edithatogo/nz-hansard-corpus huggingface dataset:
Cameron MarkMARK CAMERON (ACT): Thank you very much Mr Speaker. Northland—been there for 33 years. They say Come to Northland and have a holiday via the holiday highway". Well good luck I say to anyone south of there going through the Auckland isthmus north. If you couldn't get blessed north—gracious me I get into my car when I depart Parliament and I sit in that car for 4½ hours just to get home routinely. One road one lane either way and that's assuming its state of repair is such that you could actually have a vehicle on it. Northlanders tell me they feel like a metaphorical poor cousin in their own country. Why are they second-rate citizens they ask of me and I cannot answer.Cyclone recovery: "Comedic" they say. Fixing the problems in Northland—places like the Mangamuka Gorge shut for years now; thousands of people feeling isolated in their own country and that Wellingtonians and bureaucrats are not listening to the needs of the regions and outcomes. Gracious me the Brynderwyns—every Northlander knows if the Brynderwyns goes down we're really stuck. The Brynderwyns culminated with the Mangamukas—that part of New Zealand is unequivocally on its own. That's our link to the hub of Auckland. And how do we ameliorate the worries therein? Farmers in Northland are also saying "What of localism and local issues?" Trying to arrest all the issues around freshwater drainage and the stopbanks that were so heavily eroded in the latest cyclones.Crime. I don't know if many members of this House have spent a lot of time in Kaikohe or Kaitāia but I can categorically tell you those good people don't like going out on to the streets at night. Now I am a Northlander; I have lived there for a long time. I don't generally have issues with going to the theatre you might say in Whangārei. That was the reality of old; it's certainly not a reality nowadays. If you are lucky enough to have a good evening out the likelihood of having either your car stolen or having a shop window frontage stoved in by a whole lot of ram-raiders is an ever-increasing reality.We have to address these issues. Why is Northland always one of those regions that seems to be for reasons inexplicable to me left behind? Certainly ACT has a voice in this Parliament. We will certainly address those issues and we will be taking them beyond this election. Thank you very much."
van Velden BrookeBROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. I'm here today to talk about the issues that I've heard about from so many people in Tāmaki. I've been out listening to locals and what I've heard is that what people want are safe beaches roads that get people places shop owners and workers not being terrified that they might be ram-raided and consequences for crime. People have told me that infrastructure is under pressure in Tāmaki. It's a beautiful beautiful place. More and more people want to make their home and live in Tāmaki but intensification means more homes more cars and infrastructure under pressure. Our community welcomes growth but we want to have more say on how it happens. We know what it means for the beaches when it rains. We know what it means on roads that mean they need as much work as the cycleways have recently got. And we know what that means street by street for our community.I have put out a survey to the people of Tāmaki asking for examples of local infrastructure problems and what I've received are lots of examples of where we can do better. In Glendowie the council storm drains have flooded people's gardens. In St Heliers the stormwater pipes are too small and the drains are constantly clogged. In Kohimārama we have drains that are clogged especially around Madills Farm. Around Tāmaki Drive the new cycleway it doesn't even drain when there's minimal rain. Out in St Johns the drains are clogged and in Meadowbank and in Mission Bay the stormwater system is overwhelmed. In Ōrākei I've heard people say that the sewage is contaminating the stormwater system and in Remuera there is raw sewage that's overflowing and the pipes just can't handle the number of people. And in Wai o Taiki Bay we have sewerage that's been incorrectly hooked up to the stormwater system. This is not an exhaustive list. There are so many problems. These are the examples that I have and I will be taking to local council.But I've also heard about crime and safety. A few days ago I visited two shop owners in Glen Innes who were ram-raided. There were young kids in a car who smashed in and burgled them. It's not OK that our shop owners do not feel safe. It's not OK that women don't feel safe walking home from work. And it's not OK that we have family members in our community who are being attacked at night.We have to do better so people feel safe in the community and we have to do better for the local infrastructure problems. I've been listening to the community. I'm going to work hard and be a strong voice for the people of Tāmaki. Thank you Mr Speaker.
Rurawhe AdrianSPECIAL DEBATESLocal IssuesSPEAKER: Members we now come to the debate about local issues arranged by the Business Committee under Standing Order 80. Before I call a member there is no speaking list. Members I do have a list as advised by both members and parties as I am fully aware but any member can stand. It's about local issues not the impact of a general Government policy and so I'll be arranging things thusly. Also the speaking time is five minutes. You've been distributed approximate times for each party. It's up to each party to manage their own time—I won't be doing that—but members have up to five minutes so if they have split it amongst their party they should monitor those timings themselves.
