Barclay Todd: Geographical Indications (Wine and Spirits) Registration Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBarclay Todd: Geographical Indications (Wine and Spirits) Registration Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 17 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:9909. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]TODD BARCLAY (National—Clutha-Southland): That was just a very riveting piece of history there from Mr Prosser. It was quite entertaining. I did read somewhere though that Abel Tasman was a beer drinker but I am not what the relevance is to this piece of legislation.Before I begin I just want to acknowledge the representatives from the winegrowers’ association who are here in support of this bill and the reason why I wanted to do that is that I understand that there was an industry-wide push to have this piece of legislation and as Mr Prosser said it has been a long time in the making. So I just want to acknowledge the industry for its contribution to that. I also want to acknowledge the Minister—who is no longer in the House—who is leading this bill Paul Goldsmith—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order!TODD BARCLAY: —for his work on this as well as Tim Groser who is obviously no longer—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Can I just interrupt the member and give him a bit of friendly advice. Do not refer to the absence of members even nicely.TODD BARCLAY: Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. So getting back to the bill the Geographical Indications (Wine and Spirits) Registration Amendment Bill as we know it provides a mechanism for the registration of the geographical indicators for wine and spirits. Essentially this enables the identification of wine and spirits as originating from a particular region or a country or an area of the world and representing an electorate that has a small but significant wine-growing and wine business population with areas of Central Otago—particularly the Gibbston Valley—I say this is pretty important. I think it has already been remarked that New Zealand is very well regarded for various aspects of its wine particularly its sauvignon blanc. But Central Otago Pinot noir is also very highly regarded and anything we can do to protect the integrity of our premium brand and our reputation as a premium exporter and just the reputation that we have as a producer of products with a constant level of high quality is really important. I think this legislation is critical in that regard particularly as we embark on the further export of wine products.We have seen that dating back to just 1990—the year I was born—our wine export value was almost insignificant. It was almost nothing and today it is worth up to about $1.5 billion. That is huge and the indications show that further exportation is going to take place and the industry is going to continue to grow. As we look to compete more head-on with various competitors across the world maintaining that integrity and the reputation of our products is going to be incredibly important. Effectively 79 percent of our wine is exported and about a third of that is exported to the US. With the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement the tariff savings will also be a contributing factor in opening up that market for our wines.As I have said the integrity and reputation and the confidence as well that consumers have in what they are buying as being genuine products of New Zealand or genuine products of Central Otago Marlborough Martinborough or wherever are going to be increasingly important as we look to compete at the premium level. The tourism number of around 550000 wine tourists coming to New Zealand last year is significant and it is significant in the Queenstown part of my electorate as well. We see an increasing number of visitors who are well educated in the wine space coming to New Zealand and if they feel like they are not getting the genuine product when they are purchasing wine then that could have a detrimental effect when they go back home and talk to their colleagues and associates about their travel plans.So as a member of the Primary Production Committee it is a great pleasure to commend this bill to the House. I look forward to following it through the parliamentary process participating in that and listening to all of the organisations and individuals who have got a view on this piece of legislation. Thank you.