Carter David: Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Extension) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Carter David: Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Extension) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:616;Page:11665] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 I rise during the title debate to support the two excellent amendments that have been moved by my colleague Phil Heatley. But I want the Committee to also note that whilst the new Minister David Benson-Pope has not answered one question throughout this debate— 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: He’s a quick learner! 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Well the Deputy Prime Minister has now arrived and says that David Benson-Pope is a quick learner. If he thinks it is the purpose of us standing here during the Committee stage to ask questions of a Minister unable to answer the questions and refusing to answer the questions then I suggest that the Deputy Prime Minister needs to look at the Standing Orders and figure out for himself the purpose of the Committee stage of the whole House. We have got used to the fact that more recently as we debate the Committee stage of bills Labour Ministers do not answer questions. That is far from satisfactory even though the Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen obviously thinks it is a very satisfactory state of affairs. 
The point I was going to make before he interrupted was that whilst we note that the new Minister of Fisheries has not taken a call the other thing that the Committee ought to note is that not one Maori Labour member of Parliament has taken a call. Not one Maori Labour member of Parliament has taken a call supporting this legislation which probably means that the suggestions we have been making are not tidy with this legislation because it is associated with the seabed and foreshore issue—and we all know that the Prime Minister herself does not have a policy because she keeps coming into the Chamber at question time and gives us a different answer every day to the questions— 
Phil Heatley 
: She’s got five policies! 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Phil Heatley tells me there are five policies. I want the Committee to note that not one Labour member of Parliament has bothered to take a call and express any support at all for the Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Extension) Amendment Bill. There has not been one call from any of them. It is all very well for people like Mr Tamihere to roar like a lion when he is outside Wellington but he should come into Parliament particularly under the nose of Helen Clark the Prime Minister and make in this Chamber the sorts of statements he makes outside Wellington. 
Jill Pettis 
: What’s this got to do with the title? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Phil Heatley has moved an excellent amendment that the words “seabed and foreshore” need to be included in the title. I know that we have to explain things two or three times to get through to Jill Pettis but we all know that the reason this moratorium extension legislation is being further extended is that Helen Clark and Dr Michael Cullen cannot get the seabed and foreshore policy tidy within the caucus. Jill Pettis knows that. She knows that the caucus they had today went on long after 1 o’clock because they were debating this difficult issue that the Government has struck. That is why the words “seabed and foreshore” certainly need to be included in the title. 
But the first amendment that Mr Heatley moved is also one worthy of consideration by the Committee today; the word “further” needs to be included in the title of the bill. The “Resource Management (Aquaculture Further Moratorium Extension) Amendment Bill” is a very sensible suggestion from Mr Heatley because anybody picking up this legislation will think this is a new measure that the Government has come up with because it has no answers for aquaculture. Mr Benson-Pope says that the Government has not got the answers so it imposes a moratorium. But the title ought to point out to people—and certainly the industry is well aware of it—that this is a further extension to an earlier moratorium we opposed 2 years ago. At that time the then now fired Minister of Fisheries Pete Hodgson guaranteed to the House that we would not be back debating this sort of legislation. He guaranteed he would have the answers. Now to be fair to Pete Hodgson that was prior to the seabed and foreshore issue rearing its head and Helen Clark having difficulty with the Maori caucus. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Just before I call the next member and this is no reflection on the members who have spoken there has been a change in the Standing Orders regarding the particular debate that we are on now. For clarification I shall let members know. The Standing Orders Committee considers that when debating the preliminary clauses at the end members should have some latitude to summarise and make concluding remarks about the issues they have raised during the Committee’s consideration of the bill. So it is not quite as tight as it used to be. It allows members a little bit of latitude but they need to stick to the Standing Order.