The highly controversial Conservation Amendment Bill as originally worded provided for more commercial activity on the Conservation Estate. The Harbour Trust in a joint submission with the Guardians of Pāuatahanui Inlet and many others opposed this and argued that conservation protection ought to be the primary objective and commercial activities must not compromise the environmental and ecological protection values provided by conservation lands.

We also opposed a provision to be able to sell and exchange a huge swath of conservation land, potentially including the Pāuatahanui Wildlife Reserve and the DOC reserve behind Tawa.

After the public backlash, the Minister of Conservation vowed to remove the controversial provisions from the Bill before it is passed.

We were also concerned to see changes to legislation that would further water down the importance of iwi in terms of decisions around conservation matters. In our area, in particular, the iwi are the leading light in terms of promoting restoration and protection of the natural environment.