3. METIRIA TUREI (Green) Link to this
to the Minister of Conservation
Is he concerned that one of the world’s largest mining companies has begun prospecting for ironsand within the habitat of the critically endangered Māui’s dolphin, and will he support Forest and Bird’s proposal for a marine mammal sanctuary from Maunganui Bluff to Cape Egmont?
Hon MAHARA OKEROA (Acting Minister of Conservation) Link to this
I am advised that the aerial prospecting currently taking place on the west coast of the North Island does not involve any activities that would affect the Māui’s dolphin. Any future mining activities would be allowed only if the effects on the marine environment, including effects on dolphins, were acceptable. A draft threat management plan for the dolphins is shortly to be released and will seek public feedback on creating marine mammal sanctuaries, along with other conservation measures.
Will the plan recognise the threat of seabed mining, and require nationally consistent fishing restrictions throughout the full range of the Hector’s and Māui’s dolphins, including a set-net ban to a 100 metres depth, given the Minister’s comment that: “Australia has banned set nets for some time … that’s something that I would certainly think is worth considering in New Zealand as well.”; if not, why not?
Hon MAHARA OKEROA Link to this
I would encourage the member to read the draft threat management plan when it is released, and I expect there will be much in it that she will be happy with.
H V Ross Robertson Link to this
Can the Minister inform the House what action the Government is actually taking to protect Māui’s and Hector’s dolphins?
Hon MAHARA OKEROA Link to this
The Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Fisheries will shortly issue a draft threat management plan to protect Māui’s and Hector’s dolphins throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. In developing this plan, we have been exploring options to manage the full range of fishing and non – fishing-related threats, which include the use of marine mammal sanctuaries. Our intention is to see that this plan is in place by this coming summer, to coincide with the breeding seasons of the dolphin.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
Could I ask the Minister why he would entertain the idea that some groups of people—political or otherwise—could advocate a sanctuary going from Maunganui Bluff in the Kaihu Forest all the way down to Cape Egmont, with no dialogue, communication, or consent with the local Māori or Europeans, the people of northern Wairoa, or anybody else—why would a Government listen to a group of people who are so arrogant as to think that they have the right to close up those places for all sorts of sanctuaries, without even talking to the local people?
Hon MAHARA OKEROA Link to this
Thank you, whale! I understand that any proposal of that nature will fulfil all the consultation requirements that are necessary.
Can the Minister confirm that set-nets are responsible for 60 percent of Hector’s dolphin deaths where the cause of death is known, and that alternative and cost-effective fishing methods exist for all species of fish caught using these nets?
Hon MAHARA OKEROA Link to this
As I said before, I encourage the member to read the draft threat management plan. The Ministry of Fisheries and the Department of Conservation are very aware of the issues that have been brought forth by that member.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. This is exactly the concern I raised earlier in my previous point of order. Ministers are supposed to be able to answer the question, where it is correctly directed. It is important for the Minister who is responsible for, and knowledgable about, those areas to be able to answer the question. This is clearly not the case here, with the redirection of my question. That is evidenced by the failure of the Minister to answer it effectively.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
The problem the member has is actually quite a simple one. In the primary question she asked, it is absolutely clear that the primary responsibility lies with the Minister of Conservation. She has then gone on to ask questions about set-net fishing, etc., which are the responsibility of the Minister of Fisheries. She has mixed those two up, and she needs to think about that in terms of which way she frames the original question, in order to get the right Minister to answer it. The original question was clearly to the Minister of Conservation in his area of responsibility.
Madam SPEAKERYes, there is a difficulty when a question is followed up by supplementary questions that go into another area. But the member has another supplementary question.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Perhaps you might give some consideration to the fact that members ask questions by way of a primary question, then follow up with requests for other information through supplementary questions. That is the role that members of the Opposition play. It is quite reasonable that those supplementary questions will expand on the issues raised, and that when a member puts a question to a Minister that is accepted as being correctly directed, it might be expected that other issues might be raised. That is not a good excuse for failing to be able to address questions properly.
No. I think the difficulty is that when the supplementary question involves another ministerial responsibility, it is difficult for the Minister who addressed the primary question, because he or she cannot answer for some other Minister. I do not know whether the Minister wants to add to his answer, or whether that would assist the member? The Minister does not wish to add to his answer.
Jeanette Fitzsimons Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I just want to assist the House a little by pointing out that the Minister of Conservation, while dealing with conservation issues around the Hector’s dolphin, would be intensely involved with questions around what causes their deaths—which is set-net fishing—and he would have known the answers to those questions. It is the transfer of the question to a Minister who is not here that has caused the main problem.
No, I think that still does not actually address the primary point, which is the fact that some Ministers might know something about other Ministers’ portfolios, but that is not the issue. Ministers in question time are responsible for answering those questions within their ministerial responsibility.
Nandor TanczosI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. This is another point of order. I know that you have been addressing the issue of transfer of questions. My point of order is that it seems to me to be quite clear that the Minister did not even address the question that my colleague asked, which was quite specific and had nothing to do, at all, with the plan he referred to.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I have been following this dialogue on points of order raised by the Greens. What those members are doing, of course, is challenging your ruling, which is something that every MP should hesitate to engage in. But I wonder why you are indulging them, given that mining companies have never engaged—and, to the best of my knowledge, do not engage—in exploration using fishing nets. That is where the member has got herself.
I thank the member. I must note that the members who have been raising these points of order do not do so very often, but I ask them now for the next supplementary question.
If, as the Minister of Fisheries has said, Māui’s dolphins are “our kākāpō of the sea”, does the Minister not agree that continuing to allow a set-netting within the Hector’s and Māui’s dolphins habitat is akin to permitting duck shooting on a kākāpō island sanctuary; if not, why not?
Hon MAHARA OKEROA Link to this
I am not qualified to talk about ducks at this stage. I must reiterate that the Department of Conservation and others are concerned about the continued survival of the Hector’s and Māui’s dolphins, and they are taking very positive steps towards the preservation of those species.