Key John: Wine Makers Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Key John: Wine Makers Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
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JOHN KEY (NZ National—Helensville) 
: 
 I rise in the joyful capacity of a member of Parliament. Seldom do we have the opportunity to discuss a topic as important as the Wine Makers Amendment Bill or a subject quite as pleasant as wine. I join my colleague the Hon David Carter on behalf of the National Party in strongly supporting the passage of this legislation through the House. 
I want to draw on the comments made by Mr Gerry Eckhoff and to a certain degree those made by Darren Hughes who I think do not understand this bill. Mr Eckhoff spent some time discussing what was wrong with the bill and saying that our industry may fail in some way to put the correct label on wine or to do the right thing and may fail in its internal perception of this bill. That has nothing to do with this bill. This bill is totally driven by what the European Union demands of our industry. Nor as Mr Hughes said is this bill about economic or industry reform. This is something driven by the European Union and the demands on our industry. It is an external-looking thing. 
But in supporting the passage of the bill I do so against the backdrop of an already hugely substantial and growing industry. It is worth noting that the purpose of the Wine Makers Amendment Bill—given that I hold the view that not all members of Parliament understand it—is to enable New Zealand exporters to fulfil new obligations that the European Union has announced will be implemented in respect of wine imported from third countries such as New Zealand. In particular the European Commission is imposing a new regulation and if New Zealand wine exporters fail to comply it will prohibit the export of New Zealand wine to the European Union which represents a huge part of our market—Britain in particular. 
I think it is worth reflecting just for a moment on how substantial the wine industry in New Zealand is and on its growth. In 1992 just over 10 years ago there were only 166 wineries in New Zealand; today there are 398. Over 10 years ago only approximately 50 million bottles of wine were produced in New Zealand; now about 100 million bottles of wine are produced. Ten years ago we earned $34.7 million in export dollars; today we earn about $271 million. So this is a very growing and significant industry. It spans 1000 miles of our country and it has grown in 10 districts. The importance of this legislation to the industry is very very clear and members who simply drive around their electorates or any parts of New Zealand will recognise that. 
When researching this speech I came across a fact that I was not aware of and that is that the growing of grapes covers the largest area of any fruit crop grown in this country. Grapes for wine are grown on 17400 hectares. When we compare that with 12200 hectares for kiwifruit or 11000 hectares for apples we see that the wine industry is huge. And it will get better and it will get better in some part because we will be able to export more product. The industry will mature and we will be able to export more because of the passage of this bill. 
I believe that wine plays a very understated role in the export-led economy of New Zealand. I have heard it said and I believe it that wine is a flagship for New Zealand. It represents everything about New Zealand that is great—that we are clean we are fresh and we are diverse. It really is wonderful. The swift passage of the bill will help that image. 
But I want to make one very important point. In passing this legislation we help collectively to protect the image and reputation of the New Zealand wine industry. In that respect I wish now to disagree with the member of the Green Party Ian Ewen-Street who said that the industry does not want this bill. I disagree. The industry does want this bill because it will protect the collective reputation of our wine industry. [ 
Interruption 
] That is very important; I agree. Parts 1 to 4 of the original bill are a vastly different proposition and we will come down to the House and debate them at some time. 
Our wine industry has a very formidable reputation. One need only look at Sauvignon Blanc as a great example. Prior to Sauvignon Blanc grapes being grown in the Marlborough region and the production of wine from that area it was largely an unknown wine. New Zealand has now set the world standard for that wine. That is how important our reputation is. 
I think it is also very important to understand one of the very important things about the passage of this bill. The labelling requirements will not only give comfort and assurance to foreign Governments but maybe most important of all will give assurance and comfort to the very consumers who will drink this wine. In that respect I think it is very important indeed. 
I do not want to take a lot of the House’s time but I want to point out one very small part of the bill. I refer to new section 26A “Director-General may notify or make available access requirements for overseas markets for grape wine” which is inserted by clause 147. Under this section members of the wine community are able to inspect the requirements for no charge and if they purchase them they have to be available at a reasonable cost. But being the wonderfully diligent member of Parliament that I am sure I am I looked at subsection (4) which states that there is nothing that prevents the director-general from charging for access to a website. That does not seem right to me. I believe that electronic communication will be an increasingly important way of communicating with our growing wine industry. I do not believe that the director-general should have the capacity via this bill actually to charge members of our growing wine industry to access the very information they need to make their businesses more successful. 
On that note I commend this bill to the House.