Hipango HareteHARETE HIPANGO (National): Kia ora Mr Speaker. Thank you. I stand to take a call in the first reading for the National Party on the Fisheries Amendment Bill. I don't come from a level of experience in terms of this highly specialised interest area but the experience that I do come from is in terms of relationships. In the Chamber this afternoon is the former chair of the Māori Affairs Committee. I acknowledge my colleague Rino Tirikatene in terms of the leadership that was there when Treaty settlement bills came before us on the Māori Affairs Committee and there were some significant components that were addressing these fisheries issues.The Fisheries Amendment Bill as has been well traversed in debates before the House and it's been an interesting debate because people stand and rise and speak from various perspectives and contexts. So the purpose of this bill is to amend the Fisheries Act 1996 with an aim to strengthen the effectiveness of New Zealand's fisheries management system. The context that I address the House in also is as spokesperson for Māori development. Māori development from my lens and perspective is very much about our people positioned in different places at different times. People place and the kaupapa—what the purpose of this bill is. In my Māori development spokesperson role part of that is about the Māori economy which is a significant contribution not just to Aotearoa New Zealand's economy—it's some $70 billion and exponentially growing—but the international economy and Māori have a vested interest in fisheries—a 50 percent vested interest—in terms of the New Zealand fishing quota. So that's the context that I address the House in relation to this bill the Fisheries Amendment Bill. I don't sit on the Primary Production Committee which this bill after the first reading will go to before the members of that committee for prudent and responsible scrutiny around the particular elements and aspects the detail and the content to the letter of the proposed law. The context that I talked about also significantly—the detail in terms of this bill has been spoken about but my mind turns to 18 years ago today and this is the correlation in terms of people and place over the expanse of time. On 5 May—today—18 years ago in 2004 there was a gathering of some 20000-plus people who arrived on the Parliament grounds in protest to the Foreshore and Seabed Act. That was the origin and the beginnings the seedling stage of the Māori Party when Dame Tariana Turia crossed the floor left the Labour Party came to the other side and formed the Māori Party. What does this have to do with this bill? Ultimately it came down to the interests that Māori have not only customary interests but the interests. In the Fisheries Amendment Bill at my cursory glance and my eye coming over this talks about the allocation of total allowable catch between Māori customary fishers recreational fishers and commercial fishers. So in the one minute and 20 seconds that I have left in terms of canvassing this bill that will be left to the scrutiny of the members of the select committee. But I pick up a note again from my Māori development lens in my spokesperson role that I have and it is that I invite the select committee in the same way that we did in the Māori Affairs Committee to be cognisant of the 50 percent quota management that's vested in the interests of Māori fisheries per se. The general policy statement in the explanatory note of this Fisheries Amendment Bill notes Recreational fishing is a popular activity for both New Zealanders and tourists—about 700000 people fish each year and spend almost $1 billion [on that aspect of the fishing]. Tangata whenua have a central role in the sustainable use of New Zealand's fisheries resources as … kaitiaki (guardians) and users of customary fisheries and as recreational and commercial fishers." On that note—and finishing—"Commercial fishing employs approximately 13300 people and contributes $4.2 billion" to the economy and on that note with the remaining three seconds the National Party commends this bill through to select committee with reservations. Kia ora."