KEY POINTS:
National has accused the Government of wasting money on hui after it paid more than $180,000 for 10 meetings so poorly attended that there were often more officials present than members of the public.
National's fishing spokesman, Phil Heatley, said information from Te Puni Kokiri showed that only five people went to one of the aquaculture hui, in Wanganui, and officials outnumbered them two to one.
TPK had given the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research $152,000 towards the 10 regional hui to explain techniques of farming, the value of the industry and opportunities for development.
Mr Heatley said the hui costs averaged $15,200 and the cost of accommodation and travel for officials and information packs were on top of that.
He said the Wanganui hui's costs totalled nearly $20,000 - $4000 for each of the five people who attended.
There were also low numbers in Nelson, where seven people went, while the best attended was in Gisborne, where 40 turned up.
Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia said Mr Heatley was over-estimating the numbers and that the average cost across all hui was $940 for each person attending. He said big crowds were never expected but the hui were necessary to get information out on a matter which was important for Maori involvement in the industry.
"The information being disseminated was complex and technical and the hui were therefore not expected to attract large numbers, rather key fisheries players from the groups."
But Mr Heatley said Labour was "doddling from hui to hui wasting taxpayers' money on chit chat" and said it was symptomatic of the Government's apathy towards aquaculture.
He said Maori had been promised 20 per cent of existing aquaculture space and 20 per cent of future space in the aquaculture settlement of 2004, but "not a hectare of the marine farming space promised has materialised."
Mr Horomia said there had been growth in Maori involvement in aquaculture and Maori owned 56 per cent of the aquaculture industry.
"The growth factor has been in Maori taking more shareholding in a lot of big companies. They are the biggest fish owners in this country."
Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia also questioned the Government's record, asking how many permits had been given to Maori since a moratorium on new aquaculture ventures was lifted.
Mr Horomia said none had been issued, partly because local authorities were still selecting areas to be allocated for aquaculture.
