Dyson Ruth: Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDyson Ruth: Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 04 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13282. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills): I am very pleased to speak in support of the second reading of the Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill. I want to begin by expressing my disappointment that Jacqui Dean is representing our Parliament overseas and was unable to deliver that speech herself as a result. I think the time and effort that she put into it to enable Nicky Wagner to present it on her behalf was well worth it but I want to put on the record that I think the work that Jacqui Dean has done in getting this bill to the select committee and the way she has listened to the contributions of other parties at the select committee and also to the submitters has been a credit to the parliamentary process and she should be acknowledged and thanked for that.I also want to acknowledge the Local Government and Environment Committee. This is not a big bill it is not a complex bill but it is a good bill and the committee did take it seriously and worked really constructively together. So I acknowledge Nicky Wagner as the chair of that committee and the other members on it. I also want to acknowledge my colleague the Hon Maryan Street who I hope will have an opportunity to speak later in this debate and who moved an important amendment one that made an already good bill even better. That was in regard to the extension of the penalty regime to the Marine Mammals Protection Act. That amendment was well worthwhile putting into the bill and I am pleased that it got the support of the committee and hopefully of the House. It may well be that this is a bill that gets the total endorsement of Parliament. Phil Heatley is very envious of that. I might recommend to the member should he want the entire Parliament to support a piece of legislation in his name either as a member’s bill or in the future should he return to a ministerial portfolio that he brings in something that is good that does some good. Actually that would be the starting point.Hon Phil Heatley: First time for everything.Hon RUTH DYSON: That is right. There is a first time for everything. And also if he could improve the standard of the morning teas that he contributes to the Local Government and Environment Committee I am sure that that would get the unanimous agreement of the House. Back to this bill—as I said it is not a big bill it is not a complex bill but it does increase the penalties for breaches of the Conservation Act and it also ensures that there is a more consistent approach in the application of penalties. For that reason alone I think it is good. It has been a while since this has been updated.The disappointment however that I feel in relation to the fact that we are talking about the Department of Conservation and the work that it is able to administer is that we are having this discussion with barely any recognition of the fact that the department has been put through such traumatic and stressful times over the last 5 years. Conservation has taken a sideways and then a backwards step under this Government and I think that is a real shame. As we have done with this bill we have shown that conservation could be a whole-of-Parliament issue that we all recognise as being our moral responsibility. But instead what we have seen is significant slashing of the budget of the Department of Conservation. We have seen as a result massive losses of staff. The staff who have been lost are often the people who do the front-line engagement with the communities in provincial areas. That is actually where understanding and support of conservation which we have seen as part of our DNA in New Zealand for so long have been nurtured. It has been started by the local Department of Conservation person who goes out into the schools out into the communities and out to the service organisations and gets the community involved in local projects—things that people feel great pride in when they have been involved in them. It strengthens the link of the community and therefore extends the ability of thedepartment to do its work. The more people who understand conservation work and values the easier it is for the department to do its work. Instead of having those people working in our communities doing a fantastic job—and I am sure many members in this Parliament have spent time with Department of Conservation workers on various projects—they are losing their jobs. There have been huge staff cuts which of course are not going to have any direct ramifications for this legislation until we get down to the actual enforcement officers. If they end up losing their jobs then the whole purpose of this bill will be for nought.I am disappointed that the Government has chosen to move the Department of Conservation sideways and then backwards in terms of its funding. We have had some significant pieces of work presented to Parliament—for example from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment who highlighted the lack of ability of the Department of Conservation to do quite basic work which is pest control. She talked about our forests being silent in the future if we do not up our game on pest control. That should be a massive wake-up call for all New Zealanders. Every one of us in this House I am sure knows and values the native birdlife in our forests. If we do not start responding better to the threat of possums stoats and rats we will end up with very little if any at all native birdlife. That would be a loss not just to our generation but to future generations. It would be a loss to our tourism attraction. People come here because of our nature and because of our environment. They come here to hear our birds and enjoy our forests. When the department that is charged with the responsibility of pest control is not able to do its job then you know that you are not funding that department adequately.The Department of Conservation in the most recent restructuring set up a business unit. I think it called it a partnership programme or some such public relations spin to what it really is. It is the begging bowl department. It is the group of people in the Department of Conservation who take around a begging bowl so that they can do their jobs. I am worried about this not only in terms of how we fund core services that we want performed by departments but also because I know what would happen to those programmes should any of the sponsors or the donors pull out. We had that not long ago with the New Zealand Aluminium Smelters which said that it did not know whether it would continue to fund support for thekākāpō. There is no other money available for thatkākāpō work. In the same way as the energy company that I remember the former Minister of Conservation talking about supporting the blue duck we have got another company funding support fortakahē. These programmes are totally dependent on those companies continuing their sponsorship. So it is a begging bowl approach. It is not a Government department that is strong proud and able to perform its core functions within its own budget.There are very few of our threatened species that the department is now able to actively manage. Only 250 out of 2700—so fewer than 10 percent—of our threatened species are able to be under active management by the Department of Conservation. This will be a generation that will see the demise of threatened species because of underfunding. That is something that this Parliament should take more seriously than it does. There is money to be found for lots of things. There is always more call on it but actually the protection of our environment our public estate is something that should not take a back seat.I am pleased to see the progress of this legislation. I just want to repeat and acknowledge the work that the Local Government and Environment Committee did with it. I think the amendments that it has made are sensible. I hope that every party in Parliament is able to support the legislation. I hope that it gives the Department of Conservation staff particularly those who have over the last few weeks and months losttheir jobs some flicker of hope for the future that the conservation values that have for so long been supported by this Parliament regardless of who is leading the Government are again restored. We have seen the advocacy role we have seen the decision-making role of the Minister and we have seen the core competency of the department all whittled away. It is really time for a rethink of that because it will do damage that will not just cost us in the short term but also do long-term damage as a nation.This bill the Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill is a good bill. I again commend Jacqui Dean for her work on it and look forward to its further progress.