Brooking RachelRACHEL BROOKING (Labour): Thank you very much Mr Speaker. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Oh and just to let the House know we'll be going past 10 p.m. RACHEL BROOKING: Thank you Mr Speaker. Matt Doocey: All-nighter. RACHEL BROOKING: All-nighter to talk about the Adverse Weather-affected Timber Recovery on Conservation Lands Bill. Now when I just read out that I did mean to give some emphasis to the word timber" in the name of this bill and that is because the focus of the bill is on timber; it is not on trees it is not on conservation and we are talking about the conservation estate here. So it's for that reason that Labour is opposing this bill. The member who's introduced the bill Maureen Pugh talked quite a lot about the history of some other legislation. I'm going to focus on this bill before us today. As I said in summary this focus on timber on conservation land is not appropriate. The bill talks a lot about trees and timber but "tree" is not defined in the bill it's not defined in the Conservation Act either whereas of course "timber" is defined in the bill but in relation to a tree. Trees are part of their forest ecosystem and they don't lose ecological value by falling over or dying or becoming irreversibly damaged—that's a hard wee phrase to say. I'm going to trip up on that probably quite a bit. These trees whether alive or dead but particularly talking about dead ones—they provide habitat; they provide cover for new trees. There's recycling of nutrients and a decrease in erosion often so we oppose. Now what I want to talk about in relation to the bill that we have in front of us is its relationship to the Conservation Act because that's key to how this bill works. So the first relationship to the Conservation Act that I think is relevant is that at clause 20(2) of the bill there's a reference that says "In Schedule 1"—Amendment to Conservation Act 1987—"insert in its appropriate alphabetical order:" the name of this Act. So what that does by linking to Schedule 1 of the Conservation Act is that then goes to section 6 of the Conservation Act which is the functions of the department and one of the functions of the department is to administer enactments specified in Schedule 1. So that's one of the links to the Conservation Act. The second is of course the title of the bill the Adverse Weather-affected Timber Recovery on Conservation Lands Bill and so we're of course talking about conservation land. Clause 4 of the bill refers to designated areas. So that is "(a) … every conservation area and reserve that is owned by the Crown and administered by the Department other than—(i) a nature reserve; or (ii) a scientific reserve; or (iii) an ecological area; and (b) excludes any national park". Now these are all terms that we've just used that are found in the Conservation Act. So this is a clear link with the Conservation Act. The conservation area is defined in section 2 of the Conservation Act as land held for conservation purposes. So this word "conservation" is coming up a lot and that would of course include a dead tree as part of our protected areas. So protected areas are spelt out in Part 4 of the Conservation Act. These include conservation parks in section 19 wilderness areas ecological areas—which are excluded from that definition in clause 4 of the bill—sanctuary areas watercourse areas amenity areas and wildlife management areas. Then in section 2 of the Conservation Act we talk about stewardship areas which are other conservation areas. Under the Reserves Act 1977 which also relates to this bill Part 3 classifies reserves. So there's recreation historic scenic nature scientific Government purpose local purpose. Local purpose isn't relevant to this. Maureen Pugh: What's that got to do with the bill? RACHEL BROOKING: Well the bill excludes nature and scientific reserves. So I'm trying to work out here what does the bill apply to and that is under the Conservation Act conservation parks wilderness areas sanctuary areas watercourse areas amenity areas wildlife management areas other conservation areas being stewardship and then under the Reserves Act recreation reserves historic reserves scenic reserves and Government purpose reserves. This bill then enables the Director-General of Conservation as the member said to approve the removal of trees that are irreversibly damaged on that land that I've just described. Angie Warren-Clark: Big pile of land all over the country. RACHEL BROOKING: And it does apply to the whole country so it is quite different from the previous legislation that applied to very specific areas. Of course most conservation land is in the great South Island and a lot of it is in the very beautiful West Coast. Maureen Pugh: There's 850000 hectares of stewardship land. RACHEL BROOKING: That's right—lots of beautiful conservation land on the West Coast.So the bill provides some limited terms and conditions and we heard the member talk about those; those are found at clause 9(3). But it specifies that the Resource Management Act (RMA) sections 9 13 14 and 15 do not apply to this bill—so that's at clause 18. This is rather curious because section 4(3) of the RMA already can exempt conservation land from section 9(3) of the RMA. Section 9(3) of the RMA relates to land use consents so it is what district councils govern. So I am not sure why this bill needs to say that the RMA doesn't apply first of all; and second of all I'm not sure why sections 13 14 and 15 of the RMA don't apply and these relate to water. It is also very strange that this bill goes about to create an entirely new regime when the Conservation Act already applies for a concession scheme—you can get a licence if you meet various different things. So now we go back to the Conservation Act. What is this Conservation Act for? What is the Conservation Act all about? Section 6 includes the functions. I read one of them before which was relating to the scheduled land but also at (a) right at the front there it is to manage land for conservation purposes—all the land that the DOC has. So then what is conservation purposes? Conservation purposes isn't defined but conservation is "the preservation and protection of natural and historic resources for the purpose of maintaining their intrinsic values providing for their appreciation and recreational enjoyment by the public and safeguarding the options of future generations." So none of that definition around the protection of natural resources and their intrinsic value is consistent with removing parts of the ecology of those environments—those environments that are held as conservation areas for their conservation values. This is a total anathema to all that and that is why we are opposing this bill. So in conclusion removing these dead trees or what is defined very imprecisely as "irreversibly damaged trees" which says "in relation to timber means—(a) dead due to an adverse weather event"—and so I say to that: how are we supposed to understand and have the evidence that says that a tree is dead just due to an adverse weather event? The member has already said that she is not sure exactly what an "adverse weather event" is. Then there is an "or" it is "(a) [it's either] dead due to an adverse weather event or [it's] … damaged to the extent that it is not possible to recover naturally." This paragraph (b) does not relate to an adverse weather event whereas the bill's name is the Adverse Weather-affected Timber Recovery on Conservation Lands Bill. So that is another problem with the bill. In conclusion removing dead trees does not protect the natural habitat nor maintain intrinsic value—things that the Conservation Act requires. We oppose this bill. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Members this debate is interrupted and set down for resumption next sitting day. The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. tomorrow. Pō mārie. Debate interrupted.The House adjourned at 10.03 p.m."