Carter John: Waste Minimisation Bill — In Committee 
Carter John: Waste Minimisation Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:649;Page:18054] 
JOHN CARTER (National—Northland) 
: 
 I want to follow the comments made by my colleague Nick Smith and I also add my congratulations to Nicky Wagner on the very good work she has done on this legislation. There is no question that the bill would be the poorer if it were not for Nicky’s involvement. I also say that the bill would be the poorer if it were not for the National Party’s input as well. 
I do concede that the select committee members worked well together. That is the first point I want to make. When we first started off—and I have said this before—people like me in black bush singlets from the back of Hokianga thought this was all a lot of nonsense. But as we became more focused we began to understand that an issue here not only needed to be addressed but deserved the attention of Parliament. So for example Nicky Wagner and I took a trip to Southern Australia to have a look at the system that people have in that part of this world. I must say I certainly came away with a much clearer idea of what needed to happen in this legislation. I know that Nicky also came away with a wider view I suspect than she had had when she went there. It certainly was a wonderful opportunity to learn. 
Points have been made already that this bill has been changed to ensure that the entrepreneurs we have—such as the gentlemen whom I know are listening and looking on—are the very people this bill will now allow the opportunity to move forward. That is a good thing. But I also add this point to the comments that have already been made: this legislation is about us as a Parliament recognising that this is not only about waste but also about a resource. That is an important point for us to keep re-emphasising. Waste is only waste if people do not understand that it can be recycled and reused so this Parliament has a huge leadership responsibility in that regard to make sure there is an understanding that this bill is about using the resources we have in our country rather than wasting them. Parliament needed to take a lead and we have made a step forward in that regard with this legislation. 
As my colleague Nick Smith has said the legislation is also to support those who are already involved in the industry. There are many people many small businesses and some bigger ones involved in the whole issue of recycling and waste minimisation and we did not want in any way to impinge on their ability to continue doing those things that they are doing so well for our nation. 
I guess the third thing that is important with this legislation and with the way it is drafted and crafted is that it allows us now to ensure that the public also understand that they have a wider responsibility. They must start learning that if we as a nation are to move forward we must use the resource and the opportunities that we have. Where hitherto we have looked to chuck opportunities in the bin so to speak we should now be making all those opportunities count. This part and this amendment we have before us are all about that. They are about ensuring that the nation the operators and all those people involved including local authorities take up the responsibility they have in regard to waste minimisation and ensure that they allow the whole system to work correctly. In that regard this bill gives this country that opportunity. 
The select committee is to be commended. The members of the select committee who worked with this bill have certainly changed it significantly. The member in charge of the bill would now concede that point just as the member who was previously in charge of it Nandor Tanczos certainly recognised it. I understand that the person who first introduced the bill from the Green Party would also concede that the bill is far better for the work that has been put into it by the parliamentarians and the officials involved.