Biosecurity Law Reform Bill
Te Ururoa Flavell, MP for Waiariki
Friday 10 December 2010; 9.30pm

Kia ora anō tātou katoa i tēnei pō.

The Biosecurity Law Reform Bill is based on the premise that biosecurity is critical to New Zealand’s prosperity and way of life as expressed already by a number of members of the House.

I have to say how positive it is to come to a bill that up front in the first few paragraphs of the explanatory note expresses commitment to a biosecurity system that protects the native plants and animals and other resources that taonga to Māori, which was expressed by Green member, Russel Norman.

In fact, it is almost a consistent theme throughout the bill that effective and efficient instruments and measure are needed to prevent, reduce, and eliminate the adverse effects of harmful organisms on the relationship between Māori, our culture, our traditions and our ancestral lands, waters, sites, wāhi tapu, and taonga, and this is only right.

We hope that such recognition will also be mirrored in the national policy statement on indigenous biosecurity so that the protection of significant vegetation and the significant habitats of indigenous fauna is seen as a matter of national importance. The production of a national policy statement on indigenous biodiversity, the House may recall, is yet another of the already significant gains achieved as a part of the agreement between the National Party and the Māori Party on the emissions trading scheme in 2009.

The other important connection that must be made in the context of the Biosecurity Law Reform Bill is to read this legislation in the understanding that the Waitangi Tribunal is soon expected to release its report on the Wai 262 Treaty claim on indigenous flora and fauna, and Māori cultural and intellectual property, which is known informally as Wai 262.

I take the time to point out all of these connections because I want the House to know that when we talk about biosecurity, we are also talking about biodiversity, intellectual and cultural property, and, of course, the relationship with tangata whenua. New Zealand’s unique flora and fauna holds special significance for Māori, and of that there should be no doubt. Protecting New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity is of great significance to Māori as kaitiaki.

For the Māori Party, we have followed these commitments through to our policy statements. Our policy describes our commitment to keeping our natural resources and environment healthy, safe, and intact for everyone and for future generations. We specify also the need to promote freedom from ecological destruction. Yet, when we think about the recent crisis in my electorate of Waiariki and the need to introduce an aggressive containment strategy for Pseudomonas syringae pv. Actinidiae (Psa) for kiwifruit vines, it is blatantly obvious that, despite the best intentions of all our parties, we are still vulnerable.

The last time I was briefed by Hemi Rolleston, the chief executive of Te Awanui Huka Pak Ltd, the numbers were not looking all that flash—103 orchards have now been issued with a restricted notice by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and 100 orchards have had Psa confirmed. The majority of the Psa-positive orchards are within a 23 kilometre area, south of Te Puke township. Psa-positive tests are also coming back from orchards based in Hawke’s Bay, Tauranga, Whakatāne, Waikato, Golden Bay, Motueka*, and Gisborne.

I really want to acknowledge the impact that this crisis has made, not just throughout my electorate but on the wider industry. The more severe impacts on vine health forces some serious impacts on the industry as it adapts to cope with Psa in the future and, indeed, with the inevitable impact on production and sales.

My colleague Rahui Katene also tells us of experiences—again, as discussed by Dr Russel Norman—in the Marlborough Sounds where some things like particular seaweed have come in on the hulls of ships and even on yachts that arrive from overseas. The vessels are then cleaned at local marinas and, before we know it, there is a biosecurity risk.

We are determined to support any move to ensure the protection of our flora and fauna. A failure to put appropriate measures in place will put a wide range of primary industries at risk of contamination—a risk that we can ill afford. But the critical issue is how we do this.

The Māori Party believes that a fundamental basis to biosecurity law reform would be to ensure that a Treaty clause is included in the legislation. We appreciate the legislative changes that are being introduced in the bill. They will enable amendments to improve and modernise the biosecurity system. The amendments will promote more effective and efficient biosecurity, encourage partnerships in the management of biosecurity risks, and provide flexibility to enable future improvements.

But we also want to see this Government and subsequent Governments recognise and provide for the role of tangata whenua as kaitiaki when developing and implementing regional policy statements and regional and district plans associated with biosecurity.

We want to see tangata whenua values and interests incorporated into the management of biosecurity. We would like to ensure that there is regular and informed consultation with tangata whenua, particularly as it relates to protecting and enhancing areas and habitats that have a particular significance to tangata whenua. We want to see the active involvement of tangata whenua in the protection of cultural values to protect the native plants, animals, and other resources that are taonga to Māori.

We hope that the biosecurity system is able to work in such a way as to recognise the customary use of indigenous biodiversity according to tikanga Māori. The Māori Party caucus has concluded, on the basis of all of the analysis, that our support for the Biosecurity Law Reform Bill is conditional on there being a Treaty clause within the legislation. Our support will be subject to satisfaction with an appropriate Treaty clause. In the meantime we support the bill at this its first reading. Kia ora tātou.

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