Shearer David: Subantarctic Islands Marine Reserves Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeShearer David: Subantarctic Islands Marine Reserves Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 28 January 2014. Volume:696;Page:15578. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DAVID SHEARER (Labour—Mt Albert): The Labour Party is proud to support this Subantarctic Islands Marine Reserves Bill. We want to support this because actually Labour started the process to bring about these marine reserves. It is not about “love-ins” or anything like that as Mr Heatley seems to suggest. We started this in 2006 and 2007. As he said the bill has sat there and languished for some time since he was Minister of Fisheries and now he is no longer fisheries Minister and it still goes on. Yet here we are at the second reading.It is however good that we are able to progress this bill this evening. It is something that I believe all New Zealanders will be very pleased to see. It will extend that protection out much further. Right now the terrestrial elements of those islands are under protection but not actually the sea around them. This will enable this pristine and very biologically diverse and biologically precious area to be protected properly and fully.The concept of marine reserves is something that the Labour Party is in general supporting. It is Labour Party policy to extend the protections of marine reserves to about 30 percent of the area under New Zealand’s jurisdiction by the year 2020. That is something that we want to move on. It is something that I would encourage the National Party to actually put in its manifesto as well because we have made a good start in being bipartisan on this particular issue and it would actually be rather good for it to be taken further along.These islands as I have said and as everybody knows and as has been said before have extraordinary biological significance. But as a result of that they also have some economic significance in the form of tourism. We are seeing more boats going down to these areas so that people are able to take a look for themselves and actually experience the diversity that is there too. So although there has been some talk about the economic cost there is also a huge economic benefit. That will also contribute to New Zealand’s standing internationally in terms of our ability to have islands of such significance available.As I said the Labour Party is very proud and pleased to be able to support this bill. It also adjusts or rebalances some of the policies by this Government which have come up before international fora anyway that have been less significant and certainly more embarrassing to our country. I am talking of the debacle over the Ross Sea and trying to get an agreement that was actually—we could have had an agreement with the United States over the Ross Sea but we lost that opportunity. We lost the opportunity to protect that area for the sake of around a $20 million fishing industry I think which would not have been closed out completely but certainly would have been affected. When we balance that up against the hundreds of millions of dollars that we get in benefit as a result of our reputation and also as a gateway to the Antarctic that the United States is using I think that was an enormous missed opportunity to actually put some sort of credentials down there as well.The other area of course that we have been less illustrious on is the protection of Māui’s dolphins and Hector’s dolphins. We were one of two countries that actually went against the international agreement to protect these very precious mammals—the most endangered species of dolphins in the world.On a personal note I remember some years ago being out surfing off the west coast off O’Neills Beach. I was paddling out there and some of the surfers around me called out “Shark! Shark!” and swung their boards round and took a wave in to get away from what they thought was a shark. I was a little more slow off the mark—unfortunately I am not as quick as some of those guys—but I had the opportunity of seeing two of these enchanting dolphins swim around me within 10 metres of me and disappear. So being slow off the mark in that particular case was to my advantage. I was actually able to see these dolphins in the wild up close. Those small round fins and the way that they were able to move through the water certainly made me feel not only very privileged to see them but also pretty determined to make sure that these dolphins actually survive. If we were ever to lose these dolphins as a result of the policies that we are about to implement and the fact that we are unable and unwilling to sign up to an international protection for these dolphins I think it would be an absolute travesty.I am very pleased to once again be here to provide support as a speaker from the Labour Party to ensure that these islands in the south of New Zealand do actually get protection. They were awarded World Heritage status in 1998. The marine reserves and the prohibitions on Danish purse seining combined with the existing Fisheries Act regulations and prohibitions on bottom trawling and dredging will provide those marine protected areas in the wider area of the territorial sea of New Zealand and the Subantarctic Islands with the sort of protection that they are going to need.There will be some impact on commercial fisheries. I note that some of the ling fisheries will be extended. From the regulatory impact statement that I have seen and read the way that these ling are taken has a very small bycatch. As a result of that the phasing out of that over the next 5 years will be welcomed but obviously it will be up for review at the end of that time. Of course this legislation will also be up for review within the course of 5 years. That is a good initiative. I think it needs to be done between 5 years and 7 years. That will ensure that our fisheries are well reviewed and ensure that the Subantarctic Islands Marine Reserves Bill—which I am sure will go through Parliament—is working in the way that we would like it to and ensure that the protections are being afforded as we would like them to be.It is certainly with pride that we are able to come together today with the Government and I believe all parties in the Parliament to protect an area that will serve New Zealand well in terms of its reputation. It will serve those marine ecosystems well in terms of their unique fauna and flora that are found in those Subantarctic Islands which have been compared to the Galapagos Islands for example and as I say have been awarded World Heritage status. That will also enable us to further develop the tourism potential in those places and ensure that there is some economic benefit that comes back to us that can be put back into ensuring that these islands are well and truly protected. So it is with those few words that I would like to conclude my comments today and to once again ensure that Labour will be supporting this bill in its entirety. Thank you very much.