Williams Andrew: Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill — Third ReadingText is subject to correctionWilliams Andrew: Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 23 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:14216. Text is subject to correction.]ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First): Thank you very much Mr Assistant Speaker. I am glad that you recognise me. Even though this week I have not had a haircut you still recognise me. That is very good.I take a call on behalf of New Zealand First in the third reading debate on the Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill. We also commend the member Jacqui Dean for bringing this bill to the House. This bill certainly has a great deal of merit in that it addresses many concerns that most New Zealanders have—certainly those who are conscious of the effects on our flora and fauna and in terms of our wildlife the risks that it suffers.A few weeks ago I attended a conference in Auckland. It was very interesting. It was not to do with wild animals; it was to do with companion animals. At that conference involving the SPCA it was made very clear to all in attendance that we are the guardians of animals. Animals cannot speak for themselves. They are unable to stand up for themselves and humans are their guardians. It is interesting that in terms of ownership of animals they no longer talk about owners of cats or dogs or owners of horses and other animals; they talk about guardians of animals.In that respect in terms of this bill we are also guardians of the well-being of wildlife. Therefore it is very worthy that this bill addresses many of the issues wherewe have had the likes of geckos spirited out of the country by foreigners for illicit gain and where we have also had other species of endangered animals and birds taken out of the country. This bill addresses that by greatly increasing the penalties for those who would perpetuate those crimes. It also deals with crimes relating to fauna and what would happen in terms of the natural environment.Although it is very worthy that National Party member Jacqui Dean has brought this bill to the House—and we congratulate her on doing that and on standing up for her principles and for wildlife—New Zealand First does have concerns in terms of the wider picture. We have already heard in the House today and through the previous readings of this bill that there are concerns out there about the significant cutbacks by this Government in terms of the Department of Conservation and the flow-on effects of that in so many areas. So it is a situation where there is giving on one hand but taking on the other. This is very much a bill that is giving on one hand and helping that situation but on the other hand we are seeing cutbacks.My colleague Tracey Martin brought to my attention the other day at caucus the situation of the great spotted kiwi the largest kiwi in the country—it was highlighted on a television programme the other day—and the effects the situation is having on it. Great spotted kiwi are found in north-west Nelson and in the northern part of the West Coast. They are an endangered species; in fact they are listed as being vulnerable.The New Zealand Community Trust it was shown is struggling with funding to continue providing its hatching arrangements and its incubation arrangements to ensure that the eggs and the young chicks survive the important first year or so through to when they can be released into the wild so that they are not eaten by predators in the wild and also do not suffer as a result of the habitat destruction in parts of that area. So it is very concerning to hear from the likes of the New Zealand Community Trust that it does wonder how when its funding is getting increasingly smaller it will survive after the next 2 or 3 months and how it will continue to do work on behalf of the great spotted kiwi.The trust says that funding from the Department of Conservation is regrettably reducing because of the pressures on the department with its reduced budget. It is not necessarily the department’s fault. It is being given strictly controlled budgets and reduced overall budgets across the whole of New Zealand and its front-line staff and the people actually out in the wild are very much under pressure to provide the services they do with the funding they are provided with.This particular instance where great spotted kiwi numbers have declined by 43 percent in the last 45 years is quite alarming. I think that every New Zealander would be shocked if they knew that there was not sufficient funding to support the likes of the ongoing work of the New Zealand Community Trust. They would be shocked if they knew there was no assured funding to support that trust so that the very largest kiwi in New Zealand with the largest eggs is assured of a healthy and long existence in New Zealand.However having said that we acknowledge that other parts of this bill do address the important area of smuggling. Interpol has estimated that the smuggling of endangered species is in the order of—it is quite a large figure—anywhere between $10 billion and $20 billion a year worldwide. New Zealand has a unique situation. Because we are such an isolated country—we were cut off from Gondwanaland the rest of the land mass many millions of years ago—we have species here that are unique to New Zealand but are prized and sought after in other parts of the world. Therefore in that respect we are the guardians as I said at the beginning of my speech of those species. We New Zealanders must ensure that those species are well protected. We are veryproud to live in a country where we are so fortunate to have such a wonderful array of flora and fauna which the rest of the world envies.So this bill does go a long way to address that issue. It will ensure that the right message is sent out worldwide—that New Zealand will come down heavily on people who break our regulations and that any corporations people individuals or anybody else participating in any activities of that nature will be heavily fined. Also it is good that this bill is addressing the marine mammal situation. Again we have seen some terrible situations with the clubbing of seal pups and other terrible acts such as that. Again this addresses that situation and it is long overdue because those atrocious sorts of situations cannot be allowed to continue.So we do commend Jacqui Dean for bringing this bill through. This is a good member’s bill that is worthy of being supported by all members in this House. New Zealand First is very pleased to support it. We see this as a valuable addition to the conservation estate and we commend it to the House.