Rurawhe AdrianPETITIONS PAPERS SELECT COMMITTEE REPORTS AND INTRODUCTION OF BILLSSPEAKER: No petitions have been delivered to the Clerk for presentation. Ministers have delivered papers.CLERK: The 2021-22 annual reports for:Health Research Council of New Zealand MidCentral District Health BoardWaikato District Health Board.SPEAKER: Those papers are published under the authority of the House. Select committee reports have been delivered for presentation.CLERK:Reports of the Education and Workforce Committee on:briefing on the 2021-22 performance and current operations of Immigration New Zealandreport of the Controller and Auditor-General Tertiary education institutions: 2021 audit results and what we saw in 2022reports of the Governance and Administration Committee on:the New Plymouth District Council (Perpetual Investment Fund) Billthe Public Service Commission briefing on the state of the Public Service 2022report of the Health Committee on the petition of Laura Williams to increase funding for and access to adult ADHD screening and diagnosisreport of the Social Services and Community Committee on the Charities Amendment Bill.SPEAKER: The bills are set down for second reading. The briefings and the report are set down for consideration. No bills have been introduced.
Speaker's Rulings — Speaker's Role Under Electoral Act 1993
Robertson GrantBUSINESS STATEMENTHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Leader of the House): Next week the annual review debate will continue with appearances from the Ministers of education health and justice. Legislation to be considered will include the second readings of the Accident Compensation (Access Reporting and Other Matters) Amendment Bill the Business Payment Practices Bill and the Worker Protection (Migrant and Other Employees) Bill; and the third reading of the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill. On Tuesday the 9th the Prime Minister will move a motion to mark the coronation of King Charles III. On Wednesday the 10th there will be a members' day.Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National): Thank you Mr Speaker and I thank the Leader of the House for the update on the business for next week. I wonder if he could advise the House whether the Government is contemplating introducing legislation amending or repealing the waka-jumping provisions of the Electoral Act?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Leader of the House): I thank the member for his question. At this point in time the Government is not intending to do that. I'm sure it will be a subject of rich conversation in times to come.
O'Connor GregTHURSDAY 4 MAY 2023The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.KARAKIA/PRAYERSDEPUTY SPEAKER: Almighty God we give thanks for the blessings which have been bestowed on us. Laying aside all personal interests we acknowledge the King and pray for guidance in our deliberations that we may conduct the affairs of this House with wisdom justice mercy and humility for the welfare and peace of New Zealand. Amen.
Wednesday 3 May 2023 - Volume 767
10. Question No. 10—PoliceVANUSHI WALTERS (Labour—Upper Harbour) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 10—Police10. VANUSHI WALTERS (Labour—Upper Harbour) to the Minister of Police: What recent announcements has the Government made about supporting the victims of retail crime?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN (Minister of Police): I was pleased to recently announce that the Government is continuing to help retailers get support for the security and safety measures by more than doubling the funding available through the Retail Crime Prevention Programme. While the spike in ram raids continues to trend down it is vital as a Government that we continue to support retailers through crime prevention and that is exactly what we are doing. The additional $9 million for the fund comes in addition to the initial commitment of $6 million bringing the Government's total contribution to $15 million.Vanushi Walters: How many businesses have benefited from the Retail Crime Prevention Programme?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: Over 500 businesses have had installations either approved or commissioned through the Retail Crime Prevention Programme representing a total of 2406 security interventions. Of those 238 stores have had 1107 security interventions installed and completed. That represents a complete fit-out of 240 fog cannons 212 alarms 195 security sirens 110 roller doors 84 sets of bollards and 56 other interventions to improve store security. This in addition to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment's complementary fog cannon subsidy scheme has approved 892 installations of fog cannons completed to date.Vanushi Walters: What feedback has the Minister seen regarding the Retail Crime Prevention Programme?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: Police have received a significant amount of positive feedback from dairies shops and other small retailers who appreciate that this Government is backing them and their business. I'm advised an assessor recently visited a chemist in Hamilton post installation who expressed how grateful he and his wife were at the installation particularly when his wife was working in the store alone. Another Northland store owner recently told an assessor In no form could we even contemplate the cost or afford this install the New Zealand Police has offered—and again we are speechless with thankyous."Vanushi Walters: What other work is the Government doing to reduce youth offending?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: Alongside our work to better protect the victims of retail crime the Government is also funding programmes to hold young people who are committing these crimes accountable while working to get them back on track. Programmes such as Kotahi te Whakaaro are seen as a good success so far with around 82 percent of young people referred to the programme not reoffending. The circuit-breaker programme also intervenes within a short 24 to 48 hours if a young person was a recidivist offender to stop them committing further crime. That programme has dealt with 84 children so far and 67 of those have not reoffended. As the Minister of Police I believe it is crucial that we are tackling the problem of retail crime at both ends."
