Spat erupts in Parliament over proposal to sell off conservation land

A scrutiny hearing at Parliament devolved into a rowdy spat with accusations of lying, cries of hypocrisy and a demand that the minister "shush".

Conservation Minister Tama Potaka was interrogated over proposed law changes which would allow up to 60 percent of conservation land to be sold off.

He was adamant the intent was only to get rid of "bits and bobs" of land with low conservation value.

Green Party co-leaders Chlöe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson presented to the room Forest and Bird's poster of the extent of land that could be under threat.

But Potaka wielded his own props - printed out images of the sort of land DOC should not own, like the MetService building in Wellington.

"[It has] very little, if any, conservation value," he said.

"There's no real value, but DOC continues to hold on to it. Actually, we should sell that ... in order to generate some money to invest in the very biodiversity that the opposition trumpets as the most important thing that we need to do now."

The back-and-forth grew feverish after Potaka alleged the former Labour government of failing to increase conservation funding to the level required - more than $2 billion.

"That's blatantly untrue, minister," Labour's Priyanca Radhakrishnan said, while Swarbrick raised a point of order.

"He's answering the question," replied committee chair Catherine Wedd.

Swarbrick: "But he's lying!"

Potaka: "Pardon? What did you say? ...Okay, okay, hang on, she's calling me a liar."

Davidson: "We both are."

National MP Grant McCallum then piped up: "Hypocrite!", while later in the hearing, Labour's Rachel Brooking raised her finger to her lips and told Potaka to "shush".

Once the room settled, Potaka made it clear he had no intention to sell off huge swathes of conservation land - just "bits and bobs", pointing to the poster of the MetService building, and another of a gravel reserve surrounded by farmland on the West Coast.

"There have been some very scandalous accusations made, madam chair, that I completely outrageously object to," Potaka said.

He said it was "spurious" to suggest he was trying to sell off 60 percent of the estate: "That's highly ridiculous and fantasy land."

Brooking sought "comfort" from Potaka that the only land disposed of would be of low or no conservation value.

"I've said that so many times," Potaka exclaimed. "I've said 'bits and bobs!'"

The minister repeated that significant amounts of land would not be sold, and said anyone claiming that was in "the Olympic championships for exaggeration".

Potaka added there was a long way to go yet with the law, including clarifying disposal and transfer processes, which would play out during select committee.