Whaitiri Meka; O'Connor GregHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Associate Minister of Agriculture (Animal Welfare)): E te Māngai o te Whare tēnā koe. Otirā e nga mema katoa e te Whare nei tēnā koutou katoa. I'm pleased to talk on the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill in its third and final reading. Can I too add my condolences to those that lost their lives tragically with the sinking of Gulf Livestock 1. As a result the Heron and Tony Parr reports looked into our live exports and the Government has made a decision weighing up the options to ban live export. I just want to raise a couple of issues as the Minister responsible for animal welfare. My own independent advisory group the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee also asked for live exports to be banned and they are charged with—both scientists and veterinarians on that working committee—giving independent animal welfare advice to the Government of the day. So they asked for it. But more importantly in acknowledging the former speaker as a member of the Primary Production Committee of which I am not a member I do want to acknowledge all members on the Primary Production Committee particularly led by Jo Luxton our chair in hearing the various views. And they were mixed views according to the select committee report that has come back to the House. There were definitely those that wanted it to remain and there was reference around the gold standard. There were also those submitters that said we should move a lot earlier than the two-year transition period that we're giving that this bill would enable. And as the Minister responsible for agriculture and trade who has been at the forefront of these new free-trade agreements that we have formed animal welfare is an enormous consideration for those countries that we trade with. So it is a reputational risk that we're dealing with here and we are putting our primary industries to the forefront because we acknowledge that we are some of the best farmers in the world.But more importantly is the role of our animals here. I want to talk about to members in this House—and it was a maritime issue but we can't lose sight that putting livestock in ships in Aotearoa New Zealand to generally go to the northern hemisphere of days in pens and whatnot cannot be good for the animal; it cannot be good. I want to say despite some of the changes that the exporters could make on ships by reducing numbers by putting veterinarians in—I'm well aware of that—ultimately they are in a stall and they are sentient animals. For members here: look in the Animal Welfare Act. They do actually have feelings. Just imagine putting animals on a 10 20 30-hour trip by sea—it cannot be good for their welfare. And so it is very clear that putting animals in a ship and shipping them for long distances is not good for the animal. But more importantly what this bill is doing is addressing and protecting our well-regarded reputation as some of the best farmers internationally. Having returned back from both India and also from Singapore—we are well regarded but we cannot get ahead of ourselves and we've got to stay ahead of the expectations that we are not only good producers of food safe producers of food but we look after our natural environment we look after our people and more importantly we look after our animals. So with that small contribution I commend the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill to the House.Jo Luxton: Mr Speaker.Tim van de Molen: Sorry Mr Speaker.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Tim van de Molen.Tim van de Molen: Thank you Mr Speaker.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The lucky Tim van de Molen.