Bennett DavidHon DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East): Madam Chair thank you for the call. I would just like to follow up on my last call and talk about an amendment that I'm putting through as a tabled amendment to this bill. Now I don't believe for a second that the Minister doesn't understand this legislation. He knows exactly what he's doing in the Chamber here today. He's not a silly Minister. He would understand that he is giving extreme powers to his departments all under the guise of M. bovis to attack the farming community. That is what is happening here today. There's no other way of looking at it. There have been reasonable requests made to the Minister; all have been declined. The Minister refuses to answer the hard questions. He will get up and talk about things that are irrelevant and try to diffuse the situation but when he is asked to specifically say comparatively if other legislation has these powers in similar cases he will not answer that. When he's been asked to take this to select committee in a conducive process where all of Parliament could work together he refuses to do that—and we would do that in a timely manner to enable the Government to have the tools to attack M. bovis; he refuses to that. And now I'm going to give him one last chance—and that is the amendment that I've put forward under this part. This one chance is for us to put another test into this bill to say that search powers are available only if the Minister decides that in certain circumstances these powers are necessary—and I don't disagree that there may be some certain circumstances like if there was a foot-and-mouth outbreak in New Zealand. In that circumstance and even in an M. bovis outbreak like we have now the Minister may be able to use these kinds of search and surveillance powers because that's what they were originally for. They were for situations where the national interest of New Zealand was being attacked. That's why we brought them in when we did. We did not bring them in as a wholesale mechanism to investigate and manage New Zealand farmers New Zealanders in business places or New Zealanders in any other environment. So what I am saying here today Minister is this: why won't you agree to having another test in there which says that in special circumstances—and that's what the tabled amendment says—the Minister will determine and let this House know that these extra powers are convenient necessary and required?You are in this situation now. The M. bovis outbreak would be something that potentially would satisfy the conditions of this amendment. It would enable the Minister of Agriculture to go out of this House to have actually listened to the requirements of the community that have been represented by the Opposition here and to take into account the property rights and the personal interests of New Zealand farmers and other people that may have property that would have animals and be subject to this legislation. I request the Minister to do that today because that is his last chance.Otherwise we will see legislation passed here today that is Draconian. It is understood by the Minister and the Government parties and they are doing this because they want to use the M. bovis situation to put extra unfettered powers into their department. The Minister may laugh—and I think it's disgraceful that he laughs in this situation. He has done a good job on M. bovis and I've said that many times in this House but he doesn't need to stuff it up now. This is a step too far and he knows that. This is something that could be subject to abuse and even if it isn't subject to abuse it gives the fear to ordinary New Zealanders that it could be abused. Ordinary New Zealand farmers and property holders now will know that they have no recourse if somebody comes on to their property under the guise of National Animal Identification and Tracing. It will create fear in a community that we rely on to actually act with integrity and understanding to deal with M. bovis and whatever may come in the future—and we are doing the exact opposite.