Patterson MarkMARK PATTERSON (NZ First): I am very humbled actually to get up and speak on behalf of New Zealand First on this Farm Debt Mediation Bill (No 2). This bill has a long genesis. It goes back to a member's bill by Doug Woolerton in 1999. It was also a bill under the name of Hon Ron Mark in 2015 and more latterly under my name in a previous iteration as a member's bill.How disappointing it is to see the grudging acceptance of this bill by the National Party. This is a thoroughly sensible and well-needed measure particularly in this time and how disappointing—a party that used to purport to stand up for the regions playing cheap petty politics. While this bill may have come forward as a member's bill it was actually of such importance and magnitude that it did deserve the full weight of the Ministry for Primary Industries officials' support and the wider consultation that a bill of this consequence should have behind it. So I condemn the National Party actually for their grudging position on this bill. We have been championing this measure for 20 years. They are grudgingly there now and dragging their heels and they should have a good look in the mirror if they want to purport to champion the farming sector. So in that light I would like to thank Minister Damien O'Connor for bringing this bill forward and giving it the resourcing that it needs to make the bill an effective measure for a formal mediation process for farmers. Farming is an inherently risky business. Much of the success of an individual farmer comes down to a number of measures that are beyond their control no matter how competent they are as an individual operator. There is climate risk. There is commodity price risk. We have seen some major biosecurity outbreaks that seem to be a constant presence. We've seen the M. bovis outbreak of course recently and not long before that a major Psa outbreak in the kiwifruit industry. We have a fruit fly incursion at the moment that we're dealing with. There are risks everywhere. We have got Trump and China going head to head in a trade war that throws currencies about in export markets. So there are a lot of things outside of farmers' control.At a macro level the $63 billion worth of debt has been identified by the Reserve Bank as a systematic risk to the New Zealand economy. On top of that we have a banking sector that is in a managed pull-back. I think it's not a well-kept secret that there is a pull-back from the Australian banks in particular some of it related to the banking inquiry over there where the banks are just rationing their credit. And when you've got $63 billion worth of credit—and that credit is held in a relatively small number of hands. Only 20 percent of farmers carry almost all the debt or the vast majority of debt so it is systematic risk. Of course farming supports 350000 workers and much more across the wider economy if you spread that out and of course our $46 billion of exports. Listening to the Opposition speakers you would think that agriculture was in dire straits. In fact we have record exports at the moment at $46 billion and growing. So at a macro level this is a risk but at a personal level when farmers to get into trouble there is a significant power imbalance. The banks literally hold the purse strings and the farmers' resources. To have a fair process is somewhat limited and those processes tend to be when things have got to a point where they're past the point of no return. The absolute aim of this bill is to have the fence at the top of the cliff. This is not as Mr Bennett seemed to infer designed to rescue people that have made poor commercial decisions or are in fact in an insolvent position. This is not to do that at all. This is to put a circuit-breaker in place that either party can call in so that before we get to that stage there is a chance to have a fair balanced discussion about the direction of the farming business before it gets to the point of no return so some good decisions can be made. I know that farmers are so connected to their land. It is so deeply ingrained in their psyche and many of these businesses are multigenerational. They will do almost anything to maintain their farms particularly a family farm. Actually sometimes it will be saving them from themselves. So it is not designed to mitigate commercial failure. It will give the opportunity for a managed retreat or an exit with dignity.It also will put some oversight on to the sector and lending practices. I know since having the member's bill I've become a bit of a lightning rod in our office—Michael Haliday up there in the gallery who I commend for having done a lot of work on the member's bill. We have been inundated by farmers coming to us with their issues. We have two cases at the moment in front of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) because while you have a first-tier level of bankers who are broadly speaking responsible you have behind that some vulture second- and third-tier lenders that are circling and farmers desperate to hold on to their farm will sign almost any piece of documentation to hold their farm and they will dig deeper and deeper into debt. That's what we've seen and we've seen some shoddy behaviour and the SFO will sort that out and have some justice there hopefully for the farmers that we are representing there.The other thing about this that I think is really important is that loans are secured against farmland of course but farm machinery crops livestock wool aquaculture—we have to in the select committee I think nail that down. I've had beekeepers come to me Are bees livestock?" I would argue that they are and I would hope that they will be incorporated. But particularly as Kiritapu Allan outlined in her contribution the sharemilkers who are such an important part of our biggest industry—the dairy industry—are particularly vulnerable. And in this banking pull-back that we're seeing at the moment they are the ones that are the first to feel the squeeze. As Richard McIntyre the chair of the Federated Farmers sharemilkers section said this is a much-needed piece of legislation. I hope the National Party were listening to Richard. I hope they were listening to Andrew Hoggard the vice-president of Federated Farmers who also endorsed this bill. I hope they were listening to Rural Women New Zealand's Fiona Gower who said this was a much-needed piece of legislation. I hope they have taken notice of the Hayne royal commission in Australia into their banking sector. That commended the New South Wales legislation on which this is based and recommended that the other states in Australia pick this up such has been the success of that piece of legislation in New South Wales. This will put some independent mediators in place. There are good provisions in there to make sure the allocation of these independent mediators is done fairly so that it's at the agreement of both parties—and again that's taking away that power imbalance; it's having equal parties sitting at the table and having a balanced discussion.So New Zealand First have absolute pleasure actually in bringing forward this bill. We have fought long and hard for this measure to come forward. We have been stymied at every hurdle along the way and there are some parties opposite that need to look in the mirror as to why they would have done that when this is such a sensible piece of legislation. So New Zealand First and I have the honour actually of commending this bill to the House. Thank you."