Goff Phil: Subantarctic Islands Marine Reserves Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGoff Phil: Subantarctic Islands Marine Reserves Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 04 December 2012. Volume:686;Page:7119. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon PHIL GOFF (Labour—Mt Roskill): The Labour Party very strongly supports this legislation the Subantarctic Islands Marine Reserves Bill. In fact this legislation is the outcome of the marine protected area strategy that Labour introduced many years ago back in about 2006 or 2007. We introduced it because we understood the lessons of the northern hemisphere. The northern hemisphere ruthlessly exploited its fisheries. It has turned its seas into marine deserts. It has wiped out species.New Zealand wants to be a world leader in the area of protecting its marine and coastal areas. In fact the Labour Party policy is to achieve about 30 percent of the marine area being under some form of protection by 2020. I have to say that it is really good to be able to support something in the conservation area that the Government has introduced albeit on the back of the work that the former Labour Government did because this bill follows the shambles of the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area.New Zealand has a deep interest in the Antarctic and the subantarctic areas and we were seen as a world leader in terms of protection. We held out against the tourist and mineral developments in Antarctica and there were other countries that had a vested interest in doing it. We opposed those things from a high moral principle—that is that we have to protect our pristine Antarctic and subantarctic areas. And yet with the Ross Sea in order to protect something that at best was worth about $20 million in fisheries the National Government at the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources meeting went in there actually demonstrating that New Zealand was no different from any other country—that if our economic or commercial interests were at stake we would sacrifice our principles. We lost that moral leadership and it is a real regret that we did so because actually even in economic terms leaving aside the critical environmental and conservation issues having Christchurch as the gateway to Antarctica is worth several hundred million dollars a year to our economy.By taking a principle stand in that area we would have carried real weight in opposing the commercial exploitation of Antarctica in other ways. The United States offered a partnership for us. I think our Minister of Conservation probably supported that took it to Cabinet and was rolled. Consequently we did not go in with a joint position with the United States. In a panic we suddenly developed a joint position but by that stage it was too late and we lost the opportunity at that Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources meeting to do something significant in terms of the Ross Sea.Then of course we had the Government turning up at a conservation meeting in Korea that was the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There was a resolution there to protect theMāui’s and theHector’s dolphins the two most endangered dolphin species in the world. And what did New Zealand do under this National Government? We were one of only two countries that opposed that additional protection. That is a matter of absolute shame.It is good that we are seeing a result from the earlier period under a Labour Government in relation to this bill. This bill creates three new marine reserves in the territorial sea around three of New Zealand’s Subantarctic Islands groups. Those reserves are the MoutereMahue which isMāori for “abandoned island” but better known perhaps as the Antipodes Islands Marine Reserve; the MoutereHauriri which is an interesting term beingMāori for “angry wind” which is probably an appropriate description of the Bounty Islands and perhaps our opponents across the House; and the third marine protected area will be the Moutere Ihupuku which is literally “nose and belly”. I tried to find out what an explanation for that would be and the best Shane Jones could offer is that maybe it is about this Government being belly up.The other two things this bill does that are worthy of support are that it provides for a review of the Campbell Island Marine Reserve in 5 years’ time to consider protecting the remainder of the Campbell Island territorial sea by including all of it in the marine reserve. I hope indeed that that will happen in 5 years’ time. The other thing it does interestingly is deem certain commanding officers of the New Zealand Defence Force to be rangers under the Marine Reserves Act 1971 in respect of the marine reserve. That makes sense because the most frequent visitors to those island groups is of course the Royal New Zealand Navy and it has a very positive role that it can play.The New Zealand Subantarctic Islands and their territorial seas have been internationally recognised for their outstanding conservation values. Indeed back in 1998 we were proud that they were awarded World Heritage status. The marine reserves and the prohibitions on Danish seining combined with the existing Fisheries Act and regulations and prohibitions on bottom trawling and dredging will provide those marine protected areas over the wider area of the territorial sea of the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands with the protection they need.There will be some impact on commercial activities. It will change the areas where commercial fishing for ling takes place for example and it will limit mineral-related activities. Prospecting exploration and mining will be restricted to low-impact activities and it is appropriate that we put constraints on those forms of exploitation.On the other side of the ledger there will be real potential benefits for nature-based tourism in the area. The proposal represents the first comprehensive opportunity to address New Zealand’s World Heritage obligation in respect of the territorial seas around these island groups. Action was taken earlier in 2003 to fully protect as a marine reserve the territorial seas around the Auckland Islands. That was an initiative under the last Government and it was a good initiative. Why is this justified? Well apart from the obvious factor that they have World Heritage status each of these island groups is highly distinct biologically geologically and geographically. Each has threatened and/or endemic species living or breeding only on or around that particular island and the islands in the surrounding waters have been subject to minimal human impact and are therefore as ecosystems very close to being pristine. It is in our interests as a country and it is our obligation as a member of the world international community that we provide that protection.The land areas of the islands were of course protected way back in 1977 under the Reserves Act. The Auckland Islands and the sea around them were protected as a marine mammal sanctuary again back in 1978 and the territorial sea as I mentioned earlier was fully protected in 2003. A marine protected areas policy was jointly developed between the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Fisheries under the last Labour Government and was released in January 2006. It provides the framework for protecting marine diversity by establishing a network of marine protected areas. The Subantarctic Islands Marine Protection Planning Forum was set up again under Labour in 2008. That gathered the information it did the consultation it heard the submissions and it presented the Government with options. The bill today is a product of Government decisions made in December 2010.We do have an obligation to meet the responsibilities associated with the World Heritage status listing. That means we need to acknowledge that the natural sites are of a quality that is of global significance and we must undertake to protect and conserve them on behalf of the world community. Labour will be fully supporting this legislation.