McKelvie IanIAN McKELVIE (National—Rangitīkei): That was a gem. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to rise to speak to the first reading of the Food Safety Law Reform Bill. I think that the previous speaker although he was not entirely complimentary actually did raise a number of issues that are absolutely relevant to this bill. Of course this bill comes out of the Food Act 2014 which was some 10 years in the making. It took a lot of work by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) by a series of Ministers and by our broader food-related community to get that Act in place. As often happens when we get a piece of legislation finally through the House something comes along and changes the course of that legislation or gives us the opportunity to review some of the things that were put in place in the course of the original legislation. The whey protein contamination incident of 13 September 2013 led to a subsequent inquiry that has given Minister Goodhew the opportunity to review the Act and come up with the Food Safety Law Reform Bill that we have in front of us now. So although it was a huge issue for New Zealand internationally we received great credit for the way in which MPI did deal with this in what were quite difficult circumstances. So I think that contrary to comment that we have just heard we were done no damage internationally in the course of that process. In fact we came out of it with some significant credit and it has certainly given us a very sound base on which to go forward as we continue to put this new legislation in place. The whey protein contamination incident was significant enough to warrant an independent inquiry being held and although the inquiry focused on the dairy sector the changes made in this bill will benefit all sectors of the food production industry. The recommendations used to form the bill will lead to amendments to three Acts: the Animal Products Act the Food Act and the Wine Act. All of those are Acts that make a significant contribution to the New Zealand food industry. Food of course is certainly the biggest industry in New Zealand. It accounts for over 60 percent of our merchandise and some $27 billion of income employs some 80000 people and is absolutely critical to the well-being of this country. So this bill as it passes through the parliamentary process and comes out the other end will be absolutely one of the key platforms on which we build our future as a food-producing nation and on which we secure the right of our food producers to export and participate in the international market. It is absolutely key to us that we have a sound piece of legislation that backs us and obviously experience gives us a lot more credibility in this area. I just want to perhaps also comment on the capacity of MPI which in the last 2 or 3 years has grown significantly. As food biosecurity animal welfare and the key issues that relate to agriculture become more and more complex as the world pays more and more attention to where food comes from how it is produced and how it evolves its job is hugely complex. I think it has played a great role in getting us to the point we have got to in the last 3 or 4 years with all those three major Acts and it will continue to do so as we move forward. I think we are in a pretty good space with this bill and it will be very interesting to follow it as it moves through the Primary Production Committee and comes back to the House. New powers for the director-general enable them to decline plans and to compel disclosure and certainly have given I think confidence to the whole industry and will create a very confident platform for us to move forward. This bill is a good sound response to the inquiry. It puts the WPC80 incident behind us. I look forward to further debate taking place during the select committee process. Thank you.