Heatley Phil: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Heatley Phil: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:606;Page:4072] 
10.  
PHIL HEATLEY (NZ National—Whangarei) 
 to the  
Minister of Fisheries 
: Can marine farmers throughout New Zealand whose permits expire in the near future and who are likely to be within an Aquaculture Management Area have confidence that they will be allowed to keep investing in their businesses with staff gainfully employed well into the future? 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Fisheries) 
: 
 Yes they can. Any marine-farming permits leases or licences that expire in the near future will be processed in accordance with the existing legislation—the Marine Farming Act for leases and licences and the Fisheries Act and Resource Management Act for marine-farming permits. If they continue to meet the legislative provisions leases and licences will be renewed for a further 14 years and marine farm permits for the duration of their resource consent which is generally about 15 years. 
Phil Heatley 
: Can the Minister confirm that all those marine farmers who have already set up shop will get the first right of refusal if the space they occupy is still going to be used for marine farming? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: For people with leases or licences the situation they face is that they will be rolled over into the new regime for the balance of their current term plus the 14 years that I mentioned in my primary statement— 
Phil Heatley 
: Point of order— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Let the Minister finish. He can come back to that. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: To get to the member’s question these lease and licence holders will then have a single preferential right to apply for a new coastal permit. So that is how they come into the new scheme. 
Phil Heatley 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I was very specific with my first question. People who have not been involved with this may not realise it but there is a clear difference—and the Minister will know this—between those who hold permits and the others whom the Minister addressed in his answer. I was specifically asking about permit holders whose permits will expire in the near future. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: That is a fair point. I ask the Minister to comment. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I apologise. I misheard the member. Farmers who are operating under the Resource Management Act and therefore have permits do not have an automatic right of renewal now and will not have an automatic right of renewal in the future. [ 
Interruption 
] They do not have an automatic right of renewal now and they will not have an automatic right of renewal in the future. I think that the issue the member may be grappling with is whether there will be tendering on an ongoing basis; if so I tell him that that is an open point right now. 
Phil Heatley 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I did not really want to raise points of order today but you have always ruled in my favour so I am raising another one. Again the Minister talked about rights of renewal but I specifically asked about the first right of refusal. A right of renewal is about a right in perpetuity. I am talking about whether in relation to marine-farming areas marine farmers will get the first right of refusal not a right of renewal. They are quite different and I did specifically say that. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The member will find that the two things are the same thing. 
Opposition Members 
: Oh! 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister has given a specific comment. He has addressed the question in that way and that is where the matter rests. 
Janet Mackey 
: Why is the Government introducing aquaculture reforms for marine farming? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The problems with the current law have cramped the growth of aquaculture for many years. By fixing the law this Government is improving the conditions for sustainable growth of the aquaculture industry. The establishment of the aquaculture marine areas and the introduction of a streamlined one-permit consent system will give all marine farmers a degree of certainty that they do not currently have. Communities on the other hand will also have a clear way to determine where aquaculture will not take place. 
Jim Peters 
: Given that the Government’s moratorium is due to end on 31 March 2004 is the Minister able to confirm that the moratorium will absolutely end on that date? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Yes. 
Gerrard Eckhoff 
: Does the Minister accept that secure property rights in aquaculture would ensure a result similar to that which agriculture provides—in other words plenty for all at an affordable price? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The member had better be clear that there will be no in-perpetuity rights under this Government. We are not about to privatise the coastal marine environment. 
Phil Heatley 
: Does the Minister think it is fair to kick out a marine farmer who has invested blood sweat and tears employs enthusiastic locals and pioneered the industry just to let a fly-by-nighter take his place and space because there is no right of first refusal—not right of renewal in perpetuity but right of first refusal? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The Resource Management Act behaves in respect of every issue on a “ first come first served” basis. It does so for existing permit holders and has done so for many years. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Does the Minister’s latest response mean that if a marine farmer’s farm is in an area that is then declared an aquaculture management area under the coastal plan and if the farmer is complying with all the rules that person will have first right to continue farming in that area over and above any new person who may wish to take over the space that that person has been occupying? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: If the person is a lease or licence holder yes. [ 
Interruption 
] How many times do I have to answer Mr Heatley? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister has addressed the question.