Smith StuartSTUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura): Thank you Madam Chair—I think that was a very good decision. I was listening to Minister Damien O'Connor talk about his visits and discussions with high country farmers. I'd like to point out to the Minister: Molesworth Street is not Molesworth—it is a long way from Molesworth. And what I heard from him was something I think he might have heard on Molesworth Street; he would not have heard it anywhere near Molesworth Station I can assure him of that. I'd like to actually go back to my colleague who discussed young Jess Cocks and she made a huge impression on Joseph Mooney; myself; you Madam Chair; and the Hon Scott Simpson. We were all there that afternoon—did I forget anyone else? I think that was the lot of us. What a wonderful day we had there. And what it really brought home—and what I picked up from the Minister is he completely does not understand the management of these properties is completely different. The bracken will take over on the Cocks' property whereas we went to Minaret Station—completely different circumstances. Leaving that property alone for a short time it regenerates right back into fern and into its native state. The fact is most of the pastoral lease properties in New Zealand are a highly modified environment because they were burnt many years ago—by the moa hunters I suspect—and so it changed the whole environment. We now have to manage that anyway; we can't just let it revert. Because what we saw up the Awatere Valley on the Muller Station the wilding pines are being managed by Merino wethers actually and the seedlings that aren't controlled by the Merino wethers are able to either be sprayed by a drone or by a helicopter. Very few of them—it's a much easier job. In contrast when you look at the Molesworth admittedly it's different soil types but in the Molesworth it has a real significant wilding pine issue because they run cattle and they can't control it. Unfortunately what we've got here is an ideological issue that the Labour Party and the Green Party hate farmers. Particularly they hate pastoral farmers and these guys are right in their sights; it's very clear. This bill is just a load of nonsense. A whole lot of stuff here about all of the consents they have to get on a high country farm to disturb soil—something that is done reluctantly because of the wind erosion and all those sorts of things. But occasionally you have to fix a fence and that means re-routing it around a slip or something or re-routing a track—they want those farmers to go through a consent process. It's marvellous for bureaucracy—I think there's 14000 more bureaucrats in Wellington. It's just a waste of time a waste of energy—it's sand in the gears of the economy. What they don't understand is every layer of bureaucracy that they add in it goes right across the economy and slows it down. This bill is sand in those gears. This is meant to be about a pastoral lease protecting the Crown—and that's all of our assets not just the current Government of the day. The Government of the day is only merely there for a brief period to look after it in perpetuity for us. Right? That's what it's all about. And these people who have the lease as their proxy effectively looking after that land. This bill does nothing to help that; in fact it makes it worse. You'll get a—not you Madam Chair but we will get perverse outcomes from that bill. So I'd like to know from the Minister: did he actually get off Molesworth Street and on to the Molesworth?