Simpson Scott: Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSimpson Scott: Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 15 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:9670. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): It is a pleasure to rise and take a call on this first reading of the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill. It is not every day that we as politicians and as members of Parliament get to speak on a piece of legislation introduced into the House that will be so significant so momentous and so important into the future.I wanted to acknowledge and congratulate both the Ministers who have already spoken in this debate on their work effort and contribution not only in the debate but also in bringing this bill to the House in the way it is and in the manner in which it was introduced last week at a function in the west foyer of the Beehive complex. I also want to acknowledge and thank the two Opposition members who have taken part in this debate so far for their constructive and useful commentary on how I think they will see this bill working its way through Parliament.The oceans of the globe continue to face increased pressure from habitat destruction from overfishing from climate change and from pollution. It is entirely appropriate that in the face of those kinds of daunting challenges a piece of legislation as momentous and significant as this should come before this the 51st Parliament. In a hundred years when we are all long gone and when nobody may recall anything of the efforts and the legislative agenda of the 51st Parliament there will be New Zealanders and people around the globe who will remember that in 2016 if those members of the 51st Parliament of New Zealand did nothing else then they did good—they did great—in actually creating the largest no-take ocean reserve on the planet. That is a provision a step that we as parliamentarians as New Zealanders and as citizens of the world can actually be enormously proud of.I am really looking forward to—and cannot really begin to describe to the House the excitement that I have as chair of the Local Government and Environment Committee—playing what will probably be a relatively small role in the process of getting this bill through the House but it will be something that I think all of us on the committee will be able to take great pride in. I am hopeful that the committee as it always does will work in a collaborative and collegial way on this bill which I see on first reading as already being a very good piece of legislation but who knows? As we go through the submission processes and through the hearing of submissions from members of the public and organisations that want to have a say on it they may want to point out to us some areas where the legislation could be tweaked or refined and improved if that is possible. And certainly I know that the committee that I chair will be open to those suggestions.The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary that will be created by this piece of legislation is truly significant not just for New Zealanders but for all citizens of the world. Most of us will probably never visit there. Most of us will never go there. Most of us will never get to experience the wonders and the magnificence of the marine life that has its home in the Kermadecs and the islands and the water and the sea that surround it but we will all know that we have played a small part in creating something really special really important and really futureproof for ever and for all times. It is with great excitement and great passion and great enthusiasm that I commend this bill to the House because I know that on this piece of legislation we are absolutely and for certain doing real good.