Woolerton R Doug: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Woolerton R Doug: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:606;Page:3327] 
R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) 
: 
 I would agree with Dianne Yates the member for Hamilton East as I do with Martin Gallagher when they are speaking on behalf of Hamilton—East and West. I would back them in that role as often as I could. However I have a brief in New Zealand First as the agricultural spokesperson. I come from the heart of the Waikato. My brothers are or were farmers as was my father and as I was. It hurts me that agriculture barely got a mention in the Prime Minister’s speech today. That perhaps should not surprise us because in fact Labour has only one farmer in its caucus and that is the Minister of Agriculture Jim Sutton. Obviously he cannot win against those sorts of odds so farming unfortunately is a low priority for this Labour Government.  
It is true that the Prime Minister mentioned water and the need for cleanliness in water. She made a few mentions of the World Trade Organization but mostly and unfortunately she spoke about movies like  
The Lord of the Rings 
. She spoke about contributions to music about the America’s Cup and all those sorts of things. Those things were supposed to portray New Zealand as a dynamic growing economy when in fact what makes New Zealand wealthy and what drives New Zealand is the produce and the products from our farms. It is those products that should be nurtured and cared for it is that industry that should be looked after and it is that industry that should take up a lot more of the time of this House than it does at present. [ 
Interruption 
] Well there is only one farmer in the Government and that is the Hon Jim Sutton. It is outrageous when we have an agricultural economy such as New Zealand does.  
We are hearing about incubator industries. We are hearing about the big conferences to talk about all the trick new things that we are going to do in the economy but in spite of all that and overriding all that is the produce from the farms. We in New Zealand First know what keeps that industry healthy and it is heading the wrong way at the present time. Above all else it is the dollar. When the dollar was down to around 40-something cents compared with the US dollar it became known as the export-friendly dollar. That is exactly what it was and it is rising at the present time on the backs of people shoving their money into New Zealand to take advantage of our interest rate. That is something that is in the Government’s control and is something that the Government should attend to but it was not mentioned anywhere at all in the Prime Minister’s speech today.  
Farming is still the backbone of this country and dare I say it a farmer strolling across a paddock in the Waikato or anywhere else in the country is doing far more for the economy than the entire Labour Party caucus. That is admittedly a biased view but I am sure it is a view that would meet with approval far and wide and certainly in the rural communities of New Zealand.  
While I am talking about farming I want to put to bed a nasty little slur that came out in the name of the Hon Chris Carter. He said that New Zealand First was not supporting legislation to deal with killer dogs—or bad dogs and mad dogs perhaps. That is not correct. In fact we have proposed and want to put in place dog control legislation that will beef up the Act hugely. We want to introduce a Supplementary Order Paper that will increase the penalties. It would provide for imprisonment of the owners death for the dogs and it would deal with the problem once and for all. Just because there was a mistake in the House where an objection from the ACT leader was thought by Chris Carter to be from one of our people I think it was very wrong of him to put out a press statement or whatever he did in that name.New Zealand First will deal to this evil dog problem if given the chance.  
I return to the business of farming. It concerns me that it is a fashionable thing. We hear that the wine industry and technology will be the saviours of New Zealand. The trouble is that this leads us to worship false gods. I have an interest in motorcars. It is an interest that I cannot afford to pursue to any decent degree I might add; I just read the motorcar magazines. I would like to make a comparison with what is happening in Australia at this point in time—some of my colleagues will know what I am talking about. There is a model of car called a Mitsubishi Magna made in Australia. The head office and the people who own the company are Japanese and they have done a deal with the Australian Government and the state Government. The Australian Government supplies $100 million and the state Government provides something approaching that plus other incentives to encourage Mitsubishi to introduce—not new companies or anything like that—one new model of an existing car. In Australia that is the sort of back-up we can see to an industry that we do not have in New Zealand.  
But for our farming industry our farmers would like to know that the Government is behind them all the way. Farmers do not ask for subsidies. They do not ask for support. They do not ask for the sort of support we have seen in Australia with the fires where the population of Australia has made contributions to the farmers because they and their Government realise the need for the Australian farmers and the contribution they make to the community. The contribution in New Zealand is far greater yet it was not even mentioned in the Prime Minister’s speech to the nation on the first day of Parliament. That is shocking and it is something we will have to address. New Zealand First will be far more outspoken on agricultural matters in this term. Farmers can rest easy that we are on their side. We know how to support those people who supply most of our foreign exchange.