5. Question No. 5—ChildrenDr LIZ CRAIG (Labour) to the Minister for ChildrenQuestion No. 5—Children5. Dr LIZ CRAIG (Labour) to the Minister for Children: What recent progress has he seen from the Enabling Communities work in Oranga Tamariki?Hon KELVIN DAVIS (Minister for Children): Last week I was pleased to launch a new community- and iwi-led plan at Waipatu Marae in Hawke's Bay to transform the way tamariki and whānau in Te Matau-a-Māui are supported. Te Ara Mātua was formed in partnership between Ngāti Kahungunu Oranga Tamariki and local health and social wellbeing partners. The new plan will see iwi and local organisations more involved in decision making from the outset when whānau require intervention and support. It was so well received. Dr Liz Craig: What does this plan mean for tamariki and whānau in Hawke's Bay?Hon KELVIN DAVIS: The plan means tamariki and whānau in Hawke's Bay will be better supported by iwi and community. Oranga Tamariki and its predecessors have been reviewed numerous times including five times between 2019 and 2021 following the attempted removal of a newborn pēpi Māori in Hawke's Bay. Following this event I established the Ministerial Advisory Board and with their recommendations set a new direction for Oranga Tamariki. My direction was clear: communities and iwi should be supported to make decisions for their tamariki and Oranga Tamariki should give them the support and resources to do so. Oranga Tamariki is supporting Ngāti Kahungunu to lead their own response to inform how the State can change the way it works with communities to deliver the best outcomes for tamariki.Dr Liz Craig: Why are plans like this important?Hon KELVIN DAVIS: The Government is committed to seeing through the change needed in Oranga Tamariki. Iwi and communities are essential to this change and co-designed programmes will deliver the change. We have committed $37 million to enabling communities to prototype Māori and community-led models across the country. The launch of Te Ara Mātua is a product of this programme and marks a shift towards enabling and empowering communities.Dr Liz Craig: How does this approach benefit tamariki?Hon KELVIN DAVIS: The changes are making a difference. For example since 2018 uplifts are down 73 percent and there are 1600 fewer children in care. Oranga Tamariki has been focusing on working with communities and iwi to make sure children are at the centre of everything they do. Te Ara Mātua was born from the flax-roots and it centres the voices of whānau. The feedback I received from iwi leaders and local whānau was positive. They are now ready to get on with their mahi to get better outcomes for their whānau.
SpeechDr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei): Kia ora e te Māngai o te Whare. I stand to take a call on this bill the Counter-Terrorism Acts (Designations and Control Orders) Amendment Bill and I do so first to acknowledge the Minister Minister Allan who as my wonderful chair Ms Walters earlier mentioned has taken a really difficult area of law and she has shepherded this bill through and it is greatly to her credit as to the thoughtful and collegial way in which she did that. I want to thank Minister Prime for bringing the final ministerial statement on the matter through. Minister Prime in her previous incarnation as a mere MP was in fact a member of the Justice Committee and I believe sat on the early stages of this bill so it's nice to see her here tonight to bring it to a final conclusion.I also want to mention our Opposition members. Well no I want to then go back to our chair because actually I think you've seen tonight why it is such a joy and a privilege to work on this particular committee. To work with someone of such knowledge and thoughtfulness as Ms Walters is a real joy. To work also with members such as Mr Mitchell Mr Penk and Mr O'Connor has also been a real pleasure on this occasion. And I do just want to diverge slightly and say I recently was listening to my favourite podcast The Rest Is Politics a discussion between Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart which is the number one podcast in the UK I believe. It's about UK political life. And Rory Stewart was reflecting on his time as a senior ambassador in Afghanistan and he mentioned that it was a wonderful police officer by the name of Mark Mitchell who got him out of an extremely dangerous situation where they were surrounded and under serious fire. And he praised Mr Mitchell's calm and collected demeanour. It made me slightly nervous to realise that I was serving on a committee with someone with quite that familiarity with violence but on the other hand he does give excellent advice on dog control.But returning to this bill I do want to reiterate just how seriously it was taken because this bill is something that does seriously impair the liberty of those who are either designated or subject to control orders. We took the responsibility extremely seriously. My colleagues have amply and ably gone over the detail of this matter so I will not strain this House's attention span any longer other than simply to reiterate that this is a serious piece of legislation. It does serious things to the liberty of those who will be subject to it and who in fact in the one case are subject to it. I assure this House that we treated this matter with the seriousness it demands and I commend it to the House.
Halbert Shanan; O'Connor GregSHANAN HALBERT (Junior Whip—Labour): I understand that concludes our time that we have allocated this evening for the Housing annual review debate. I move That the committee report progress.Motion agreed to.Progress to be reported.House resumed.CHAIRPERSON (Greg O'Connor): Madam Speaker the committee has considered the Appropriation (2021/22 Confirmation and Validation) Bill and reports progress. I move That the report be adopted.Motion agreed to.Reported adopted.
