Ardern Shane: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Ardern Shane: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:640;Page:10404] 
SHANE ARDERN (National—Taranaki-King Country) 
: 
 It is with pleasure that I rise to speak in this estimates debate on the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. I will share with the Committee some of the concerns I have as a result of being part of the Primary Production Committee that examined those estimates. 
First of all I asked the Minister for Biosecurity Jim Anderton what was being done to control didymo and how much work was going into research into a way to control it and potentially eradicate it. The Minister said to me that I had spread much misinformation on that subject. In fact I think the Minister dedicated about four pages of the 8-page communiqué that came out afterwards to criticising my comments which demonstrates that I clearly got under the Minister’s skin at that select committee and hit a raw nerve. 
But that having been said he asked what I was doing with regard to promoting the good works of Biosecurity New Zealand and he said that instead of being negative I should promote the positive things that have happened with regard to the control of didymo. I thought I would do a bit of research and see how the rest of the community is seeing this good work. 
In a summer survey of users of upper South Island rivers 24 percent reported that they had checked cleaned and dried their gear with regard to shifting from one river to another. What do we know about the spread of didymo? We know that it is being spread by people not by wildlife as first thought by this Minister. That would clearly demonstrate that this is not working and the Minister needs to do more about it. 
What has the Minister done in response to the Tongariro recreational group that made several submissions to him about trying to contain didymo in the South Island? The answer is that he has done very little if anything at all. They are gravely concerned. Let us look at some facts. In the past 5 years 233 new organisms have entered New Zealand. New Zealand’s isolation has given us a special environment to enjoy and protect and we need to do so. The question is: how much insurance is too much and how much is not enough? Clearly when we look at those statistics we can see that we do not have enough insurance at the moment. The most dangerous enemy we face in biosecurity in New Zealand at the moment is the culture of apathy that exists within the Minister and his department. The Minister needs to take account of what is happening at our borders and do something. We are too slow to react. We are too quick to dismiss eradication as an option. 
I do not accept that it is too hard like the Minister does and I do not accept that there is not enough scientific evidence around the world to address some of these issues. The Minister need only look across the Tasman to our Australian counterparts and ask what happened in the case of the black-striped mussel incursion in Darwin Harbour to find out that they used a copper sulphate - based material similar to that now being promoted by the Environmental Risk Management Authority as a potential control for didymo. Yet the Minister and the ministry will tell us that there was no science-based evidence that suggested at the time that that may be a successful product. Why not talk to international biosecurity agencies that have done the work? 
Last year 15 tonnes of fruit fly material was intercepted at our borders including 8.2 tonnes of meat products and 3.7 tonnes of grain. How do we know this? We know this because we caught those people—it was on their person. We could say that that is good but Biosecurity New Zealand itself says its audit suggests that at best 10 percent gets through and any one of these products has the potential to devastate our economy. I say to the Committee today that it is time this Minister did more than just have a talkfest. He should get off his butt and do something about it. Clearly our $200 instant fine at the borders is not working. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: This is agriculture and forestry. 
SHANE ARDERN 
: Biosecurity is definitely part of that. I think you should go back and have a look at what is being debated here. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: It is a separate vote. 
SHANE ARDERN 
: I have to inform the Chairman that biosecurity is still part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. We may have to have this dispute off-line later but that is a fact. 
In 2005 we issued 7627 instant fines. Of those 5000 were issued to visitors to this country. We have to ask whether those laws are being upheld. I say that they are not. More needs to be done to protect our borders.