Kedgley Sue: Veterinarians Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Kedgley Sue: Veterinarians Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:628;Page:930] 
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 I rise not to join in the pitiful filibuster of the National Party. In the extremely unlikely event that anybody is listening to Parliament tonight I just want to assure listeners that what they have been hearing is the National Party’s attempt at a filibuster. That term was invented in America to refer to parties that try endlessly to delay a Parliament. Is this what the National Party members are reduced to—talking about pets and filibustering? Is this how they think they will throw their weight around Parliament and impress listeners? I can tell those members that all this will do is turn people off and turn off the voters because it is a complete waste of Parliament’s time. We have heard a lot about pets tonight but what about the other animals in New Zealand that veterinarians care for? 
This part of the bill is all about the conditions of practice of veterinarians but what about the conditions of the millions of farm animals in New Zealand that live in conditions of utter cruelty? Millions of hens live in cages where they have only a very tiny area in which to turn round. There are millions of hens in New Zealand that are fed antibiotics continuously. If veterinarians were concerned about the conditions that hens in this country live in those cruel conditions would end tomorrow. Of course there is one other person—who happens to be in this room—who could bring to an end the cruel conditions that hens and pigs in sow crates have to endure in New Zealand. That person is the Minister of Agriculture. 
But since we are talking about veterinarians we need to think about for example the millions of chickens that endure terrible conditions—up to 40000 of them are crammed into sheds—and are fed antibiotics continuously for breakfast lunch and dinner. We know that the continuous feeding of low doses of antibiotics to millions of animals that are not even sick will cause antibiotic resistance—and it is doing so. Fifty percent of the chicken flocks in New Zealand have been found to carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Now why is that practice taking place? Who is dispensing the antibiotics? Who is prescribing antibiotics to millions of chickens in New Zealand continuously in low doses for their breakfast their lunch and their dinner? It is the veterinarians who are writing out the prescriptions for the continuous feeding of antibiotics even though they know as every member of this Parliament knows that that practice is causing antibiotic resistance. It is putting the future health of New Zealanders at risk. The Minister of Agriculture is laughing but he will not be laughing when antibiotic resistance develops to such an extent that we are not able to treat basic diseases in New Zealand. 
Unfortunately it is the veterinarians of this country who are not only filling out the prescriptions to enable these appalling shameful practices to take place but who are not speaking out. If veterinarians were to say that it is cruel to keep hens in cages where they cannot turn round or even stretch their wings then I am sure that that practice would be eliminated—even if this Parliament is so spineless and so pathetic that it will do nothing to end the suffering of the millions of animals that are enduring horrendous conditions every single day even as we speak. Even as we speak there are pigs in sow crates that cannot even turn round and are driven to despair. There are also hens in cages and all those animals are there because veterinarians are tolerating the practice and turning a blind eye to it—and of course the Minister of Agriculture who is laughing is allowing that practice to continue.