Annual Review Debate — Housing
Halbert Shanan; Woods Megan; van Velden BrookeSHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote): Thank you Mr Chair. As I speak to the Aucklanders in the room I know that many of us were impacted by recent floods in January. I just wondered if the Minister could talk to how Kāinga Ora's large-scale projects fared in this year's flood events.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): What good news we have out of some of the large-scale projects (LSPs). The member will be particularly familiar with some of the works that were carried out in Northcote. In terms of some of the work that's been done is that new development where previously that was an area that without the flood mitigation work that we put in the town centre the local area the other properties in that neighbourhood probably would have the flooded in something like the Auckland Anniversary flood event.What we saw was actually the whole neighbourhood drained in 15 hours; we didn't see neighbouring properties flooded. That is because Kāinga Ora through its LSPs is putting the investment into those neighbourhoods. We saw that in Northcote we saw that in Roskill we saw that in Māngere. We can see that this is not just about building houses; this is about strengthening and building more resilient neighbourhoods and communities.BROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT): Thank you Mr Chair. I want to come back to the wasteful spending of this Government and the fact that so many Kiwis are asking where their money is going and what do they get for it. We've seen the number of staff at Kāinga Ora increase but that's not the only cost. Is it acceptable that the recruitment spend on advertising since 2019 when it was $100000 has gone up in three years to around $500000? What an increase. This Government finds ways to tax and spend and waste our money. That's an incredible recruitment spend. Is it worth it?
Jackson WillieHon WILLIE JACKSON (Associate Minister of Housing (Māori Housing)): A fantastic time for Māori. We've had more investment in Māori in the last couple of years than the Opposition put in—in terms of Māori—over their previous nine years. You know we understand in terms of the solutions that are needed. It's not just about a house; it's about the flow on and what's happening with the whānau. So we're able to apply our other kaupapa initiatives along with some of the housing projects like Whānau Ora.When you look at Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga we're talking about a $730 million investment. This Government was very innovative. It pulled together the two agencies our mainstream agency and Te Puni Kōkiri and we set ambitious goals: 1000 houses to undertake repairs and maintenance to 700 homes and to provide infrastructure support also for 2700 homes.On top of that we've put an investment into providers and I want to compliment our Minister for the way she has worked with iwi. She's been a real role model in terms of how Ministers can embrace iwi. We've seen some wonderful set-ups particularly our first prototype—which was in Taranaki with Jamie Tuuta in Ka Uruora—which received $55 million to provide for up to 172 homes and 203 infrastructure sites for whānau in Taranaki and across the motu.Then we went down the East Coast with Willie Te Aho and Toitū Tairāwhiti which received $55 million to deliver 150 new homes for whānau and 150 infrastructure sites across Te Tai Rāwhiti. I again compliment the Minister. You know Willie Te Aho is not the easiest person to deal with—can be a bit volatile my cousin but we love him and he gets things done. He gets things done and we mihi to him for that. He alongside the people of the coast are really turning things out—got a neat woman with him I think. That's probably his saving grace with Annette down there supporting him.Ngāti Kahungunu—they've received $45.3 million to deliver up to 131 homes. And we've got the chairman Bayden Barber down there. In the Tai Tokerau—and we mihi to Ben Dalton for his wonderful work in facilitating what we're doing up there—$55 million in terms of a prototype that will deliver 80 to 100 new builds. So you just have to compliment this Government for the way we've looked after Te Ao Māori.
SpeechTERISA NGOBI (Labour—Ōtaki): Thank you Mr Chair. Can I just say thank you to the Minister for reminding us about the massive house build and thank you for the thousand houses in Ōtaki. But I'd like to ask the Minister to talk about what's happening in terms of the support and what's been rolled out with iwi Māori to support by Māori for Māori approaches.
van Velden BrookeBROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT): Thank you Mr Chair. At the same time that we have a Government housing agency asking for $3 billion to compete with the private sector the Government housing agency has not been doing its actual job. I've been looking through the rent arrears at Kāinga Ora over the past three years. The amount of money owed in rent arrears has gone from $2 million to $17 million in uncollected rent. Now the Government thinks it's kind by not asking people to pay their rent. But that money has to come from somewhere and somebody else is forking out for that—and that's hard-working Kiwi taxpayers. How is it acceptable that this Government is spending so much money focusing on competing with private developers to build homes—bidding up the price of land and making things more unaffordable for Kiwi taxpayers—and at the same time it is not doing its job to collect rent that's actually owed under Kāinga Ora?
