Auchinvole Chris: West Coast Wind-blown Timber (Conservation Lands) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeAuchinvole Chris: West Coast Wind-blown Timber (Conservation Lands) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 26 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18985. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National):I could speak at length in response to—not to what was said by the previous speaker Damien O’Connor because very little was said but the way it was said; the injured child trying to cover up one’s nakedness with a fig leaf. As it is the fact has to be faced: Labour has done nothing over the wind-thrown trees. There have been no suggestions from that side of the House and no initiatives proposed. When a sound proposal from this side of the House—from an extraordinarily experienced and gifted Minister of Conservation working with team National from the Coast—comes forward suddenly there is a restrictive series of words hastily shoved together. We watched Damien O’Connor writing them scribbling away during the debates—but now he says it is a challenge. It is a challenge. It will guarantee Coast jobs.I will tell you what. When we were looking at doing the hospital to guarantee Coast jobs to guarantee some expenditure on the Coast to guarantee some development to give them a hospital it was: “Don’t do it. Have a survey. Ask people what they want. What sort of a hospital do they want? Where do they want it?”. He wanted it stopped—he wanted it stopped. This one he wants it stopped or if he does not want it stopped he wants it put in such a position that he is able to say he would not have done it that way or it should have been differently. I think to use a sporting phrase it is the story of a Monday quarterback. He comes along on Monday not having played the game on Saturday to say that if he had played it would have been so much better.Hon Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga: Monday morning quarterback.CHRIS AUCHINVOLE: Monday morning quarterback—that is the phrase. Thank you Sam. That is the phrase there.But for all that the Labour Party is obviously riven—riven—with dispute over whether its members should support this or whether they should not. Should they support the urgency or should they support the bill at all? We would really like you to. We heard Andrew Little—a man whom I have considerable respect for at select committee level—suddenly saying: “I actually support it. I think it’s quite a good idea.” Is he going to vote for it? Apparently not. Someone from over there has voted for it.Hon Christopher Finlayson: He’s been nobbled.CHRIS AUCHINVOLE: Nobbled—gagged I believe is the expression for Mr O’Connor.I think the bill will go fairly well. It is an embarrassment for Mr O’Connor but he is practised. He has done this before when Labour stopped all native logging completely. He has done this before this business of: “Oh gosh I didn’t really want to but I had to because the party made me but they will let me cross the floor.” So we will go through this fan dance again. It will not effectively make much difference but it will I think with the wonderful support of National-led Government and the direction that it is going in see the recovery of this timber.For all that they go on about party leaders and Dr Smith going down to the Coast I would encourage people to go down there. I know that Minister Goodhew has been down there. [Interruption] This will interest you. I forewent the opportunity to go duck shooting so that I could go with the Minister to look at the squashed forest. It is a horrendous sight to see the native forests laid so low—it is; it really is. We heard a very interesting perspective from the Māori Party which I personally found very interesting and quite moving. It is quite moving to see these trees. I have got a really interesting paper here from a scientist and we have heard much from Mr O’Connor about people sitting in Fendalton. He seems to forget that the Brownlee family were very very efficient loggers on the West Coast—very efficient. There was no clear felling—all beautifully selected timbers.We have heard how apparently we sit in city places not knowing what we are talking about. But I do have a paper here from a forester from a scientist who spent 40 years on the Coast and is very very familiar with the forests there. As he says the benefit of leaving timber there is all in the bark and in the sap and in the leaves. The trunks the butts of say a rimu will probably last 100 years. They will just slowly decay so they might as well come out and be used. They will not be contributing a great deal to the flora and fauna. It is beautiful wood. I have some experience of pulling logs working with the people who pulled logs out of Lake Brunner. They had been in there for 60 years and the timber was in perfect condition—perfect condition. I fully support this bill. Thank you.