Guy Nathan: State-Owned Enterprises (AgriQuality Limited and Asure New Zealand Limited) Bill — Second Reading 
Guy Nathan: State-Owned Enterprises (AgriQuality Limited and Asure New Zealand Limited) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:639;Page:9221] 
NATHAN GUY (National) 
: 
 I rise to take a call on this very important State-Owned Enterprises (AgriQuality Limited and Asure New Zealand Limited) Bill. We have just heard from one of the former trade unionists who had a real slant on why this bill is good for the unions. What that member failed to mention is what is good for primary production. What is good for the farmer—for the people at the coalface who are actually growing lamb and beef? This merger will surely hike up the costs that will roll on through to those people who are producing a very valuable product for our economy. 
It is interesting that these two State-owned enterprises have been split for 10 years now and we have not had a problem at all with any of our quality meat standards around the world. I was fortunate enough in 2000 to go on a Winston Churchill Fellowship to America. I have been through their plants and our standards in our meat plants here in New Zealand are fantastic compared with America. Our products meet the United States Department of Agriculture standards to a brilliant condition. Our meat processing plants and meat quality standards are at a very very high level. 
So I struggle to see how merging these two identities will be beneficial when we have not had a problem for 10 years. If we were to amalgamate Meridian Energy and Genesis Energy would we do that in a month? The answer would be no. Here we have a bill that the Government was trying to ram through in about a month although that has been extended out to 6 weeks. I think that is absolutely shocking. As we have heard from the Hon David Carter the submitters are really concerned about the panic with this bill. Would we merge Genesis Energy and Meridian Energy without a full economic analysis or a business case? This bill says to me that we will not amalgamate now but that we want to have the provisions to amalgamate. We have not even seen the business case yet. No one has done the numbers to see how they stack up. 
So what is the real panic about the bill? I believe—and it has become apparent through the submission process—that when AgriQuality signalled its intention to move into red meat inspection at the end of last year Mr Mallard came down with a heavy hand and said: “You dare. You dare do that.” He warned AgriQuality and as a consequence he may well have breached a Commerce Commission law. Now we have a mad panic to try to get this bill through because Mr Mallard has come down with a heavy hand on AgriQuality right in the area where he should not be. 
It interesting that in 2006 Mr Mallard wrote to all the State-owned enterprise chairs saying: “I think you should diversify and get into a few other areas—so long as it is within your area of business.” On one hand Mr Mallard is saying that they should diversify. Would we want to see Landcorp actually setting up a milk plant with taxpayers’ money and competing against Fonterra? The answer would surely be no. Mr Mallard is out there saying: “Have a go have a go. Diversify.” Then on the other hand he wants to see State-owned enterprises merged into one identity. 
The real concern we have with this bill is that it has been rushed through. It will affect farmers’ bottom lines. I do not think that has been talked about today. We have heard from the trade unionist from the Labour Party movement that it will be wonderful for its people. But it will not be wonderful for the people who are producing the product and who will have to pay higher fees for meat inspections and higher amounts for TB testing. That will roll on and mean that the people buying meat in the supermarket will have to pay higher prices for it. 
One of the things I also want to raise is the weather bombs we have had recently in Northland. When we think about and analyse a State-owned enterprise and a Crown research institute that should be working closer together the example that springs to mind is the Meteorological Service and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research has a multimillion-dollar supercomputer model that can predict weather bombs—particularly flooding events—12 to 36 hours ahead of the Meteorological Service. But hello the Meteorological Service has the contract for weather forecasting so the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd is hamstrung from putting out this information to the people who really value it in our provincial rural communities. We have there a State-owned enterprise and a Crown research institute. We have Mr Maharey on one and Mr Mallard on the other. There is tremendous infighting there. We do not have that coming into Parliament to be sorted out. 
In Asure and AgriQuality we have two State-owned enterprises that are performing extremely well and the National Party has a real concern that this legislation is being rammed through at a great rate of knots with very poor consultation. The Minister of Agriculture Mr Jim Anderton should be appalled that he would not meet some of the key industry people to even hear their position. National has real concerns with this bill and that is why we are opposing it.