Potaka TamaTAMA POTAKA (National—Hamilton West): In the building of houses the acquisition of land and the implementation of civil works and infrastructure one of my observations over the last three or four years is that Kāinga Ora gets into competition with iwi with tribes with Māori organisations and with private developers to actually acquire land rather than help facilitate those entities to build and deliver housing for the community. I'm interested in the Minister responding to the following question: when will Kāinga Ora stop buying land driving up land values—particularly in the middle of towns like Kerikeri—and sometimes competing with iwi and others making it the biggest buyer in the country?
van Velden Brooke; Woods MeganBROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT): Thank you Mr Chair. You know when I go around New Zealand I'm talking to many many people who are asking Why is it that the Government is spending more and more of our money and yet we don't feel like we're actually getting any benefits from it?" We've got more and more money being spent taken from hard-working taxpayers and yet they don't feel like there is added benefit for where that money is going.I wanted to ask the Minister of Housing about Kāinga Ora's number of people that it employs. Since 2019 the number of staff at Kāinga Ora has increased to 3235 fulltime-equivalent staff now. That's an increase of 1400 people in a space of three years. Of that there's 400 managers and the managers are on an average of $175000 each. Yet we're not actually clear what benefit this is. There's been a 74 percent increase in the number of staff at Kāinga Ora and yet the number of homes that Kāinga Ora manages has only increased by 7 percent.How is it acceptable that there's so much blowout in bureaucracy and how much money we're spending on staff at Kāinga Ora when the number of homes is only going up by 7 percent and the number of staff is going up by 74 percent? Where is the added benefit for all of that money to New Zealand Kiwi taxpayers? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): Just a very quick answer to that. The added benefit to New Zealanders is the largest build of public housing since the 1970s—the biggest investment in public housing in a generation. This is not simply about an agency that manages a rental portfolio; this is an agency that is building the houses. It is an agency that is helping us solve a housing crisis. So the member is quite correct: it's not the sales unit that it was under the previous National-ACT Government; it's not an agency just set up to sell off an asset and asset-strip. It's an agency that's set up to build houses and to make sure that we've got a Government that is doing its bit to solve a housing crisis."
Woods MeganHon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): I'm happy to give a brief response to that. In terms of the work that the Government has been doing it's been actually addressing the issue of how we have truly competitive land markets and that's about having build-ready land at the fringes. It's not sufficient to just say that you've got land that can be zoned; if that land lacks in the infrastructure in order to build on it then it is not actually adding to a competitive land market on the urban fringe. That's exactly why the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund along with some of the shovel-ready projects that we've done have been around just that in terms of creating build-ready land.I think that's one of the problems that we've had in New Zealand: we've concentrated too much about measuring how much land is there that's zoned and actually if that land is not build-ready then it isn't doing anything to increase housing supply.
Bishop ChrisCHRIS BISHOP (National): Thank you very much Mr Chair. I'd like to question the Minister in the chair Megan Woods about urban land supply because ultimately what we're talking about here is making housing more affordable—and I just want to leave aside the Minister's highly political comments about social housing supply. Actually we need houses across the continuum. We need more rentals we need more social houses we need more community houses we need more market houses and actually I think we need to focus on that as the solution because that is the ultimate answer to everything when it comes to housing.I'd like to direct the Minister to a recent report of the Infrastructure Commission which finds that restrictions on urban land supply at the edges of our cities significantly raise the cost of housing. This is a very recent report from the Infrastructure Commission. They found that urban boundaries add over $600000 to the cost of sections at Auckland's fringes and around $250000 at the edge of Wellington. This is allied with work done by Treasury last year as part of the housing affordability work that they've been doing. I think it was October last year in which Treasury released a report that finds that actually the big driver of the house price growth in New Zealand over the last 20 to 30 years is very restrictive urban land supply—allied with other things but the big thing is land supply.To be fair to this Government Phil Twyford her predecessor in this portfolio kicked off a series of work around urban land supply urban development programme but I think it'd be fair to say—and this would be including the period of time we're talking about—that work has I think fizzled out a bit.I'm not trying to be too pejorative but we don't hear Ministers and the Government talking much about freeing up land. We've done some stuff on density—that's great and we've done a cross-party arrangement around that—but I would put it to the House that we need to go up in our cities but we also need to go out. Because once you go out you get competitive urban land markets and the price of land goes down and the price of housing is more affordable.So I wonder if the Minister could elucidate for the House what the Government's doing around creating competitive urban land markets and what the work programme is from here.
