6. Biosecurity Management—Brown Marmorated Stink BugHon NATHAN GUY (National—Ōtaki) to the Minister of AgricultureBiosecurity Management—Brown Marmorated Stink Bug6. Hon NATHAN GUY (National—Ōtaki) to the Minister of Agriculture: Does he stand by all of his statements?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): Yes in the context in which they were given.Hon Nathan Guy: How many live stink bugs have been found in ships destined for New Zealand from Japan over the last week?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I've been unable to be in a position to count them.Hon Nathan Guy: Is the Minister therefore telling the House that he's had no formal advice from his officials as to how many stink bugs have arrived on vessels from Japan in the last week?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: No I do not have a number but what I can tell that Minister is that unlike himself we identified through a rigid robust system of inspection of the ship—before any vehicles were put off the ship officials identified—the presence of brown marmorated stink bugs which are a huge threat to this country. We have upped the level of compliance and scrutiny on those ships and we'll stand by that regardless of whether it's two or 2000 stink bugs. We cannot afford to let those pests into this country.Hon Nathan Guy: Are new cars inspected by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) prior to departing Japan and what confidence does he have that stink bugs haven't already travelled all over New Zealand?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I think it's been recorded: the fact that stink bugs have come into this country through different means but have been contained and eradicated in transitional facilities. What we are doing is upping the level of scrutiny at the border. In regard to the issue of inspections offshore there is a changing regime. MPI do not have enough people offshore to inspect every vehicle but the system demands that those vehicles be inspected and if they are infested that they not be loaded.Barbara Kuriger: How will the Ministry for Primary Industries cope with standing up a stink bug response when they're swamped dealing with Mycoplasma bovis?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: Thanks to the inept and underfunded and under-resourced efforts of the previous Government we now have Mycoplasma bovis in this country. MPI staff are doing their very best. We've called on industry to help and they've stepped up significantly in the last two weeks to try and be in a position to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis.Hon Nathan Guy: You want cash too. You want some cash.Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: And if that member had done his job properly we wouldn't have it here in the first place.Barbara Kuriger: What advice has he received on the economic impact on the New Zealand import car industry with the ships being turned around due to the stink bugs?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I don't have an economic report on that. It is unfortunate that some people might have to wait a little longer for their second-hand cars but this Government stands by a delay in getting a second-hand car rather than allowing in a major problem or pest—Hon Nathan Guy: It's the new ones. It's the new cars too.Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: —which that member allowed in under his regime. Mycoplasma bovis is one too many incursions in this country. We're not going to open the border to the brown marmorated stink bug.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can the Minister give the House an assurance that he has the confidence of the funding and the firepower to get on top of these biosecurity incursions and change the appalling record of the last nine years when we had over 171?SPEAKER: Order! According to the precedents that have been given in this House the member has to take care in his answer that he's not using that just as an opportunity to attack the Government. It's up to him to explain his policy not to go backwards.Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I'm more than happy to say that at each occasion I've been to Cabinet to request funding for biosecurity a system that has been severely underfunded by the previous Government my colleagues have looked very positively towards that. We've still got to look at requests on how much will be required to hopefully eradicate Mycoplasma bovis. I have confidence in my colleagues to fund this system properly because that previous Government didn't.