Kedgley Sue: Airports (Cost Recovery for Processing of International Travellers) Bill — First Reading 
Kedgley Sue: Airports (Cost Recovery for Processing of International Travellers) Bill — First Reading 
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SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party is very happy to support the Airports (Cost Recovery for Processing of International Travellers) Bill. This uncontroversial and very reasonable bill will internalise some of the enforcement costs associated with international travel particularly in terms of biosecurity. 
Last year there were almost 30000 flights into New Zealand and they brought in amongst other things 4.5 million people. Obviously as an island nation our air links are incredibly important to our relations with the world and our economic prosperity. But equally as the previous speaker Carol Beaumont pointed out biosecurity is one of the most significant economic issues in New Zealand. We need to be vigilant about biosecurity in order to protect our primary production base from introduced pests and species. One of the great advantages our primary production sector has over the rest of the world is its relative freedom from numerous pests and diseases. So obviously the Greens strongly support the notion of taking stronger measures to maintain that status by having strict border security quarantine and internal biosecurity capacity. 
As the previous speaker mentioned it is ironic that on one hand we are taking all these extremely vigilant and very worthwhile steps at airports to protect our biosecurity but on the other hand the Government is eliminating 54 staff from MAF Biosecurity New Zealand. Equally because of our obsession with free trade and despite our vigilance about airports we are extremely lax in other areas. 
For example we are considering bringing in Australian honey even though it is completely unnecessary. We have a wonderful honey industry in New Zealand and we have no need for imported Australian honey. We know that imported Australian honey may harbour new and quite devastating diseases that could be a precursor to colony collapse disorder which we know is killing bees on a massive scale all around the world. We are prepared to bring in a completely unnecessary product like Australian honey even though we know that Australia imports honey from China and other places and mixes it with Australian honey. We know that Australia has diseases that we do no have here. I think one is called Israeli acute paralysis virus or something or other—a very strange name. Australia has these diseases yet we are prepared to bring in this unnecessary product—God knows why—that could result in the wiping out of bees in New Zealand. How absurd is that! 
We are also allowing frozen pork carcasses to come into New Zealand even though we know they may bring in new diseases. Indeed we think a disease has come into the country via imported frozen carcasses. Australia will not allow them into the country but we let them into New Zealand because I presume we have an obsession with free trade and are not prepared to stand up and oppose it. 
Last year a disease came into New Zealand and devastated tomato production. There are suspicions as to how it got into the country. It may very well have got in through some of the imported produce we allow into New Zealand. It is interesting that we import $3.5 billion worth I think of food into New Zealand every year. We import vast quantities of fruit and vegetables and there are concerns that the disease that affected potatoes and tomatoes— 
Sandra Goudie 
: Try relating it to the bill. 
SUE KEDGLEY 
: —in such a devastating way last year came in with some of the imported produce that we allow so freely into New Zealand without adequate controls. The relevance of my speech to this bill which some National members are agitating about is that on one hand we are very stringent and rigid at our airports—which the Greens think is a fantastic thing and strongly support—and on the other hand we are so lax in relation to produce coming into New Zealand that can bring in devastating diseases. I refer to diseases that can devastate whole sectors of our primary produce industries as they already have done—for example the diseases affecting tomatoes and potatoes which came into the country during the last few years. Now we have the prospect of a disease coming in that might devastate our honey industry. The most likely cause of the pork disease that has come into the country is frozen pork. In the meantime we are busily cutting 54 staff from Biosecurity New Zealand at the same time. So this bill does not make a lot of sense. 
Nevertheless the Greens are pleased that at least we are allowed to have strict aviation security at our airports where we do not have to worry about free trade with other countries. This bill will allow that same strict biosecurity at new international airports it will internalise some of those enforcement costs and it will also reduce the Government’s exposure to liability in relation to the processing of travellers. We think that is fair. 
In conclusion the Greens hope that the very strict rules around biosecurity that are envisaged in this bill will actually pertain to other areas in New Zealand and in particular that New Zealand will be more vigilant about the vast amount of produce coming into this country and its ability to bring in diseases that will devastate our primary production sector.