Estimates Debate — Vote Conservation

Kia ora tātou. It is an honour to speak again on conservation, this time in the right place. I acknowledge Ngāti Raukawa, who are with us tonight for a very important event that will be coming later. I have to say that in the 5 years I spent as the Minister of Conservation I was privileged to engage with that iwi on a number of conservation issues.

The Conservation Act, which was passed under a National Government, says that the Minister of Conservation has a responsibility to be an advocate for the protection of New Zealand’s unique biodiversity, to be kaitiaki, if one likes, of our lands, particularly of the 8 million hectares owned by all of us that are managed by the Department of Conservation. I say to the Minister in the chair, the Hon Kate Wilkinson, who on a personal level can be very charming, that I think she has neglected her responsibility to be the kaitiaki of the land.

We had a debate in this House earlier this year over schedule 4 land under the Crown Minerals Act—land that has total protection, and that contains incredibly important biodiversity and recreational sites within our national parks, our scientific reserves, and our nature reserves. That Minister was quite happy to sign over the access to those areas when they were being considered for mining. She now has to co-sign access into conservation land with the Minister of Energy and Resources. She has already passed over some of the powers and the opportunities she had to be the guardian of our conservation estate.

Why are the 8 million hectares owned by all of us and managed by the Department of Conservation so incredibly important? Firstly, it is our land—our landscapes, our seascapes, our mountains, and our wetlands—that defines us as a people. Ask any New Zealander here in this Chamber tonight or anywhere in our country what it is about our country that they love—what it is that makes them a Kiwi—and they will mention some aspect of the land, whether it is the mountains, the beach, the forests, the rivers, or whatever; it is who we are. Therefore, protection of that land, of those natural environments, and of those marine areas is so critical not only for our well-being but also for the well-being of future generations.

Protection is critical not just for the intrinsic value and the unique biodiversity of those landscapes but also for the economic values they bring to our country. Our tourism industry earns $23 billion a year. Every New Zealander and international visitor who comes to our country has the chance to have a recreational experience, to have a visual experience, and to enjoy the great outdoors, which is so much part of that conservation estate.

The conservation estate is also important for eco-services: for things like the management of flooding and protection against erosion, which natural environments that are left undisturbed or that are recovering are able to provide. Food sources, such as, whitebait, eels, ducks, pigs, and deer that people are able to shoot and to hunt are all important opportunities for New Zealanders and international visitors to enjoy and to utilise within the conservation estate. That is why protecting it is so incredibly important. That is why it is the role of the Minister of Conservation to ensure that we enhance, protect, improve, and add to the conservation estate.

The proudest thing I have ever done at Parliament, and the thing I will always remember when I leave, is that while I was the Minister of Conservation, 360,000 hectares were added to the conservation estate. That includes places like Kaikōura Island and Waikawau Bay in Coromandel, and land all over New Zealand that now belongs to every New Zealander and will be protected for ever. That is the sort of contribution we have to make, and it was possible to do that only because the Labour-led Government poured millions into the acquisition of land and sites. [Interruption] It was about ownership; it was about public ownership. It was about providing, saving, and protecting those spaces for all New Zealanders for ever. I think that if we make any investment in this country, investing in our natural environment is one of the best investments we can make.

Finally, and I know I have very little time left, I want to talk about marine protections. When I became the Minister of Conservation we had only 17 protected marine areas. Luckily, when I finished there were 34.

Vote agreed to.

Vote Food Safety agreed to.

Vote Labour