O'Connor GregGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu): Thank you Mr Chair. As someone who stands in this Chamber representing what on the surface of it would appear to be a very rural electorate Ōhāriu—certainly while it's the most beautiful electorate in New Zealand it also is quite interesting because it's one that really when we look at dairying is a picture and a history of dairying in New Zealand. Unbeknown to many there were once 20 dairy farms in that electorate out in Ōhāriu Valley. Those farms once provided this fine city and the burghers thereof and the people thereof with their dairy products over the years. Obviously this has evolved somewhat now—essentially it's now horses and sheep mostly out there. However that does give a little background to what I would like to discuss in relation to this bill.In my own background in dairying let me just say that I was so young when I first started milking cows on a West Coast dairy farm that my father instead of using metal cups actually had plastic cups so that we young lads could actually reach up and put them on in the very modern cowshed the first herringbone cowshed on the West Coast. So here we were—and I suppose as a member of the Labour Party I've got to be very careful that I'm not going to be quoted later on across the Table as advocating for child labour. But here I was as a six-year-old milking cows with my brothers while my father went off the farm to help the rest of the West Coast. As we had that herringbone shed we did get many visitors from around the South Island. It was such an advanced piece of technology on this farm. It was to be obviously overtaken later on by those who were lucky enough to have the roundabout.However on a little bit of a sadder note before I go on to the depth of the bill—and although farmers like to think of themselves as a very independent bunch right through the history of farming there has been the need for good government oversight and even control to ensure that industry does continue. I talk of TB. I can still remember my father looking at the results of the latest TB test and Buller northern Buller in particular was an area that was badly hit by TB—losing a third of the herd each time. He like many other farmers in the district was very nearly wiped out. It was only the timely intervention of the Government where those cattle that previously went down the chute because they were riddled with TB when they went to the works were actually bought from the farm—Rt Hon David Carter: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I just want to remind Mr Chair and the member that we're talking about the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act Amendment Bill (No 2)—two simple pages of an amendment; nothing to do with the contribution being made by this member whatsoever.GREG O'CONNOR: Mr Chairman if I might just to give some context—CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): No no—e noho. [Interruption] No I don't need any help. I thank the member for that contribution. This has been quite a wide-ranging debate on such a small bill and I tend to agree with the member and I'll ask Greg O'Connor to continue but to come to the bill. Thank you.GREG O'CONNOR: Right thank you for that very clear and concise direction—Darroch Ball: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I'd just like some clarification on the ruling you just made. This Chamber is aware and every member should be aware that this bill didn't go through a select committee. So I'm just wanting your assurance that there is quite a wide berth given to the speeches that are made through this process.CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): I can assure the member that if it did go to select committee the content of some of the speeches would not be discussed there.GREG O'CONNOR: Thank you again Mr Chair for that very clear and concise direction. What I was endeavouring to do was to just build the background and context to understand that the background of this bill of course was around ensuring that there is sufficient competition in the dairy sector in the South Island—in fact right throughout New Zealand—to ensure that actually the people who are ultimately protected are the farmers. I am aware that there are farmers now in the South Island who are in some trepidation that ultimately their milk will not be picked up because in the absence of any such competition which this bill is actually addressing there will be only one big provider who will decide they will stop at a certain river and not go beyond that river to pick up the milk. We'll see that those very people that members across the aisle seek to be protecting—or certainly leveraging their anger as we saw in the previous election—will be the ones who will be left either pouring the milk down the drain or actually having to turn their farms into another source of production.So I recommend this bill to the committee for the reason that it is absolutely essential in an industry that is so important to New Zealand that we have the right governance structure and that this Government which in the past has saved farmers like my father—saved industries—still maintains the ability to do so. A laissez-faire approach would be the result of ignoring this legislation and that would result in a poorer farming environment. Thank you Mr Chair.