Woolerton R Doug: New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Third Reading 
Woolerton R Doug: New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:612;Page:9604] 
R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) 
: 
 First I would like to thank the chairperson of the Primary Production Committee and the officials from whom we got excellent advice as usual. I too would like to congratulate the kiwifruit industry on a remarkable turn-round in its fortunes over the last year or so. The people in the industry were innovative and took many risks in the early days but they have organised their industry and have gone out there to capture markets on the other side of the world. New Zealand First has always supported organised markets or organised marketing even in the times when it was not at all fashionable to do so. It is interesting to recall that in the haste to reorganise all the marketing boards a few years ago by another administration this one was going to be the prime contender for reorganisation. It adjusted its constitution called itself Zespri and did a whole lot of other things. But essentially it has remained a single seller and that has been its strength. New Zealand First and I congratulate the industry on its foresight. 
This bill does something else that we think is very advantageous: it stops the re-exporting of fruit that has been sent to Australia on to other markets—or at least it makes sure that the fruit sent to Australia is of a standard that is set by the Horticulture Export Authority and prior to that by Zespri itself. Our markets are damaged by inferior-quality fruit. Marketing is hugely expensive. These people have done a huge marketing job in Germany. They have purchased I do not know how many Volkswagen cars painted them all up and promoted the products—not to mention all the lovely ladies they employ in order to get people to sample the products. A huge cost was expended on marketing. It is simply not fair it is not sense and it is not good business to see those markets eroded by inferior-quality fruit. That is what has been happening to a degree. Smaller fruit fruit of insufficient quality has been going into Australia and then entrepreneurial exporters have been sending it on from there to compete with Zespri fruit in the markets where the quality has been built up by the expenditure of a lot of money over the years. This bill stops that. 
There were several submitters who would have liked to organise the market to too great a degree—in the select committee’s view and I think in the Minister’s view. They wanted to organise or regulate the quantity of fruit that was going into the market which would have had the effect of ratcheting up the price. Naturally the select committee rejected that request. This bill in fact takes away the quantitative restrictions that were in the overarching bill. We think that is fair and proper. We have no problem with regard to making sure that the market is looked after and saved from inferior fruit but we do not believe that it is in New Zealand’s interest or the growers’ interest to starve the market of fruit thus ratcheting up the price. 
There are those on the right of our party who believe that all fruit has a market. Mr Gerrard Eckhoff made that point very strongly at the select committee. He believed that even inferior fruit would have a market and that it should all be sent out there. He said we should have a “buyer beware” situation with people paying what they think they should pay and the market would sort itself out. We do not subscribe to that theory and neither did the select committee I am pleased to say. So we ended up with the amendment that we have here. 
The kiwifruit industry has recovered from some tough times. It has put tough restrictions on its growers and has asked for large contributions from them. Most of the growers—not all of them—have gone along with that and are reaping the rewards. Not all growers have agreed with that and those who have not done so and have not put the effort into ensuring the quality of their fruit would now seek to reap the rewards of those who have invested large amounts of money. We do not think that is right. I am concentrating on a small part of the bill but I think it is a very very important part. 
I commend this bill. New Zealand First is happy to support it in spite of some interjections from my parliamentary colleagues across the House.