McAnulty KieranKIERAN McANULTY (Labour): Thank you very much Mr Assistant Speaker. It's great to see that all parties in this House have stood up to speak in favour of what is a very important issue—the issue of course of debt mediation when farms and livelihoods and families' connections to productive land are under threat. I stand here a little bit uneasy. I've never agreed with National Party MPs so often as I have today but it is good to see. [Interruption] The point is—in fact I haven't agreed with so many National Party MPs since the day that nearly half the caucus said that Amy Adams should have been leader instead of Simon Bridges. But the point here is that speaker after speaker has highlighted the importance of agriculture to this economy. In fact I want to acknowledge one member who I don't believe I've ever agreed with previously—David Bennett the member from Hamilton East—who posed a pretty careful question and one that we want to consider at the select committee stage. It was: why should farmers be treated differently to any other business people? I think the answer is quite clear. It is that agriculture has such a special place in New Zealand. It contributes significantly to the economy directly but then also influences other contributors to our economy such as tourism. New Zealand is graced with many beautiful places in this country but the role that farming has played in terms of broadcasting what this country is about to the world cannot be overlooked. So when you have an industry that contributes so much to this country and yet is actually in many respects in such precarious positions given its reliance on commodity prices the boom and bust nature of agriculture and the significant impact to our economy if a drop in commodity prices was to affect the industry given its high level of debt I believe it's only right that this House investigates how we might be able to impose some level of mediation at some point in that process to preserve families' connections to their farms. The Mycoplasma bovis scare at the moment makes this bill quite timely. There is tremendous uncertainty amongst agricultural communities rural communities and the primary industries in this country as a result of an unprecedented breach of biosecurity in this country. Such is the nature of Mycoplasma bovis that it is difficult to contain and difficult to trace and I personally have every faith that the Ministry for Primary Industries is doing what the good member from Taranaki - King Country has called for. They're being prudent and they are being as fast as they can but the nature of this disease means that it is difficult. It is not like mad cow disease and it is not like foot-and-mouth because it is not immediately identifiable on the animal. The point here is that it is creating uncertainty and that anxiety amongst our communities—it is unknown when that will rest. So in that sense and in the broad essence of the importance of agriculture in our economy it is important I think that we support this bill through to select committee and then we can have a discussion. We can have a discussion across the House as to the best way in which we can do something in this area. There are some issues with the bill as it is currently written but I am confident—as are previous speakers on this bill—that once we get it to select committee stage we can actually look at improving it. Indeed that is what that stage is about. I must say as a new member in this House that I am quite pleased about the number of occasions that both sides of this House do work together on particular issues and given my background and my particular interests I want it known on the record that I am very pleased to see that many of those instances are around issues affecting or potentially affecting our rural communities. This bill is important. It is timely. It identifies an issue that this House should take seriously and from my perspective and I think from the perspective of the Labour Party it is heartening not only to see New Zealand First put it forward but to see every single party in this House support it.