O'Connor DamienHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I'll take a short call to firstly acknowledge New Zealand First for their initiative. I think it was very good and very timely. Good things take time like a good wine a good cheese and wisdom in the National Party and I have to acknowledge the previous speaker Mr Brownlee. I think he's made some very fair points—that is that this bill is a good attempt. It will need some adjustment and the Government does support this both into select committee and at select committee. We haven't had time to consider the extent of the changes and the level of support that we will give but I think we have to admit—and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to work out—there are pressures in the primary sector at the moment coming up into winter with things getting a bit colder. I was reminded of that more so in the South Island than the North. All of those little climatic changes and regional changes are felt very much by farmers up and down this country and we can sit in Wellington here and sometimes forget that.This bill is an attempt to I guess bring some balance to a relationship that is usually very productive across the primary sector—that is that farmers need capital to firstly buy farms and then to operate them—but it's a relationship that is not always in balance. The reality is that there has been a huge amount—and the speaker from New Zealand First Mark Patterson pointed to the level of debt: about $68 billion or thereabouts owed by farmers up and down this country. It's not an insignificant amount of money. It's not much less than the Government owes and it's dependent upon the hard work of families and corporations and other people to pay that money back eventually and certainly to be paying the interest on that on an annual basis.From time to time because of fluctuating markets some people go broke. They simply can't pay the bills and the banks are forced to—don't want to necessarily—actually sell them up. At that point then the balance of power is not often always fair. I guess you've had ultimately the bank with all the rights through contractual arrangements basically demand that they get their money back and often farmers and families having to walk away with not just nothing but actually with still huge debt owing to them.Someone sent me a copy of a press article here from June 2013 where indeed myself—along with the assistant to Janette Walker who's done a lot of work in this area and still does putting forward a debt mediation bill that was ultimately blocked by the National Party at the time who couldn't see the value of it. I have to say that we've all moved on and I acknowledge as I say the wisdom that's emerged from us all—that is that we need to ensure some fairness in a situation that will occur for too many farmers in the near to medium future. If they're having to sell up the reality is that there are more farms on the market now that we've probably seen for a very long time—probably since the 1980s. People are holding up for their estimated value on their asset because they need that return when they sell to pay back the bank and to have something for themselves and if the values were to drop and sales start to progress then someone's going to be losing something.I have to say that the banks are currently looking at—and I had a couple of discussions on the weekend—this whole debt mediation proposal and I have here a committee report from Queensland where a select committee looked at the whole debt mediation situation and recommended a bill. There are pieces of legislation throughout Australia dealing with this issue with different levels of success. In summary the banks actually really like debt mediation because it provides a fair process that protects both parties as they work through—not arbitration but mediation. I think that over there in Australia actually the banks like it more than the farmers.Look on balance of course there'll be people who walk away who are not entirely satisfied. I think if we can bring in a regime here in New Zealand that does bring some balance to I guess a difficult solution—it always will be difficult—but one that is fair to both parties then we will have achieved the outcome that New Zealand First is seeking with this piece of legislation and I think that all the House now seeks to have for the farming sector across New Zealand.So in summary I thank the Opposition parties and New Zealand First. This is a timely piece of legislation. The Government's committed to assist it through to a better conclusion. Kia ora.