Carter David: Local Government Law Reform Bill — First Reading 
Carter David: Local Government Law Reform Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:630;Page:2516] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 Following on from the contribution made by my colleague John Carter on the Local Government Law Reform Bill I say that the National Party will of course oppose this legislation. 
It is worth the House recalling the true genesis of the legislation. The original mess was made in the year 2002 when none other than the Hon Chris Carter was the Minister of Local Government. As the Minister he left a legacy of absolute incompetence and mismanagement which although the Local Government Bill was passed in 2002 has come to the public’s attention only now 4 years later. I say to Chris Carter that if he had only taken note of the work done by the Local Government and Environment Committee in 2002 when the legislation was originally introduced into the House I have no doubt that we would not be dealing with the mess this amendment bill proposes we attempt to tidy up. 
The background to all this legislation in respect of microchipping is that there was a horrific dog attack in Auckland. No member of Parliament could not have been moved by that attack. The Government then took the initiative to move legislation into the select committee. The committee after hearing a substantial number of submissions determined that the problem was not with every dog or with every responsible dog owner in New Zealand but with the dangerous dogs that some people keep in this country. What the select committee recommended—unanimously as I recall—was that those dangerous dogs should be identified and microchipped as a means of managing where they are kept. 
 But what the Hon Chris Carter did as the then Minister of Local Government was to completely ignore the report of that select committee and when the report came back to the House he tabled an amendment that overrode the select committee’s deliberations in total. He then used Labour’s strength of numbers plus no doubt one or two of the supporting minor parties to pass legislation that New Zealanders only now realise is a mess. 
It is an absolute outrage that we are in Parliament today with the full ramifications of this legislation coming into force on 1 July this year 4 years after the original mess was made. I note that Chris Carter the original architect of this mess is not even about to take a call to explain his action. The public of New Zealand—and in particular the farmers of New Zealand—have finally woken up to the stupidity of this legislation whereby farmers will be required to take every dog they own down to the vet to get a microchip put in. How will that prevent one dog attack? The answer is that Labour knows that it will not. It is another cost that is unnecessarily being put on our farming industry simply because the Government does not like that industry. 
After the election we had the most unbelievable appointment of the Hon Jim Anderton as the Minister of Agriculture. The farmers in New Zealand were just astonished that Labour put Jim Anderton into this position. He said he had never known much about the farming industry but was prepared to learn and to listen. His first big test came with this legislation and its requirement to microchip dogs. Jim Anderton met with Federated Farmers and their president Charlie Pedersen and he said to him: “Don’t worry I’ll fix this for you. I am No. 3 in Cabinet.” Then the Minister said the famous words that will haunt him forever: “What part of No. 3 don’t you understand?”. 
So he went off to Cabinet a couple of weeks ago and presented the proposal whereby common sense would prevail and the microchipping of farm dogs would be exempt. What happened at Cabinet was that the all-powerful No. 3 the Hon Jim Anderton was rolled by the little-known Minister the Hon Nanaia Mahuta who is No. 18 in Cabinet. The sad thing is that Federated Farmers were hanging on to every promise that Jim Anderton had made only to be let down again. 
As National’s agricultural spokesperson I have a solution for all the farmers in New Zealand. I have a member’s bill waiting to be called in the ballot that will exempt all farm working dogs. On two occasions I have sought leave to introduce that legislation into the House and on both occasions Labour has denied leave. With this legislation now coming into the House I have been able to move my member’s bill as an amendment—Supplementary Order Paper 22—which will give Parliament the opportunity to revisit the issue. 
We know that Labour does not like the farming sector and is jealous of the contribution it makes so I do not expect its members to support my amendment. But I look to the other parties around this House for support. Gordon Copeland of United Future has already indicated he will be moving a similar amendment so I look forward to his support. The support of two other parties is needed for this to be successful in the House—either New Zealand First or the Green Party. I have not been able to ascertain at this stage the position of the Green Party but I know that its members are giving it serious consideration. 
I have not been able to ascertain the position of New Zealand First. When I talked to its agricultural spokesperson Doug Woolerton he said the party will not support my amendment but apparently the Rt Hon Winston Peters has gone around all the greyhound racing clubs and said he will be moving an amendment for greyhounds. I fail to see the logic—and not many members of this Parliament do see any logic in the Rt Hon Winston Peters—but he will apparently move an amendment to exempt greyhounds from the bill. Maybe that party will vote against my amendment to exempt farm working dogs. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: And poodles? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Maurice Williamson says we are not sure about Winston Peters’ attitude to poodles. I do not know yet whether an accurate policy has been formulated about the microchipping of poodles but I can see that Mr Brown is rather scared about the possibility of that happening. 
The legislation was stupid when it was introduced; it remains stupid today. If this measure is passed by this Parliament when it is finally voted on in the Committee stage a huge cost—an unnecessary cost—will be imposed on the farming industry of this country. It is a nonsense. There is a mechanism before this House today for Parliament to relook at this issue and I certainly look to the support of New Zealand First members. I hope that given another couple of weeks of deliberation within their caucus they can finalise their position. I certainly look to the support of the Green Party. I hope that with either of those two parties supporting us in conjunction with the Maori Party and the ACT party who will support my amendment this House can finally see the nonsense created by Chris Carter put to bed once and for all and we can move forward with sensible legislation that does not bind our farming community unnecessarily.