Jones Shane: Antarctica (Environmental Protection: Liability Annex) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Jones Shane: Antarctica (Environmental Protection: Liability Annex) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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Hon SHANE JONES (Labour) 
: 
 Tena tatou katoa e te Kaihautu o te Whare tenei ahiahi. Greetings on this Thursday afternoon. I stand to take a short call and like my senior colleague I find myself in the rather unusual but nevertheless tolerable position—only because it is fleeting—of agreeing with the Government. Labour supports the Antarctica (Environmental Protection: Liability Annex) Amendment Bill. Can any of us forget where we were or what we thought when we heard about the tragic event on Mount Erebus? It opened an avenue for us despite the tragedy to understand how fragile how distant and how unforgiving the landscape of Antarctica is. Our rights there have to be balanced by obligations and duties and that is what this legislation enables our small nation State to do. We are proud of the feats of New Zealanders in Antarctica and of the cultural social and adventurous heritage of New Zealand that is rooted in that part of the world. So the notion that we should stand and be prepared to meet the financial challenges that Lord forbid would come about if a tragedy or an accident should take place there is something that ought to be celebrated and certainly debated and agreed upon in the highest court of the land. 
For the record I want to identify four of five key things. Those with a more exhaustive contribution to make than mine have more than likely already spoken; one or three may still follow. I say there is a treaty system in Antarctica and it behoves all of us to remain vigilant and to observe the duties that it imposes on us. In order to give effect to a duty one has to exercise the role of being very active in one’s need or want to protect one’s interests there. 
 As Mr Carter has said the more we learn about climate change the greater our appreciation is of the critical importance of Antarctica not only to the health of the oceans but indeed to our long-term survival. So this is no small matter. Although Antarctica does not intrude on a regular basis into the daily grind of the lives of Kiwis I can assure members that more and more of our mokopuna—the younger members of our New Zealand families—are learning and appreciating what that place represents in terms of their own long-term interests. 
I like it that this bill is very clear on liability. There is nothing like the chilly winds of a liability action to effect a change in conduct. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: The flutter of a cheque book. 
Hon SHANE JONES 
: The member is quite right—both “check” and “cheque”. The adoption of the liability annex will fulfil a longstanding obligation on countries and it will be enforceable. Let us hope the situation never comes to that; one would imagine that international citizenship in such an area as Antarctica would immediately cause people to step up to the plate. But the liability annex actually represents an incentive so that those of our citizens our firms and other interests who go down there and who either are not alert or do not feel it is in their area of responsibility to be vigilant will pay for it. It is good that we highlight these things in this House. It is so good to talk about something positive given the very wretched set of events that have taken place this afternoon on matters related to another treaty. 
However coming back to this bill I say we should be proud of the role that Aotearoa has played in the negotiations. Of course all parliamentarians have their differences with the Governments of the day but I have no doubt that Mr McCully or his proxy will be a suitable representative. I just hope that the member who spoke yesterday on climate change is not that proxy or if he is that he changes both his apparel and his verbal presentation skills. But Mr McCully or whoever the person is can go forward in the knowledge that all parliamentarians will back the stance that our representative takes in relation to improving the liability annex in an international context. So I give full marks to the Government and to all of us as parliamentarians for showing that we value both our heritage in Antarctica and the critical role that the continent plays in the sustainability of the lives of the world’s citizens. Kia ora tatou katoa.