Carter John: Resource Management Amendment Bill (No 2) — In Committee 
Carter John: Resource Management Amendment Bill (No 2) — In Committee 
[Volume:608;Page:5583] 
JOHN CARTER (NZ National—Northland) 
: 
 I want to debate an issue in Part 2 in relation to the amendments that have been made. During this week we passed a taxation bill that the Government said was there for another reason and the public saw through that. Now all of a sudden something very odd has happened. All the way through the debate when the bill was introduced in the select committee in the second reading and even—up until recently—in the Committee stage debate the Government has been right behind the issues of “spiritual” “cultural landscape” and “ancestral landscape”. It has all been there. Suddenly the Government has allowed United Future to put in an amendment—which we supported—that took those definitions out of the bill. The Government rolled over so that it will be able to say no it was a good motion and it wants to thank United Future for that. 
I want this Government to understand that the public will see through this ploy as well. Does it think that the people of this country cannot think for themselves? It was obvious that this is just a set-up to try to give some credit to United Future. What a joke! For goodness’ sake if the Minister is trying to give some brownie points to another party she should be more subtle. Bless my soul I have never seen anything like it in my life! An amendment was put in and rammed through. Talk about “culture” “cultural landscape” “ancestral landscape” and how important that is to everybody then flick the switch on and roll over so that somebody can stand up here and say: “We did that.” I have to tell the Minister that the public will see through that as well. 
We are pleased that provision is not in the bill as we fought against it all the way through. Did United Future do that in the select committee? Not on your nelly! There was not one comment. Who of those who were on the select committee can remember United Future rallying against that provision? Can anyone? No but we got an amendment through so that United Future can get a bit of credit. The Labour Party rolls over and they think that no one will see through it. Some of us have been around here long enough to see these sorts of funny things going on—and see through them. We are not going to stay dumb and not tell people about it. What a joke! What a way to run a country and what a way to try to hold on to power. The people of this country see through those things. Believe you me we had 9 years’ experience of knowing that. The Government has been in power for 4 years or so and it still has not learnt. It should have learnt from us but it has not—nor has it learnt from its own experience. 
Again I say that the Government will pay the price for this bill—it is a folly. One does not go out there and frighten the horses then expect people to jump on them as they are bolting away. It will not happen. That is exactly what will happen with this bill. It is a vote-loser for all the parties that are involved with it. They should not try to pull the wool over the public’s eyes because the public do not like it. They like people to be straight up and down with them and to tell it as it is. 
If the Minister never intended to keep that provision in here it should never have been put in in the first place. It is just not proper for the Minister to now step back and let it be taken out. The public will see it with a degree of cynicism. They will see it as an act of arrogance and as an act of folly. They will not like it at all. We are pleased that that provision is gone because it was a lot of nonsense to ever have had it in there in the first place—and an act of cynicism.