Hayes Joanne: Environmental Reporting Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHayes Joanne: Environmental Reporting Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 07 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3354. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JOANNE HAYES (National):Before I start my speech I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the sudden passing of Ērima Hēnare son of the late Tā Hēmi Hēnare father of our parliamentary colleague Peeni Henare and grandfather to his mokopuna. He was a tribal leader a statesman and a true rangatira taken all too soon in the prime of his life. My aroha goes to Peeni the Hēnare whānau whānui and the many iwi who will feel this loss. Kua hinga te tōtara o Te Wao-nui-a-Tāne takoto mai takoto mai takoto mai e te rangatira. [The podocarpus of the Great Forest of Tāne has fallen lie down lie down and lie there esteemed one.]I am pleased to stand to take a call in the second reading of the Environmental Reporting Bill in the name of Nick Smith Minister for the Environment. This is a highly important piece of legislation because for the first time the New Zealanders of this country will get an opportunity to read an environmental report that has all the information they require and that looks across the five domains at the same time that the Ministers will receive it from the independent reporters.I just want to talk a little bit about a couple of the domains because they are very dear to what I have been part of. One of the first domains is all about the water. I have heard a lot of people talking about water and farmers how farmers treat the water and all the rest of it. I come from a farming background and I can tell you that the regulations around the discharge and use of water on our property are horrendous. We have a highly regulated regime for looking after the water supply on our property. Actually since this Government has been in power there has been $103 million invested in cleaning up the waterways of this country. With the work that we have been doing I am proud to say that we have been part and parcel of helping to clean up those waterways on our property that drip down into Coal Creek which goes out to the Pohangina River and out to the sea.Todd Muller: Excellent well done.JOANNE HAYES: Thank you—thank you.Todd Muller: So are many other farmers.JOANNE HAYES: Thank you. I also want to put a plug in—even though we are sheep and beef farmers—for the dairy farmers because I do know that they have a strict regime for keeping the water clean in the use of their milking facilities and making sure that they are recycling some of their water so that they can put it out either for cleaning up the facilities in their dairy sheds or using it to help water their properties. These have been very big regimes of regulation that they have had to come to terms with abide by and comply with otherwise they would not be able to run their businesses.I want to talk a little bit about the total investment that this Government has put into cleaning up those iconic water bodies like the Rotorua lakes Lake Ellesmere and the Waituna Lagoon. That is $350 million. When we look over the history of the previous Labour Government there was no money that went into helping to clean up those waterways.Hon Member: Shame.JOANNE HAYES: It was very shameful. I remember when I was doing a degree at Massey University—I did a biology degree—we were sent down to—Paul Foster-Bell: Is that right? Very pertinent.JOANNE HAYES: Yes I am full of surprises. We were asked to go down to do some testing on a little kind of discharge area over at Aokautere. It was quite amazing how what we found in that particular area was quite high in a lot of unwanted discharge with bits and pieces in it. I can say that that has been controlled through the regulation that the Government has put in for managing our freshwater environment.May I say while I am talking about water that I am going to carry on with the marine environment as well. We have been very clear in making sure that through our exclusive economic zone policy we are looking after the environment—the substrate of our oceans and the marine life—to make sure that we can still have some economic advantage there without wrecking the environment that animals and plants live and subsist in.So that is my spiel around water because it is dear to my heart. We have got it flowing. It bubbles out of our ground. It is spring water and it bubbles out of our ground and we know that it is a very special thing that Papatūānuku gives to us and we have to look after it.Talking about Papatūānuku I want to talk a little bit about the clause—I cannot remember the name of the clause—inserted in the bill for the Treaty of Waitangi. We all know that Māori have had a vested interest in wai māori for mai rā nō—for ever. It has been what we have been interested in—the air but mainly the water.I am pleased to note that through the iwi leaders we have a group of iwi representatives who sit on the Te Wai Māori Trust chaired by Ken Mair from Wanganui. I know Ken and he is a no-nonsense kind of man. He does not take any rubbish and he makes sure that we stick to looking after the freshwater environment. Look at the Whanganui River for instance. Look at that big body of water and the signing of the Treaty settlement legislation around the—I see you are standing up Mr Assistant Speaker.Debate interrupted.