Tuiono TeanauTEANAU TUIONO (Green): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's my privilege to take a call on this bill and acknowledging that I'm replacing Chlöe Swarbrick who is our usual spokesperson but Chlöe along with many of our Auckland MPs is doing her bit to keep Auckland safe—in particular her electorate of Auckland Central.This bill amends the Animal Welfare Act 1999 to ban live export of cattle deer sheep and goats by sea. The ban was announced earlier in 2021 by the Government and the ban is intended to come into effect on 30 April 2023 a transition period of approximately two years after its announcement. This is being done to allow time for those affected to plan.Many of the people that we interact with think the two years is too late and would have preferred to actually just get on with it. But I did note that previous spokesperson for animal welfare Mojo Mathers actually has brought this up about 10 years ago. So I wanted to read a quote from Mojo from around about 2013 which places the position of the Greens: In New Zealand animals work very hard for us. They form the backbone of our economy with animal products forming 45 percent of New Zealand exports last year. As well as food fibre entertainment and income animals provide us with companionship affection and security. We should as an absolute minimum ensure decent lives for them. And quite apart from doing the right thing for animals our reputation as an ethical food producer relies upon this."The Green Party envisions a world in which animals are recognised and treated as sentient beings with intrinsic worth; that domestic animals including farmed animals and other animals in captivity have a high quality of life; and that people act compassionately in their interactions with animals.I want to acknowledge the previous speaker who—and I've seen some of these news articles of farmers who have been concerned about live exports concerned about where their stock have ended up and the condition of their stock as well. I hope in the select committee process that we will get to hear from those people as well.But I also—because I get that some people are all about the economics and all that kind of thing as well but there is a way to actually move the genetic material without actually having to transport animals. I get we've done what we've always done if we always do what we've always done we should always do what we've always done. But actually there could be better ways to do that. So I hope in the select committee process that those voices that actually show that there could be a different way to do this also make themselves available to make submissions as well. There are also questions like if you're exporting genetic material or live exports anyway that you're actually giving over your competitive edge; you are giving animals to people you might be competing with anyway. So hopefully that gets picked up by the select committee as well.Live export subjects animals to cruel and inhumane conditions with few safeguards for their welfare. Once overseas animals are outside our jurisdiction and New Zealand cannot guarantee their safety and humane treatment. Several high-profile and tragic incidents over the years at sea and at destination have highlighted the validity of these concerns. The practice is also a significant ongoing risk to New Zealand's international reputation and like everyone around the House I acknowledge those lives—human lives—that have been lost in the transport of live exports as well and noting that in the last Parliament our spokesperson Gareth Hughes who's now on the board of Save Animals from Exploitation brought this up a number of times in the media recognising the sometimes appalling conditions that workers have on some of those ships as well but also the impacts on animals. So we would have liked to have this banned years ago and also to not have the transition period but we are where we are right now.Back in 2008 because of appalling conditions New Zealand decided we would not allow live exports for slaughter and yet we continue to do live exports in general. So this bill is catching up and we welcome that. We know the reports that the voyage is very harrowing for the animals; the high stocking densities heat stress unnatural diet and rough seas can make the voyage acutely distressing for animals with some dying during the voyage. The movement of the ship especially when large waves slam into the side of the vessel is highly stressful and may result in injuries. Some animals are shipped while pregnant and some of these give birth on board the ships. Animals spend weeks on board ships; long distance transport is stressful for animals. Animals transported by sea for example to China could endure a voyage of around 17 days.As we've talked about as well it can also be quite fatal. So like on 2 September in 2020 the Gulf Livestock 1 capsized and sank off the coast of Japan on the way to China with a shipment of New Zealand cows. All 5867 of those cows died on board but there are many other examples of just how risky live exports by sea are especially when unplanned delays happen. In 2003 Saudi Arabia rejected a shipment of over 57000 New Zealand and Australian sheep on board the MBIE Cormo Express on alleged disease grounds. After two months at sea and with the ship unable to port around 6000 sheep died on board. Live export can be fatal for humans; we've heard that. Gulf Livestock 1 tragically resulted in the loss of not only animal but human lives.Most ships are not designed for export. Recent analysis undertaken by The Guardian revealed that live export ships are at greater risk of sinking or grounding than standard cargo vessels. Arriving alive doesn't mean animals don't suffer and it's important that they are not suffering in pain as well. The journey also doesn't end once they are there; we don't know what's going to happen to them once they get off the boat and so that's important to actually keep that in scope as well.I also wanted to give a shout-out to all the activists that have been campaigning for this for quite some time—in particular in 2019 when animal welfare campaigners came to Parliament to hand over a petition signed by more than 30000 people to end live exports. I think it's really wonderful to see all of this and to see that this mahi has created this change and I would like to acknowledge all of those activists and I hope that they will continue to keep up the struggle for this kaupapa.Just in my closing moments I was wondering what I could offer to this conversation—probably two conversations. I've probably got time for one conversation. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a Sami and they're the indigenous peoples—and they are pastoralists; they have a very close relationship with reindeer. They go across Norway Finland and into Russia. I talked to her because I was interested in terms of their way that they look after their animals and their relationship with their animals as well. Because even though we've had agriculture here in the way that we see it in the last couple of hundred years max—100 to 200 years—the Sami people have been looking after reindeer for 10000 years.When I asked her about this she said this to me: "The environment is very sensitive so we have to learn to listen which means people tend to be quiet. We have a special connection with reindeer; without them we could not have survived here for 10000 years because on the tundra nothing is grown. Reindeer give us everything: clothing food eating the stomach gives us much-needed minerals—we use every part. My grandmother made even her own soap with reindeer bones. We do not own them instead we say that they are owned by the wind. We do not farm them because they are free-grazing animals who are meant to wander. We migrate with them. It is a colonial way to see animals as lesser. Animals are equal to people; they are our first priority. When they suffer we suffer." Thank you Madam Speaker."