consent to eradicate pest plants and noxious exotic weeds such as the likes of gorse broom wilding pines crack willows grey willows but it would need to take up "no less than 90% of vegetation cover;". How does anyone interpret that—90 percent of what? If we start to look at the average sizes of these stations—let's say a 10000 hectare property for example—under this new rule a farmer can control only 25 hectares of that 10000 hectares in any five-year period. This is utterly nonsensical.There's also a new invocation that farmers can no longer maintain roads and tracks without consent. Well let's bear in mind that some of these roads and tracks were built by early settlers a century ago. They don't appear on any LINZ record so now a farmer cannot maintain them due to natural slippages erosion floods high winds and all of these severe weather systems that these parts of the land bring. Despite though the goodwill from the leaseholders and the evidence-based submissions they made this Government seems determined to ride roughshod over their generations of knowledge and know-how. The National Party opposes this bill because we do not believe it will in any way enhance or improve pastoral farming in the high country. We also believe that the provisions in it will fundamentally change the relationship that has existed between the pastoral leaseholder and the Crown for decades. It will change it from one of working partnership to one based on regulation and policing. It is punitive it is pernicious and it will bring an infringement regime that will do nothing but erode generations of goodwill between the two parties. Despite their best attempts the Government has totally ignored submissions from the likes of the High Country Accord which has said "This law will create an adversarial system of management with rigid rules and complex processes that will increase costs undermine the security of tenure granted by the 1948 Land Act and will consequently undermine the incentives for enhanced stewardship of the land." That is in direct contrast and contradiction to the intention of the bill.On this side of the House we have long advocated that the bill's objectives would be better achieved by the Commissioner of Crown Lands and LINZ working collaboratively with the leaseholders—with the 150 contractual partners on legally binding farm environmental plans. This would be built on the current regime that is unfortunately being replaced today and the many environmental benefits that have been delivered over the past 70 years.It is clear to anyone that these rules are attempting to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach which fails to recognise the diversity it fails to recognise different ecologies different ecosystems different topographies and different weather patterns and it will do nothing to deliver better environmental outcomes. It needs to take into account the inherent values in the diverse landscapes of this high country.To finish my comments this afternoon I say that the National Party strongly opposes in the most strident terms the introduction of a new infringement regime. We believe it is not only unnecessary but that it will significantly erode the trust and goodwill and the working relationship that has been enjoyed by all parties for decades. As one lessee said to us "A Crown pastoral lease is a treaty between two partners which is now under these amendments being dishonoured." Can you imagine the public outcry if the Crown were to continue dishonouring various other treaties? I really do feel for the farmers we've met in recent months and indeed the past year. This is not how we do things in New Zealand and New Zealanders will be worse for it. This is the kind of bill that has become so typical of this Government. It is ignorant. It is arrogant. We oppose it in its entirety and we will repeal it when we next form a Government."