Phil Heatley MP National Party Fisheries Spokesman
24 July 2003
Govt dithering spreads uncertainty to aquaculture
The Labour Government's dithering over the beaches and seabed issue is condemning the lucrative aquaculture industry to
further uncertainty.
"Now the aquaculture industry is doomed to pay a heavy price for Government procrastination," says National Party
Fisheries spokesman Phil Heatley.
This morning Fisheries Minister Pete Hodgson gave a speech where he said there was 'an undeniable risk that the
legislation required for the aquaculture reforms might not be introduced in August as planned.' "So now another group of
New Zealanders is being forced to wait anxiously on the Government while it carries out secret negotiations on the
ownership of our beaches," Mr Heatley says.
"What's worse, is that we're now expecting another layer of legislation will have to be introduced, to allow the
moratorium to be extended past a painful two years, while the aquaculture reforms are put together.
"It's pretty clear the Government has opened a can of worms with its back-down on foreshore legislation," says Mr
Heatley.
"Those involved in aquaculture want the same thing as every other New Zealander and that's more certainty about how
these crucial issues are to be resolved.
"Aquaculture's a gold mine of opportunity for our country, the sooner this Government makes the hard decisions, the
sooner that industry can reach its potential," Mr Heatley says.
Ends