Carter David: New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
Carter David: New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
[Volume:607;Page:4676] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (NZ National) 
: 
 I start by thanking the Minister who has just introduced this legislation for not imposing the guillotine clause on the Primary Production Committee thereby giving us a chance to genuinely hear submissions. That is certainly a change from the treatment the committee has had in recent times whereby we have been given legislation to consider but are expected to treat the submissioners with disdain in order to report it back to the House in a matter of weeks. So I thank Damien O’Connor as the Minister introducing this legislation and as a very valued member of the select committee for allowing us to hear this bill over a reasonable time frame because I have little doubt that submissions will be made on it. 
I start by saying that we will certainly be supporting this legislation to the select committee but we want to have the opportunity of clearly hearing the arguments from both sides of the fence as to the need for supporting this legislation further. First I will quote from a publication put out by HortResearch in which it makes this statement: “Horticulture makes a significant contribution to the New Zealand economy both through its exports now worth more than $2 billion annually and through its growing reputation for providing fresh and often exotic produce to tempt the tourist’s palate.” I make that contribution because we often forget how important horticulture is to this country. In talking to this bill we are clearly dealing with only one of our horticulture-based industries—the kiwifruit industry which effectively comprises a third of all horticultural exports. 
The kiwifruit industry is a major industry. Last year its export value was close to $620 million. I acknowledge that there is an issue and concern particularly with regard to the quality and price of the fruit being sold through Australia. The difficulty for me personally as we progress this legislation is that over a period of time we have been through a process of trying to deregulate older producer boards and allowing people to get on and do their thing. Having said that I take this opportunity to acknowledge the success of the kiwifruit industry over recent years. 
Before coming to the House I had the opportunity to look at the annual report of Zespri to 31 March 2002. Zespri was able to record record sales in excess of $800 million. It is close to being a billion-dollar industry and that is a credit to it. I am aware as we look ahead to the coming year and as the export season gets under way that things have not been so easy for the industry. I was in the Bay of Plenty in the spring of 2002 and I recall the difficulty some growers faced with the late frosts that had caused in some cases quite significant damage to kiwifruit acreage. I think that this year we will see prices up and that is good but volume down somewhat because of the damage caused by the frosts. 
The evidence before the select committee will no doubt show us that there is a problem with the way the Australia market is being handled. I note that the explanatory note of the bill quotes figures of $2 per kilo free on board in 1999 and that has declined in 2 years to $1.53. 
Ian Ewen-Street 
: That’s outrageous! 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Ian Ewen-Street interjects and says that that is outrageous. As a member of the select committee I want take the opportunity to hear submissioners tell us what is going on and if the situation is one of quality not being maintained because of the kiwifruit regulations of 1999 then we need to look at that. 
When I first got to know a little about this bill I was certainly aware of the additional problem of fruit going to Australia and then being re-exported into our market which is currently protected by the single-seller arrangement. Again if that is happening we as parliamentarians need to address that situation. What I remain unclear about is how having identified that situation and having passed this legislation we will still be able to catch up with operators who are determined to break Australian rather than New Zealand law. No doubt as we get under way we will have the opportunity to examine that issue. 
The Horticulture Export Authority has itself been very successful as a means of assisting the export of significant products of New Zealand. The one that surprised me when I was in the Bay of Plenty late last year was the avocado industry. We often consider ourselves to be importers of considerable quantities of avocados particularly from Queensland. In fact we export $28 million worth of avocados a year and that is a rapidly expanding market. That crop is then controlled via the Horticulture Export Authority. I say that if it works there then it is certainly worthy of consideration in respect of kiwifruit if we are having a problem with that particular market. 
It will be interesting for the select committee to see where opposition to this legislation comes from. Late last year in November I recall a visit from Mr Paul Morgan of the Federation of Maori Authorities. He said that if we support such legislation we will make it more difficult for Maori kiwifruit exporters to do their own thing and to create wealth for themselves. Let us look at that argument as it is delivered to the select committee. I have little doubt that quite divergent views will be presented to us and it will therefore be quite a challenging situation for the select committee to then arrive at a solution to the legislation presented to us by Damien O’Connor today. 
In closing I say that I look forward to the opportunity to work through this legislation. I take the opportunity of repeating how important horticulture is to New Zealand; its importance is often under-estimated by many many New Zealanders. Again I congratulate Zespri and the Kiwifruit Marketing Board on the success they have achieved over recent years in making kiwifruit a vibrant industry. It was not so many years ago that this industry was under extreme difficulty. As all New Zealanders I hope appreciate we will improve our standard of living in this country substantially only if we can identify what we are good at producing and then make sure we satisfy overseas markets. We have learnt a lot in recent years about presenting to the overseas markets the fruit and other produce they want. It is no longer acceptable for us to tell overseas markets what they are going to get because of what we have to export. We have moved well past that. 
Zespri has been part of that process. I congratulate it on the stunning effort it has made as outlined in its annual report for last year and look forward to another annual report which must be just about due at the printers to make sure that it is still doing its part to assist in raising the living standards of all New Zealanders.