Shirley Ken: Foreshore and Seabed Bill — In Committee Procedure 
Shirley Ken: Foreshore and Seabed Bill — In Committee Procedure 
[Volume:621;Page:17129] 
Hon KEN SHIRLEY (ACT) 
: 
 We have just seen another expression of why the New Zealand First Party should be thoroughly ashamed of itself. This legislation is being passed through Parliament today only because of the support of that party. I think Michael Cullen is chuckling to himself because he knows he has duped New Zealand First. We heard yesterday in the debate on Part 5 that United Future had been duped. Larry Baldock made the point that he had had an undertaking from the Government that the review of the Resource Management Act would not intrude into Part 2 and he was somewhat aghast when he found that this measure is intruding into a review of Part 2. He felt duped and so he should. The funny thing is that Winston Peters and his merry band have not realised they have been duped. They are complicit in having this bad legislation rammed through Parliament and do not realise what they have agreed to. That has been obvious from all the contributions we have had from the members of that party. 
I acknowledge the efforts of “Captain Wayne Mapp” in the Fisheries and Other Sea-related Legislation Committee. Certainly with regard to the Bayswater Marina he put up a valiant argument on behalf of his constituents. But of course that is just one small example of where due process has been utterly denied by this arrogant legislation. The whole of the legislation is all about riding roughshod over due process. That is one of the worst aspects of it. Indeed it will be the basis of a new round of grievance that we will see within Maoridom triggered from this legislation. From the day it is passed and gets its royal assent be it today or tomorrow there will be a legitimate new grievance in this country because of this Government’s failure to follow due process. That is what we have seen in respect of the Bayswater Marina. With one stroke this bill effectively takes away rights that were won in court—strips them away from the party that was to benefit. 
But when we look at Part 6 we see that it is where all the regulations are. With all legislation we have to appreciate that the devil is in the detail. We are going to have all these new regimes. We will have public foreshore and seabed reserves and of course they will all come with their own little management plans. We will have Department of Conservation officers up and down the country preparing little management plans.  
Hon Richard Prebble 
: They will love it. 
Hon KEN SHIRLEY 
: They will. It will be like the Department of Conservation is on steroids. Its staff love these new activities where they can fiddle. It is just unbelievable. Of course the Minister of Conservation is becoming tsar-like in his powers in this country. It is quite extraordinary. He assumes the sorts of absolute powers of the tsar as he takes over more and more of this country. As well as being tsarist the department is also Stalinist with its heavy emphasis on rules regulations and control. It is extraordinarily bad legislation. 
I draw the Committee’s attention to clause 114 where we see some of the detail of the new regulations and rules—another layer that we can expect. What has not been mentioned in this debate to date is the impost that this legislation will be on local government. It is crumbling under the burden of all these additional tasks and the demands for endless consultation. It is under incredible strain. The Government blithely legislates but where is the rubber going to hit the road? It will be at the local government level. It has responsibility for administering the Resource Management Act. We have another layer of these sorts of nebulous spiritual references which local government—with hearings and consultations—will be drawn into and involved with. Communities up and down the country will realise very soon that this legislation is an absolute crock of the proverbial. 
Michael Cullen sits there and smiles and smirks. He is quite self-assured that he has duped United Future and New Zealand First. He will get this legislation through Parliament it seems but that does not make it good legislation.