Smith Nick: Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Extension) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Smith Nick: Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Extension) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:616;Page:11660] 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
: 
 In debating Part 2 I want to bring to the attention of the House the way that this moratorium bill is having an incredibly negative impact on my community in Nelson. Yesterday I was with the next Prime Minister of New Zealand Don Brash. [ 
Interruption 
] The member opposite should listen and he might learn something. We met the Mayor of Tasman District and I want to recite for the benefit of the House just how bad things have become in the process of dealing with aquaculture. I would be happy to table a written note from the mayor of our district so that members opposite might learn that. 
They notified their plan for dealing with aquaculture way back in October 1998. Six appeals were lodged with the Environment Court and they were dealt with between July and November 2000. We had the first interim decision in April 2001. We had a second Environment Court hearing back in February 2002. We had a second decision in March 2003. We had High Court appeals in 2003 and now with this moratorium bill we are no further ahead. Do members know how much this is costing my community? The Tasman District Council says it is costing $45 million a year. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: How much? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: It is $45 million a year because of Labour Ministers procrastinating in making decisions in the area of aquaculture. That means $150000 every single day for just part of the community I represent. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: How many jobs? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: We are looking at about 450 jobs in the Nelson region. I have to tell the Minister that every single person in my area who works in the fishing industry right now is nervous of redundancies. All sorts of rumours are going around. [ 
Interruption 
] The sad part—and Mr Peck can laugh—is that if Ministers opposite had got off their butts and provided some opportunities for aquaculture those people would have job security. [ 
Interruption 
] That member there who is pecking up from Invercargill has no job security because of his Government’s failure in this particular area. I will bet him anything he likes that he will be on his ear at the next election because of the way the Government has let down the people of New Zealand in that regard. 
I can only agree with what the  
New Zealand Herald  
editorial said in its opening line: “This Government’s lack of business experience is nowhere more apparent than in its review of marine farming.” 
Mark Peck 
: That member wouldn’t know business. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: I have been a director of more businesses in the construction industry than that member would ever know. But that is not the issue. [ 
Interruption 
] It is interesting how those members do not want to take a call. They do not want to have a constructive debate; they just want to chip in everywhere because they can give no reason why my community is losing $45 million of wealth jobs and opportunity. The mayors of my districts of Nelson and Tasman are desperate for there to be a change of Government so that we can get better than the moratorium extension proposed in this bill. 
I will put exactly the words of Mayor John Hurley who said: “Don this type of thing must be stopped if New Zealand’s economy is to survive.” That is from a mayor of a district. Now mayors are pretty apolitical and do not get angry very often. But when we put up with the nonsense of this sort of bill we can only agree with the mayor—this sort of nonsense must be stopped. The only way it will be stopped will be a change of Government so that we do not see nonsense legislation of this sort. 
The last section I want to bring to the attention of the House is the last one of part 6 of the Resource Management Act—150F “No compensation”. I ask the Minister: given all the delays that his Government has put in place how about some compensation for districts like mine that have lost so much in job opportunities and wealth because he has been sitting on his hands as have his predecessors.