Woolerton R Doug: Meat Board Restructuring Bill — Second Reading 
Woolerton R Doug: Meat Board Restructuring Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:618;Page:14070] 
R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) 
: 
 New Zealand First likewise supports this bill and as previous speakers have said it has cross-party support—as many things do in agriculture because we have a habit of being very practical people—and the solutions are sensible ones. Mr Speaker you would know as I know—and I apologise for bringing you into the debate but I do so purposely—that we are watchers of the political scene. That is as far as you go Mr Speaker. But it is one of the beautiful ironies of politics and watching from the centre of the political spectrum it is interesting to see that there is something that is a fact in New Zealand. Even in my earlier days of farming I recognised that the National Party the Tories or the parties of the right—call them what one will—will talk about agriculture and say how important it is and that it needs to be kept strong in order to keep the country strong. Thereafter National biffs the agricultural sector around kicks it in the guts and uses it mercilessly. Unfortunately for National along came a Labour-led Government in due course and the farmers prospered. Now that is a delicious irony because the farmers do not respect that fact and by and large do not give Labour credit for that. National of course answers by saying that it set the scene and Labour has reaped the reward. Well I wish I had somebody to set the scene so I could reap the reward. 
New Zealand First supports the passage of this bill. We have it as a matter of policy that if an industry conducts a vote and 75 percent of the participants in that industry agree to change we will accept and support that change. That is what has happened in this industry so we very definitely support it and support it enthusiastically. It is true that the restructuring of the farming sector which has led to Meat and Wool New Zealand Limited and to the retention of the board that we are discussing now was started by National. It will have escaped no one’s notice to see that a very good business person or in fact two very good business people who were previously members of this House have gone out and taken full advantage—and good luck to them—of the restructuring of the Dairy Board by starting up their own dairy factory something that previously they could not do. I do not criticise that at all. But I think it is worthy of note that they were able to do that and that they have done so because of the restructuring they initiated. 
It is also worth noting that some of the restructuring in the early days as Mr Cosgrove has rightly said and as Mr Shane Ardern will admit privately when we are talking as farmers over the fence or somewhere else was less than successful shall we say initially. It has come right in the case of the fruit industry but that industry is largely privatised. Interestingly enough the kiwifruit industry which was at the forefront of the need for change so it was said did not restructure along the private model but on the cooperative model. The dairy restructuring retained to a large degree the cooperative model. Both those industries are working well. The cooperative model was not followed in the fruit industry where the restructuring did not work as well as in the kiwifruit and dairy industries. 
New Zealand First sees no need for a period of destabilisation following change and sees no need for farmers to be affected detrimentally. New Zealand First sees no need at all for there to be disruption in an industry when change takes place. In this case there is to be none. There are significant advantages in what has happened and New Zealand First enthusiastically supports the retention of a board to specifically make sure that our quotas which give us access into foreign countries are looked after nurtured and monitored. Those quotas are our access into very very lucrative markets and it would be nice if we could have all our products go through them but that is not to be. The quotas are important. They add the icing on the cake for this very important industry an industry that is at the present time enjoying quite substantial benefits. I made a small note that Mr Shane Ardern did not mention that the returns for meat at the present time are at or very near record levels. I do not blame Mr Ardern for failing to mention that. Mr Ardern was around when Rob Muldoon was around and Rob Muldoon had a saying which was: “If you can’t kick ‘em don’t hug ‘em.” So Shane Ardern would not mention the fact that— 
Phil Heatley 
: He went to school with Rob Muldoon! 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: Yes but Rob Muldoon is somewhere far colder than this House and he is somewhere where I am not yet and where I am not likely to be for a number of years. God bless his soul. But it is true that I was wandering amongst the dinosaurs at one time. 
New Zealand First is pleased to see the retention of this board which will nurture the quotas that are so important to New Zealand’s growth. The one thing that Mr Ardern did point out quite correctly was that all the efforts in this country to take us down a path—through some knowledge wave conventions or conferences—leading to some new technology roads have added small amounts to our economy and small amounts to our exports. But it is our agricultural exports our fishing exports and our land-based exports that are still the guts of this economy. While that may not be recognised in some large cities around the country it is recognised by anybody who knows anything at all about the New Zealand economy. 
I cannot sit down without saying that all these industries rely on something that is unquestionably under the control of the Minister of Finance—in many cases people say it is not but in New Zealand First we believe it is—and that is a low exchange rate for the dollar relative to the currency of our trading partners. New Zealand First believes that the Government should remain active in that area. We encourage and have supported Dr Cullen when he has made noises to bring the dollar down in order to help our farmers and I cannot sit down without saying that that is a huge part of this industry. 
I would like to lend my voice to that of Clayton Cosgrove in urging the National Party—in fact begging the National Party and saying we will make every endeavour to help the National Party—to promote Shane Ardern not only to the front bench but to the chairmanship of the Primary Production Committee. That is not to take anything away from David Carter—I will not be unkind—because we hope he exists. My leader has an interest in David Carter’s welfare at this point in time so we want him to continue on. But in New Zealand First we would like to see Shane Ardern promoted and brought into the chairmanship of the select committee.