Wagner Nicky: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWagner Nicky: General Debate[Sitting date: 19 March 2014. Volume:697;Page:16811. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]NICKY WAGNER (National—Christchurch Central):I have to say that I was really surprised to hear that attack on Judith Collins by the Hon Annette King—her attack on Judith and a conflict of interest because of her husband. Was she not the same member whose husband was the chief executive officer of a district health board earning over $200000 worth of health money when she was the Minister of Health? I think people in glass houses should not throw stones.It is my absolute pleasure to talk about the Bluegreens National’s environmental group and about National’s environmental achievements because the Bluegreens philosophy is something that New Zealanders understand and support. Bluegreens know that caring for the environment and growing the economy can and must go hand in hand. We also understand that it is the Government’s job to run this country well and to ensure the wise use of our natural resources in a way that supports the well-being of both the environment and the people of New Zealand. Bluegreens know that environmental decisions must be based on good science and resource use on sustainability and that the tough decisions about our economy and about our environment can be dealt with by involving appropriate stakeholders and a collaborative approach because Kiwis when it comes to the environment want to be part of the solution not part of the problem.We know that the quality of life for New Zealanders is predicated on the intelligent and sustainable management of our environment because the two major economic drivers agriculture and tourism—the industries and the places that create the jobs and pay the wages—are both predicated on a clean pure and unpolluted environment. No one wants to visit a dirty country. Nobody wants to buy food from a polluted land. That is why the Bluegreens are working hard to maintain and improve environmental outcomes in New Zealand and we have made great progress.We have made progress in reducing waste in cleaning up the air and in cleaning up contaminated sites and long-polluted water bodies. We have insulated homes to cut emissions we have increased renewable energy and we are expanding pest control to protect our magnificent birds. But we are also tackling the really tough environmental challenges and have introduced three important pieces of legislation for the very first time —legislation to better manage fresh water the first ever framework to protect the oceans of our exclusive economic zone and a new bill to mandate environmental monitoring and reporting.Firstly we are absolutely focused on improving water quality and for the first time we have a National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management and a National Objectives Framework. They are being built on the Land and Water Forum which is the collaborative process and a significant step change to deal with this issue. Secondly after 50 years of oil and gas prospecting and drilling in New Zealand without any environmental protection—I repeat that: without any environmental protection—we have introduced world best-practice rules for anyone working in the exclusive economic zone. This much-needed protection was voted down by Labour and the Greens. And finally our Environmental Reporting Bill will drive better environmental outcomes for the long term because for the first time we will have good-quality long-term monitoring which will provide comprehensive quality information to show trends highlight issues test solutions and find the facts to make good environmental decisions for the future.