Carter David: General Debates 
Carter David: General Debates 
[Volume:611;Page:8123] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (NZ National) 
: 
 I will continue the theme outlined by the previous speaker and talk about meetings that are occurring all around New Zealand to which Labour Party politicians will not front up. It is a tired pathetic invisible man that we now have as the Minister of Agriculture in New Zealand. Where is the Minister of Agriculture when farmers want the flatulence tax explained to them? Jim Sutton will announce his retirement from New Zealand politics in the near future as a sad broken man who can no longer defend the policies of the Labour Government. I want to know what that Minister will be remembered for. 
Jill Pettis 
: A good deal. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: A lot? I think that is true. I do not often agree with Jill Pettis but that Minister will be remembered as the man who brought in the flatulence tax and was then not prepared to attend any of the meetings to defend it. That Minister will be remembered as the person who brought in the exit grant through the 1980s when the last Labour Government sent thousands of farmers to the wall. That is how the Minister of Agriculture Jim Sutton will be remembered. 
Where was Jim Sutton when 1500 people marched down the main street of Invercargill? Where was the Minister of Agriculture when that meeting took place last Saturday? He was sitting in Wellington cowering in his office hoping that he did not have to answer any of the difficult questions. Where will the Minister of Agriculture be next Thursday when thousands of farmers descend on Wellington to stand in front of Parliament? Will the Minister of Agriculture front up to them? I guarantee that he will not be there. At that meeting the farmers of New Zealand will be saying: “Come and explain the flatulence tax.” The Greens will not front and United Future which is currently supporting the Government probably will not front either. [ 
Interruption 
] Jill Pettis certainly will not front and I know that the Minister of Agriculture will not front. They are running scared. 
I want to know why the Minister of Agriculture said in the House on 22 July this year that the farmers can afford to pay the tax because on average they earn over $106000 a year. What an envious line! “Tough luck cockies you can afford to pay so stop whingeing.” That is what he said when he went to the Federated Farmers conference in Auckland which just goes to explain the envy politics of this Labour Government. I have a message for Mr Sutton and for every other member of the Labour Party: if the farmers are whingeing they have every right to whinge. They have had 18 new taxes in 4 years; the flatulence tax is just the latest of the ridiculous taxes to be heaped on that sector. 
The Labour Government is actually here because of the farmers. The buoyancy of the last few years has been because of the backbone provided by our agricultural sector. What has Labour done for it? It has heaped more taxes on it. If Mr Sutton had been prepared to front up at that meeting or had sent any other Minister to front up he would have heard the farmers saying enough is enough. The Government should stop heaping ridiculous taxes on to the agricultural sector particularly when it is under economic pressure because of declining returns. Mr Sutton should stop running away and start fronting up and representing the concerns of farmers. The farmers deserve an explanation because enough is enough.