Shearer David: Urgent Debates — Dairy Products Whey Protein—Response to Contamination IncidentText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeShearer David: Urgent Debates — Dairy Products Whey Protein—Response to Contamination Incident[Sitting date: 06 August 2013. Volume:692;Page:12327. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DAVID SHEARER (Leader of the Opposition):I moveThat the House take note of a matter of urgent public importance . We were shocked as a country to learn on Friday through an email or a press release that was sent out at about 1 o’clock on Saturday morning that there had been a serious problem regarding the contamination of some of our milk product that has been sent overseas. This has grave consequences for New Zealand. It has grave consequences for both our trading partners and our export markets overseas but more important more directly and more immediately it has obvious consequences on women fathers and children in terms of the formula that parents are feeding their children. Many mothers and fathers around this country are worried about the formula they had been feeding their kids because of the risk that botulism might have been introduced to them. That same fear was spread around the rest of the world where New Zealand product had been exported.The response from the Government and the way that Fonterra responded was of critical importance to the way that we could at least alleviate the many fears that those parents had. The Government was quick off the mark. I commend it for its speed in being able to do that. I believe that the response the Government has made to the emergency up to now has been a good one. But we are still left in a situation where there are many many questions that remain unanswered. From the point of view of Labour Party members we want to stand with the Government on this issue. This is an issue of “New Zealand Inc.” It is about our futures together. It is not about politics as such. It is about New Zealand our reputation and the reputation of our products overseas and offshore. So we will stand with the Government and we will stand with Fonterra and we will assist as much as we can in providing those answers for parents. But as I said there are questions—there are very serious questions—about the way in which this problem emerged and the way in which the Government’s response has takenplace so far. As I said the Ministers have responded quickly but the question really is about the wider governmental response.I guess the first question that needs to be answered is why this potential contamination took so long to detect. The problem was first alerted back in March and it took until now for us to actually realise that we have sent offshore milk powder or milk whey that was contaminated with this bacteria. Why did it take so long to tell people about it? We would have thought that givenFonterra’s realisation after the dicyandiamide scare it would realise that this sort of problem should it get out has innumerable vast consequences for our export industries.Why has the Ministry of Health not played a major role in getting information to parents? The Prime Minister mentioned that the Ministry of Health was involved in some of the discussions but it has been notable by the absence of its voice in this particular case. It has not been heard across New Zealand and it has not been able to give that reassurance. In fact many of the mothers who have been ringing in to get good accurate information have actually been ringing Plunket. That emphasises I guess—underlines—the value and the reliance that we put on Plunket in New Zealand.What protocols did the Ministry for Primary Industries and Fonterra have in place for handling these sorts of situations? Given the dicyandiamide scare and given the melamine scare before that we would have thought that protocols were in place and that it would simply be a matter of plucking them off the shelf so to speak and applying them to this particular context. The fact that the information kept changing the facts kept changing is a real concern. There does seem to be an absence of strategic communications within Fonterra that points to some deeper problems within Fonterra around food safety and the way that it responds to it.As I said in my speech earlier on Fonterra is our largest company. It is a brand that we feel proud of. It is a company a cooperative that is owned by New Zealanders. It is owned by farmers. It is unique in that sense. It can never be sold offshore. It is uniquely and firmly implanted in our country. It came into existence in order to provide that clout on the world stage. Many people have contrasted the fortunes of Fonterra with the fortunes of our meat industry which is far more fragmented and as a result is not doing anywhere near as well. Fonterra came into existence under a Labour Government which had to overlook and override many of the concerns that the Commerce Commission brought up in regard to the existence of Fonterra. Yet we are very proud of this company as I have said. We are very proud of a company that has been able to get out there and be the ambassador if you like for New Zealand for our “clean green” brand and for our clean green image.That brand is I think about the 22nd or 23rd most recognised brand in the world. I think New Zealand’s “clean green” “100% Pure New Zealand” brand comes just after or just before Dell computers. Fonterra was the ambassador of that