Eckhoff Gerrard: General Debate 
Eckhoff Gerrard: General Debate 
[Volume:627;Page:21842] 
GERRARD ECKHOFF (ACT) 
: 
 I move  
That the House take note of miscellaneous business 
. Just a few short hours ago 700 apple growers their staff their families and their supporters assembled outside on the steps of this Parliament to protest against the total inaction of one James Sutton known to us all as Jim Sutton. For 6 long years this Minister has been asleep under their apple trees doing absolutely nothing while their industry has been falling apart. 
I say quite frankly that that industry is in dire straits because our nearest and best neighbour will not take our New Zealand apples. The science is right the products are right and everything our growers produce is right but the politics are wrong. Jim Sutton has refused to take a case to the World Trade Organization—that is until the growers visited me at my office a few weeks ago and asked me what they should do. I said they should protest about the Minister’s appalling lack of action on the issue and tell the Minister of their intention to protest about it. They did and—guess what? Within a few days the Minister announced he was going to take a case to the World Trade Organization. That is the kind of politics that Jim Sutton engages in. 
I will say that Jim Sutton— 
Jill Pettis 
: He will be here long after that member has gone. 
GERRARD ECKHOFF 
:—was that the fishwife from Billingsgate again?—is making political history. This week three rural groupings will be protesting on the steps of Parliament. That is unparalleled in our history. In a New Zealand society based on agriculture we have seen apple growers today and tomorrow we will see thoroughbred horse breeders and along with Federated Farmers I trust we will see hundreds upon hundreds of landowners in this country coming to protest against the actions and inactions of one man—Jim Sutton. 
He has achieved absolutely nothing during his tenure which is fast coming to an end. Never before have five branches of Federated Farmers passed a vote of no confidence in the Minister of Agriculture. Never before has a Minister of Agriculture actively promoted extra taxes against the sector he is supposedly advocating for. Never before has a Minister of Agriculture in this country sat on his hands as Jim Sutton has. 
A few weeks ago in this House Winston Peters suggested that an Iraqi Minister of Agriculture was in New Zealand. Well that makes two of them. I ask which one is the bigger threat to the New Zealand rural community? It most surely is not the Iraqi; Jim Sutton is the biggest single threat to that community. 
When the protest occurs tomorrow—[ 
Interruption 
] 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I am sorry to interrupt the honourable member. I remind members of the convention that members should not conduct conversations in the House unless it is necessary and then only in a way so as not to disturb the proceedings. I urge restraint on honourable members so they respect the contribution of another member. It is good conduct and common courtesy; it is being considerate of others. 
GERRARD ECKHOFF 
: Tomorrow there will be another major protest which is about the abuse this Government is going to perpetrate and perpetuate on private property. That is when Jim Sutton should stand in front of the farming community and say that the Government will withdraw this appalling legislation this abuse of allowing the public to have access to private property. 
I believe that the rural community will stand up tomorrow and say to the Minister: “We will not accept it. We don’t care if you pass legislation; we’re not going to accept it. We’re not going to accept the redistribution of New Zealanders’ property rights.”