Prosser Richard: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeProsser Richard: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 01 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9221. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]RICHARD PROSSER (NZ First): It is always a pleasure to follow Dr Smith’s stand-up routine. I am delighted to have the opportunity to rise to respond to the Prime Minister’s statement and that is partly because there is so much that needs to be responded to—not so much about what the Prime Minister had to say as about what he did not have to say.A great deal of what the Prime Minister did not have to say concerns the primary sector. It concerns the farming sector the agricultural sector the provinces rural New Zealand—the heartland. The Prime Minister had very little of very much use or value to say to rural New Zealand in general or to the farmers of New Zealand in particular. That is something of a paradox because the National Party this National Government has long touted itself as being the party of the farmers and for the farmers. Indeed that was true once upon a time a long time ago—a very long time ago.National has continued to trade on that old reputation and those old allegiances even though nowadays and for quite a long number of years now National has in fact been the party for Queen Street the party for merchant bankers and actually the party that does not really appear to give a damn about the farming sector at all anymore. The farming sector is beginning to wake up to that. It is beginning to realise that its own party of old has abandoned it in all but name and it is starting to look elsewhere and the by-election in Northland showed that. The traditionally true-blue territory of the far north which has been National since forever has grown tired of being taken for granted and tired of being marginalised. It showed that it was tired by turfing the National Party out of its turf and installing the Rt Hon Winston Peters and New Zealand First instead.The cracks are beginning to show in other places as well. In Mr Barclay’s seat of Clutha-Southland party members and committee members are leaving the National Party in droves such is their disaffection with the direction that this John Key – led “National and friends” Government is going. In the Wairarapa the winds of change are blowing and come 2017 they are going to deliver another body blow to the National Party in the form of a change of member and the new member is going to be Ron Mark.Why is this happening? Well it is happening because National’s priorities are all wrong and people have had enough of that. Commodity prices are down milk is down and farmers are hurting and yet this National Government is steadfastly refusing to do anything to help. Its priorities are with the internationalists with the bankers and the globalists and with its foreign paymasters—and by that I mean the people and the institutions with links to overseas who funnel donations to National. That is where its priorities are.Farmers are hurting. Farmers are hurting and rural communities are hurting and the Government is doing nothing to help them. We are not talking about handouts; no one is suggesting that we go back to the days of subsidies. But there are concrete tangible things that this Government could be doing and should be doing in order to help support farmers and the communities who depend on them at this time when things are grim down on the farm.New Zealand First has two bills in the ballot which the Government could choose to support that would tangibly improve the lot of our beleaguered rural heartland and our embattled agricultural sector. One is the Meat Industry Restructuring Bill in my name. This bill would see the red meat processing industry stay in New Zealand hands. It would see the value of New Zealand’s red meat exports stay in the New Zealand economy. It would see returns for farmers improve and it would guarantee jobs for New Zealand workers in our provincial towns and service industries that support the sheep and beef farmers of New Zealand. As things stand that industry is on the brink of being lost to overseas ownership and the great bulk of the value of that industry is on the brink of being lost to the New Zealand economy.The other bill is the Receiverships (Agricultural Debt Mediation) Amendment Bill in the name of my colleague Ron Mark. This bill cuts to the heart of what has become of the National Party the party that used to be the party of farmers and the party of the provinces—the party that is now being supplanted in those roles by New Zealand First because we still give a damn. We still give a damn. We still prioritise rural New Zealand and provincial New Zealand where the real wealth of this country is generated and where New Zealand’s income is earned. This bill highlights the way that National has become a party that gives priority to the profits of foreign-owned banks over and above the interests of New Zealand and New Zealanders.There are laws very similar to the law that this bill would become already in place in a number of Australian states and a number of Canadian provinces. What they do is require banks to enter into a process of mediation of renegotiation before they call in the receivers in cases where farmers find themselves up against the odds for reasons beyond their control. Farming is not like any other business. There are variables that do not exist in other industries there are fluctuations in commodity prices and exchange rates and there are vagaries of weather about which farmers can do nothing. With the best will in the world with the best planning in the world with the hardest back-breaking work in the world farmers can and do still find themselves up against the odds when the fates conspire against them.The banks are a part of this. They claim to be a partner for the farming sector and when the times are good the banks are creaming it. In fact I have some numbers here prepared by the Parliamentary Library that show the aggregate income of the 25 registered banks operating in New Zealand. For the year ended 30 September 2015 interest from income alone was $23.5 billion.Ron Mark: How much?RICHARD PROSSER: $23.5 billion. The profit after tax for these banks—all but two foreign-owned—was $5.1 billion. They take their share of the spoils but it would seem that they are not so keen in the bad times to carry their share of the load and that is not good enough. New Zealand First says that that is not good enough and this bill in the name of my colleague Ron Mark would compel them to take a share of the load during the lean times.National could choose to support this bill. It could choose to demonstrate that the welfare of our farmers and our rural communities is at least as important as the profits of the foreign-owned banking sector. It would be nice to think that the banks might see fit to take this step themselves but as we are seeing and as legislators in Australia and Canada have already seen and have already dealt with they do not appear to be keen to do that without a bit of stick. This bill provides that stick. If this Government really cared if it really gave a damn about the farming sector it would come out and support these two bills from New Zealand First.Make no mistake—things are getting rough out there. Farmers are up against it and farmers are having a hard time. Farmer suicides are a silent epidemic and it is going to get worse. I have a paper here a story from Radio New Zealand saying the Reserve Bank says that dairy farm debt alone has reached $38 billion and a recent Federated Farmers poll found that more than one in 10 is already under pressure from the banks over their mortgage. One in 10 dairy farmers—that is 1250 dairy farmers across New Zealand. If 10 percent of our single most important export industry is in trouble the country is in trouble. The commercial banking sector needs to step up and become a true partner to the farming industry. It needs to take the rough along with the smooth it needs to behave in a manner that is decent and honest and ethical and this bill would compel it to so do.New Zealand First drafts and sponsors bills like these two because unlike National we are still in tune with the needs of New Zealand’s farmers and with the needs of the heartland. New Zealand First recognises that the engine room of the economy is in the provinces not in Queen Street and out there in the provinces people are realising that too. They are voting with their feet and they are giving up on National because they are realising that National has abandoned them. They are flocking to New Zealand First in droves. We are the town and country party and we are coming to the rescue of New Zealand.The Prime Minister makes a lot of noise; he makes a lot of statements. The Prime Minister makes a lot of noise about a lot of things that are not important like $26 million on a referendum on a flag change that nobody wants but he has very little to say of any actual value to the people of the heartland. But fortunately those people can take great heart from the fact that New Zealand First is here to say it for him and to do it for him. Roll on 2017. Thank you.