Carter David: Local Government Law Reform Bill — In Committee 
Carter David: Local Government Law Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:632;Page:3802] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 Having been in the Chamber throughout this debate I say that what staggers me are the contributions we have heard from the Government side and the realisation of how out of touch United Future New Zealand First and Labour Party politicians are with the depth of feeling around this issue. New Zealanders are totally opposed to microchipping because although the impetus for this legislation was around a horrific dog attack all sensible New Zealanders know that a microchip in the neck of a dog will not stop a single dog attack. New Zealanders know that and that is why this has become such an important issue. 
Equally frustrating is the amount of misinformation that has been presented to this Committee by Labour members over the last few hours of this debate. Let us take the contribution from Moana Mackey. She kept talking about how successful the New South Wales microchipping regime has been. Yet she knows full well that in New South Wales farm dogs are exempt. That farm dogs should be exempted is one of the amendments the National Party has put forward in the Committee today and that we will certainly be voting for obviously. Moana Mackey who used to be a rural electorate member of this Parliament should remember that farmers are under tremendous pressure. Incomes have come off and expenses continue to increase—many of them imposed by the Labour Government. But here we have an expected $3 million annual cost being foisted on the farmers of New Zealand for absolutely no purpose. 
The other misinformation was from the Minister in the chair herself from Nanaia Mahuta who said during the debate that the cost of microchipping would be somewhere around $35 to $70. Well I went back through  
Hansard  
to when Chris Carter the then Minister in charge of microchipping slammed this amendment into the House. He said that the cost would be from $12 to $20. In actual fact neither Minister is right. Many of the vets I have spoken to are talking about a cost of up to $100. Moana Mackey may say that is insignificant and Ron Mark certainly said it was insignificant but for the farmers of New Zealand—young guys with mustering teams of 10-plus dogs—$1000 is a lot of money. 
Then we had the contribution from one Steve Chadwick who is the member of Parliament for Rotorua. She said that councils around New Zealand want this legislation. How then can she explain to me the letter I received this week from the Tasman District Council? It states that the council moved a resolution expressing its opposition to the microchipping of rural and urban dogs first registered after 1 July 2006. Councils do not support this legislation and they will not enforce it. That is why New Zealanders are totally upset about this legislation. New Zealanders know that the legislation is dopey and that it is unenforceable so why do New Zealand First the poodle party United Future and the Government attempt to continue with it? 
I will speak to my two amendments. My first amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 41 seeks to achieve what the farmers of New Zealand want and it is totally sensible. It means that no farm working dog would have to be mindlessly microchipped just to satisfy the wishes of Helen Clark. I have another amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 40 that moves to exempt all dogs from microchipping. 
I congratulate the work done by the Green Party. I have enjoyed dealing with the Greens. They have been absolutely consistent. They have moved an even better amendment that exempts all dogs with the exception of menacing and dangerous dogs. I congratulate the Greens on the position they have come to. 
Today we have clearly a very close vote in the Committee. It would be interesting to ask why Jim Anderton has not even bothered to take a call. The Minister of Agriculture went around the country saying: “What Jim says Jim does.” Well here is his chance today.