Smith Nick: Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
Smith Nick: Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
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Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 I am delighted to be part of a Government that sees the potential of the aquaculture industry and what it can do for job and wealth creation in this country. I congratulate the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture on the hard work that has gone into creating the Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 3). I challenge the previous speaker the Hon Parekura Horomia about Labour’s record and what it did in aquaculture. That speaks volumes about the difference in values and in skills between this National-led Government and what occurred in the time of the previous administration. 
Firstly I will talk about the opportunities that there are for us to create jobs and wealth from aquaculture. Few countries in the world are as blessed as New Zealand is with ocean space and fertile waters in which to grow aquaculture. A bit over a decade ago I was privileged to be invited on an ANZAC Fellowship to visit Australia and I said then that New Zealand was a long way ahead of Australia. In the 1990s we saw the size of New Zealand’s aquaculture industry grow threefold and no region benefited from that growth as much as Nelson and Marlborough. But over the last decade Australia has gone way ahead of us. Let us see what occurred and put the record straight. Labour passed new aquaculture legislation in 2005. Members opposite said the legislation was the gateway to growing a billion-dollar industry. I simply put this question to members opposite: how many new aquaculture management areas have been created since Labour’s legislation was passed in 2005? Were there 10 or 5? [ 
Interruption 
] I say to Steve Chadwick that not one was created. We had the World Food Programme identifying aquaculture as one of the most promising areas for growth in the production of protein and food yet in New Zealand which exports a greater proportion of food than any other country frankly the members opposite blew it when they were in Government. 
The 2005 legislation was a disaster. Let me tell the Labour members why it did not work. It was a very fundamental— 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: We did nothing. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Steve Chadwick chips in. I tell her that she needs to listen. The truth is I say to Steve Chadwick that not one new marine farm was established under Labour’s aquaculture legislation. I will explain to her why that was the case because it explains some of Labour’s naivety and why members opposite do not have the acumen and ability to grow the New Zealand economy. You see what Labour did was this. The rules of the 2005 legislation stated that someone who went to the expense of applying to a regional council for consent for a new aquaculture management area at an expense of hundreds of thousands of dollars spent all that money yet under Labour’s law had absolutely no right to any of that space. Should we be surprised that with those sorts of perverse incentives nobody has ever bothered to apply? You see if this country is to grow its aquaculture industry up to the billion-dollar industry that it has the potential to be we need to get the incentives right. The incentives in the law that was passed by Labour do not work and that is why this law change is required. 
What does this bill do? First Labour put a blanket ban from Kaitaia to Bluff on any new marine farm unless it was in one of the narrowly prescribed aquaculture management areas. Should we then be surprised that nobody has been able to lodge a consent and progress a new marine farm? Nor did Labour address the very real issue that in many of our areas that are owned and good for developing marine farming the species are very narrowly defined. That is why this bill quite sensibly provides measures by which an area that is suitable for marine farming is able to be farmed for different species. I know that you Mr Assistant Speaker Roy are interested in oysters. There is a lot of potential for growth in that industry and you would not believe the bureaucracy that a marine farmer has to go through to be able to develop a new area of oyster farming. I welcome that change. 
I also commend my colleague Kate Wilkinson the Minister of Conservation because part of her work has been to ensure that our policies are aligned with the growth of the aquaculture industry. In the revised coastal policies statement that my colleague Kate Wilkinson has signed off we provide a very clear signal in the framework of resource management that this Government wants to see the growth of the aquaculture industry. By aligning that new coastal policy statement with the provisions in this bill we will provide opportunities for growth. 
There are provisions in this bill that say use it or lose it. We do not want speculators to simply apply for large amounts of marine space then not produce a single dollar of wealth for New Zealand. It is absolutely proper that Phil Heatley has included in this bill tighter provisions to make sure that those who acquire marine space actually develop that space thereby creating wealth and jobs for New Zealanders. 
I also support the provisions in this bill that provide 20 years of certainty for marine farmers. That is the bit that members opposite do not understand and I was concerned that Mr Horomia opposed those provisions. If we are to get investors to take a punt and if we are to get private people to invest in the aquaculture industry we need to provide them with the certainty that is provided for in this bill. 
I will also outline how this bill fits into the Government’s broader programme of resource management reforms. This is just one of a stream of 10 areas of work where we are working hard to make sure that the Resource Management Act works well with a blue-green approach making sure that we properly manage the environment but also making sure that we get the job opportunities and economic growth that this country can responsibly create from its rich natural resources. 
There is an important job for the select committee to do on this bill. The bill is very detailed. It is complex law and the Minister has done a great job in getting it to the House. I simply say to this House that if we are serious about growing the economy if we are serious about closing the gap with Australia and if we are serious about growing the aquaculture industry into a billion-dollar industry we need to back this bill. We need to have sensible rules that will enable the growth of that industry. I commend the work of the Minister and this bill to the House.