Hughes Gareth: Freedom Camping Bill — In Committee 
Hughes Gareth: Freedom Camping Bill — In Committee 
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GARETH HUGHES (Green) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Chairman. Nga mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora. It is wonderful to take one of the last calls tonight on the Freedom Camping Bill which is a Government bill coming before the Committee. 
I have to ask: is this the most urgent thing this Committee could be addressing a few months before the election a month before the Rugby World Cup and just before we are about to go into urgency? I acknowledge there is a poo problem when one goes out across the countryside and there is a legitimate freedom camping issue of waste being disposed of unwisely in our natural areas. But the fact is that if we were thinking of the actual serious poo problem facing this country we would be looking at the massive—and I mean massive—dairy effluent pollution that every day is going into our creeks into our rivers and into our streams meaning that Kiwi kids cannot learn to swim in a Kiwi river because we are not adopting smart farming solutions. 
I just have to point that out before I go on to addressing Part 3. There are more serious issues that this Committee should be discussing before we go into urgency such as our kids and our grandkids being able to swim in our rivers. 
I spent a few years freedom camping. I was a contractor for Greenpeace for a couple of years. I would work for 3 months and then I would freedom camp for a few months getting to see our fantastic country. Like most tourists and Kiwis I did it responsibly. I took care of the waste. I never left anything apart from footprints and I took nothing but photographs. 
The Green Party does acknowledge that there is a serious issue. Our “clean green” brand is vital to our economy. It is vital to our sense of who we are as a people and we do not want tourists—or New Zealanders—to turn up to a beautiful scenic spot and see waste there. This is a serious problem and looking at Part 3 of the bill I wonder whether the magnitude of this issue is dealt appropriately with by the fines. We have a pretty small fine; the financial penalty is only $200. 
The main point I want to touch on is clause 18(1)(c) of Part 3 which states that any person who “makes preparations to freedom camp in a local authority in breach of any prohibition or restriction” commits an offence. We have heard other speakers ask how we will identify the appropriate person delegated to deal with this serious issue—whether it will be with a badge certificate or sash. 
The big question is how this person will be able to identify whether a person is making preparations to freedom camp. What is the definition of “make preparation to freedom camp”? Is it getting out the thermos and having a cup of tea? Is it setting up a table with the thermos on it and having a cup of tea? Is it setting up a folding chair with the thermos and being about to enjoy a cup of tea? How on earth will we define this? Are we simply going to put off these tourists who are important to our economy coming to our country and enjoying our beautiful natural scenery? How will we define “makes preparation to freedom camp in a local authority in breach of any prohibition or restriction”? I invite the Minister of Conservation to take a call on this issue. 
There are a whole bunch of other questions that I have heard tonight and it would be good to have them answered. We have heard a whole range of questions in this debate. The fact is that this bill has just been rammed through under too much haste. 
I am really looking forward to the Rugby World Cup kicking off. As a Kiwi I am really excited about it but unfortunately the tournament has brought out a bit of a bad streak in our national psyche. We have heard about Auckland sweeping the streets of homeless people we have seen Adidas price-gouging Kiwis who want to wear the black jersey and here we see the authorities and police—who already have appropriate powers to deal with this serious issue—being circumvented by this bill. We do not need to do it; they already have the powers. 
What the Green Party supports is a positive approach that looks at education and providing more facilities and more legal camping-grounds. What we would love to see is more money going to the Department of Conservation to keep providing those great camping-grounds. Kia ora.