Woolerton R Doug: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Woolerton R Doug: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:627;Page:22139] 
R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) 
: 
 It is interesting for anybody listening to hear Labour and National members talk about the small things that are happening in agriculture. We are talking about the estimates for the agricultural portfolio and I want people to think about a couple of things. 
Firstly I want them to think about the $9 billion deficit that was announced post-March this year about how it happened and about how it will be resolved. How did it happen? It happened because we have had a boom of consumerism in this country. Our exporters who are mainly agricultural people have been working away day and night and they have been earning record prices for their produce I must say. While that has been happening consumers have been bringing untold produce into this country mainly from China and people have been spending up large. We have ended up with our overdraft—in normal people’s terms—growing to $9 billion. 
In the meantime what is the National Party talking about? It is talking about land access. Labour wants it; National does not and neither does New Zealand First. I want to talk to members a little about land access. I was at a Federated Farmers conference last Tuesday in Hamilton and that subject was not even mentioned. Well it was mentioned but it was not an issue. One ACT party member namely Gerrard Eckhoff has been going all around this country for 6 months in a yellow bus trying to drum up some enthusiasm by farmers for making that subject an election issue. The Minister of Agriculture was at the conference so he knows that it was not an issue. National was—I do not think I can use the word I was thinking of—working in tandem with ACT to make it the big issue of this election. Never mind the dollar and never mind that the farmers will have to pay back that $9 billion! All that those members can do is run around the country trying to stir up this business of land access—for which we do not even have a bill I might tell members. When we do New Zealand First will oppose it and everyone knows that. 
But land access is not an issue for farmers because the things that concern them are things like the dollar—the comparative worth of the dollar with the US dollar. The things that concern farmers are the inputs they need. The price of land is a concern to farmers and the Kyoto Protocol is a concern to farmers. The Kyoto agreement was signed by the National Government in the early days and was continued by this Labour Government. We are not allowed to use coal in our electricity generation. We are not allowed even to use coal in our homes so the rumour is going up home. But we are allowed to export coal to countries that are not bound by the Kyoto Protocol. 
I am talking about that because it is yet another burden for our farmers to overcome. They will have to claw back $9 billion plus some more. That money will not come from computer software. It will not come even from wine exports although they will be a contributor. It will come from the same industries that have set the standard of living for this country for years past and will for years into the future. New Zealand First is concerned to talk about the real issues for farmers which are the dollar input costs and the prices for their commodities.