Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has weighed in after dolphins delayed SailGP races in Christchurch, leading to infuriated comments from sailing boss Sir Russell Coutts.
Yesterday, the chief executive hit out at the "extreme" marine mammal management plan, which meant a day of sailing was cancelled on Saturday.
Protocols meant racing had to be stopped if a dolphin was sighted near the racecourse and would not resume until at least 20 minutes had passed since the animal was last seen within the shutdown zone.
Luxon was asked about the topic at his post-Cabinet media conference this afternoon.
He responded by saying there was generally "way too much red tape" involved with running events in New Zealand. However, when asked whether it would be prudent to reduce marine protections, he deferred to agreements struck with local authorities.
Luxon said: "We want to be able to attract world-class events to New Zealand. It's important for our economy to be able to do so.
"We've got to find the balance and get the balance right between running world-class events that have got TV viewership with lots of spectators involved, as well as obviously protecting our environment, and doing it sensitively.
Chief Executive Sir Russell Coutts lashes out at officials even as the races were getting underway. (Source: 1News)
"My personal view is way too much red tape — the obstruction economy, everything's slowed up and, as a result, that doesn't make us a great place if you want to run a global event.
"I want this to be a great place to run a global event at, so we've got more work to do around making sure we don't put barriers and obstacles in the way of us being able to attract world-class events to New Zealand."
Coutts, who has said Christchurch is "unlikely" to host SailGP again, also disputed the endangered status of Hector's dolphins in his Sunday statement.
He additionally described the incident as "another example of New Zealand being handcuffed by unprecedented layers of bureaucracy and red tape".
Luxon added when pressed today: "There's a number of parties that are involved in Lyttleton that agree with SailGP, the protocols for under certain circumstances, what they will do and how they will manage that environment.
"All I'm saying to you is that there's an awful lot of red tape, and we've got to make it really attractive to be able to run these events here.
The yachting legend, and SailGP chief executive, said a lack of flexibility and well as pressure from advocacy groups had made Lyttelton a non-viable option. (Source: 1News)
"Again, that's up to SailGP, and those local authorities, which comprises of a range of groups and interests, to actually work out how they make it work.
"Clearly in this case, when you've got, I think it was, 50 million people watching on TV and 20,000 at the event — being delayed a day isn't a great thing."
The PM's coalition partners, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters and ACT leader David Seymour, have also used the incident to criticise perceived onerous regulations.
In a joint statement yesterday, ChristchurchNZ and iwi Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke said the sailing competition had agreed to the protocols when choosing the venue.
Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke chairperson Mishele Radford said: "SailGP knew what they signed up for when they decided to hold the event within a marine mammal sanctuary."
The statement read: "The safety of the endangered Upokohue/Hector's dolphins who live in Whakaraupō, Lyttelton Harbour was always a consideration when the city contracted with SailGP to host the event.
"SailGP, with input from Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke and advice from the Department of Conservation (DOC), developed a revised Marine Mammal Management Plan for the event to protect the dolphins from the possibility of being struck by the blade of an F50 foiling at speeds of up to 100km/h."
Hector's dolphins are unique to New Zealand and are one of the world's smallest and rarest marine dolphins.
They have a conservation status of "Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable", which means they have been assessed as facing a high risk of extinction in the medium term.
DOC deputy director-general operations Henry Weston said: "The marine mammal management plan was developed by and belongs to the race organisers."
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