Estimates Debate — Vote Fisheries

We are well aware that fisheries and aquaculture is a very important part of New Zealand’s economy, and it is a portfolio that I certainly enjoy holding. The economy continues to be the Government’s major focus and its top priority for 2010. The year 2009 was all about taking the rough edges off the recession, making sure that businesses could continue, and helping them as much as we possibly could so that employees were retained and that the impacts of the worldwide recession were not felt to the depths that they could have been, perhaps, if the previous Government had been in charge at that stage. Fortunately, it was not, and I feel that large sigh of relief from New Zealanders and from my colleagues from the Government side of the House.

Aquaculture and fisheries are an important part of the economy. Marine farmers want to do better. I can tell the House that the National Government, the Māori Party, ACT, and the United Future team want to see marine farmers do better. Marine farmers have a goal of $1 billion in export earnings by 2025, and we support that process. The previous Labour Government looked at aquaculture and felt that it was an industry that it wanted to support, so it introduced a moratorium, because that is what one does when there is an industry that one wants to support! What would Steven Joyce have done? I do not think he would have introduced a moratorium, but that is what the Labour Government decided that it would do, because it wanted to back this industry!

I will tell members the second thing that Labour decided to do after it had introduced a moratorium. Do members know what it decided to do because it wanted to back this industry? It extended the moratorium. The first piece of legislation that went through the House provided for a moratorium, and Labour’s second piece of legislation on aquaculture extended that moratorium, because that is what one does!

Having done that, the Labour Government worked on it for a few years while the moratorium was in place, which meant that no more aquaculture space was available for marine farmers, whom the Labour Government supported! The Labour Government put through the aquaculture reforms, which unfortunately prohibited aquaculture anywhere in New Zealand, as if it were nuclear war, unless a council had been through a process to say that it was OK. In other words, one could not put in a resource consent application to marine farm unless it was in a specific area; it was banned everywhere else. So after 2004 no new marine farms were created under the Labour Government for 5 years.

We have decided that we will be more helpful. What we are going to do is to allow marine farmers to apply for more marine farming space. They can put in consents. What is more, we have allowed them to farm fish.

Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.

I will continue my comments regarding aquaculture and the stagnation that the country witnessed under the previous regime. Essentially, the Labour Government’s solution was, first of all, to have a moratorium—to stop aquaculture—secondly, to extend the moratorium, and then to introduce some reforms that prohibited aquaculture development right throughout the country. As a Government, we have said quite clearly that aquaculturalists, marine farmers, and those wanting to be marine farmers can apply for space anywhere in New Zealand unless that zone is specifically closed by regional councils. They can finfish farm if they want to—switch to other species—if, indeed, that is something that meets strict environmental standards. In the Waikato they can extend their marine farms, which they cannot do at present.

We want to see aquaculture boom. We think it is an economic development area that fits well with what New Zealand, as a primary producer, can do in pristine waters right across New Zealand under the clean, green label. For those members who are concerned about water-quality issues, I say that nothing is more sensitive to water quality than a mussel, an oyster, or any form of shellfish. Marine farmers need good water-quality more than any other water user, and we should not forget that. We should remember that when they develop their marine farms the maintenance of the environment is their top concern, and we support them with that.

Vote agreed to.

Vote Housing