PM Jacinda Ardern to check if local bill would work for marine guardians in Marlborough
Thursday, 6 June 2019
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is to look into the feasibility of a local bill that could pave the way for marine guardians to be set up in Marlborough.
A group of Marlborough teenagers has been pressing the Government for better, or simpler, marine protection in the Marlborough Sounds for the past year, first writing to the prime minister last June.
The group of girls, dubbed 'the marine team', finally got a sit-down with Ardern on Thursday, as she was in Blenheim to speak with business leaders.
Ardern said after the meeting at the Marlborough Girls' College a local bill could be an option. Local authorities could put forward a local bill to deal with specific issues in their area.
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'But it's then really up to the local community to say 'yes, this is the kind of thing we want sponsored on our behalf',' she said.
Ardern said she would 'stay in touch' with the girls, and told them to further investigate the issues affecting marine life in the Marlborough Sounds.
But marine team member Siobhan Hemingway said it felt like protecting the Marlborough Sounds was not a Government priority.
The team said New Zealand's current marine protection laws were 'ancient' and needed updated before there was 'nothing left to protect'.
'You can't work with something that was meant for a different era, when everything has changed so much,' they said of the almost 50-year-old Marine Reserves Act.
Ardern said it was fantastic that they had not 'just taken an idea and simply written a letter'.
'They have done a huge amount of work, factoring in existing legislation and existing tools and developed a very solid proposal.'
What started as a school project had grown well beyond that, as six of the eight students had graduated from Marlborough Girls' College. But their passion showed no sign of waning.
The team was calling for 'bespoke' legislation to set up a marine guardian body for the Sounds.
Hemingway, who had since left the Girls' College, said it was good to see Ardern was 'invested in making changes for New Zealand in general'.
'But she had quite a big list of priorities and Marlborough is not one of them.'
Ardern said marine protected areas could play a role but would not fix all issues, such as soil erosion, sediment and run-off.
She agreed with the students that creating marine protection under the current Marine Reserves Act was slow, and said Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage was working on a new marine protection framework.
'That's likely to be something that will take a bit of time,' Ardern said. 'There's a significant range of interests that will need to be worked alongside to create that framework.'
The students also raised the idea of a Royal Commission into marine management.
'If you're looking for speed, royal commissions are never the answer,' Ardern said.
Ardern pointed at the need to gain community consensus, demonstrated by the Government's ongoing discussions over the Kermadec marine reserve.
'It's incredibly important to build a common motivation and common view around what needs to be done and why, because that's often the thing that stands in the way,' she said.
'If not everyone's on board, then they will be disputed and they won't succeed.'
Ardern met with former Marlborough Girls' College students Siobhan Hemingway, Demi Fearn, Hannah Dickson, Holly Wills and year 13 student Baylee McConaghey.