Carter David: Animal Products (Dairy Products and Other Matters) Bill — Second Reading 
Carter David: Animal Products (Dairy Products and Other Matters) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:624;Page:19013] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to take a call on the Animal Products (Dairy Products and Other Matters) Bill. I say at the outset that my colleague on the Primary Production Committee Phil Heatley has excellently analysed the technicalities of the bill so I will confine my comments more to some of the politics of it. 
Firstly the fact that the bill received very few submissions—there were four submissions on the bill itself and two submissions on the Supplementary Order Paper—in no way decreases the importance of this legislation to our dairy industry. 
The second point I want to make was touched on by my parliamentary and select committee colleague the New Zealand First member Doug Woolerton. He reminded the House in his contribution that dairy products now make up 25 percent of New Zealand’s exports. That means that this economy is vitally dependent on the future of the dairy industry. Doug Woolerton made the interesting comment that it is no longer fashionable to talk about New Zealand’s dependence on the dairy industry. I take grave issue with that view. I think it should be entirely fashionable to talk about the importance of the dairy industry to this country. [ 
Interruption 
] Dianne Yates now has something to say. She had nothing to say earlier but she is totally agreeing with me that yes it is fashionable to talk about the importance of the dairy industry to New Zealand. 
We are now so dependent on dairying as the major contribution to export earnings that no other industry in New Zealand comes anywhere near to matching its importance. Therefore New Zealanders ought to take note of what happens to commodity prices in that industry. To the benefit of the current Labour Government those prices are at an all-time high not because of any action taken by the Labour Government but because of world markets. So I take the opportunity to remind all New Zealanders of the importance of the agricultural economy and particularly the dairy industry to New Zealand. 
The third point I want to make concerns the rather unusual occurrence whereby the bill and a Supplementary Order Paper were presented to the select committee at exactly the same time. That shows particularly unsatisfactory drafting by the Minister. My first reaction when I heard in the middle of last year that this legislation was coming to the House was again to think that Jim Sutton—“Silent Sutton” as he is now known throughout New Zealand—had been particularly sloppy with it. But I was prepared to excuse him because after 5½ long years of “Silent Sutton” looking after the agriculture portfolio it appeared that he had finally had the initiative to bring into the House some legislation that might be helpful to the agriculture industry. Surprise surprise when we actually got to see the bill when it was brought into the House for its first reading we found that it was not in the name of the Hon Jim Sutton at all; it was in the name of the Hon Annette King the Minister for Food Safety. 
The point I make is that Mr Sutton finally had the opportunity to do something creditable for the farming community—to do something that could have ruined the very bad track record he has established over 5½ long years of giving nothing back to the agricultural sector—with this particular legislation but that opportunity has now passed Minister Sutton by. He still has the unenviable record of not having promoted any piece of legislation that he can claim to have initiated and that he can claim has made things easier for New Zealand farmers. 
I was at a public meeting in Feilding yesterday amongst many many farmers. One of the people at that meeting stood up and suggested that the Hon “Silent” Jim Sutton was responsible for the dairy reform that had taken place—the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act of I think 2000. “Wrong again!” I had to say to that person. Jim Sutton only tidied up what had been initiated by the previous National Government. It was John Luxton as the Minister responsible for agriculture who in around 1998 staked his career on making sure that we deregulated our dairy industry. It was he and he alone who was at the forefront of the formation of Fonterra which to date has been a remarkably successful enterprise for the New Zealand dairy industry. Mr Sutton came along after all the work had been done and happened to be in the position to attach his name to the legislation but I remind the House that he can take little or no credit for it. 
As Mr Phil Heatley outlined very well the Animal Products (Dairy Products and Other Matters) Bill facilitates trade. Of course the National Party supports anything that facilitates trade. In that regard this legislation is particularly helpful. But it gives me the opportunity to think about the fact that already because of the Labour Government the dairy farmer in Australia has a significant advantage over the dairy farmer in New Zealand. I am referring of course to the free-trade agreement that Australia has negotiated with the United States of America—something that should have been available to New Zealand but was not because the American Government quite rightly became fed up with the insults that were being tossed at it by our current Prime Minister Helen Clark. 
Ian Ewen-Street 
: Jolly good! 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: The Green member interjects. He says it is “jolly good” that Helen Clark has taken every opportunity to insult the Americans to the extent that the Americans will not allow New Zealanders to have a free-trade agreement with them although the Australians have one. Ian Ewen-Street goes on record tonight as saying that that is good for New Zealand. I say to the member that that is crazy. In every international market for our dairy products we compete with the Australians. In every market Australia either has the lion’s share of the market with us a close second or we have the lion’s share of the market with Australia a close second. But we are cut out of the one important market—the United States of America which is still the biggest economy in the world—because the Australians now have a very significant advantage. And Ian Ewen-Street and Labour say that that is good for New Zealand. Well I say that that is absolute rubbish. We are now light years behind the Australians in that regard because of the insults of the Prime Minister to the American administration. 
The important thing about this legislation is that it facilitates trade. We as a nation particularly as we are so dependent on the dairy industry must grab every trade opportunity that exists. The attitude expressed in this House tonight by Labour and by the Green Party is that one particular market—the United States of America—does not matter. It does. While this legislation is a step in the right direction to facilitate trade we have another important opportunity: to seize every chance we get to negotiate a free-trade agreement with America. 
In my closing comments I want to reiterate that Mr Sutton can take no credit at all for this legislation. It was handled very well by the select committee. It was put before the select committee by the Hon Annette King the Minister for Food Safety. I still hope to see Mr Jim Sutton before he loses his job as the Minister of Agriculture after the general election at least take the opportunity to introduce some legislation that he can claim makes things easier for New Zealand farmers. 
Hon Rick Barker 
: That member will never get it. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I say to the member interjecting that if Mr Sutton were to do that we might see an end to the motions of no confidence in the Minister of Agriculture that have been moved round New Zealand—something that I have never seen before in my time in New Zealand politics.