Watts SimonSIMON WATTS (National—North Shore): Well thank you very much Mr Speaker. It is an absolute pleasure to rise to talk about the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill. As the member of Parliament for North Shore in Auckland the Hauraki Gulf is the significant and beautiful asset which my community look out to every day—an asset that sits very much at the heart of the other outer islands including Waiheke and Great Barrier then moving out into the beautiful Coromandel.But many people in the North Shore and many others that live in Auckland enjoy the use of that gulf whether it's swimming or kayaking or in their waka or recreational fishing or just simply walking on the beaches of the North Shore—my favourite beach of course: Cheltenham Beach if anyone's been there.Chlöe Swarbrick: Let's ban bottom trawling eh?SIMON WATTS: I'm looking at the member of Auckland Central. I'm sure she's been around to that beautiful part of the world.The National Party strongly supports actions and efforts in order to safeguard the Hauraki Gulf. What is frustrating is that this Government has had six years in order to take action in order to make the improvements—with respect which have been published in reports many of which have been published many years ago—and only in the dying hours of this Parliament are we seeing legislation introduced in its final week in order to start making progress.Well I'm sorry. The derogation of the Hauraki Gulf is not new. The derogation of the Hauraki Gulf is well known and the lack of action by this Government I think is testament to the fact that that will be one of the factors when people go to the polls soon and consider We want a Government that will deliver true action and actions in this space."Chlöe Swarbrick: So let's ban bottom trawling! Come on Simon you can do it!SIMON WATTS: I think and I expect they will do that. I'm hearing the comments from the Green member who's actually in party with the Government on this policy. So it's not one to abdicate responsibility to say that there has been no action because that party also has a much stronger influence than this side of the House on the current Government around getting legislation through.But it is critically important that action is taken. This bill in regards to dealing with some of the underlying issues also misses a number of key and fundamental issues that are impacting the Hauraki Gulf. Sedimentation is one of the most significant factors that is impacting the Hauraki Gulf yet that is not mentioned in this legislation in any degree. How can you do a piece of legislation in regards to protecting and enhancing the Hauraki Gulf when sedimentation is not even in your legislation? How can you put in place legislation in regards to one of the most significant issues which is this Caulerpa seaweed virus found in 2021? We're nearly at the end of 2023.This Government has sat on one of the most significant biosecurity issues in this country one which has nearly decimated California and—in particular if you look at the European impact—decimated the aquacultural sector. Yet two-plus years on we are still floundering in regards to taking the tangible action at the pace of change and the scale of change required in order to deal with that biosecurity issue. I tell you what who is going to be responsible for having to tidy up that mess?Nicola Grigg: That'll be us.SIMON WATTS: That will be National because this Government has failed to take the action required on that. So you can talk a big game about protecting and safeguarding the gulf but on your watch—on your watch and those Ministers need to take accountability because it is on your watch—you have failed to take the action required. That problem based on advice from experts is already nearing a point at which the ability to get it under control is very much against our means. That is significant and should be a huge significant issue—particularly for those younger generations that need to be able to enjoy that asset. Recently—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Another issue is getting you back on the bill now Mr Watts. You've had a pretty good run.SIMON WATTS: Thank you very much Mr Speaker. The Hauraki Gulf marine protection bill is put in place in order to address the ongoing environmental decline in the gulf. Recently research has been commissioned and published by the NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) which indicates and calculates that the value and the annual flows of benefit from the gulf is in the region of $5 billion per year—$1.75 billion of that actually is included within the GDP of this country. So the significant value that the gulf provides indicates why the importance of legislation in order to protect the gulf is so critical. If you look at the total asset value of the gulf—and I know it's difficult to put in say "How much is the gulf worth?" but if you were to undertake that analysis—the NZIER report indicated that the asset value of the gulf exceeds $100 billion. And that is in a state in which it is already suffering from significant derogation around all aspects in terms of the environmental impacts.If we dealt with the environmental issues that are impacting that gulf the gulf could be worth $200 billion couldn't it? It should be; that should be our ambition. We should be undertaking efforts in order to protect the environmental results of that gulf in order to improve our economy. Because gee have we got an issue with our economy? No one talks about that too much but the economy is in a great state of chaos at the moment and this gulf situation reinforces that.We've talked a little bit about the release also by the Government in regards to bottom trawling. It's interesting that is something that's separate. I get that this isn't a new issue. It's not like all of a sudden we're woken up this morning and said "Oh maybe bottom trawling might be an issue in the gulf." No of course not. It is an issue that has been around for a good amount of time. Again six years by this Government—six years—and still a failure to deal with one of the underlying issues or at least provide certainty to the sector and work with the industry in order to put in place the actions required.I am pleased to see that some steps are being taken in that regard. But the pace of change has been snail pace right? I'm talking the pace of a tortoise—Tama Potaka: Sloth pace.SIMON WATTS: If lucky a sloth—remind me of that good movie with the sloths at the counter. Remember? It is a bit like that. It's about the pace and sadly though this is a significant asset. But at least it's on the radar. But again we need to move and move concisely and with the industry and with stakeholders in order to get certainty in that space.I remember a little while back—and it wasn't that long ago—Jono Ridler who was the swimmer that swam from Great Barrier to Campbell's Bay in my electorate nearly a 100-kilometre swim—Tama Potaka: Legend.SIMON WATTS: What an absolute legend as Tama Potaka referred to. I'd be struggling to swim 200 metres. I mean the guy being able to swim that amount of time through the night looking at weather conditions was significant. He did that because he wanted to reinforce the importance of why we need to protect the Hauraki Gulf. He wanted to increase awareness of that in conjunction with Live Ocean Foundation of the importance that we must take action. I think that should not be lost on us that there are many many individuals around this country—and particularly in Auckland and around the Coromandel—who live around the gulf for whom the gulf is their backyard it is their playground it is their blue economy that supports them that want and need and demand action.I actually think this House is behind where public sentiment is on this issue. I think the public sentiment in regards to protecting the gulf is actually well in front of where this House is at in terms of its understanding of the importance of taking action. I think it is incumbent upon this House and the next Government to take that and lead and move with the scale of pace and change required in order to put in place the actions that will protect it for future generations.That's pretty much where we—National—are and we'll be strongly supporting this bill through to the select committee stage. We are obviously keen to see some of the components that we have talked about potentially be brought within the scope of this legislation because it is important that we deal with all components that are impacting and holding us back from protecting the gulf. We will participate actively in regards to this conversation and we are pleased—on behalf of those communities that live around the gulf—that at long last we are starting to see some action. We hope that moves at pace following 14 October. We commend this bill to the House."