11. Freshwater Management—Farming Practices and Water QualityEUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for the EnvironmentFreshwater Management—Farming Practices and Water Quality11. EUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for the Environment: Is he satisfied that the Resource Management Act 1991 is protecting rivers and groundwater from pollution; if so why?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment): As I said in my Lincoln University lecture last week the Resource Management Act (RMA) is generally working well in cleaning up point-source pollution—the likes of town sewerage systems dairy sheds and factories—but is not working well enough in the area of dealing with diffuse pollution such as runoff from farms as well as in urban environments. That is why the focus of the Government's freshwater reforms including the national policy statement the stock exclusion rules the clean-up funds and the implementing of good management practice are very much focused on that new challenge around diffuse pollution. Eugenie Sage: Is it acceptable that the Hawke's Bay Regional Council allows intensive feedlots like this with no need for a resource consent and no monitoring given the amount of pollution that rain can flush into the Tukituki River and groundwater from land uses like this in this style of farming?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I would caution the member against connecting the difficulties in Havelock North directly with intensive farming in that actually that area has a far lower level of intensive farming as compared with other areas—Eugenie Sage: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Hon Dr NICK SMITH: —and secondly I would note the data from GNS Science—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I apologise.Eugenie Sage: I was not attempting to link Havelock North and the gastric outbreak there with this activity. I was simply asking a straight question.Mr SPEAKER: But that is then a debatable matter. The Minister is choosing to answer it. I will allow the Minister to complete the answer.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I note in respect of the serious issues around the water supply in Havelock North that the GNS Science analysis showed that the contaminated water was only 1 year old and was likely to be surface water in that the aquifer water in that area is 50 years old. That would suggest it is an issue of the integrity of that well rather than something for the Green Party to try to use as an issue without evidence to blame on farmers in the area.Eugenie Sage: Will the Minister's proposed changes to the national policy statement for fresh water require regional councils to properly control intensive stock farming like those feedlots or will he let intensive agriculture off the hook yet again? Hon Dr NICK SMITH: We are the first Government to have a national policy statement putting requirements on regional councils. When we came to Government there was not a single catchment anywhere in New Zealand in which there were any restrictions on intensive farming—not one. There are now at least eight where intensive farming is not allowed and there are a further 15 catchments as a consequence of our national policy statement where they are limiting nutrients from intensive agriculture.Eugenie Sage: Does not his Government's failure to have strong and effective national policy under the RMA which regulates land uses like this allow those who benefit from these land uses to shift the costs on to the community through dirty water dirty rivers and dirty groundwater?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I would ask where that member was when she was on Environment Canterbury and it did nothing? Where was the last Labour Government which did nothing for 9 years? I would point to the fact that at least we have a national policy statement on freshwater management and we have a further programme with the national regulations around stock exclusion and the tighter rules around nutrients where we are actually setting national requirements to improve the quality of our fresh water. Eugenie Sage: I seek leave to table rule 6.3.2 from the Hawke's Bay Regional Resource Management Plan dated 1 October 2015 which allows the use of land as a permitted activity for feedlots and feed pads.Mr SPEAKER: I will accept that it may be more difficult than normal for members to obtain that and therefore I will put the leave and the House will decide. Leave is sought to table that particular document. Is there any objection? There is not. It can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.