Street Maryan: Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Street Maryan: Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 24 March 2010. Volume:661;Page:9792. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker e nga mema tena koutou katoa. E nga kuia e nga kaumatua o Te Tau Ihu o te Waka o Kai Tahu o te Hauraki Maori Trust Board; tenei te mihi ki a koutou tena koutou tena koutou kia ora koutou katoa. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker and all members. To the elderly womenfolk and menfolk of Te Tau Ihu o te Waka Kai Tahu and the Hauraki Maori Trust Board I extend greetings. Greetings greetings and greetings to you all 
.]  
I too want to pay tribute to those who have finally brought about this settlement and this legislation that enshrines an aquaculture deal. I pay tribute to Te Ohu Kai Moana. I would especially like to mention Peter Douglas the chief executive officer and Sir Archie Taiaroa. I particularly want to mention the iwi of Te Tau Ihu in the area where I am privileged to live. I also acknowledge Kai Tahu and the people the iwi represented by the Hauraki Maori Trust Board. I want to go back into some of the history of the caretakers of this settlement and therefore the caretakers of this legislation and I acknowledge Parekura Horomia Jim Anderton and more recently Phil Heatley. I pay tribute to all those custodians. It is fitting in fact that the legislation and the progress of this settlement have spanned the lifetime of more than one Government. The previous speaker’s comments aside it is fitting that we recognise that Ministers who hold the portfolio of fisheries for however long or short a time do so as guardians and custodians of a resource that must be managed and cared for in a sustainable way. 
I also pay tribute to the Maori Affairs Committee and the chairperson Tau Henare for being a guardian or custodian of this legislation and shepherding it through to its third reading today. All these people who have touched or impacted on or influenced this deal this settlement and this legislation are due credit today. This is the way it seems to me that enduring settlements are arrived at. There is nothing more satisfactory in this House in my experience than giving life to an enduring settlement that works to satisfy the short medium and long-term aspirations of all those who have participated in its development and who have for a long time held to goals ideals and aspirations that this kind of settlement can be achieved. 
The Labour Party supports this legislation of course but we do so for a number of reasons. We support it because it secures a sustainable future for New Zealand’s aquaculture industry. We have heard already from previous speakers that the aquaculture industry currently is worth about $320 million annually but there are aspirations within the industry for that figure to increase to $1 billion per annum by 2025. There is a lot of work to do before that aspiration can be realised but one thing is certain—that aspiration cannot be realised without this legislation and the agreement to which it gives life underpinning it and being there to secure its future. 
This legislation will underpin industry and give it the stability it needs to move forward. Members on this side of the House support it because it gives financial resources to iwi and hapu as promptly as possible and it gives iwi certainty. That certainty is a long way from the tension and conflict arising out of the commercialisation of aquaculture which culminated in a bitter dispute over the foreshore and seabed. What we are achieving in this settlement and in this legislation is a deal of certainty that heads this country in a different direction from the conflict that marked the foreshore and seabed debate. 
That is not to say that there is not further debate to be had over the foreshore and seabed legislation and whatever might finally replace it but it is to the credit of all the participants in this process that an agreement has been reached because such agreements are good for New Zealanders—all of them. Such agreements provide certainty and stability. They provide the chance for development the chance for economic growth and the chance for all to share in the benefits. 
One of the things that I am particularly pleased about which this certainty now provides and underpins are the developments that are already under way in research and development in aquaculture in my home town of Nelson. Currently joint research activities are going on between the Wakatu Incorporation and the Cawthron Institute. These research activities are designed to improve the quality size and proliferation of shellfish within the aquaculture industry. It is a puzzle in Tasman Bay and one that I have not yet got to the bottom of as to why the oysters stop growing at a certain point. They get to a certain size and then they stop growing. The reason is not clear either to scientists or to iwi. I know that Fred Timiha feeds oysters by experiment in his garden. He uses porridge and they grow incredibly fat. I have not enjoyed the pleasure of one of those oysters yet because I think he is still growing them. I think he wants them to become super-size oysters and perhaps he will share the secret with the Cawthron Institute before very long. 
This legislation gives certainty that the investment that is being put in jointly by the Cawthron Institute and the Wakatu Incorporation will develop grow and enhance an industry from which we can all benefit. The Marlborough Sounds Tasman Bay and the Hauraki Gulf are areas that should be secure breeding grounds for this vital and embryonic industry in New Zealand. This industry has nowhere near achieved its potential. It is to the credit of the iwi involved and the various Ministers who have shepherded this legislation through that we have reached the third reading of the bill where we can celebrate a deal of certainty and a vibrant future for the aquaculture industry. 
It is a great pleasure to speak to the bill and I look forward to celebrating the passage of this third reading with the kuia and kaumatua in the public gallery shortly after the passage of the legislation. Kia ora tatou katoa.