Smith offers apology for gay marriage vote in valedictory speech
WELLINGTON: Veteran National MP Dr Nick Smith apologised for voting against gay marriage, and cited his work in conservation as a career highlight, in his valedictory speech in Parliament.
Dr Smith said his first ministerial job was in conservation.
‘‘Conservation is the best job in the Cabinet room. To get it once is lucky; twice is to be truly blessed,’’ he said.
Dr Smith said his appointment came in the wake of the Cave Creek disaster, when a Department of Conservation viewing platform collapsed into a ravine near Punakaiki on the West Coast in 1995.
‘‘My job was to put the systems in place with DirectorGeneral Hugh Logan to ensure Doc’s thousands of structures and facilities would be safe. We also established in ’99 the Conservation Rangers Programme that has trained over 600 since, to do the skilled
Doc fieldwork professionally and safely.’’
Dr Smith said other career highlights included advocating for the Kahurangi National Park, working to protect the Lords River on Stewart Island in 1998 and then initiating the process for establishing the Rakiura National Park in 1999.
He thanked the dedicated public servants who helped him in his work.
‘‘My favourite are those hardy Doc field staff out in the wet and cold in the most rugged corners of New Zealand, repairing tracks, killing pests, and protecting nests,’’ he said.
‘‘Conserving a good chunk of our land mass for nature was the challenge of last century. The focus needs to shift seaward,’’ Smith said.
Dr Smith said as minister of conservation in the ’90s, making the Poor Knights a marine reserve was controversial.
He said he needed a police escort because he had received a death threat.
‘‘I was confronted only a few years ago at Whangarei Airport by a cheeky local who introduced himself rather unnervingly as the guy who had made the threat.
‘‘He jokingly told me not to worry as he now thought it was such a great idea that he would shoot anybody that would dare undo the reserve.’’
Dr Smith said although he had subsequently been involved in creating 17 marine reserves around New Zealand, he was disappointed that the government was yet to make progress on a Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary.
‘‘The commercial fishing there is negligible. The history of customary fishing is minimal. This is about New Zealand — Maori and Pakeha, stepping up and doing our bit globally to better care for the world’s oceans,’’ Dr Smith said.
He said the ‘‘most satisfying chapter’’ of his career was being part of the English/Key government.
‘‘We shared a vision of where we wanted to take New Zealand and we had built the strong relationships and policies in Opposition to work as a team.’’
Dr Smith apologised for voting against gay marriage in 2013.
‘‘The error is all the more personal with my 20yearold son being gay.
‘‘I wish to put on record today my apology to New Zealand’s LGBT+ community.
‘‘I pay tribute to Louisa Wall, Fran Wilde and Amy Adams for their leadership that has improved the lives of my son and thousands of other New Zealanders. — RNZ