Eckhoff Gerrard: Meat Board Restructuring Bill — First Reading 
Eckhoff Gerrard: Meat Board Restructuring Bill — First Reading 
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GERRARD ECKHOFF (ACT) 
: 
 I rise to speak in this debate as something of a rather rare species if not an endangered species. I am probably the only MP in this House who returned to the farm this weekend and got my hands dirty. I shifted a few sheep and turned off the irrigator. I am sure the House would be delighted to learn that the exodus of the million or so lambs out of the east coast of the South Island has stopped and we can be extremely grateful for the rains that have occurred. 
In listening to the previous speakers—and many made very good points of course—one thing I can say is that the importance of the agricultural industry and the pastoral industry is still grossly underrated in the eyes of many New Zealanders. It is not that long ago that the Tourism Board did a survey. In that survey it asked visitors to New Zealand what the most iconic aspect of New Zealand was. What was it that they most recognised when they were overseas or in New Zealand? What was the thing they most wanted to see? Interestingly enough it was not the kiwi or Janet Mackey or whomever else. It was in fact the sheep. That is what visitors to this country recognised as being the most important iconic thing—or certainly animal—in this country. It is quite an interesting aside. 
I support of course—as everybody else does in this House—this bill going to the select committee which is not to say that we in the ACT party do not have some concerns about this bill. I will reflect on the meat industry’s not too distant past. Prior to 1984 we had things like supplementary minimum prices and we had Government controls and we even had at one time the Meat Board actually exporting meat. What a disaster that turned out to be. It is also worth thinking about what life for a farmer after subsidy was like. We were getting approximately $10 for a lamb and for an old ewe we were lucky if we did not get a bill. Many farmers did get a bill for their old ewes back in those days after subsidies were removed. 
The industry was forced to get itself together and I am delighted to say that many farmers in this country have received up to $120 for a lamb when the exchange rate was down at shall we say more favourable levels. Today we are getting between $50 and $60 and between $30 and $40 for old ewes. I say those things as a tribute to the way this industry has picked itself up over the last 20 years and has really started to swim. 
One of the most successful companies still farmer owned is the Alliance Freezing Company in the scenic south—when it picked up Waitaki I think at politicians’ behest many years ago. I believe that Alliance is now our leading meat-processing company. We have moved on so far to the extent that we now have robots processing carcasses. That is a huge advance for this industry just in the period of 20 years. 
Other speakers have alluded to possibly the most important aspect of this bill which is to manage the hugely important quota system that allows exporters access to the high-priced markets. For far too long New Zealand was pouring product into low-priced markets in the Middle East and others. We now recognise that the most important markets to us are in Europe and the USA. We are unfortunately still under the quota system. I would love to see a total free-trade system where we can export and import to our heart’s desire. But in fact we do have this quota management system in place and the board’s duty under this bill is to continue to administer this quota. 
Can I just offer a moment or two of thought about this quota system? The Primary Production Committee has just gone through over a year’s inquiry into the scampi quota. That was all about who got what under a quota system. The potential—I emphasise the word “potential”—is possibly there for something similar to occur in the meat industry if we are not very very careful. As I understand it a case is going to the Privy Council very shortly alleging unfairness in the distribution of this very valuable meat quota. We certainly do not want to get into a system where some sort of old boys’ club is developed where the existing exporters receive an appropriation of any new quota and the new players that we all welcome into this industry receive little or nothing. The allocation system that the board has developed and will probably refine over a period must be transparent so that farmers and other companies can see that it is being totally fair and totally up front that everybody is getting their fair share and not having a system where the allegations—as I alluded to earlier—of unfairness and even corruption were levied at many players within the fishing industry during this scampi inquiry. 
One of the other concerns I have is that the new board that now incorporates part of the wool industry must not get top-heavy. It has real potential now with its developing size to get bigger and bigger and therefore more costly. The board must continue to look at ways of downsizing itself. I think it was Mr Ian Ewen-Street who said there were some very real concerns about the restructuring of this industry. I do recall members of the board expressing some concerns about the vote—whether we continued with a meat board. So the board moved to continue with the quota system and rightly so. But there was a very strong body of opinion that said to the board that it did not want to see this industry get top-heavy and bureaucratic and that we want to be able to retain our control. There is now an industry board where exporters and farmer representatives work together hopefully for the good of this industry. That is as it should be but we must always make sure that the balance is right. 
One thing that does concern me is the need—as the Government puts it—for some form of oversight by the Labour Government. I ask the simple question—why? This industry right now manages itself. It does not need oversight or political influence. That is what I do not like about this bill. Many farmers have a concern that there will be a continuance of political interference and oversight of this industry—something the industry does not want or need. I am concerned about the very wide powers given to this Minister under clause 11 “International obligations”. Speaking as a member of the Primary Production Committee I am sure we will be looking at that issue in very close detail to ensure that the level of influence of the Government is kept to an absolute minimum if at all. 
I must say we are suffering a little bit under the high dollar at this time but I might add that the high dollar also provides a driving impetus for the industry to decommodify. So I look forward to a very exciting time in the meat industry in the future.