Sharples Pita: Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
Sharples Pita: Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
[Volume:650;Page:19236] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 We are pleased that after many months of waiting we have had not just one but a whole series of amendments in two separate bills relating to the marine-farming rights and interests held by iwi in aquaculture. The Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 2) is an omnibus bill amending the Resource Management Act 1991 the Fisheries Act 1996 the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004 and the Aquaculture Reform (Repeals and Transitional Provisions) Act 2004. The bill is important in the way it seeks to make progress on resolving iwi aquaculture claims in a manner consistent with the 1992 fisheries settlement. 
The Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 2) amends legislation to facilitate the creation of the new aquaculture management areas that everyone has been talking about. If the House hears a sigh of relief it is from the aquaculture industry for whom finally the end is in sight. The goal of being a billion-dollar business by 2025 might actually come to fruition. 
The bill does a whole lot of things that we in the Maori Party are pleased to support. It responds to issues relating to invited private plan changes it will enable experimental aquaculture and it supports environmental monitoring and other technical amendments relating to the 2004 aquaculture reforms. We see these developments as very positive indications of a partnership with the aquaculture industry. 
Yesterday the Maori Party brought to the House the tremendous possibilities inherent in the project envisaged for the seafood and aquaculture sector in Te Tau Ihu. The project contemplated by Wakatu Incorporation is one of many projects that we know will drive innovation in aquaculture and create a reputable profile internationally and at home that places aquaculture firmly as a growth industry. 
We know that aquaculture has incredible potential for business growth and prosperity and we believe that the amendments in this bill may help stimulate the industry to achieve these outcomes. But there is much more at stake than simply clarifying the policy intent of the aquaculture reforms. The bill will correct problems with the current law and improve operation for businesses iwi and local government. In doing so we can be optimistic that the role of tangata whenua in aquaculture reforms may finally be treated with respect by the Crown. 
The Waitangi Tribunal of course had concluded that the original proposed aquaculture reforms would breach Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Its finding was that Maori have an interest in marine farming that should be encompassed within the rights of the coastal marine area. It concluded also that marine farming represents a taonga protected by Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Given such an important Treaty context it is of course disappointing that the bill lacks a Treaty clause but we are ever hopeful that that will occur during the select committee consideration of this bill. 
The Maori Party has been following the developments in aquaculture closely. Many different aspects to the framework for aquaculture activities should be considered. The one that is frequently mentioned is of course the oft-quoted statistic that New Zealand’s farmed fish and shellfish production is now worth $390 million a year. Tangata whenua have every right to benefit from that success just as much as any other New Zealander but there are other additional responsibilities and obligations that we as Maori consider to be an essential part of the discussion around aquaculture. There are significant cultural aspects for Maori in aquaculture development in the context of kaitiakitanga—that is our guardianship role in relation to the management over marine resources. 
We welcome the straightforward way in which this bill describes how aquaculture areas can be created. The bill specifies that aquaculture management areas can be created by developing a regional coastal plan that provides for aquaculture management areas under the Resource Management Act 1991 by the interim aquaculture management area process set out in the Aquaculture Reform (Repeals and Transitional Provisions) Act 2004 and by deeming marine farms approved under old legislation as aquaculture management areas under section 45 of the Aquaculture Reform (Repeals and Transitional Provisions) Act 2004. Well perhaps I will need to revise my original description of the process as being straightforward! But it is positive that these details around operative regional coastal plans coastal permits and other technical interpretations are at least set out in the legislation for all to see. 
Finally we make reference to the inclusion in the bill of environmental monitoring—using marine organisms to monitor the state of the marine environment. This section in the bill will be of particular relevance to the iwi of Tasman Bay namely Te Atiawa Ngati Rarua Ngati Koata Ngati Tama Ngati Rarua - Atiawa Iwi Trust and Wakatu Incorporation. The House will recall that these iwi were affected by the invasive South African brown mussel which was discovered following the de-fouling of the oil rig in Tasman Bay last December. We in the Maori Party raised that event in the House earlier this year and helped to raise the profile of the need to ensure a more rigorous scrutiny of biosecurity standards for the aquaculture industry. Although efforts to keep Aotearoa free of invasive horticultural and agricultural pests have been extremely tight it appears that quite a different benchmark has been allowed for the aquaculture industry. 
I want to commend the iwi of Te Tau Ihu particularly Ngati Koata which has applied pressure on the Government to initiate biosecurity standards that would apply to aquaculture. It is obviously good that the bill provides for environmental monitoring to take place not just in aquaculture management areas but also in the wider marine environment. 
We believe that this bill will assist in the advancement of the rangatiratanga as demonstrated by organisations such as Wakatu Incorporation and its Horoirangi initiative. We believe the amendments will enable research and innovation to take place in the industry. They will allow experimental aquaculture to take place outside aquaculture management areas and in doing so they will support the livelihood of many of our iwi and whanau involved in aquaculture. We support this bill. Thank you.