Jackson WillieHon WILLIE JACKSON (Associate Minister of Housing (Māori Housing)): I'm just responding to that member Tama Potaka. That member should know better because this is a unique situation in Ihumātao and I know most of the members over there wouldn't have a clue in terms of by Māori for Māori solutions. The member Tama Potaka should actually know a lot better having been involved with many of those people in Ihumātao. Just because Tama Potaka and his National Party want houses built straight away doesn't mean that it's going to happen. It's a five-year agreement—a five-year agreement. For the first year when you have different mana whenua groups working with the Kīngitanga it's not easy. You've got Makaurau Marae; we've got some of Minister Davidson's best friends down there all Greenpeace and protesters. Let's be clear about this. You know this Tama Potaka: none of them want to build a house. Let's be clear: none of them want to build a house. So you put them with Tainui and you put them with Tukoroirangi Morgan—someone who worked very closely with Tama Potaka—and Kīngitanga want to build houses. This is not an easy mix no matter whether it is us or the National Party. You're trying to bring them together.So that's why we came up with a brilliant solution—brilliant I might say—probably worked up by Minister Woods and our Minister of Finance. We'll give our people five years—five years—and they'll work it through; not on Tama Potaka's time line or the National Party's time line but on a Māori time line that Tama Potaka should respect more given that he came from that area.His shocking comments on Māori TV about mana whenua getting their act together—who does Tama Potaka think he is? All of a sudden he's telling mana whenua his uncles what the story should be. Shame on Tama Potaka I say. We've got a strategy. Ihumātao is on track. Twelve months—yes they haven't built any houses but they will over the next four years.
Simpson Scott; O'Connor GregHon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): The issues relating to bottom trawling are ever-present in any discussion and debate around oceans and marine space. There has been little activity from the current Government in terms of progressing issues relating to bottom trawling and the Minister gave a bit of an indication about some views in the Hauraki Gulf—CHAIRPERSON (Greg O'Connor): I'm sorry but members our time with the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries has ended. Thank you Minister.
Annual Review Debate — Oceans and Fisheries
Simpson Scott; Brooking RachelHon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): Thank you Mr Chair. The responsibility for bringing the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill back to this House rests with the Minister for the Environment but I'm keen to know wearing the hat that she does as oceans and fisheries Minister what advocacy she will bring to her Government to ensure that that legislation is passed before the end of this Government's term in office.Hon RACHEL BROOKING (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): I am happy to confirm to the member that I will work with the Minister for the Environment and the Minister of Conservation on progressing that longstanding issue but as the member knows it's a complicated issue.
Brooking RachelHon RACHEL BROOKING (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): Thank you Mr Chair. Going through some of those topics—thank you to the Hon Eugenie Sage for pointing out the ambitious goal of $3 billion in aquaculture by 2035. That's something that I support as well. I note the plea there for good spatial planning to both marry up the new aquaculture and particularly if it's—I'm assuming from the question—open ocean and to see if there's any protected space as consequence when you plan those things together. So I know Fisheries New Zealand is of course interested in the spatial planning as the member mentioned that has been done in the Hauraki Gulf and that's seen as best practice that should continue.In terms of the Mōtītī case law I have not heard anything to the contrary.The Hon Scott Simpson was asking about the capacity of the workforce and Fisheries New Zealand has been working with industry which is part also of the industry transformation plan. But there has been work as well with immigration officials and that will no doubt continue.The issue of the cameras and how much has been spent: the $68 million is a fixed price with Spark so I won't comment on exactly how much has been spent at the moment but it is a fixed-price contract. In terms of the dates Fisheries New Zealand and I do want that to be as soon as it can be done. But at the moment we have a technical issue that Spark is addressing as quickly as they can.
Cameron MarkMARK CAMERON (ACT): Thank you Mr Chair. Minister very quickly of the $68 million that was appropriated for the four years can you tell this committee tonight if you can how much of that money has so far been spent? And when will the cameras—the 300 that were due to be installed—be completed and installed?
Simpson ScottHon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): Thank you Mr Chair. Although the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries doesn't have responsibility for immigration matters I'm interested to hear her views around capacity issues within the commercial fishing sector particularly around the inability of quota holders to employ people from other countries to work fishing boats and that are not able to fulfil their quota allocations simply because they can't get staff. I'm interested to know whether the Minister will engage with the Minister of Immigration for alleviate that issue and if so when?
SpeechHon EUGENIE SAGE (Green): Thank you Mr Chair. On the topic of aquaculture in the Primary Production Committee's report it notes that the former Minister had a goal which was set in the aquaculture strategy for aquaculture to earn $3 billion for New Zealand by 2035. So there's a huge effort that the Government is putting into promoting aquaculture expanding aquaculture. The Minister is very familiar with spatial planning on land so what effort is being undertaken by Fisheries New Zealand to promote spatial planning for the marine space so that we don't just see aquaculture use and development of the coastal marine area proceeding apace without also ensuring that there is marine protection progressing at a similar rate given that we haven't seen one new marine protected area created in the last five years? The Government is pushing ahead with aquaculture and there's a lot being done to promote its expansion but we really do need to see the sort of spatial planning that happened in the Sea Change exercise about identifying areas for protection at the same time as areas are identified for aquaculture. Is she confident that the Mōtītī decision which enabled regional councils to identify areas which should be protected from the impacts of fishing is a sound one and should form a basis for the work of regional councils under the Resource Management Act reform?
