Walker HamishHAMISH WALKER (National—Clutha-Southland): I'd just like to start by acknowledging fellow member Mark Patterson. Mark you've done a good job of this mate. It's not always easy in your first term—as I'm working out—getting a bill through the House. You've worked well with both sides so I just want to congratulate you on that.To the previous speaker Rino Tirikatene you represent a large patch of New Zealand—the entire South Island. Just for the record I'll have you know Gore is the brown trout capital of the world. I'm quite happy to take you on a personal tour there. Just for the member beside you—Mr Paul Eagle—one of the highlights of the day when the Governance and Administration Committee visited Gore was your comment to me after we had some amazing Southland cheese rolls some amazing kai and you said to me Hey mate I've got a question for you." I said "Oh what's that Paul?" and he goes "Oh when are you getting out of this political business?" I said "Well what do you mean?" and he goes "Oh I wouldn't mind a seat like this—the people down here and it's a pretty beautiful part of the country." So we had a lot of fun that day.Can I just acknowledge the excellent work of the chair of the select committee Brett Hudson. It's a hard-working committee which seems to have quite a high number of bills going through it. I just want to also thank all those other members. To the chairman Tom Affleck: Tom I'll be speaking about your submission shortly. No doubt you're watching. I hear the weather's pretty chilly down there. So I hope you've got a heater. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): Order! I'm just going to interrupt the member for a moment. There's a lot of use of personal pronouns in the member's speech bringing the Speaker into the debate. The member should alter his use of the word "you" and if all members can note when they're mentioning other members or members of the public they should say their entire name—their first and surname I should say. HAMISH WALKER: Thanks Mr Assistant Speaker. Tom Affleck I'm sure you're watching. To the other committee members Hamish Mackay John Kerse Chris Affleck Gavin Cruickshank David Smith and Donald Johnson you should be proud of your efforts. You've done a fantastic job and I hope you're staying warm down south—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): "They"—"they" not "you".HAMISH WALKER: This bill is a practical and fair solution for the local farmers. This is not a significant economic asset. The people that use it—the farmers the shareholders—they're the ones that have spent the last 50 or so years getting the scheme up and running. I think this is a lot more than just a water scheme. Those original innovative farmers back in the early 1970s they've inspired future generations. I think there are a few families of third generation farmers that are now using this scheme. This is like history and it probably won't make the grade for a Hollywood movie but I think you could write a reasonably good book about the history of the water scheme.I just want to talk a bit about some of the submissions that were made in Gore and also written submissions to the Governance and Administration Committee and this gives you a sense of how much pride there is in the community for the water scheme. George Morrison he made a really good point that the man who pays is the man who has the say. His father was the local Southland County Council member who played a vital part in getting it off the ground. He also made mention that the county at the time had no intention of taking the scheme over and it's not fair and not right that it's owned by the council.Another submitter David Smith also sits on the Otama Rural Water Supply Committee made some interesting points. One of those was that after leaving school in the mid-1970s he volunteered to work on the insulation of this scheme. He goes on to say that the scheme's success is obvious and he wants the ownership rightfully passed back to the scheme committee.Another submitter Alan Falconer purchased his property 50 years ago and is one of the original parties to the scheme: "Without the Scheme the ability to carry livestock was … limited." In the primary referendum he voted in favour of the moral owners becoming the legal owners and I think that's a good point to note.I just want to talk a bit further about Alan's submission as it paints a picture of what it was like when the scheme was first implemented and why it's so so so needed. He recalls being in situations during summer months when his farm was receiving no water: "Investigation indicated that sufficient water was being introduced to meet the demands of consumers however no water was reaching my tank on the hill. Further investigation after checking for leaks etc. discovered a dairy farmer requiring more water than his entitlement had chosen to bypass the restrictor valve"—therefore taking away water from other users. The committee on finding out this information "acted immediately and made it very clear that any unauthorised tampering with the equipment would result in the offending property being permanently disconnected from the Scheme. As a consequence water flowed to the end of the line!" That sums it up for Southland people—good honest hard-working people.Another person who's played a huge role is Hamish Mackay a wonderful chap. In his submission he said that "the scheme has been very well managed by the … committee in conjunction with the [Gore District Council] 3 Waters department." and on that note I'd just like to acknowledge the Gore District Council.Chris Bishop: Yeah they've done a good job.HAMISH WALKER: They have done a good job Chris Bishop. Upon discovering this they've been very good to work with and held the referendum where three out of four people turned out—just over three out of four I think; 75 percent turned out—and 76 percent supported it. Hamish goes on to say that as a consumer he's "happy to provide labour and machinery if and when required to help on capital works projects."Another favourite submitter—one of my personal favourites—was Douglas Wing who has been a user of the water supplied by the scheme since 1976 and has since subscribed for around 50 years: "My only usage of water from the Scheme for the last 43 years has been for stock water". Over the years of connection with the scheme he has "contributed to the upkeep through mainly providing labour for some maintenance tasks [and] machinery on occasion".John Gardyne: "We use the water from the Otama water scheme for our livestock and homes."—he's been involved in this scheme for three generations—"Clarence Gardyne was on the original committee and served as secretary. And I can remember him working with farmers to organise work days to lay pipe lines and negotiate with farmers access to put pipe lines through their land and carting abestos pipes on tractor trailers to trenches dug by the southland county grader. So 50 years have nearly past with the committee taking an active role in the governance and helping out with the physical work as well. The committee have had skin in the game all the way it was the water they used for their homes as well as their livestock that drove the committee to have good quality water as well as affordable water that was reliable in supply."Last but not least Tom Affleck who has been involved in the scheme since it was first proposed. His property ranges from 100 metres to 250 metres above sea level. "Water was [only] available in the bottom of the gullies or creeks. Household water was roof water a small spring with a pump in a gully that barely saw the sun during the winter. To have water easily accessible to stock in every paddock has been a huge advantage in stock management and also a happy family with no water restrictions." He's a long serving member as he was voted on to the committee in 1972 as secretary and has been chairman since 1993. "Initial financial contributions was $200.00 for the 1st tank"—remember this is a few decades ago because that was a lot of money back then—"$100.00 to the 2nd tank and $50.00 to 3rd tank plus 90 hours of labour from every consumer. In later years the committee and other consumers have contributed voluntary labour to lay new pipes renewing the reservoirs and permanently fencing the same."One of Gore's famous sons Jamie Mackay who is actually the current host of The Country a farming show which is played daily from Monday to Friday is also from there and I'd like to also acknowledge Jamie for his interesting interview last week with Shane Jones. This is the difference between the National Party and other parties: we were founded for and by farmers—incredibly disappointing to hear Shane Jones say to Jamie "If farmers aren't milking cows they're moaning." Well they're certainly not moaning at the moment. They should be absolutely proud of themselves and well done to the committee."