Smith Nick: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Smith Nick: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:629;Page:1709] 
2.  
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
 to the  
Minister of Conservation 
: Why did he overrule the decision by Environment Waikato the agreement with the Department of Conservation and the decision of the Principal Environment Court Judge in respect of the Whangamata marina? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Conservation) 
: 
 Under section 119 of the Resource Management Act passed in 1991 I am required to be the final decision maker on significant coastal developments such as the Whangamata marina proposal. Having looked at all the issues and the Environment Court evidence I am not satisfied that turning an area of high ecological values into a car-park and dredging a channel through shellfish beds used by local people is appropriate. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Does the Minister stand by his statements last year to the local government conference: “We have created a legal environment in which local people make local decisions.” and “Labour believes in communities making their own decisions.” or was that just cynical pre-election rhetoric so he could carry on with his dictates over local communities councils and the courts? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: Yes I do stand by that statement in the same way that I am sure the member when he was the Minister of Conservation and the Rt Hon Simon Upton when he was the Minister for the Environment in their 3 years in office worked through this process and although they had the chance to change it did not do so. They supported it just as I do. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I seek leave of the House to table the Owen McShane 1998 national review of the Resource Management Act recommending the removal of the ministerial veto and also the amendments in 2001 and 2003 to do just that. 
Document not tabled. 
Steve Chadwick 
: What process did the Minister follow to reach his decision to decline the consents needed to build the Whangamata marina? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I considered only those matters that I am permitted to consider under the Resource Management Act. To aid my understanding I also visited the site and met in Whangamata with the Whangamata Marina Society Environment Waikato and the local iwi among others. I was required to disregard those meetings when making my final decision which was made only on those matters that the law enables me to consider. 
R Doug Woolerton 
: Does the Minister accept that he now has a responsibility to explain his decision to the country; if so when will he do that? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I have been doing a great many interviews on this decision since I made it a week ago. I would be happy to brief the member personally and if the opportunity comes to discuss it in the House I would be delighted to do so. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Has the Minister seen this statement made by the Hon Nick Smith: “The foreshore should not be privatised by stealth. It should be protected and managed for the benefit of all New Zealanders.”; and who does he think should be the guardian of New Zealand and iwi values under the law when they are threatened by a minority that wishes to establish ecologically damaging exclusive private ownership of the foreshore? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I remind members that questions are heard in silence. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. It would be interesting to hear what the Minister has to say perhaps but the question itself is clearly out of order. The Minister has no responsibility for National Party policy—thank God—or for the articulation of it and any opportunity to do so given to him in the House is completely inappropriate. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: The Minister was asked whether he was aware of a statement—and he certainly has ministerial responsibility for that—and who he considered should be responsible for the issues raised by the member Jeanette Fitzsimons. He certainly is responsible for those issues. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: It is certainly true that the Minister is not responsible for the National Party but the question is in order and the Minister will please address it. 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: Yes I have seen that statement and I agree with every word of it. 
Gordon Copeland 
: Does he intend in the light of the fact that the Rt Hon Winston Peters has been ordered to pay $40000 towards costs incurred by the new member for Tauranga Bob Clarkson to repay the Whangamata Marina Society the $1.3 million it has cost to successfully pursue its case through the Resource Management Act process and the Environment Court; if not why not? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: No. 
Gordon Copeland 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I deliberately framed that question so the Minister could actually tell us why his answer was no and I do not believe he addressed that part of the question. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The Minister addressed the question. He does not have to explain that but he did actually address the question. 
Sandra Goudie 
: What evidence does the Minister have to back up his claim on  
Breakfast 
 on TV and on radio that people in Whangamata oppose the marina when a survey of every household by the  
Waikato Times 
 showed residents supported the marina by over 3 to 1? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I will shortly seek leave to table all the emails I have received since making my decision 1 week ago. I have received 141 emails—127 in favour and just 14 opposed. In response to the member’s particular point I would like to quote very briefly from one written by a National Party member to his local member Mr John Key. It states: “Attached is an email to my MP”—that is John Key—“pointing out that the National Party needs to think a little more in this case. I do not believe that they have considered what can be lost in the name of progress in Whangamata. I have a holiday home there and I am totally opposed to the marina.” 
Sandra Goudie 
: Does the Minister recall the statement made by the Prime Minister in respect of prisoner compensation that Ministers had to respect decisions of the court; if so can he explain why under Labour criminals get the benefit of court independence and decisions but the law-abiding citizens of Whangamata do not? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I followed the legal process under the Resource Management Act—something that member should remember as someone who was recently involved in an illegal Resource Management Act activity in Coromandel. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Why did the Minister not use his powers under section 119 of the Act to refer the matter back to the Environment Court or alternatively to appeal the issues through to the High Court if he was genuinely concerned about the quality of the decision in the Environment Court—or are his reasons to overrule 27 days of hearings in the Environment Court so minimal as a few emails to his office? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I remind the member of my primary answer which was that I followed due process. I would like to conclude my answer with another email from Nelson which states: “Well done on your decision. Many New Zealanders share your view. It’s embarrassing to have my local MP Nick Smith just espousing National Party policy.” 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. The Minister has under the Act very specific appeal powers. My question to him asked why he did not use those; he did not address that question. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The Minister did address the question by explaining the process he in fact followed. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I seek leave of the House—given the Minister’s note that he made the decision on the basis of emails—to table an email sent 3 days prior to his decision by Bob Harvey ex-president of the Labour Party urging fellow surfers to email the Minister so he could make the very decision he did. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Sandra Goudie 
: I seek leave to table the poll survey in the  
Waikato Times 
 on 11 March which clearly showed the majority in favour of the Whangamata marina. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that newspaper article. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Sandra Goudie 
: I seek leave to table the  
Hauraki Herald  
of Friday 10 March 
where Thames-Coromandel District Mayor PhilippaBarriball stated that the decision was a stab in the back for the peninsula and if offered an opportunity— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that article. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Sandra Goudie 
: I seek leave to table the Mapp report of 10 March  
Whangamata Marina: Why the Minister is Wrong. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I seek leave to table a document from the Department of Conservation dated 5 February 1997 relating to the Whangamata application. It states in the second paragraph: “The Department is opposed to the applications. The proposed marina is in an area of salt marsh which will be destroyed.” Written above it in the writing I believe of the Minister of that time Nick Smith is “Says who?? I note objection is in name of MOC”. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I seek leave of the House to table the contractual agreement between the Department of Conservation and the Whangamata Marina Society that resolved the issues that they were concerned with. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I seek leave to table a further document from the Department of Conservation that finishes off by being signed by the then Minister the Hon Nick Smith who states: “Unhappy on Whangamata issue. Need department intervention again.” Again it indicates Nick Smith’s intervention in this process. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: How many days did the Minister spend considering evidence and submissions on this matter; if it was less than the 27 days of hearings in the Environment Court why is he so arrogant as to assume that that court got it wrong rather than him? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Is that a supplementary question? 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Yes. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Normally the documents are tabled at the end of the question. That is of some assistance. 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I spent a considerable amount of time considering the evidence on this case; in fact I approached the marina company to ask for an extension of time in order to consider it longer. I believe I followed the process correctly. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: As is consistent with the Standing Orders I seek leave for the Resource Management (Restricted Coastal Activities) Amendment Bill in my name which is lodged with the Clerk’s Office to be able to take priority in the ballot and so be introduced and considered on the next members’ day after tomorrow. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought for that action. Is there any objection? There is objection.