O'Connor Damien: Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Connor Damien: Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 15 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:9680. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR (Labour—West Coast - Tasman): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker and I acknowledge my colleague who has given me an opportunity to speak on this bill. There have been some very generous speeches in the House today and I am perhaps a little less generous. It is not to be small-minded or picky that I say I will acknowledge the work done by the Government rather than praise it because there have been many many parties pushing for this for some time. I would like to acknowledge and praise all of their efforts.The Government does have a tendency towards tokenism across the board. This is not a token gesture in itself—it is one of the largest marine sanctuaries in the world and indeed 15 percent of our exclusive economic zone. Labour has had a policy for many years of 10 percent of our marine areas in reserve status. A lot of people including National have consistently criticised us for that. In one fine swoop—not one fell swoop I have to say—we are effectively putting 15 percent into areas of protection. That in itself is a wonderful thing. There would hardly be a person in this country who would want to criticise this.Indeed from the fishing industry down the fact that we have identified only $600000 or thereabouts of commercial interest does not fully state as was said by the ACT Party the potential for huge economic benefit. That applies also to the fishing industry around this area of protection. As we now understand wherever we have a reserve or a protected area the opportunity for fish species and other biodiversity to flourish and then spill outside the zone also applies to the Kermadec area. So there will be fishing companies around the world in fact—not just in New Zealand—that will be eyeing the opportunity for this in the future. So the question is whether we can ensure that what we are setting out to do here in the House today can indeed be upheld—that is protection of this area and all the ecosystems within it for future generations. I can acknowledge that there will be more enthusiasm for this with the younger people of New Zealand—my daughter in particular—and in what this will do for future generations and the opportunities to explore more what happens in this incredibly diverse area. So we are taking action now to protect their opportunities.But in handing over to the Department of Conservation the responsibility for this what I have to acknowledge in this House is that the National Government has done that with other protected areas in this country on land but has failed to fund the organisation to uphold the values and protect the values that it so proudly speaks of. So the question is will we ensure that this Government and future Governments have the resources to protect the values that we are passing through in this legislation here? We have got a Department of Conservation that is under-resourced. It is talking about bringing in car parking charges and toilet fees no doubt or doing other things to try to fund the basic biodiversity work that is needed on land to protect our kiwis and our other threatened species. This reserve will protect many many threatened species and for that we have to acknowledge the Minister and the Government. But I ask the Minister—and through the select committee process I am sure there will be questions around the resourcing of the department and all the flow-on departments like the navy. When this sanctuary is indeed formed the Government agencies that will now be responsible for protecting the values that we are trying to pass through into legislation here—it is indeed a huge area.Can I come back to one more point I would like to make before I finish here. In protecting 15 percent it is not fully representative of the different marine environments throughout New Zealand. So I ask the Government will it ensure that the other areas or representations of the other areas and marine species will also be protected? I personally support the protected marine areas concept but it is not perfect. Marine reserves are a difficult and tortuous process to implement but we do have areas of marine diversity in this country that need to be protected. I ask of the Government will it ensure that it does not stop here—because it says: “We’ve protected 15 percent of our exclusive economic zone. Therefore haven’t we done well?”. Will it move to protect and work with commercial interests and recreational interests to have a true range of protection across all the marine biodiversity?This is a good piece of legislation. I acknowledge that if I find it difficult to praise the Government as I say it is not to be small-minded; it is to say that this has been a long process to get the bill here. We hope that this will continue smoothly through the select committee but I ask of the Government can it ensure that resourcing for the department that will be responsible for this area and many other areas both on and off land—will it be resourced to carry out its duties and the expectations from the public to protect our endangered species?