Dyson RuthHon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills): It is really unusual for a member of the Government who is trying to filibuster on members' bills to not even be able to speak for 5 minutes. I want to first of all acknowledge the member of—Paul Foster-Bell: She's not trying to filibuster. Hon RUTH DYSON: Play the tapes—play the tapes. I want to commend the member Scott Simpson who has introduced this local bill and say that I was pleasantly surprised that he seemed to have resolved his differences with Sandra Goudie the former local member of Parliament and now the mayor. They are working hand in hand just like that—so close. It is a delight to see central government and local government politicians working so closely together. I also want to say that I am very suspicious that this local bill has been brought in tonight and I regret having to say that about the Hon Scott Simpson because I think that for a National Party member of Parliament he is a jolly fine person actually. He is passionate about the environment he works hard and I think his promotion to Cabinet was well-deserved but I think that this bill is in the House so that my bill which would otherwise have been read is further down the Order Paper. That is why it is a local bill and not as Ron Mark suggested a more comprehensive look at whether the Resource Management Act (RMA) is still the most appropriate tool at the moment for dealing with the issue of mangroves across the country. So that disappoints me. But I have to say that I was really pleased to learn that despite the National Party members saying foolishly incoherently—and Andrew Bayly demonstrated that again tonight—that they would be voting against my retirement village bill enabling residents to get a rates rebate which would have been read ahead of this bill I would have had a majority of Parliament voting for it. I am really pleased to acknowledge that the New Zealand First members the Green Party members the Māori Party members and Peter Dunne would have joined with Labour and would have had my retirement village rates rebate bill passed tonight had this Thames-Coromandel District Council and Hauraki District Council Mangrove Management Bill not suddenly appeared as a pressing local issue from the local member of Parliament working so closely with his local mayor. Labour is supporting this bill to select committee. It is a reasonable debate to have. We know that when the mayor was a member of Parliament she tried to deal with the issue of mangroves restricting the berthing of local yachts in a rather inappropriate way. She took to the mangroves with a chainsaw—that is my recollection—and then said that she hated them all and they should all go. This bill is certainly a more appropriate way of deliberating on the issue than her approach but I am concerned that this completely puts aside the processes of the Resource Management Act. The National Government has done that far too often over the last 9 years and I do not think we should continue to do it. It is really important that local people across the country have their say on this. This is not a Thames-Coromandel issue even though the instigation of this bill is from that area. We know in this Parliament that as soon as National sees a way of undermining the RMA—if it works here those members will say Ah! Great let's roll it out across the country." and I do not think that is appropriate. We also know that even though the member introducing the bill described mangroves as though they were sort of climbing in through the window and strangling the local residents and turning the TV on to another channel—Hon Scott Simpson: It was him—it was him. Hon RUTH DYSON: —oh it was just the member behind you—but actually mangroves play a really important role in our ecosystem. They provide habitats for fish they provide habitats for birds and they provide habitats for shellfish. The member himself talked about the birds in his area and I know that he is a committed conservationist and environmentalist which further added to my surprise that he introduced this legislation. It is getting near the conclusion of this Parliament's time so this bill will not be heard at a select committee prior to the election. I hope that the member reflects on the weakening of the RMA and on whether this is the best way to progress the concerns that local residents have about the intrusion of mangroves. I think it is better to do it in a more open way. I think it is important to balance what is clearly a commercial pressure against an environmental pressure and to make sure that in the end we do not do such damage to the environment on behalf of commercial boat owners or developers that we are never able to repair that again. So I am interested in seeing the debate at the select committee after the election."