Stanford EricaERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm very happy to speak to this member's bill tonight the Shark Cage Diving (Permitting and Safety) Bill. Firstly I want to start by congratulating the member Sarah Dowie not only for having her bill drawn but for being an excellent member of Parliament for Invercargill and for being in touch with issues that affect her electorate. She's well connected. She knows the people in her electorate. She knows the tourist operators. She knows the businesses. She knows the locals. She's undertaken extensive consultation. She spent a great deal of time in the area liaising with locals with businesses with power companies and with these tourist attractions. She saw a need for change. She's got her finger on the pulse of this community which is why she brought this member's bill and put the bill forward for selection and was very lucky that it was pulled out. It frankly was something that shouldn't have been a member's bill because this Government should have dealt with this already. But aren't we lucky that we've got a member of Parliament who's got her finger on the pulse who's in touch with local issues and who is doing the Minister's job for her?It was very fortuitous that this bill was drawn because we are in a situation where we are back to square one where we have a completely unregulated industry that is happening. We've got locals that are concerned. We've got divers pāua divers and swimmers that are all concerned because we are back with a completely unregulated industry—and it's not for lack of trying. We've heard from earlier speakers including the member herself Sarah Dowie that the Department of Conservation tried to intervene they introduced a permitting system in 2014 to try and forge a path between the locals the pāua divers and the shark cage diving industry using section 53 of the Wildlife Act 1953 which we've all heard tonight was unfit for purpose. It was challenged in the High Court and it was found that the Director-General of Conservation didn't have the power to issue permits using this Act. We heard from Sarah Dowie earlier that the Court of Appeal then ruled that shark cage diving was illegal and then that decision was set aside in the now infamous—we've all spoken about it tonight—2019 decision of the Supreme Court. So again here we are back to square one where we have a completely legal but totally unregulated industry. Now we are known around the world for having these thrill-seeking tourist attractions that bring in tourist dollars that bring in people to areas like Southland and Stewart Island who perhaps wouldn't see as many tourists otherwise. They create jobs and they create an industry that brings in the tourist dollar. This bill sees a way forward. As I said earlier it's doing the job of the Minister. All of the arguments that have been put up tonight are really splitting hairs. This bill does everything that our opposition across there the Government say that it doesn't. Liz Craig spoke tonight saying that it doesn't take into account the community. There are provisions in the bill that set out consultation requirements—in fact that's clause 10. So there are already things baked into this bill to make sure that the community are taken into account and their views are taken into account. She also said that the needs of the sharks aren't taken into account either. Well this bill sets out requirements for the permit for codes of practice; the Minister has to approve the codes of practice. So if they don't like certain activities to entice the sharks because it affects the shark's behaviour in some way—and I am certainly not a shark expert; we've had many shark experts up tonight I'm not one of them—I'm sure the Director-General of Conservation will take this into account. Even if the Government are concerned that maybe it doesn't take the shark's emotional wellbeing into account well we can put that into the bill at select committee.I'd just like to point out in my last few minutes that we have a bill in front of the Environment Committee at the moment that's by New Zealand First—the forestry regulation bill which regulates forestry advisers and log traders—which is the worst abomination of a bill that we've ever seen. The reason for this is that well it was rushed we've only had a couple of weeks to look at it and we've had to extend the bill by a week to make it a good bill. This is a good bill; that bill is horrific and we've spent time tidying it up. There is no reason why the arguments that have been put forward by the Government tonight which aren't that great couldn't be addressed in select committee. All they are doing is purely playing politics and it's very sad.