Smith Nick: Freedom Camping Bill — First Reading 
Smith Nick: Freedom Camping Bill — First Reading 
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Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 I wish to take only a brief call in respect of the Freedom Camping Bill and to acknowledge and support my colleague the Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson. I acknowledge that Kate Wilkinson is the most practical Minister of Conservation that the department has had in more than a decade. The practical gains she is making for conservation are far better than some of the highbrow dreamer ideas we saw in the years of Labour. We on this side of the House are deeply proud of that work. Yes this bill is a joint piece of work. The Minister of Local Government the Minister for the Environment—me—and Kate Wilkinson have worked hard on bringing this package together as we should. That is how we operate on this side of the House. I know that that side of the House is a bit incapable of that. I know that Chris Carter and Ruth Dyson do not talk these days. We on this side of the House work very closely together. 
This bill is a very pragmatic response to the real problem of freedom campers defecating in some of our most iconic spots leaving a right mess. This bill provides a practical response to that. It is no good leaving every one of our councils to make their own rules when frankly the 120000-odd international tourists who come here actually would not know which district they are in from one day to the next. That is not a criticism; it is just the nature of the international traveller. That is why having a standardised approach between the Department of Conservation and the councils makes such good sense. 
I commend the provision in this bill for a $200 instant fine for those who breach the freedom camping requirements. Labour has indicated some opposition to that. Let me just say it is totally impractical to say to the Department of Conservation or to a council that it has to spend 5000 bucks of ratepayers’ or taxpayers’ money on trying to prosecute some tourist from the other side of the world for defecating at a precious campsite. It is not practical. A $200 fine is a really sensible way of dealing with it. 
I was surprised that Ruth Dyson took issue with the provision that the rental car company should be responsible for the fine in the event of a visitor doing a runner. It is the same for speeding fines and parking fines. Do we not care for our environment as much as we care about those things? We all know what happens. If someone goes to Australia and gets a car from a rental car company the company takes a copy of their credit card. If the person picks up a fine while they are there it is charged back against them. The most important provision deals with the fact that some rental car companies—particularly those with rental vans without containers—have not been responsible. This bill will put some responsibility back on those companies to play their part in protecting the environment and that is a good thing. 
This bill does protect and retain the right for New Zealand families like mine to be able to go out and enjoy the great outdoors—and so it should. To reassure Ruth Dyson opposite I tell her that nothing in this bill will constrain the right of her and her family or me and my family to go to the end of the Heaphy Track and camp there for a night before we proceed to tramp. That is quite plain in the provisions of the bill. 
The last point I will make is that the underlying presumption of this bill is that people can camp anywhere unless a council specifically prescribes it as a non-camping area. Maybe the difference between this side of the House and Labour is that we trust the councils. We think they are pretty common sense. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: Yeah right! You abolished ours. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Ruth Dyson wants to stand up for the failure of water management. Only 10 minutes ago she was giving a speech saying she is concerned about water quality. How can she defend the track record of Environment Canterbury which after 18 years did not have a plan in place for dealing with water in the precious area of Canterbury? 
The last thing I want to do is acknowledge Jacqui Dean the member of Parliament for Otago. This cause is one she has championed both in Opposition and in Government. This issue is not new. It has been around for quite a while. Jacqui both in caucus and in working with local authorities has been pivotal in this bill getting to this point. I know that it concerns a particular issue in the Otago area she represents. That district should be very proud of the contribution she has made to this practical bill being brought to Parliament to have this environmental problem dealt with. It is a good bill and I say good on Jacqui Dean and Kate Wilkinson for taking this practical step to deal with this environmental issue.