Auchinvole Chris: Veterinarians Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Auchinvole Chris: Veterinarians Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:628;Page:928] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National) 
: 
 Part 3A “Conditions of practice and appeals” of the Veterinarians Bill is indeed worthy of support. It causes me to reflect on the working conditions as well as the imposed conditions of veterinary practice. Just for a moment I would like to reflect on the working conditions of veterinarians not so much nowadays but in the past decades when vets built up the tremendous rapport with farmers that has given us the very successful pastoral industries we have today. 
I have been privileged to live in some parts of New Zealand that are really very rural. One such place was Hokianga where my brothers and I had a dairy farm on Wharekawa Road at Oue. The vets that used to service the area were dedicated and did a terrific job but the conditions of practice were not always the best. 
I recall hearing of one such event that occurred in the 1970s when a vet received a phone call from an aggrieved client whose cow had just died after it had been treated by the vet. It was a sad situation. It was raining heavily at the time—the rain was almost horizontal—and it was about 10.30 at night. Those were rotten conditions to practise in. 
Hon Member 
: On the West Coast? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: No no this was in Hokianga in the far north—the winterless north. But it was very wet. 
Hon Member 
: It was warm. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: It was warm and wet. 
The farmer suggested that there were two things they could do. One was for the vet to accept the farmer’s diagnosis of the death. The cow shortly after the treatment had been seen fighting with another cow and the farmer considered that the lunging thrust of the aggressive cow’s horns had twisted the calf inside the cow which had caused the blood vessels to choke off from the heart leading to the cow’s demise. That was the farmer’s interpretation and in the view of the farmer it had sustained the cow’s death. The vet was told that the alternative was to come out straight away and perform what the farmer called a “postal mortem”. The vet however had no difficulty in agreeing with the farmer’s diagnosis. 
I recall another such event in terms of the conditions that vets had to practise under when the same vet—a good Scots-trained practitioner—was asked to assist a cow calving at Taheke. It was another foul night and the rain was similarly horizontal. 
Hon Member 
: On the West Coast? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: No no still up in Hokianga. 
Hon Member 
: The winterless north? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Well it was winter and the rain was warm but it was raining. The vet said he would get on his way as he imagined the creek was coming up. The farmer said that yes it was and that the cow was in fact in the creek and having difficulty calving. The farmer thought that the cow probably had a broken leg. “Gracious” said the vet “she is in the creek she is having difficulty calving and you think she has a broken leg? I’ll get there as soon as I can.” “No rush” said the farmer “I think she’s quite comfortable.” Those were the conditions that vets had to practise in. 
The life of a vet was not without difficulty even in a domestic sense although often the difficulty came from absence rather than presence. I remember another occasion in Kaitaia in the winterless far north— 
Taito Phillip Field 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson—[ 
Interruption 
] 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: There is to be no comment at all during a point of order. 
Taito Phillip Field 
: That sounded like a very nice story for children at night but I ask the member to be more relevant to the part we are debating. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I thank the member for his contribution. I ask the member to continue. 
Hon Member 
: What was the ruling? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: The ruling was to please continue. Indeed on that occasion the vet was away and he had to engage a locum. 
On occasions when the normal veterinary practice has changed systems have changed and farmers get confused we need some quite specific conditions that apply to the practice of veterinary-trained people. We need the sorts of conditions that are specified in Part 3A. In looking at the conditions of practice and appeals we could start with the proposed new clause 55A and go through the clauses in a precise manner looking at each one. But in reality National supports this bill.