brand offshore because its products made up 28 percent of our export value. So an incident like this creates real problems not only with our milk exports—which have been shut out of Russia there are concerns in Viet Nam and Malaysia and there is the possibility of being shut out of Sri Lanka and obviously China where nearly $3 billion of product goes—but right across the world in terms of the way that we are perceived internationally.Fonterra is a global company—a truly global company—and it has huge responsibilities. We have given it the right to be a monopoly in our country and we believe that that was the right way forward but with that right comes enormous responsibility. As our only truly global company that responsibility includes protecting our reputation as a source of safe quality food. Our food commands the top price the premium price because we advertise it as clean green safe ethically grown andsustainable. It is not born from large sheds of cows standing in stalls being fed grain or whatever supplements and chemicals; it is milk that comes from the grass from the fields that we are blessed with in terms of our environment and our climate.But our reputation is built on trust. It is built on trust as much as it is built on our technology. The quality of that trust disappears as transparency fades. Transparency is hugely important for New Zealand and the way that we articulate that around the world. We have a reputation for being the most honest and the most transparent country in the world. Transparency International puts us there at No. 1. That is part of our reputation along with the reputation for being clean and green. On this Fonterra has unfortunately let us down in the last couple of days. As I said before its strategic communications have been hugely lacking. For me seeing the changes in response over the last few days has been very disappointing. The representative who was on John Campbell’s show last night—Hon Clayton Cosgrove: Romano.DAVID SHEARER: —Gary Romano could not give us a reassurance about the milk powder that was actually out there on sale—Hon David Parker:KaricareDAVID SHEARER: —Karicare thank you very much—and whether the batch numbers were at fault or whether the actual product itself was the problem. We understand that things can go wrong—of course we understand that—but what we expect from our largest global company is to be told the truth. People expect to be told in a fulsome manner the facts of the case. As I said that is what we are known for and that is what the people and the Government in China are expecting from us as well.John Key was in China in April. We have an ongoing relationship with China that is hugely important. It became our No. 1 trading partner in the world just a few months ago. It has enormous potential to grow even further than that. Our product is regarded there as the most trusted and the most safe. So when its news agency calls our brand into question it creates enormous concern and enormous worry about the future. We will need to get this right as Tim Groser said today in the House. Over the next days weeks and months getting this right and re-establishing ourselves as an exporter of quality food is going to be hugely important and the way that we articulate that in the coming days is going to be very very important.After that time we are going to have to work hard to build up the respect and the trust that have been lost as a result of this scandal. We have to ask more questions of course. Have the Ministers done enough from the outset? From what I have seen they certainly have not slackened in their task which is good but we have to ask questions about the Ministry for Primary Industries. We have to ask whether that ministry has been too hands-off or in fact whether it has not been brought into the loop as quickly as possible. I suggest that it does point to an issue within Fonterra—that it keeps the Ministry for Primary Industries at arm’s length and does not bring it in. As a result there is a culture amongst some of the more senior people there of dare I say it arrogance—that they know better than absolutely anybody else. Well I hope this brings about some humility from that organisation because that organisation has put at risk our exports—that is the farmers in our country—but also of course the whole “clean green” brand of New Zealand itself.The Ministry for Primary Industries has always pushed to grow exports and often I believe that has overshadowed the emphasis it has put on protection. Our biosecurity and our food safety are two aspects that used to be quite separate and they have been merged into that one organisation that one ministry. Those two together I believe have maybe lost their way in the bigger infrastructure of the ministry. This is one area that Ido believe we need to go back to to see exactly where they were how they were brought into the current problems and what role they actually play as well.But our first priority once again is the protection of families and their children the protection of our international standing as a safe food exporter and our nation’s reputation. We need to work much harder and much faster on that because this issue is bigger than politics. But Fonterra as I said before is not bigger than Parliament. It is up to us in this House to come together and to make sure that everything that happens from this moment on happens in the best interests of both parents and of this country. Thank you.