Smith Nick: Foreshore and Seabed Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Smith Nick: Foreshore and Seabed Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Volume:621;Page:17041] 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
: 
 The member Ron Mark had the cheek to ask the Committee what we were doing debating a 135-page Supplementary Order Paper introduced only this very day. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: It was yesterday. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: What is the date on the wall of the Chamber? On the same parliamentary day that a Supplementary Order Paper is being introduced that is 135 pages long the members from New Zealand First say that this legislation will not affect access and that public access is guaranteed. I want to go right back to the core of this issue because it started in my electorate of Nelson. It started with the erection of a sign on the foreshore that stated “No access” and that one needed to get the consent of the local iwi in order to be able to go into those areas. The effect of that gate is to control public access for boating along about a 60-kilometre area of coastline. Who has the key to that gate is critical to access. [ 
Interruption 
] A moment ago Ron Mark told me to make a contribution and to talk about the issues. When I then talk about the issues he tries to shout me down. I want to know whether this bill will guarantee my constituents access to that 60 kilometres of coastline. The answer is no it does anything but that.  
This bill sets up an idea that just came into the public arena in the last 24 hours which is the provision for foreshore and seabed reserve. 
John Tamihere 
: It’s not about the coastline. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: We should not believe anything that Mr Tamihere says. He is the member who told the public one thing and was sacked for doing the opposite of that. He was the Minister for Land Information who said that there were thousands of kilometres of privately owned foreshore and was then found to be fibbing. He was saying the exact opposite of what the department had said. That is an absolute fact. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. The member may say that another member is mistaken has misrepresented the facts or does not have the facts right but he cannot say that a member is fibbing or lying. Dr Smith needs to take a good long look at himself. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: The member has made his point. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Well I am worried about him. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: Yes I can see the concern there. “Fibbing” means the same as “lying” albeit at a lower level. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: I withdraw and apologise. It is a matter of public record that John Tamihere as Minister for Land Information said that there were thousands of kilometres of privately owned foreshore in the very week that his own department had written a report that stated there were only a few kilometres. It is little wonder that he was fired or had to resign as a Minister because he has difficulty with the truth.  
I also want to come back to the issue of public access. New Zealand First says that it is all guaranteed. It is not at all. In the new amendments this bill provides for wahi tapu to be created for wardens to be appointed and for those wardens to have the power to exclude people from those areas. Does that guarantee public access to the foreshore? Of course it does not. We know that in areas such as Tauranga where wahi tapu have been broadly described as areas of hundreds of hectares we will now be opening up the wahi tapu industry and extending it into the foreshore and seabed with new instruments to remove public access. So how can Winston Peters and his crew of fools from New Zealand First stand up in this Chamber and pretend that public access will be guaranteed? 
Ron Mark 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I have seen about three or four people stand up in this Chamber and describe how mortally wounded and offended they were by some of the statements that were made. I have also suffered endless interjections from Dr Nick Smith on points of order. Being called a fool has mortally wounded me; it has offended me most sincerely. I would like him to withdraw that. Otherwise I will just think he is a bigger idiot than we already know he is. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. My colleague Gerry Brownlee was thrown out of the House for raising spurious points of order. Can you explain to me the specific point of order Ron Mark has made that means he should not suffer the same fate as Gerry Brownlee? 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: He was trying to explain to me why he thought he was offended. I did not accept that. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: It is an absolute disgrace that a 135-page-long Supplementary Order Paper which is very complex and concerns very important legislation has been dropped on this Committee and that we are expected to ram this legislation straight through under urgency. It is a disgrace that New Zealand First is part of that con job. It is a disgrace that members of the Labour Party are prepared to do that in this Parliament. We see in this part of the bill and from New Zealand First—[ 
Interruption 
] Well it will be a damned good job.  
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: When will you retire? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: We will not have to retire Winston Peters because we know from the polls that the new National candidate Bob Clarkson will take him out in Tauranga.  
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: There should be fewer interjections please. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: The issue for Mr Peters is how he can possibly justify saying to the public of New Zealand that this bill guarantees public access when we know that there is nothing in it that will take away the sort of gates that I have seen erected to remove public access on the foreshore of my electorate. Furthermore the provisions for special foreshore reserves for wahi tapu and for people to be excluded from that area of foreshore mean that the guarantees of access are not worth a grain of salt. I challenge Winston Peters to resign when the first person is excluded from the beach and the foreshore in my electorate.