O'Connor DamienMINISTERIAL STATEMENTSMycoplasma Bovis Outbreak—Culling of CattleHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): I wish to make a ministerial statement on the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. I want to update the House on significant steps taken in recent days to control the spread of the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis. The disease first discovered mid - last year has an impact on the health of cattle including high mortality among calves mastitis high rates of abortions and reduced milk production. It is a drag on the incomes of farming households rural communities and the national economy. I've been working hard with officials industry leaders and farmers on the ground to take actions to limit the outbreak's impact.Yesterday I announced that the Ministry for Primary Industries will cull 22332 cattle on all properties infected with the disease. This is the single biggest cull of cattle in New Zealand's history. Last Friday I announced the introduction of a checkpoint at the top of the South Island for trucks carrying cattle north which will prevent animals moving from infected and restricted properties. These necessary steps are aimed at stopping the spread of the disease giving farming families certainty about their livelihoods and protecting our regional and national economies.The reason we've decided to cull cattle now is that milk testing shows that Mycoplasma bovis is not endemic in the national herd. All our finds to date stem from two farming hubs. I note that the industry has backed the Government's decision and decisive actions in recent days saying that these steps will allow farmers to plan for the future. These latest actions will be paid for by $85 million that Cabinet and industry groups dedicated to the response earlier this month.Tracing the disease has been a massive undertaking owing to the poor use and application of the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) system. A review of the tracing system found that just 57 percent of those farmers recording their animal movements do so within the 48-hour statutory time frame and it's estimated that only 30 percent of farm-to-farm animal movements are recorded. Unrecorded stock movements are a significant reason for the spread of Mycoplasma bovis and have slowed our tracking of the disease. That is simply not good enough. We will work with farmers to fix NAIT's problems and to protect our economy from future biosecurity threats.Coming from a proud farming family I understand how hard it can be for people on the ground dealing with Mycoplasma bovis on a daily basis. In my visits to farms around the country in recent months I've been heartened by the support that farmers and their rural communities have shown to each other. I want to thank farming industry groups and in particular rural support trusts for their work to help farming families dealing with restrictions on their farms as a result of the Mycoplasma bovis response efforts.To those farmers who face the culling of their herds I understand that this is a difficult time but the Government in the actions it is taking has shown it's committed to working with you as farmers and we are prepared to make the difficult decisions. Officials have reassured me that farming families will be walked through the process to cull animals in a caring manner over the coming weeks and we are boosting compensation teams to help farmers claim for the verifiable losses that they suffer as part of the biosecurity response efforts.Officials continue to investigate how the disease entered New Zealand. It is a complex task and we are working hard to find the source of the outbreak. The dairy sector is New Zealand's largest export earner at $14.6 billion of export revenue for the year ended June 2017 while the beef sector earned an extra $2.7 billion. This Government is committed to ensuring these industries which are vital to New Zealand's economy are resilient and protected from biosecurity threats.The Mycoplasma bovis outbreak highlights the impact biosecurity threats pose to our agricultural production systems. As the world becomes a smaller place these threats are more persistent and harder to keep from our borders. I consider biosecurity is the biggest challenge I face as Minister and the biggest challenge we face as a country. I've committed to upgrading the Biosecurity Act to ensure it is fit for purpose in a world where pests and disease can come on a boat in a plane's cargo hold or carried by a tourist visiting our country.Over the coming weeks we will continue our tracing of Mycoplasma bovis before making a final decision which I'll take to my Cabinet colleagues about whether eradication is still possible and economically viable. I expect the number of infected properties will increase as that work continues. Eradication is still our focus but that will come with a price tag and a lot of hard work and cooperation between everyone involved. The Government's actions over the last few days have shown the importance we place on supporting our farming sector.SPEAKER: Before I call the next speaker can I just remind Ministers that they do have—I didn't interrupt the member when his time was up because it is a matter of significant importance to New Zealand but it should be possible to make a ministerial statement within five minutes and I would like to remind Ministers when they do it in future to stay within that time.