Wagner NickyHon NICKY WAGNER (Associate Minister of Conservation): The money that we spend on Vote Conservation in Budget 2016 is shaped by the history of our environment. New Zealand has a fabulous and unique natural environment and it is the history of being an isolated and uninhabited land that has shaped our conservation priorities today. It is a country that had no land mammals and so in every single ecological niche a bird had adapted to fit it. We had tiny little birds with long legs that acted like the mice and the rats. We had the kiwi and the kākāpō that were the equivalent of small land mammals. We had a whole number of moa including the giant moa that represented the large land mammals and the giant eagle was our predator. Without mammals on the land the birds walked and they nested and they could not defend their nests on the ground. As soon as humans came here with their entourage of animals—they came with rats pigs and dogs; later we got possums stoats even wallabies and of course trout and salmon—the days were numbered of our precious birds.The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order! The member will resume her seat just while I remind her of Speaker's ruling 53/4 which goes to reading speeches. The Minister is at a distinct disadvantage because she is sitting right beside me and I could read the speech.Scott Simpson: Not as well.The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard): Maybe not as well Mr Simpson and that was a shocking thing to say. You have got a warning. I am sure not as well and certainly not with the same accent. I am going to now invite the Minister to stop reading her speech.Hon NICKY WAGNER: Even centuries later we have to use that money to protect our birds and to get rid of the predators. So $20 million for the Battle for our Birds is money well spent and we are getting really good outcomes for that money spent. We find that where you have land that is unprotected—where it is not predator-free—maybe 10 to 20 percent of chicks survive where if it were a predator-free area it could be 80 or 90 percent. But we also have ongoing work with whole ecosystems looking to multiple species. For example I recently visited Mason Bay in Stewart Island and there they have unique dune formations. There are over 24 different types of plants that are rare and special to that area—[Interruption] Thank you.The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard): I was just helping—you got to the end of the page.Hon NICKY WAGNER: If we can look after those plants all the rest of the birds the lizards and the insects flourish as well. Hon Member: Are you moving your finger along the words?Hon NICKY WAGNER: Ha ha! So that ongoing work with ecosystems—we have got about 500 different ecosystems right throughout the country. But I am the Associate Minister of Conservation and my focus is on community conservation and conservation boards and I have to say there is an enormous amount of work going on in that area. We have 14 conservation boards throughout New Zealand and they are the ones that lead that conservation work that do the planning to protect our land. But it is the community groups that are delivering for us as well. Just recently we had the Green Ribbon Awards and at the Green Ribbon Awards we recognise the work of community groups. The Department of Conservation (DOC) is investing $32 million to support those community groups and we are seeing all types of work coming out of that. We have got educational work we have got planting we have got species recognition; we have got a myriad of work—you name it and somebody is doing it. Just this weekend I am going to visit Awaroa. You will have all followed the Awaroa Givealittle campaign where Duane Major and his brother-in-law Adam Gard'ner got the people of New Zealand activated to protect that piece of land. It was an enormous privilege for us to be able to top up that amount of money with $350000 from the Nature Heritage Fund to make sure that that land would be absorbed into the Abel Tasman National Park. I have always believed that New Zealanders really love the natural environment—that they want to protect it—and I think this Givealittle campaign is a really vivid example of the work that they are doing and what they are prepared to do to support our natural environment. Finally I would like to thank all the conservation boards for the work that they do and DOC for working hand-in-hand with them and for working hand-in-hand with our community groups which are everywhere right throughout the country. Together we can really protect and look after this magnificent environment that we have. Thank you.