Delahunty Catherine: Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDelahunty Catherine: Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 04 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13298. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green): That is fine. We have had Eugenie; now it is CatherineDelahunty’s turn.Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker.Tēnā koutou e te Whare epōtiitēneipō. We are also happy to be supporting Jacqui Dean’s bill the Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill. We really believe that we need to deal with this issue by increasing penalties which this bill does. I understand the passion of a member like Jacqui Dean for a member’s bill. It is very hard to get one selected from the ballot and then when one does it is very hard to get it through the Parliament so this is very satisfying for her. I also have had a bill before the Local Government and Environment Committee or it was before it with less success. But I understand exactly the passion that people feel about bills that they have tried to shepherd through this process.This is an important bill because it sends a good message to the courts. I think we have heard a lot of detail. We do not need to hear any more about it actually. There has been a lot of repetition tonight about some of the clauses. I think it is all very interesting. Clearly the Local Government and Environment Committee has done a good job. The bill will be useful within its frame of reference and will send an important message.The whole issue of collecting illegally as well as the strange brutality that people sometimes demonstrate towards wildlife are very old problems. In the 18th century European collectors started coming over to Aotearoa and taking species alive or dead and taking them back to Europe for their own purposes for financial gain and often for museums. And so we have collectors such as AndreasReischek who in the 19th and early 20th century robbed graves took taonga katoa and took various species with him in the hope of making a name in Europe. In those days it was acceptable to a degree and the sad thing is that there is still a market for such a noxious trade. As others have said it is a big market and it is still a major problem.Our wildlife although we are at the end of the world is extraordinarily unique and we need to defend it and not just because of the description in the initial Department of Conservation report on this bill. Conservation is defined in one of the office’s reports as “a valued part of brand New Zealand”. That may be true but it is a very limited way of looking at the world. One of the reasons that we are defending the wildlife is not just that they are a brand but that they have intrinsic value in our community. They also have intrinsic value to kaitiaki katoa whose whakapapa goes back more than a thousand years and has relationships with many of these taonga. So I think it is really important that we get beyond the shallow and recognise how deep the relationship is in this country with some of these species—how unique how important and how vital it is that not only do we not let people smuggle them but also we defend their right to exist.The biggest threat to the species is not actually something this bill addresses because the biggest threat to the species is pest control and loss of habitat. That is why it is so important that we commit to a coherent—not just a random but a coherent—approach to conservation in this country and that we recognise the article 2 rights of tangata whenua in relation to taonga such as previously mentioned by my Labour colleague species such asMāui’s dolphin.If we look at these wildlife I think there are a lot of contradictions in discussing this tonight because as much as the bill does good work and we support it it is very interesting when we come to perhaps one of the most endangered species in thiscountry the Archey’s frog thepekahua which is in my electorate—my area where I live not my electorate but where I live. The Archey’s frog is the rarest frog on the planet yet this Government has given a permit and supported a permit for the mining industry to go into that area and mine inside the Archey’s frog’s habitat. On the one hand we are doing the right thing and on the other hand we are actually allowing the greater threat.If we are going to allow the greater threat we need to be honest about that and say: “Yes it is OK. We are going to stop smuggling we are going to stop acts of random cruelty but actually we are fine with destroying habitat.” I have a picture here tonight of a postcard that I have got of the great spotted kiwi an iconic species which is going to be damaged if we allow the mining of theDenniston Plateau. The green gecko a species that is intrinsic to theDenniston Plateau and other species such as the great spotted kiwi and the giant land snail are all vulnerable not only because of bad people and smugglers but also because we are actually committing other forms of vandalism towards the conservation estate.It is important that we acknowledge those contradictions and those threats to biodiversity and remember that we are all guardians and have a responsibility for protecting these species for future generations. That is not a rhetorical statement. That is about consistency and acting properly in terms of the environment because these species cannot flourish in isolation. They are not just iconic charismatic species; they are our environment. We need to protect them. We commend the bill but we would like to see a consistent approach to conservation from this Government before it is too late. Kia oratātou katoa.