2. Question No. 2—EnvironmentMARK CAMERON (ACT) to the Associate Minister for the EnvironmentQuestion No. 2—Environment2. MARK CAMERON (ACT) to the Associate Minister for the Environment: What is his most immediate priority in the portfolio?Hon ANDREW HOGGARD (Associate Minister for the Environment): My highest priority is delivering on the Government's 100-day plan to begin stopping the implementation of new significant natural areas known as SNAs. SNAs are an unjustified and unhelpful intrusion into private property rights and are getting in the way of productive farming. ACT's coalition agreement with National commits to stop the implementation of new SNAs and to review their operation. I have been working with officials and I intend to take a plan to Cabinet on the most effective way to do that.Mark Cameron: What examples has he seen recently that highlights the challenge farmers and other landowners face from SNAs on their property?Hon ANDREW HOGGARD: Landowners have told me that if you're unlucky enough to have an SNA identified on your property you are likely to be prohibited from undertaking any new activity or development in that area. I have also seen that these restrictions will be applied to areas that are not very significant. For example a sheltered gully with some trees—a bit of matagouri which offers a great sheltered area to graze a few sheep after shearing or in a storm.Mark Cameron: What is the effect of those restrictions?Hon ANDREW HOGGARD: Apart from being at a disincentive to voluntarily conserve areas of indigenous biodiversity farmers know well what happens when the ability to actively manage land is restricted. If SNAs are applied to areas with low biodiversity value then without the landowner managing pest and weed - control it will just go to gorse broom and wilding pines.Mark Cameron: What will he do in the long term to restore property rights and protect indigenous biodiversity?Hon Peeni Henare: Oh this better be good.Hon ANDREW HOGGARD: It is good. Landowners are already voluntarily protecting areas of native biodiversity—over 180000 hectares are already protected through QEII National Trust. Put together that would be our fifth-largest national park all voluntarily. Many more have committed to enhance biodiversity on their land without formalising it. The way to protect biodiversity on private land is to work collaboratively with landowners including farmers foresters and iwi to incentivise the sustainable use of land and to show them that their work to protect the biodiversity is valued and then they will want to do more. Hon Damien O'Connor: To the member is he aware of the EU's requirement to prove that there is no deforestation taking place in areas that are supplying the EU market and that in fact the protection of SNAs will assist farmers to access that high-value market?Hon ANDREW HOGGARD: Yes I am aware of that clause in the ETA and what I would say and point to is the fact that there is already—Hon Members: ETA?Hon Members: FTA.Hon ANDREW HOGGARD: Sorry the EU free-trade agreement. But there is already a great number as I pointed out of farmers who are voluntarily protecting biodiversity. When I go and visit farms and I see farmers now they are taking massive pride in the work they are doing on their farm. We will work collaboratively with them to enhance that effort and to do more.Hon Carmel Sepuloni: My question is next; seeing that supplementary questions are over I'm speaking to the Speakers' Ruling 170/4 which is Ministers not only have a right to determine which of them is the appropriate Minister to answer a question they also have a duty to the House to decide on the appropriate Minister to answer." The question I put up today which is question No. 3 was initially put forward to the Minister for Social Development and Employment and is with respect to the Ministry for Social Development emergency housing grants. It has been transferred to the Minister for social housing; however it is the Minister for Social Development and Employment that has responsibility for the grants.SPEAKER: OK OK OK—Hon Chris Bishop: Speaking to the point of order.SPEAKER: Well I want to rule.Hon Chris Bishop: Speaking to the point of order. The member makes a good point but the member may also have missed what I said in the House yesterday which is that this Government has taken a decision to make the housing-related functions relating to emergency housing the responsibility of the housing portfolio. Those functions have been delegated to the Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Minister Potaka which is why the question has been transferred into the housing domain. I appreciate that's a difference from the past but that's been a deliberate policy decision.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Mr Speaker you're dealing with a point of order before the end of question time with respect to question No. 2. So why did you take that point of order when we still hadn't got rid of the supplementaries for the second question? It's just not the order of business.SPEAKER: That's right but we're doing it anyway so—[Interruption]Rt Hon Winston Peters: No we're not.SPEAKER: Yeah we are. Don't argue—don't argue.Ricardo Menéndez March: Speaking to the point of order.SPEAKER: Is it the same point of order or not?Ricardo Menéndez March: It's speaking to the point of order yes.SPEAKER: Well it better be new stuff because I'm ready to give the ruling on this.Ricardo Menéndez March: OK so just responding to what Mr Bishop said there's a difference between the housing side of the—SPEAKER: No I'm not interested in that. That's not a point of order. I spoke the other day about the need for people to be specific about which point of order they're speaking to. That is not speaking to a point of order; it's offering an opinion.Ricardo Menéndez March: Well it is speaking to Speakers' ruling 170/4 and—Hon Nicola Willis: That's what Governments do; they change things.SPEAKER: Look don't interfere when someone is—when someone is taking a point of order the House is silent. Now I'd just say to Mr Menéndez March this is something that I am ready to rule on so make his point make it succinct if he wants to but we will be moving on beyond that.Ricardo Menéndez March: So I'll make it succinct. Ministry of Social Development front-line staff have a direct responsibility to the delivery of emergency housing grants; therefore the responsibility on both question Nos 3 and 6 sit within the Ministry of Social Development—SPEAKER: You're off beat again because if anyone reads Speakers' rulings from about 170 right through to 174 there are numerous recommendations from multiple Speakers that make it clear that it is the Government's choice as to who answers the question not the Speaker's. If I refer particularly to 174/1 it makes it clear that only in very exceptional circumstances would the Speaker interfere and I don't intend upending those previous rulings. We move now to question No. 3 in the name of the Hon Carmel Sepuloni.Hon Kieran McAnulty: Point of order I accept that ruling and I accept the explanation given by the Leader of the House but it is on the basis of both that I raise this point of order. It is that if on that basis questions are transferred to the Hon Tama Potaka I find it interesting therefore that my question which was originally posed to him has been transferred to Chris Bishop. I refer to Speaker's ruling 173/5. If the Leader of the House the Minister of Housing has said that all responsibility regarding emergency housing social housing has been delegated to Tama Potaka I don't believe that there is justification to then transfer my question which relates solely to that to the Hon Chris Bishop.SPEAKER: Well 173/5 doesn't quite get to that point but—Hon Chris Bishop: Speaking to the point of order Mr McAnulty's question has been transferred to me because—and I appreciate that he may not have read the delegations but the question of funding for income-related rent subsidy places and the structure and funding of the appropriations for Vote Housing are within my delegation. The delegations make it clear that the social and emergency housing delegation sits with Minister Potaka. We have actually clarified what was a frankly pretty messy situation before.SPEAKER: Thank you."