Cosgrove Clayton: Urgent Debates — Dairy Products Whey Protein—Response to Contamination IncidentText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCosgrove Clayton: Urgent Debates — Dairy Products Whey Protein—Response to Contamination Incident[Sitting date: 06 August 2013. Volume:692;Page:12336. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour):Like others across the House—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): This is a 5-minute call.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: Thank you Mr Speaker. Like others across the House I say that no one would wish this day to have come. This is about “New Zealand Inc.” This is about an industry that is 26 percent of New Zealand’s exports with 35000 workers plus an estimated 10000 self-employed we believe. I thank the Government for its response but like others I say that it seems to us as observers—and these are questions for another day—that if it is the case that Ministers were blind-sided as they possibly appear to have been then substantial questions need to be answered in coming days and weeks once we are through this crisis as to where we got to in the last few days.This is about firstly as others have said the safety of the smallest individuals—children—both in New Zealand and in other jurisdictions. We have to continue to do everything that is humanly possible to ensure that that safety continues and that children do not fall foul either in our jurisdiction or internationally of the difficulties that we are now in with these milk products.Equally linked to that of course is New Zealand’s international reputation. A reputation can be destroyed in this day and age in a millisecond and can take months if not years of work to restore by both the Government and the private sector. The only way we maintain and enhance that reputation is by ensuring that our international markets and those Governments and regulators in foreign jurisdictions have trust and confidence that we will communicate clearly that we will communicate consistently that we will do all that is within our power—and I include in these comments of course Fonterra—to ensure that these matters are remedied.I welcome the Government’s response in response to the Labour Party and Opposition parties’ comments that this is above politics and of course it is. There are times in this Parliament where we need to rise above politics when the national interest is at stake and one could argue in fiscal terms that the national interest is indeed at stake. I would say in response to Minister Kaye and to Minister Groser that it may well be appropriate given the non-partisan nature that we have over this issue that they may wish to extend to Opposition parties briefings about these particular issues we have in common. To date that has not occurred. We know that there have been other and greater priorities and I acknowledge those but I say to those Ministers that if we are serious in joining together to resolve this then those briefings are important.Can I make one other comment and again it is a matter for coming days but there needs to be as others have said a full open and transparent set of inquiries into thesematters. I note I believe from either a Minister or the Prime Minister’s response today that the feeling is that there should be a Fonterra inquiry and a Ministry for Primary Industries inquiry. Can I make the suggestion to those Ministers that that is all well and good but if we are trying to restore confidence in foreign jurisdictions I think it will be necessary for an independent form of inquiry that goes beyond the Government department and that goes beyond Fonterra. I think that given the publicity that is in theChina Daily Mailand others it would not be acceptable for Fonterra to be inquiring into itself or for the Government department to inquire into itself. There needs to be somebody of standing somebody outside those regimes who can make a full account of the facts put that in a transparent way and put that account before Parliament and the people of New Zealand and enable Minister Groser and others to take that out to foreign jurisdictions and give assurances that are independently verified that these matters will be resolved and will not occur again.Can I say finally to those in Fonterra that they will need to look very very carefully at their conduct over this issue given melamine given dicyandiamide and given this. They must explain they must communicate and they must be consistent not only to the parents in New Zealand and foreign jurisdictions but also to international markets. Sadly I think they have been found wanting.