Patterson MarkMARK PATTERSON (NZ First): It is with great pleasure that I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to support this Tasman District Council (Waimea Water Augmentation Scheme) Bill. As we know this is actually quite a technical bill. At its core it's the 9.7 hectares of the Mount Richmond State Forest Park and the 1.3 hectares of Land Information New Zealand riverbed being transferred from the Crown basically through to the Tasman District Council for easement and for a reservoir. So that's the core of what we're doing.But of course it's much bigger than this. This is enabling legislation for a significant piece of infrastructure for the Tasman region and I note that this has been 20 years in the making. I can only imagine what that was like to the farming leaders—and I note that Julian Raine is in the building and I'm sure there are many others who are not so well known to me. Julian of course is very prominent in agri-business circles. Those discussions I'm sure happened in the pack houses initially and on market day or whatever might have been the meeting places of those growers back in the day from herding those cats—those small conversations—to get to this point where we are in the Parliament of New Zealand enabling this piece of legislation that will allow a dam to be built on the Waimea River.Of course irrigation is a fairly emotive topic but it is time that we had a more sensible discussion about irrigation in this country. This is a water-rich country. We don't have to look far across the Ditch to our neighbours—they could not dream of having the wealth of water resources that we have. The debate has got very narrow around water equals cows equals pollution. It does not and this particular proposed scheme absolutely proves this. The 1200 or so hectares that are to be irrigated under this are primarily horticultural land. I think there are only about two dairy farms.One of the things I learnt on the way through with this bill is that boysenberries are one of the main crops here and that New Zealand actually produces 60 percent of the world's boysenberries and a good proportion of those are in the Waimea Plains. That's something to be very proud of for those farmers. We certainly get that we need to do better with the nutrient budgeting and I note that today we had a significant report on the OVERSEER model. We are working hard as a Government and I'm sure as a Parliament to bring the tools together so that we can have irrigation and we can still have a pristine environment as well.Of course it's not just the rural users; it's the urban users both domestic and industrial and there are some significant large employers within that Nelson/Tasman region who will benefit from the security of water from this scheme when it is up and running. As Dr Smith outlined in his contribution this is a fast-growing urban population. It's a wonderful part of the world and will continue to grow at pace; so we're futureproofing not only the farmland but also our urban and industrial users. And of course there are the environmental benefits. Having the water flowing consistently and being able to have some control over that is of real benefit. We note the biodiversity offsets that have been negotiated as part of this. I think that's really visionary and leading stuff and the sort of thing that we'll probably look to be doing in the future. I think this is a good exemplar.The Crown of course is extending a loan of $35 million to the farmers involved in the scheme and I would like to emphasise that: it's a loan; it will be paid back. It's not a grant; it is a loan and this is a multigenerational decision for the farmers and they will recompense the Crown many times over not only with their lift in production but also with the interest bearing on the loan. Of course there is a $7 million grant and that was part of a freshwater grant under the previous Crown Irrigation Investments. I note with some irony that the Opposition are now quite vehement in their opposition to the Provincial Growth Fund but this is exactly the same principle at play here—wise investment in the regions enabling significant infrastructure.I also would like to commend the tenacity and the vision of the local political leaders and I note Mayor Kempthorne is here today. This has been a contentious issue. We're aware of that. One of the votes did go against the dam and there was a lot of leadership involved I would imagine in bringing that together. I note that some of the regional leaders are here today. I commend you on that. It is not easy sometimes to step back and look at the bigger picture when you have your ratepayers many of whom are on fixed incomes and for them any increase in their rates is something that can't be trivialised. But you have to step back and look at the bigger picture. I think some of the rates rises are somewhere between $29 and $150 per annum. Even at the top end of that that's $3 a week to secure this very important futureproofing piece of infrastructure for this region. This is about a 100-year vision; this is not necessarily about what the rates bill will be next year. I believe that those political leaders will be remembered fondly in the future for the leadership they have shown.Of course the economics of this were pretty well set out. I believe it was the Northington report that showed that over 25 years this could add $935 million to the Tasman/Nelson economy. That is a significant increase. Of course it's the security of that income too for the $103 million I think it is now—it might even be $105 million—that the scheme cost. I think up front that will pay dividends year after year.Finally I'd just like to commend the member Dr Smith the local MP for Nelson for bringing this bill forward and shepherding it through. It will be a bit of a legacy for you I think in your region that you have been able to do this. I commend the Governance and Administration Committee. I know they engaged and went down to Nelson to hear the submissions. The officials—as always we're very well served in this House. This is a really good sensible piece of legislation to enable a very important piece of infrastructure and New Zealand First are delighted to support this through to the third reading. Thank you.