Carter David: Resource Management Amendment Bill (No 2) — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Carter David: Resource Management Amendment Bill (No 2) — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Volume:608;Page:5520] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (NZ National) 
: 
 It is incredible having the opportunity to follow that contribution from the United First member of Parliament Mr Larry Baldock. 
Larry Baldock 
: United Future! 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: United Future—God help us if that is our future! Mark my words: as United Future supports the passage of this legislation through the House today—and members should remember that it will be passed only because United Future supports it—we are creating legislation that before too long will be back in this House for tidying up. This bill will haunt the “Labour and United Future Government” until the next election. Mark my words. 
I want to comment firstly on the abuse of process. If we look at the way in which the bill has been drafted we can see that a substantial piece of legislation has now been designed so that it has two parts to it as a means of limiting debate. I think that that is an absolute abuse of parliamentary process and I am disgusted that United Future could be party to that. 
The second thing I want to comment on is the abuse of process whereby Mr Larry Baldick talked throughout his contribution about the submissions that have been made on this legislation. He is not correctly portraying the situation. The Local Government and Environment Committee was not allowed to hear submissions on the Resource Management Amendment Bill (No 2) and consequently submissions were heard by a rebel committee which Mr Baldick decided he would not be part of. But if he had been part of it he would have heard a very valuable contribution from Federated Farmers which expressed a very genuine concern about the heritage provisions. 
Larry Baldock 
: I have heard their submissions. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Mr Baldick now says he has heard their submissions. 
Larry Baldock 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairman. I do not normally take offence at people making a slight mistake with my name but it is going on pretty frequently and I would like  
Hansard 
 to record my name correctly. “Baldock” is my name. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I thank the member for that. Can I just say to the member on his feet— 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I apologise to the member. I thought I was pronouncing his name correctly. I certainly meant no offence. [ 
Interruption 
] I assure members that I meant no offence to Mr Baldock. I was saying that Federated Farmers appeared before us to say that the heritage provisions which Mr Baldock supports will cause catastrophe amongst the farming community. They made the point that they have just had significant problems with the previous legislation—passed by the National Government I admit—that created the opportunity for district councils to create significant natural areas. I come from Bank’s Peninsula and I can say that there would be no other council that has created so much controversy around the declaration of significant natural areas—a declaration that occurred without consultation with private landowners but greatly restricted what private landowners could then do legitimately with their land. 
The point I want to make is to repeat what Federated Farmers said to us. They said: “If you thought you had problems with significant natural areas you now have huge problems with this historic heritage provision.” There is simply no definition to it. Mr Baldock read out that “historic heritage provision” means natural and physical resources that contribute to an understanding and appreciation of New Zealand’s history and culture. I ask Mr Baldock what that means. It seems to me that it means that anybody can make a claim on any piece of landscape of New Zealand and say that it has historic significance to them. John Carter who spent time on that rebel select committee with me pointed out that he had a great uncle who had ploughed a piece of land in the Hokianga and he may therefore think that that land has historic significance for him—and it may in the meantime have reverted to indigenous bush. I ask Mr Baldock who is going to win that argument. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: The lawyers. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Mr Tisch is absolutely right. This bill will mean that the lawyers will have a field day sorting it out. But in the meantime who pays? It is the farmers of New Zealand—the 34000 of them who pay in excess of 20 percent of all the rates levied by local government now—who will pay.