Simpson Scott; Brooking RachelHon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): Thank you Mr Chair. Given the opportunities that exist in our marine space for further advancement of aquaculture but also the risks that come with that from arrival from foreign vessels and biosecurity issues and things of that nature: in the year under review officials told the select committee that no fishing vessels had been turned away and that there had been two cruise ships that had been directed to leave and another five were subject to restricted itineraries. That strikes me as not being a particularly large number. I'm interested to know what the Minister is doing in relation with the Ministry for Primary Industries officials about better monitoring biosecurity issues relating to our marine space particularly as it poses a threat to our burgeoning aquaculture sector. And then following on while the Minister is receiving advice I'm also keen to have the Minister's view in relation to the closure of the Coromandel scallop beds: what is her view on that how long does she anticipate that that will need to remain closed and is she anticipating any other shellfish closed areas particularly around the Coromandel but in other parts of the country as well? Thank you.Hon RACHEL BROOKING (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): Thank you. On the biosecurity issue I'll note that I'm not the Minister for Biosecurity but certainly there is work being done. And absolutely the biosecurity risk to aquaculture is huge and there's a lot of work going into that and also there's work into being able to turn around more of the boats. On the scallop beds I haven't been briefed at the moment on whether that's likely to change soon. So I don't have anything else to say on that.
Brooking RachelHon EUGENIE SAGE (Green): My apologies to the Minister. So there are proposals that came out of the Sea Change plan in revitalising the Gulf—which the Labour Government announced in 2021—for 19 marine protected areas. Is it likely that there will be special legislation introduced before the House rises at the end of August to help establish those marine protected areas? And what progress has been made in the year under review 2021-22 on establishing marine protected areas elsewhere in Aotearoa New Zealand? This graphic thanks to James Frankham of New Zealand Geographic shows Aotearoa New Zealand's dismal position in terms of marine protection. The areas of grey are countries' Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). The areas of blue are the areas that are protected. The United States on the right of the diagram has an EEZ larger than New Zealand's and 26 percent of its national waters are protected. The United Kingdom on the right: 39 percent of its EEZ is protected. Aotearoa New Zealand at the very bottom with a pin-hole size of blue: less than 1 percent—in fact 0.4 percent of our EEZ is protected. The Minister is very aware of proposals for the south-east Otago network of marine protected areas which the former Ministers of Conservation and Fisheries committed to progressing in May 2019. Those proposals started in 2014. Is the Minister confident that there will be any progress before the election? And what if anything has Fisheries New Zealand working with the Department of Conservation done or is going to do to reform the Marine Reserves Act which is long overdue for review?Hon RACHEL BROOKING (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): Thank you. As the member knows there has been a lot of work over the past five years that the member has been involved with as well and that work continues and I'm very interested in it and how it progresses and want it to progress as fast as it can. There are some complications to these areas which is why it hasn't been done but as I say I think there will be work in this space before the term is out.
Simpson Scott; Brooking RachelHon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): Following on that note the Hauraki Gulf is the nation's most intensely recreated piece of marine space and all the indicators—in terms of its health—are heading south; none of them are improving particularly. I'm interested to know what she intends to do as the new Minister to make up for the failing of her predecessors in terms of implementing the Sea Change plan that has been literally sitting gathering dust for the entire term of this Government's administration?Hon RACHEL BROOKING (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): I would like to assure the member that I am also very keen for the implementation of the Sea Change plan and the work on the Hauraki Gulf and I've been talking with officials—Hon Eugenie Sage: Madam Chair.Hon RACHEL BROOKING: —about that work and work has been progressing.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The Hon Eugenie Sage.
