Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister
Last week we sent an open letter to the Prime Minister outlining our concerns with both the Fisheries Amendment Bill and the fast track way it's being pushed through. Sixteen working days to respond to a complex piece of legislation, squeezed around Easter and ANZAC Day, is not what meaningful public consultation looks like.
The letter was backed by a broad group of organisations across the environmental and fishing community, including the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council, LegaSea, the New Zealand Angling & Casting Association, the New Zealand Underwater Association, Forest & Bird, the Endangered Species Foundation, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, Greenpeace, One Ocean Project, and the wider NZ fishing community. That kind of alignment reflects the significance of this issue.
Together, we asked for something pretty simple - extend the submission deadline by a month.
Give Kiwis a fair chance to understand what's being proposed and to have their say, especially on something that affects a publicly owned resource and carries Treaty implications.
We also raised concerns about the Minister responsible for the Bill. Shane Jones has been very clear about where his priorities lie, which makes it difficult to have confidence that this process is being run in good faith.
The response came back quickly. Our concerns had been "noted", and the letter had been passed on for consideration by the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries - Shane Jones.