Carter Chris: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Carter Chris: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:615;Page:10880] 
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Conservation) 
: 
 As the Prime Minister indicated in her speech this Government has been extraordinarily active in conservation and will continue to be so. We have seen some flagship achievements in recent months. One of the most beautiful high-country stations in the South Island—Birchwood Station—has been purchased by the Government and established as a permanent conservation and recreation area for all New Zealanders. Molesworth Station New Zealand’s largest single farm—the size of Stewart Island—has also been permanently protected as a vast and unique reserve that National and ACT will never be able to sell. 
However there have also been many other achievements in conservation recently that have not attracted as much attention. Take the success of the Department of Conservation in wiping rats off Campbell Island in the southern ocean as an example. The Campbell Island operation was the largest rat eradication effort ever attempted in the world. It will allow some severely threatened bird species to thrive in that natural home for the first time in over 100 years. This success places the Department of Conservation at the forefront of international conservation and it was only made possible by the Government’s commitment to funding the restoration of our native biodiversity. 
It has been estimated that we have lost 32 percent of our indigenous land and freshwater bird species and 18 percent of our seabirds in the 800 years or so that humans have lived in this country. Gone too are vast tracks of native forest and most of our wetlands. This Government said: “Enough!”. Unlike the National Party and ACT which want to sell dig up or flood New Zealand’s natural environment the Labour-Progressive Government has committed significant resources to the conservation of our landscapes and the ability of New Zealanders to enjoy them. We have placed $187 million behind a new New Zealand biodiversity strategy which has dramatically boosted the resourcing of species and habitat preservation. The Department of Conservation’s budget has grown by a whopping 40 percent. 
More than any over Government we have recognised that the conservation lands of our country are a massive economic and recreational resource. That was a key reason why we invested $349 million in the Department of Conservation’s visitor facilities. This funding announced in 2002 has enabled the Department of Conservation to begin to revamp and to reorganise its network of huts tracks and campsites in our conservation areas into something that more effectively meets the modern demands of New Zealanders and of our growing tourism industry. This was unprecedented funding and it will bear fruit. It will have social and economic reverberations right around our country. Expect more from this Government this year in conservation. We are unswerving and unapologetic about our commitment to saving our native species. We are not prepared to see all of our important iconic landscapes lost to New Zealanders. We are keen to see the careful integration of tourism into conservation areas to continue. 
It may interest members to learn that in a recent UMR survey of public support of Government departments the Department of Conservation was top of the list. It was the most popular Government department. Over 70 percent of respondents had a very positive view of the Department of Conservation compared with just 16 percent who had an unfavourable view. There are some who cling to silly old myths about the Department of Conservation that are now long-since disproved but the clear majority do not. The majority of those see the Labour-Progressive Government and its support of the Department of Conservation as a very important step forward. Most New Zealanders do not share National or ACT’s view that the Department of Conservation is a bad neighbour. They recognise that the Department of Conservation spent huge sums of money time and effort this summer fighting fires right across Canterbury. They recognise that in doing so the Department of Conservation saved surrounding farmlands and rural communities from devastation. Does the House remember the predictions of doom and gloom from National when it was announced that Molesworth Station was to be managed by the Department of Conservation? Apparently the Department of Conservation had an appalling relationship with farmers and farming on Molesworth Station was finished as a result. Landcorp continues to farm Molesworth Station. Its general manager Bernard Card had this to say in  
Countrywide 
 magazine recently: “The increasing emphasis on conservation on Molesworth is not a problem and does not threaten the farming business. It is just a case of sorting out the new lease and working out how the new arrangements will be put together. I am comfortable because we have a good past working relationship with the Department of Conservation.” It makes one wonder where the Opposition gets its information from does it not? Consider this: National and ACT claimed in relation to Molesworth Station that the Department of Conservation had an appalling record on weed control. Actually the Department of Conservation’s record on weed control is very good. On Molesworth Station it has been doing weed and pest control for a number of years despite the fact that it had no legal obligation to do so. 
The Department of Conservation has good relationships with landowners communities and iwi the length and breadth of this country. Members of the public know that because they have experienced it first hand. Members should ask those involved for example in the Kaharoa KÇkako Trust a community-based organisation that with the help of the Department of Conservation is managing the recovery of kÇkako in the forest near Rotorua. Members should ask those involved in Project Kiwi north-west of Whitianga in the Coromandel. This is a project that in consultation with the Department of Conservation has been running stoat control over 4100 hectares of rugged terrain covering 20 different properties including the Department of Conservation - administered land. Members should ask those involved in the Otago rail trail—a 150 kilometre - long cycle ride through central Otago that attracts up to 15000 visitors a year. After the railway line between Middlemarch and Alexandra closed in 1990 the community created a very attractive and accessible recreational opportunity that has promoted the economic regeneration of small towns in central Otago. All that was done with the Department of Conservation’s help and cooperation. There are numerous examples of Department of Conservation community work and of it being an outstanding neighbour. 
Conservation lies at the heart of New Zealand. It is what defines us as New Zealanders—our landscapes and our unique species. Communities will continue to support the Department of Conservation. This Government has funded the Department of Conservation more than any other. We see the value in conservation for future generations of New Zealanders. 
A really remarkable thing is happening at Parliament this evening—that is a reconciliation process is taking place with the Chinese community. Many hundreds of descendents of original Chinese gold miners and settlers came to our country—people who were forced to pay a poll tax. First it was £10 and then in 1891 it was £100. That is the only example of overt racism that ever happened in our country where a racial group was penalised because of the group that it belonged to. This evening the Prime Minister will announce a reconciliation package for the Chinese community that will be greeted with applause all over the world. It will attract international attention. It makes me very proud to be a member of Government that is committed to valuing diversity and that sees that all New Zealanders are not the same. We are all equal before the law but we need to celebrate and affirm our diversity. Tonight Parliament will take on a Chinese flavour. It will be a different flavour to the usual flavour we have here but it is part of the many faces that now make up our country.