Harawira Hone: Waste Minimisation Bill — Third Reading 
Harawira Hone: Waste Minimisation Bill — Third Reading 
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HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Assistant Speaker. Kia ora tatou e te Whare. In the world of discarded lifestyles plastic wraparounds high-impact packaging and personal attacks in Parliament the Waste Minimisation Bill is a breath of fresh air. On this day when we mourn the loss of life from 9/11 and the loss of liberty suffered in the police terrorism raids by those who are before the courts in Auckland we recognise also the way in which the rampant exploitation of Papatuanuku and all her resources forces us to acknowledge our own fragile place on this earth and the urgent need for us all to take a reality check on how we respect our world. 
Let me extend my congratulations to my brother Nandor Tanczos on the effort he put into this bill to encourage us to reduce waste. Given how much waste is generated by this place I can understand why he got out before he was suffocated by the garbage that often masquerades as parliamentary debate. I know that he had to put up with a lot of nit-picking from businesses that over-package products in order to enhance sales from corporate entities that generate even more trash than product and from politicians who must be getting a kickback for nodding when multinationals say they are already doing a lot to reduce waste and to do even more would impact on the viability of their businesses. Yeah right! I know too that because of some of those compromises this bill is not exactly what he would have wanted but I offer my congratulations to him anyway on pushing it and pushing it to the point where this legislation is to become a reality. 
We particularly like the product stewardship scheme to make producers responsible for their products right throughout a product’s life cycle. That will encourage producers to use more environmentally friendly products and discourage the huge waste that is part of our society today. Unlike the emissions trading scheme where the big polluters will not have to pay for years this bill will encourage everyone to reduce waste or pay for it from day one—be they big producers or small producers. That is future thinking and we like it. 
We like the waste streams idea of charging importers an extra $5 for every tyre that is brought into Aotearoa to put the brakes on importers bringing in container-loads of second-hand tyres. That charge has to be a good idea given that 5 million tyres are dumped in Aotearoa every year. Five million car truck and industrial tyres are dumped in landfills or chucked into our rivers and on to our paddocks. They are not just the nice little tyres that people use for flower gardens worm farms to hang over the swimming hole to make into little rubber swan sculptures or to use in the sandpit. I refer also to the big ugly thick rubber tyres that leach toxic waste into our rivers and landfills. 
We know that the bill was changed a lot at the Local Government and Environment Committee and with a whole trash pile of Supplementary Order Papers. Although the extra amendments and changes may have reduced the bureaucracy and simplified the bill unfortunately—and this is a bit like what occurred with regard to the emissions trading scheme—they have also held back some of the good bits as well. For instance our councils actually wanted to have stronger legislation but felt their proposals had been watered down by extensive lobbying from commercial groups opposed to the idea that they should accept responsibility for the waste they create. 
The Maori Party is happy to support this bill because it is consistent with our long-term call for the Government to take responsibility for the dumping of toxic waste which has caused dioxin poisoning in Taranaki and widespread health problems for the people of Paritutu including birth defects behavioural problems diabetes and cancer. It will help to address some of the concerns we have raised about the contaminated former sawmill site at Minginui and the likelihood of chemicals leaching from the landfill site into local waterways and streams and give weight to the advocacy of Sawmill Workers Against Poison—people like Joe Harawira and Gwenda Paul who have been fighting to repair the damage created at more than 600 former sawmills by chemicals that been proven to have adverse effects on our lands our rivers and our people. The bill fits in with our call for Kiwis to take responsibility for Aotearoa. It is a refreshing change and a step in the right direction. To that end the Maori Party is pleased to support it at this third and final reading. Kia ora Madam Assistant Speaker.