Dowie SarahSARAH DOWIE (National—Invercargill): Look thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. I rise in opposition to the Conservation (Infringement System) Bill. I do feel a little bit like the Grinch that stole Christmas rising in opposition so I will take this opportunity given it may be my last time speaking in the House this year to wish the Minister Eugenie Sage and to wish the chair of the Environment Committee the members of the Environment Committee and everybody of this House and yourself Madam Deputy Speaker a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year—and of course the people of New Zealand. I agree with the Minister's sentiments that people should get out and enjoy nature this summer and hopefully—fingers crossed—it will be a very good summer out in nature.I do rise in opposition to this bill and I certainly won't lament the point. We have traversed this quite considerably in our second reading and in the committee of the whole House. While this originally was a National Government bill introduced by the Hon Maggie Barry this bill has changed considerably into a form that we cannot support. So while we do support the Department of Conservation being one of the largest enforcement agencies in the governmental system and we realise that they need a midway point—currently they have a warning system for offences that are very minor and then the alternative is with respect to more serious offences that they must prosecute. A midway point is of course an infringement system which is basically like issuing a ticket. When they come across an offence in the field they issue an infringement. It doesn't go on the offender's record as a criminal offence; it is simply a straightforward offence and they if found guilty would be expected to pay a fine.We do support the Department of Conservation having that remedy in their tool box especially given that with respect to conservation offences occur in the field. The logistics of coming across offences and dealing with them appropriately are quite challenging so an infringement system is that midway point that allows rangers to deal with offences very swiftly and appropriately and proportionately. But what we don't support is the fact that this infringement system is being extended to Fish & Game rangers. We've heard that the Minister is going to put in place safeguards—so-called safeguards—to monitor the issuing of infringement notices by Fish & Game rangers to the public to make sure that the system is consistent but quite simply we don't have that confidence.There are 12 Fish & Game regional offices that loosely report to a national body. We want to make sure that there are systems in place that mean that this infringement system is monitored consistently across the board and that there is accountability. These Fish & Game rangers are not subject to the same codes of conduct that State Service employees are and so any infringement system that is extended to Fish & Game rangers does need to have in place very rigorous conditions that mean that this infringement system can be tested and that we can make sure that it is an objective infringement system right from Kaitāia to Bluff.For that reason because of the extension of these infringement powers we simply can't support this bill. However again I reiterate that the National Party is extremely supportive of conservation and conservation initiatives. With respect to departmental rangers we were the Government that extended powers under the Wildlife Act in the previous Parliament to give departmental rangers those extra powers to deal with offences that occurred under the Wildlife Act especially in some of the most remote places that our rangers work where some members of the public can get away more easily with offences relating to native wildlife. So we want them to have those powers to deal swiftly with those issues but in this regard with respect to Fish & Game we cannot support this bill.So we believe in accountability we believe in the credibility of a system and we want consistency across the board. And for that reason therefore we cannot support this bill. Again merry Christmas everyone and have a happy New Year.