Smith Nick: Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Extension) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Smith Nick: Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium Extension) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
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Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
: 
 After listening to that contribution from the Labour member I have to say that watching mussels grow would be more interesting. I want to contribute to this bill and to challenge the Minister in charge by saying what an embarrassment it is. The first bill we have debated with the new Minister Mr Benson-Pope is a bill to stop the growth of the fishing industry. 
Hon David Benson-Pope 
: No. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: It is a moratorium and moratoriums stop things. 
Hon David Benson-Pope 
: The member has forgotten his pills again and he knows what happens then. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: That just shows us the depth of that Minister—the moment we challenge him on an issue of policy he gets all personal and nasty. That is his style. He cannot win the debate so he gets personal and nasty. 
I ask the Minister of Fisheries what good will come from stopping growth of the aquaculture industry? Here we have one of the most exciting industries with so much potential for our country yet all this Government can do is put the brakes on it while it does its hui talking and the confusing policy work that is taking us nowhere. I remind the House that when the moratorium was introduced in 2001 we were promised that there would be no extension and that the Government would have the work done. We now know that it will not be until 2005 at the very earliest that this industry will have the opportunity to grow and develop. 
I remind members opposite that we are talking about an industry that contributes $320 million a year to the New Zealand economy. The industry says it is under siege. In every area this Government has this industry under siege. We have this moratorium bill. We have the confusion over the issue of the ownership of foreshore and seabed and the extraordinary comments from Margaret Wilson that iwi have customary title to all of New Zealand’s coastline. That will further put the jitters down the spines of those in the aquaculture industry. The industry also faces the Government’s new employment relations changes which will increase its costs and it faces all the pressures of a high dollar. 
As the MP for Nelson and Tasman I have been closely associated with the aquaculture industry for 14 years and I know of no time when it has been in such bad shape. It is under siege because of a Government that does not know and does not understand those who are in the engine room of the New Zealand economy. 
The House will note that this is a resource management amendment bill. The Resource Management Act is in one diabolical mess as a consequence of this Government. If we reflect back to 1999 a very sensible bill was on the table and ready for consideration by the Government. The Labour Government pulled the plug on that bill and we have had nothing but piecemeal inadequate amendments since—of which this is another. What those in the key primary industries seek from a Government is what Muriel Newman properly referred to as “certainty”. People need to know what the rules are and chip-chopping around all the time on the rules with this sort of bill takes us absolutely nowhere. 
We must also mention the huge confusion and uncertainty around the foreshore and seabed. I have noted not less than five different Government positions since the announcement was made in July last year. First of all we were told that the Government would legislate and provide for Crown ownership. The next minute we had a further announcement that said that the Government would provide for a system of customary title. We then had a third announcement prior to Christmas and then the Government got a hammering in the polls and did a U-turn. Yesterday we had that announcement from Margaret Wilson saying that there would be customary title to all areas of the foreshore and seabed. 
Members on this side of the House ask: just where does Labour stand? How many more positions can we expect from the Government on the issue of foreshore and seabed ownership? How many more times will those in the aquaculture industry have to put up with the confusion and the muddle of the Government on that key area? 
I want to make a further point in respect of the role of the Minister of Conservation in this bill. It is the view of members on this side of the House that it high time we took the Minister out of resource management decision-making. There is no need for it. Quite frankly given some of the bizarre decisions of the current Minister of Conservation the vast majority of New Zealanders would have far more confidence in the decisions of regional councils. 
I want to repeat the commitment that has often been made by National—it is time to get politicians out of resource management decision-making whether it is in terms of the Minister of Conservation’s interference or the sort of legislation we see for Project Aqua. It is not good policy to have politicians meddling in individual consents. We want to see the base law changed with regard to that so that there is a greater degree of certainty and a lower lever of political interference in the overall resource management process. 
The last point I wish to make in respect of this bill is the potential for job growth and wealth growth. New Zealand is so fortunate—not only does it have a stunningly beautiful coastline it also has very high nutrient levels and huge potential for the growth of this industry. Right now in my port of Nelson there are five large fishing boats tied up and unused because of the crisis in that industry. The potential for the fishing industry is not in catching more wet fish but in aquaculture. This Government’s policy of putting a freeze on new aquaculture farms for 2001 2002 2003 and now 2004 is holding our country back and it is certainly holding back my own electorate of Nelson. 
I challenge members opposite to stand by their word. They said there would be no extension of this moratorium but that is what this legislation does. I say to members opposite that they have Jim Anderton running around the country giving money to multimillionaires so that they can go on fishing trips wherever rather than supporting New Zealand industry by removing the barriers to growth. It is not consistent and it is a matter of double standards for Jim Anderton as Minister for Industry and Regional Development to be going around New Zealand talking about growth opportunities at the same time as his colleagues introduce bills into the House of this sort which simply freeze the industry and stop growth. 
There is no explanation for that and the bottom line of this bill is that New Zealanders will be poorer. There will be fewer jobs and all because of incompetence in the Government ranks. It is due to those members’ incompetence that they could not meet their own timetable for providing a sensible legal framework for the development of aquaculture. I say to members opposite shame! They should be ashamed because of the lost job opportunities and lost exports. 
I note today that we have had the worst export-import deficit since 1986. So why are those members stopping the growth of export industries? Are they not concerned about the trade deficit and the need for this country to earn its way in the world? If they are concerned about that why is the new Minister Mr Benson-Pope going to stop the growth of the fishing and aquaculture industry with his very first legislation as Minister? That Minister should lower his head in shame because this bill is an embarrassment for him as Minister.