Martin TraceyHon TRACEY MARTIN (NZ First): I rise on behalf of New Zealand First—and my colleague Jenny Marcroft—to take a call on the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill. New Zealand First will be supporting this bill at first reading but we cannot commit to supporting it further. We have some concerns—Hon Nathan Guy: Oh coalition's falling apart.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: —but let's start with—oh Mr Guy. What's really interesting what is incredibly interesting about a working coalition Government is that the National Party doesn't recognise it. The National Party doesn't actually recognise how a group of people can come together and discuss things in a grown-up and constructive way and actually make things better. But that would be because Mr Guy and the National Party have never had to discuss anything with the cling-ons that they have been in Government with before.If we come to the bill let's start with the bits that are good. Let's start with the bits that New Zealand First supports. So first of all we actually support—the Minister of Conservation quite clearly articulated about what has actually been a silly piece of legislation before where for example the Wai Care project that many of our schools run to make sure that our young people are able to participate in greater learning about what is their natural environment what is part of protecting the future of New Zealand by going down into the streams and waterways that feed into the major waterways around their schooling areas and taking out some of the living organisms in that stream for a short period of time—strangely enough they work with the Department of Conservation to do this. And the clarity what is in that waterway—they learn how that shows the clarity of that water how clean the streams are and they quite quickly put them back. The whole purpose is to teach the young people how to be part of what is the process of actually protecting our nation. New Zealand First celebrates the changing of that piece of legislation to make sure that the Wai Care project and similar projects in combination with our education system and the Department of Conservation can go forward without worrying about six-year-olds or 10-year-olds being arrested for taking bullies out of the stream. Around fish passageways those migrating fish that need to get to places and where man-made implements have been put in their way—again we celebrate the fact that there must be a much more concentrated effort to make sure that when we disturb the environment we do it in a way that takes into account how we can work better with it. I take on board the Northern Gateway which was the large motorway actually that ran to Ōrewa from Albany or wherever. But the culvert adaptation that was created during that project it was a brand new adaptation to create culverts with the possible ripples through it. There were plastic inserts inside the culverts so that as the water ran as the streams ran the ripples and pool effect of a normal stream was able to be duplicated so that it didn't interfere with what is the process for our native fish. There are ways for us to better work with our environment and make sure we don't just override what is our progress supposedly and then make sure that we take away things that are incredibly important to us.However the concerns we have are the concerns around for example those articulated by Mr Scott—Hon Nathan Guy: Simpson.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: —Simpson. Mr Simpson. Thank you Mr Guy. It's all right. We'll get there in the end.Hon Nathan Guy: Here to help.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: He's loud but not very effective. Ha ha! So we do have similar concerns to Mr Simpson's which is around the level of consultation that has taken place which is around actually making sure that while we're trying to protect one part of our environment we don't have unintended consequences that affect another. If we do talk about for example trout in this nation—and can I just mention though the comments by the Hon David Parker around koi carp. I absolutely agree that we have an issue in this nation with koi carp and we really do need a concerted effort in this nation to deal with that problem. That needs to be at an educational level about those that are actually releasing goldfish into the environment about those that have decided that it's a great species to have here without recognising that actually it's doing more to destroy our environment and costing us other species on the downstream of it. But I mean 110000 people buy trout fishing licences every year. We do need to make sure that when we make some rules over here we don't have unintended consequences over there. The Hon David Parker acknowledged that there must be a way—there surely is a way—through this through Fish & Game and through the Department of Conservation. And that is exactly I would say Mr Simpson the real value of the select committee. The select committee is where those groups can come and talk to the representatives of the Parliament without having to come and talk to representatives of parties individually and where representatives of the Parliament can come together and through their—I suppose what would you call it?—collective brainpower that might be at a select committee they can come forward with those recommendations that make sure that as a nation we move forward. And that's the value of the select committee.I know that it was a particular line that the Opposition wanted to run about a particularly effective and very hard-working Minister. I know that it's one of those things that they like to run when they see somebody doing their job as well as this Minister is doing—then the opportunity to just have a little chip is always there. But that is exactly what select committee is for. That is the power of select committee to send a piece of legislation that has been thought out as well as it can be and gets sent to select committee—Hon Scott Simpson: I think there'll be another redhead in the conservation department very soon.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: —so that the combined power of the Parliament. Yes Mr Simpson you can participate fully. The combined power of the Parliament can actually bring their weight to bear and improve in those places where Mr Simpson would like to improve.Before I sit down I would like to say one further thing. Ms Dowie in her contribution talked about I think it was her favourite fish which is the longfin eel. One of the things that is happening with regard to—it's interesting when we talk about whitebait—that glass eel. Juvenile eels are actually being depleted in the wild because they are being fished so that they can be grown in sort of a farmed environment and then sold on. And it was the previous National Government unfortunately that refused to provide any research dollars so that Mahurangi Technical Institute for example could break that 12-day barrier where young eels can actually feed off their own egg sac and then we wouldn't have to deplete from the wild stocks but we could actually have a highly profitable eel farming industry here in New Zealand without depleting our wild stock. So it is interesting that it's something that Ms Dowie loves but unfortunately none of them could fund.So with that I will give the floor over to other colleagues. But as I say New Zealand First hopes to work constructively as we always do with our Labour Party coalition partners with the supply and confidence Green partners because we know on this side of the House that when you talk with each other anything can be solved. Kia ora.