O'Connor DamienHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): Thank you Madam Speaker and I felt a little disappointed that I wasn't able to introduce the bill. But I'm sure my ministerial colleague did a great job of introducing a bill that I have to say—thankfully—is supported I think by all parties in the House. It is wonderful after what has been a very challenging time for Parliament and for New Zealand I guess to bring to the House a piece of legislation that is supported by all.Look I'm not going to take too much time other than to say it wouldn't have always been like this. Organics were seen as a bit of a fringe thing for quite a long time and we could probably go back 15 years or even 20 years. I have to say there are people I would like to acknowledge. When we came into Government in 1999 we initiated an inquiry into the organics industry and its potential and we identified that. There were a couple of people who were—one was consistent and that was Jeanette Fitzsimons. I'd like to acknowledge her. It's sad to see her passing and I'm sure she would have enjoyed seeing the passage of this legislation. She was consistent in her advocacy for organics. The other person who was perhaps persistent was Steffan Browning. I think he's been acknowledged in this House. He did always always push push push and still does and we welcome that kind of advocacy.Of course he has been followed by people like Brendan Hoare in the industry who I guess have been knocking on our door saying that we desperately need this single standard to give consistency to give certainty and ultimately to give extra benefit to New Zealanders. We have—as I think Barbara Kuriger said—people in this House who are managing kind of organic farming systems. The vast majority of New Zealand farming systems with a little bit of tweaking could probably be called organic and there is a premium in the market. I have to say that with COVID-19 there will be more focus on healthy food and safe food as we go forward. So we're ensuring that organic which has been perceived as safer has to be safer because of the production systems that we're going to use and this is what this legislation's about. We did ask the question whether our export standards should be consistent with our domestic standards. The feedback was Yes they should be." and so we are pushing ahead with that one consistent standard.So I'm not going to take any more time. I think members prior to me have said about the potential for organics to grow that it is consistently outstripping the growth of consumption in almost all other food markets around the world. So if we're going to seize the opportunity to get more from what farmers do—not ask them to do more—then we have to push ahead in niche markets like organics which is growing. We don't have enough product to feed the people or supply that demand so we've just got to get on and do what we can. We have as a Government a commitment to try and turn our farmers into the best farmers for the world and having the organic standard that has integrity that is consistent and that backs up their efforts is one major step forward in the process to become not just the best farmers in the world but the best farmers for the world and make sure that they have enduring and sustainable farming systems that give them the returns for their efforts protect our environment and ensure that we can do our part in feeding the world. Kia ora.Bill read a first time. Bill referred to the Primary Production Committee."