Dean Jacqui: Crown Pastoral Land (Rent for Pastoral Leases) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Dean Jacqui: Crown Pastoral Land (Rent for Pastoral Leases) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 01 May 2012. Volume:679;Page:1849. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki) 
: 
 The Crown Pastoral Land (Rent for Pastoral Leases) Amendment Bill is just about through its third reading and I imagine that in homes all around the high country of the South Island there will be farming families watching and listening only wishing that the third reading was over and this could be passed into law. That would then put to an end the most terrible situation that our high country farmers have faced at the hands of the previous Labour Government.  
Do you know Minister David Carter was absolutely correct: David Parker when he was Minister for Land Information callously and in a calculated way introduced the rent-setting regime in order to force farmers into tenure review. And why did David Parker wish to force farmers into tenure review? It was because the Prime Minister of the day Helen Clark wished to have the high country farmers off the high country so that she could form a high country walking track the length of the South Island. It is as simple as that. So the Hon David Parker did the will of the Prime Minister of the day and ratcheted up the rents to the degree where for many of those high country farmers that level of rent was unsustainable. They simply could not afford the level of rent that was being proposed.  
The stress that that proposal put on high country farming families should not be underestimated. I will never forget the high country farmer with a proposal for his rent increase coming to see me in Ranfurly. The man was in tears and it is a really hard thing for a farmer to come in to his member of Parliament and be under such stress from the Minister of the day that he was completely broken up by it because he simply did not know how he was going to pay that level of rent. And why? So that David Parker could force the high country farmers into tenure review.  
Well the high country farmers lost their respect for the then member for Otago and voted accordingly and I think there is no love lost between that member and that sector of the community. I was not heartened to hear in the Committee stage of this debate a member of the Opposition referring to high country farmers as the privileged few. That said it all to me. The attitude of the previous Labour Government is that the high country farmers of New Zealand are the privileged few and needed to be rented off the land so that that land could be returned for the pleasure of the then Prime Minister Helen Clark.  
This Crown Pastoral Land (Rent for Pastoral Leases) Amendment Bill puts right that terrible wrong. How can it be right for a previous Minister for Land Information David Parker to say: “If you don’t like your rent increase come and see me; we’ll talk about it.”? What kind of law is that? What kind of legislation is it for any Minister to say: “Well I’m sorry if the rent is too much. Never mind—come and see me.”? 
Debate interrupted.