Hughes Gareth: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Hughes Gareth: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 27 June 2012. Volume:681;Page:3432. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
GARETH HUGHES (Green) 
: 
 Kia ora. Nga mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora. Just after that contribution from that member Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga I note that the Government talks of targets. It talks of targets with deadlines a couple of elections down the line. At least they are not as bad as the Government’s climate change targets which are not until 2050. But I am not here to talk about climate change. I am here to talk about the Government’s failure to protect our lands and our oceans. The Green Party this week revealed that the Government has been funding an aeromagnetic survey over Te Wai Pounamu’s south-west coast of New Zealand World Heritage - listed site. We are talking about Mount Cook Mount Aspiring and Fiordland. 
We heard from the Prime Minister yesterday. He made the pledge to New Zealand: “I can give you an assurance there will be no mining on World Heritage sites.” The Government says: “Well look we’re there just to take a bit of a look.” But saying he is there just for a look is like asking a kid to count some lollies and asking him not to eat them. It is like going to the doctor for a headache and getting a CAT scan. It is like breaking and entering and saying you were just going to have a look to see what was inside the house. We know the plan is to have a look then try to get access to those minerals. But Kiwis will not have a bar of it. Kiwis love their environment. They want to protect it. What the Government has to do now if it is going to make this pledge is put those World Heritage - listed areas into schedule 4. We did see the Government admirably back down from mining schedule 4 areas in the face of massive public support from Kiwis for protecting the environment they love. 
We should not stop there though. We should also add those World Heritage - listed recommended sites. Take the Kermadec Islands—an island chain just north of New Zealand. This is something that the Department of Conservation has made a priority candidate for World Heritage listing. I cannot believe this Government is not acting to protect the marine reserve. It would be the second-largest in the world. The Government could actually look like good guys on the environment just once in its term. The Government should also be including those World Heritage - listed recommended sites. 
But what the Government has instead is a permit for mining of the hydrothermal vents in this area by the Kermadecs which in fact is what is called a benthic protection area developed in 2008 by the then Labour Government. These benthic protection areas prohibit bottom trawling and dredging but under the benthic protection area regime set up by Labour it would be quite possible to literally strip mine these hydrothermal vents—you know the black smokers at the bottom of the ocean. They were discovered worldwide only in 1977 yet companies are trying to strip mine them to get the metals at the bottom of the ocean. It shows how weak our World Heritage - listed sites are if the Government is going to do aeromagnetic surveys. It shows how weak our benthic protection area sites are if you can mine the hydrothermal vents. 
But then take the Chathams—the Chatham Rise. Chatham Rock Phosphate has a permit given by this Government in 2010 to mine 80 percent of the benthic protection area. What it does is basically have a dredge suck up the seafloor take out the phosphate and shoot all the stuff back. This week the Green Party revealed that the Government has given this permit to this company to do this prospecting. A benthic protection area is meant to prohibit dredging. This company in its own literature describes it as dredging the seafloor. So I think it is illegal. I think it highlights the sham sanctuary nature of these benthic protection areas if the Government is going to allow it. 
But worse than that the Green Party this week has also revealed that this Government has given 10 permits for oil gas and mining off the coast of New Zealand in marine mammal sanctuaries. These sanctuaries were created to protect our endangered Maui’s dolphin Hector’s dolphin and the New Zealand sea lion. But this Government says it is OK to be mining for oil gas or minerals in 10 of these areas. It is simply outrageous. These marine mammal sanctuaries are simply a sham if we are going to allow these rigs and mines to go ahead. These animals like the Maui’s dolphin—there are only 55 left—are on the cusp of extinction yet the Government is sitting on its hands and not protecting them as it should be. 
This is part of our valuable “clean green” brand in New Zealand. If we are going to see species become extinct if we are not going to act on marine reserves if we are going to allow these sham marine mammal sanctuaries these sham benthic protection areas and these World Heritage sites where we will just have a look and then mine down the line it is going to be damaging to that “clean green” brand. That brand is estimated at over $20 billion for our gross domestic product. This is the way forward for our economy. This is how we leverage high-value products where New Zealanders actually earn more from our products in those high-value markets. We are on a race to nowhere if we are trying to compete with other producers simply on a commodities basis and simply to try to see who can trash their environment faster than other countries. We need real protection.