Davidson ReubenREUBEN DAVIDSON (Labour—Christchurch East): Thank you Mr Speaker and tōfā for Samoan Language Week and I'll explain why it's tōfā shortly. But it is my absolute pleasure to take a call on the Waste Minimisation (Waste Disposal Levy) Amendment Bill. I said tōfā" partly because it's Samoan Language Week but also because tōfā means goodbye—goodbye to responsible environmental policy practice and funding and that's what the waste minimisation bill does. I would also like to say before I go further tālofa to those celebrating Samoan Independence Day at the beautiful Christchurch Town Hall this morning—a stunning building a jewel in the Crown for Christchurch. Now it's a long Thursday it's a very long Thursday and someone said to me this morning as I was getting my coffee "Gee you must be getting tired." I said "No. We're just getting started." We are just getting started and that is why it is such a pleasure to start this part of Thursday talking about the Waste Minimisation (Waste Disposal Levy) Amendment Bill.Now the three things that I think it's important we come back to about what this bill sets out to do are: activities that reduce environmental harm or increase environmental benefits waste-related emergency spending and—this is the really crucial one—funding the Ministry for the Environment to undertake its functions and duties and exercise its powers in relation to waste management and minimisation and hazardous substances. Well drafted ill intentioned. It's a money grab to make up for what we have seen and what we have seen is ruthless cuts to responsible environmental funding.I'd like to give you an example of a school in Christchurch that I went to that was built on the site of a former landfill. It was a contained landfill beside a river because back in the day we always thought it was great to put landfills beside rivers and beside the sea in low-lying coastal areas because nothing was ever going to change right? That site became one of the 10 most toxic sites in New Zealand and it was home to a school. It had very high levels of lead and arsenic and it took hundreds of thousands of dollars to remediate that site so that it became a safe site to have a school on.This is not an isolated issue to parts of Christchurch or parts of the South Island or parts of the North Island. This is a New Zealand - wide issue and if we broaden the scope of this bill we rob communities and schools of the ability to access the funding that they need to remediate their land. The hypothecation of the funds drawn by this bill the broadening of that literally robs communities and robs schools of creating safe environments to live work and play in and that is definitely not a good thing.Some people have suggested that the broadening of this scope actually turns it into a fast-track clean-up fund a resource that's available to tidy up some of the messes that might be created by things like new mines by irresponsible reckless environmental activity in places where we shouldn't be carrying out that kind of activity. I think there's a real risk that the huge cost that will be required to remediate damage done through that activity will take everything out of the waste minimisation fund and take away its intent take away its ability to do what it was set up to do.So I cannot commend this bill to the House I cannot commend a weakening of the funds available to remediate sites and I cannot commend what in real terms is a cut to responsible environmental practice."