Heatley Phil: Fiordland Marine Management Bill — Second Reading 
Heatley Phil: Fiordland Marine Management Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:625;Page:19854] 
PHIL HEATLEY (National—Whangarei) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of the National Party to support the Fiordland Marine Management Bill. We had a number of submissions to the Fisheries and Other Sea-related Legislation Committee on this bill. It was not a vast number because it is a bill that addresses issues in a particular part of our country although it is a part of our country that is significant to all of us—the Fiordland area. It is a beautiful area to visit. It is an area that all of us can rave about and promote as we travel around New Zealand and around the world. It is arguably one of the most scenic areas in New Zealand. Consequently those who live in Fiordland and in that area of the South Island are very proud very protective and very supportive of both conserving and utilising that environment for all those who care to visit and of course to fish there and of using its resources sustainably. 
There were some disappointments during the select committee process. When the Fiordland Marine Management Bill came into the House the Guardians of Fiordland’s Fisheries and Marine Environment—who have been working for well over a decade—had put together a package that suggested how best to manage this particular region. The Fiordland guardians were made up of people with a particular commitment to the environment to the fishing industry to recreational fishing to tourism and to the ecosystem generally. 
They got together as I say over a decade ago to put together a package to present to the Government of the day on how the area should be managed. I have to report that they were somewhat disappointed to find that the bill that reached the House for the first reading and was before us at the select committee stage did not precisely reflect what they felt were the needs of Fiordland. It did not reflect precisely what they had put forward as the best way to manage this beautiful area. 
One of the issues was of course management into the future and the team that would oversee that. They were concerned that in the future the guardians would not be drawn from a local pool with local thinking—by those who are on the ground and at the coalface who are out on the water in Fiordland on a daily or weekly basis. In fact the bureaucracy was going to stack the guardians quite heavily with the Wellington brigade rather than utilise those who actually live in the region. 
The group raised this concern with the select committee and the committee acknowledged that the appointment process for the guardians should better reflect not Wellington’s desires for this area but the Fiordland community’s desires for this area. We were glad to see some changes made to that aspect of the legislation. 
Another issue raised was that of access to the Fiordland area by not just water craft but also flight craft—that is helicopters and aeroplanes. There was a concern about aeroplanes landing on the water in a marine reserve. Members can appreciate that aeroplanes fly into the area not only on scenic air tours but also occasionally need to land on the water to drop off recreationalists—although that is rare—for all sorts of other reasons. There was some contention over the issue of aeroplanes landing in a marine reserve area. The argument was put to us that if commercial or recreational boats are allowed to cross over a marine reserve—and members will know that boats are not banned from marine reserves; they might be banned from fishing in marine reserves but they can motor over the water—surely aeroplanes should be able to land in those reserves as well. 
That argument seemed sensible to us. There is no reason why aeroplanes should not be able to land in those areas. What is more they should not be billed for doing so. If a craft makes some sort of commercial gain from dropping off divers who are pulling stocks out of the water—outside a marine reserve of course—perhaps a concession should be paid by the operator. But if a craft is simply landing spending half an hour on the water for some reason or another before taking off and not disturbing the marine life at all why should a concession be paid? The select committee basically smiled upon that argument and thought it was fair enough so we saw some changes to that aspect of the bill come about as well. 
Other issues were raised during the select committee stage. We decided not to take the time to travel down to Fiordland as a committee although some individual members did go down there and I am glad they did. We had select committee submissions in the South Island but we never did a site visit as a committee. The major reasons for that were the cost and the time it would have taken to do so and the fact that most submitters to the select committee—by far the majority—supported this bill in principle. The debate was around the details. We got a pretty good picture of what was happening down there because there was so much agreement on this legislation so we did not necessarily need to visit. But I do thank the chairman and Larry Baldock for taking the time to visit and reporting back to us. I acknowledge them for doing that. 
On the whole the National Party supports this legislation. We would like to acknowledge Bill English who in the initial stages of its coming to the House took the case to the National Party caucus. He did so because he had been involved with the guardians of Fiordland for some time as a local electorate MP—and as I say the guardians have been going for well over a decade—so he knew the ins and outs of this legislation knew the goals of the local people and wanted to see the National Party support them in their endeavour to conserve parts of Fiordland while also seeing large parts of it continue to be utilised. 
I thank him for reporting that to the caucus and for encouraging the caucus to support the legislation. We certainly agree with him. We are glad that the bill has been massaged by the select committee to make changes to better reflect the needs of the Fiordland guardians now and into the future and we wish them the very best with this bill. I commend the bill to the House on behalf of the National Party. I thank the Minister for bringing it forward but more particularly I thank Bill English for promoting this issue and for working hand in hand with the guardians through to today.