Brooking RachelHon EUGENIE SAGE (Green): Thank you Madam Chair and I congratulate the Minister on getting the portfolio which she'll do a very good job in I'm sure. Jono Ridler has just come ashore on Campbells Bay having swum for over 100 kilometres from Aotea Great Barrier because of his concern about the health of the Hauraki Gulf – Tīkapa Moana. It's an awe-inspiring swim huge endurance swimming continuously for 33 hours and he's done that because he knows like so many others that the health of the Hauraki Gulf is declining. Fisheries New Zealand has put out a Hauraki Gulf fisheries management plan so that has a number of actions that it goes through. There have been hundreds of people calling for an end to bottom trawling in the gulf. That fisheries plan talks about excluding bottom trawling and Danish seining except for defined areas or corridors. So my question is: what does the Minister say to Jono Ridler after this epic swim to celebrate the gulf and to call for action? Is she open to excluding bottom trawling and Danish seining from all the gulf because of the heavy impacts on the seabed in recognition of repeated state of the environment reports which have charted the decline of the gulf and doing something concrete to actually act towards restoring it? Hon RACHEL BROOKING (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): Thank you Madam Chair. I would also like to acknowledge Jono Ridler. Being able to swim 100 kilometres is a phenomenal feat and obviously he is very passionate about that beautiful part of our country. My understanding is that the fishery plan discusses these corridors and that the details around those corridors of where they might go and how wide they will be is being investigated by a technical advice group at the moment and so we're awaiting the advice from that group about the environmental impacts of any trawling and where it is—remembering of course that there is a large area in the gulf that is free from bottom trawling already. I'm very interested in obtaining all the details about where some bottom trawling might be needed and why it's needed but also the environmental effects that that bottom trawling would have. So I am waiting for that advice and it is a matter that I'm very interested in.
Brooking RachelHon RACHEL BROOKING (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): Thank you Madam Chair. I thought it would be useful for me to start with a brief introduction as a new Minister and very new to this portfolio. Chris Bishop: Congratulations! Hon RACHEL BROOKING: Thank you for the congratulations. Thank you to the deputy chair of the Primary Production Committee for that. I've been very fortunate that right as I've started as the Minister I was able to launch the draft Fisheries Industry Transformation Plan. That launch was last week and it had industry people there iwi environmental groups scientists and also some mental health people as well. So my approach to coming into this portfolio as a new person to oceans and fisheries is really to meet as many people as I can and ask questions and learn about this. So the industry transformation plan relates to the $1.45 billion of wild caught fish and that's obviously a very significant part of our economy. There are some key issues that I've observed as I've been the Minister and one of those is of course the importance of this new roll-out of cameras on boats. That's really because the better information we have about what is happening on the water then this means the more we can do in terms of sustainability for everyone. And that's $68 million over four years of Government spend rolling out cameras on up to 300 commercial fishing vessels and this is in addition to the GPS technology that we already have. There's been the proof of concept of these cameras on boats and the focus on the cameras that are already on boats has really been around protected species. Also in recent times we've had the legislation on discard rules and this links to those cameras on boats. This recent legislation it's been explained to me is to encourage the wrong fish not being caught in the first place. So that legislation means that all catch must be reported regardless of whether it's quota and almost all fish must be landed unless an exception has been issued. So the idea here is that improving the level of monitoring and verification of catch with on-board cameras reduces the ability of fishers to dispose of unwanted catch.Also of course we've had COVID and that had a significant impact on the industry. This is an industry of $2 billion in export revenue in 2022. And a thing I learnt when visiting some industry people recently was that 70 percent of fish sales goes to restaurants. People don't seem to like cooking fish at home. So obviously when you have the COVID lockdown and the restaurants are closed that was a challenging time and they were well supported by Government. Obviously there's a lot of other issues as well that we'll discuss during this debate and I'll sit down.
Andersen GinnySIMON O'CONNOR (National—Tāmaki): Thank you Madam Chair. Look to follow up the Minister in the chair Ginny Andersen—and I'm all for how we combat transnational crime but does she feel as a Minister that it's appropriate that the New Zealand Police are engaging now with a police force who were actively and deliberately involved alongside Chinese police forces who violently suppressed democracy crushed democracy in Hong Kong continue to deny the rights the basic rights which we take for granted? Does she feel it's appropriate that New Zealand Police had anything to do with the Hong Kong police forces as they are today with the behaviour which they demonstrated against loyal good citizens? She can sense I'm a little bit angry and I will acknowledge that here but I find it reprehensible that New Zealand Police would engage with the Hong Kong police forces after all that they've done to crush the democratic aspirations of the people of Hong Kong.Hon GINNY ANDERSEN (Minister of Police): I've addressed the question. I understand that New Zealand Police meets with a range of partners who are international partners with the primary purpose of reducing the harm and destruction that organised criminal networks have within our country whether that be through drug trafficking human trafficking or whether it be through undermining our international reputation. There are a number of significant risks that transnational organised crime presents to New Zealand and it is important that our police service can work alongside other international partners to not only share information but to cooperate to dismantle organised criminal networks that bring harm to our communities peddle drugs to our communities and profit from that harm. So the more that we can work with international partners to reduce the harms that organised criminal networks have in the world then that is I believe fulfilling the purpose of keeping New Zealanders safe.
Annual Review Debate — Police