8. Question No. 8—EnvironmentKIERAN McANULTY (Labour) to the Minister for the EnvironmentQuestion No. 8—EnvironmentKIERAN McANULTY (Labour): What are the main proposals in the Essential Freshwater announcement and were there a consensus among the advisory groups advising the Government?SPEAKER: OK have another go.8. KIERAN McANULTY (Labour) to the Minister for the Environment: Right-oh. What are the main proposals in the Essential Freshwater announcement and was there a consensus amongst the advisory groups advising the Government?Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for the Environment): Firstly the E. coli criteria is to be tightened for swimming spots used by Kiwi families in summer to better match the Ministry of Health safe swimming guidelines. Secondly strict controls will be introduced to stop an increase in the quantity of risky practices which we know cause water quality to get worse; the most obvious example being some winter grazing practices. Thirdly the best practices already used by many farmers will be required to be used by all farmers so as to improve the effects from land-use practices. Fourthly an upgraded national policy statement (NPS) will include wider measures of ecosystem health and it will be put into effect by a new planning process by 2025 which is based on that used by the last Government for the Auckland Council amalgamation. And in answer to the second part of the question there was unanimous consensus across the Scientific Advisory Group Kāhui Wai Māori and the freshwater leaders group that such measures are necessary to halt the decline in freshwater quality.Hon Nanaia Mahuta: He aha ngā pātahi i tau mai ki te hunga i noho kei ngā tāonga e pā ana ki te wai?[How are the proposals going to affect urban populations in regard to fresh water?]Hon DAVID PARKER: As a result of the Three Waters review we're proposing mandatory environmental management plans for waste water and storm water operators and regulated standards for waste and water treatment plants. There are also new reporting requirements for waste water and storm water operators and urban design requirements to better protect wetland and stream habitats will also help. Everyone in New Zealand needs to do our bit so it's pleasing to see that Auckland City is bringing forward $900 million of expenditure to better separate storm water from sewage. This is expected to result in a 90 percent reduction in the contamination of Auckland beaches by sewage within 10 years.Kiritapu Allan: Why did the advisory groups support these proposals?Hon DAVID PARKER: The advisory groups which were a Māori reference group Kāhui Wai the Freshwater Leaders Group which is led by two dairy industry leaders and the Scientific Advisory Group are all clear that significant change is required and required rapidly to halt the decline in our waterways and return them to the state that all New Zealanders support. The regional council working group is pleased with the new plan-making process because under the current plan-making process almost half of New Zealand's regional councils will take until 2030 to implement the last Government's 2017 NPS. That's 13 years by which time children born in 2017 will be teenagers.Kiritapu Allan: Are critics who say this is unnecessary because freshwater quality is already improving correct?Hon DAVID PARKER: No. Indeed all of the reference groups agree that if we let it get worse it costs more and takes longer and is harder to fix. Presently sediment is continuing to pile up choking our estuaries and smothering our shellfish beds and in the north it is the cause of the rampant growth of mangroves. Nitrate levels are still on the increase in many rivers and aquifers. Some rivers—in fact many rivers—have lost over 90 percent of their macro-invertebrates and twice as many monitored rivers still have declining macro-invertebrate populations rather than improving macro-invertebrate populations and this is a clear indication that these rivers are in decline.Kiritapu Allan: Why do the new rules include strict controls on wetland loss and cover urban streams?Hon DAVID PARKER: New Zealand lost about 90 percent of our wetlands a century ago when land was cleared for our towns and for farming. Sadly in the decade prior to the latest Environment Aotearoa report we lost a 20th of those remaining. No wonder our whitebait are dying and we need these new rules to better protect our remaining wetlands.Kiritapu Allan: Why is improving New Zealand's freshwater quality also important economically?Hon DAVID PARKER: Staying ahead of the game in our export and tourism markets is critical to our economic interests as well and it's clear that consumers in the most valuable high-end markets are increasingly concerned about environmental integrity. As Chris Allen from Federated Farmers said just last night and I quote Whether it be to Europe or China they want to know they can trust me and the food we're producing. We've got good environmental integrity and we're involved in good farming practices all right from the beginning." I couldn't have said it better myself."