Sir John Key’s dream of a vast ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands has finally died, with work on legislation scrapped by the coalition government.
The proposal was announced in 2015 by the then-prime minister to great international fanfare but quickly ran into opposition. A backlash from fishing companies and iwi bodies saw it put on ice and ongoing opposition from the Māori Party and New Zealand First also prevented progress.
In a statement on Thursday, Fisheries Minister and NZ First MP Shane Jones said all work on the proposal would be stopped and the legislation removed from Parliament’s to-do list.
This is very disappointing. The legislation for this was supported by all 120 MPs at first reading. But then Te Pati Maori objected to it, and it stalled as they tried to get agreement. Then at the 2017 election, NZ First went with Labour partly because they would promise not to push through the sanctuary.
And now it is officially dead.
The proposed sanctuary would have been one of the largest in the world. It wouldn’t actually have negatively impacted fishing as marine sanctuaries allow fish populations to grow, and they move into non sanctuary areas. Also the level of commercial fishing in the Kermadecs was minuscule – an average of $109,000 a year.
If it was put to a vote in Parliament there would be over 100 MPs in favour. But both Te Pati Māori and NZ First have successfully blocked it and now killed it.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
3 comments:
When a cost might be involved kaitiakitanga is supeceded by te ao/tikanga which places money first.I suspect Jones has seized upon as a low cost sop to his maori side.
I note Maoridom opposed New Zealand's stand against the near slave like treatment of workers on foreign owned fishing boats leasing Maori owned quota to fish New Zealand waters. If these workers had to be treat in accordance with New Zealand Labour laws it would reduce the leasehold value of their fishing quota.
And likewise Maoridom opposed suggestions there would be restrictions placed on the conversion of pastoral land to carbon farming.
Any sense of decency goes out the window if there's a dollar in it for them.
Too bloody right, Tom Logan. All the nonsense about being 'at one with the environment', nature more generally, and water etc. etc, flies out the window when there's a buck to be had - especially one that requires very little of what they term 'mahi' on their part. When are the majority going to wake up that it has nothing to do with equality, or even their mythical 'partnership', when their gain is always more than their share of the cost?
Post a Comment
Thanks for engaging in the debate!
Because this is a public forum, we will only publish comments that are respectful and do NOT contain links to other sites. We appreciate your cooperation.