Heatley Phil: Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHeatley Phil: Conservation (Natural Heritage Protection) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 04 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13284. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon PHIL HEATLEY (National—Whangarei): I also commend Jacqui Dean and the Local Government and Environment Committee for the Conservation (National Heritage Protection) Bill. A lot of forethought has gone into it and of course work since it came to the committee. Members were very enthusiastic once they heard the basic facts around what penalties were being administered and the punishments in respect of jail terms that were being applied when it came to those who thwarted the law and damaged our flora and fauna in New Zealand or indeed stole it both for sale domestically and to export illegally.The law is administered by the Department of Conservation. What is going to happen is there is going to be an increase in penalties with the passage of this bill. It will also implement a consistent approach to penalties across the amended laws. So essentially two things are happening: the Department of Conservation which essentially uses and administers these laws and the Conservation Act—what we are going to do here is raise the penalties on one hand and then on the other hand apply them more consistently across various Acts.So as introduced amendments are proposed to yes the Conservation Act 1987 but also to the National Parks Act of 1980 the Reserves Act of 1977 the Wildlife Act of 1953 and the Wild Animal Control Act of 1977. The penalties will be increased for a number of offences where wildlife has been endangered or protected natural habitats have been damaged. That will then extend across various Acts. One of the questions the committee put to officials on this was how it actually works in with other Acts that are more modern in terms of the penalties and offences that they list such as the Fisheries Act and those Acts that essentially affect marine reserves—how those penalties align with the ones that we were looking at making changes to or that Jacqui Dean was proposing to make changes to. So there is much more alignment. We have done some investigation on the Fisheries Act and some of those other pieces of legislation that are regularly modernised in regard to penalties and we have come up with some significant numbers now that we believe are about right.We received eight submissions and had a good round with advisers on several occasions getting things right. So we have divided it into two types of penalties one targeted to those people or entities who are substantially not motivated by commercial gain or reward. So they are doing damage they are causing death or they are stealing wildlife or fauna but not for commercial gain or reward. So for the lesser offences we are recommending that an individual’s term of imprisonment would not exceed 1 year or a fine not exceeding $100000; for bodies corporate that are not motivated by commercial gain or reward the fine is not exceeding $200000; and for continuing offences there is a further fine not exceeding $10000 per day. So those are significant funds—$100000 for an individual $200000 for bodies corporate and then $10000 per day if the offence is continuing.For more serious offences—not for people pursuing personal gain but for more serious offences such as discharging a firearm injuring or attacking or somehow abusing official personnel such as obstructing an officer taking plants and those sortof offences—we have decided that there would not be an increase in the dollar amount but we are looking at increasing the term of imprisonment by a further year but to no more than 2 years. The penalty would go from 1 year to 2 years if there is much more serious offending.Then we have got the second tier of those offences and that is where offences are committed for commercial gain or reward. For individuals it goes from $100000 to $300000 and from a maximum of 1 year’s imprisonment to a maximum of 5 years’ imprisonment; for bodies corporate the fine goes from $200000 to $300000; and for continuing offences for those who are after commercial gain it will be not $10000 per day but $20000 per day. So that is a significant lift to what is there currently. As indicated by Jacqui Dean and others in the debate tonight and people will see it referenced in theHansard right through the second reading we have made sure that they are aligned across various Acts not just the Conservation Act—so the National Parks Act the Reserves Act the Wildlife Act and the Wild Animal Control Act. Members of the public can be assured they also align with those Acts that control offences in marine reserves marine parks and of course under the Fisheries Act as well. So there is significant consistency right across government there.This bill sends a very very strong message that we take the protection of New Zealand’s wildlife and natural areas very very seriously. The bill will complement further smuggling deterrence measures that are soon to be introduced by the Minister of Conservation which will increase penalties for wildlife smuggling as I say to 5 years in jail and a $300000 fine.The bill also complements our efforts since being elected to boost the conservation estate better protect our great outdoors and make sure that more New Zealanders get use from it. Although members from the Labour Party do spin the line regarding the vote—or the amount of finance that goes into the Department of Conservation each year to be distributed and used by it—the reality is that Vote Conservation is now $444 million. It is in the books. It is clear there for everyone to see. It has almost doubled from the $226 million that was there in 2001-02 just over 10 years ago. It has had a significant doubling there. We are investing in recovery programmes for 36 percent more threatened species and we are focusing on what matters. I commend Jacqui Dean for bringing this bill to House. I commend her for all the support she has in this Parliament and outside Parliament. There are very sensible changes being made here and I commend the bill to the House.