Carter David: Veterinarians Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Carter David: Veterinarians Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:628;Page:967] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 As we draw the debate on the Veterinarians Bill to a close National will of course support this legislation. I have to say that after the contribution both through the select committee process and during the superb debate we have had over the last hour or two in the Committee of the whole House this legislation will be far better for the interest that has been taken in it by National members of Parliament. 
At the outset I want to correct the Minister Jim Anderton who claimed that there was criticism of the Veterinary Council from this side of the House because that is absolutely incorrect. In fact I say at the outset that because of the huge input both from the Veterinary Council and the Veterinary Association I am confident we are passing legislation that will stand the industry in very good stead. 
It is worth noting that this legislation left the House in a mess after its first reading. As the Hon Jim Anderton said that was indeed 17 February 2005. We were given a report-back date of 14 June and the Primary Production Committee met diligently with assistance from the Veterinary Council and the association to make sure we reported it back by 14 June. It is not the National Opposition’s fault that it has subsequently sat on the Order Paper for a full 6 months before finally after much begging and gnashing of teeth the Government has seen fit to pass the legislation almost at the latest possible date for it to be of any use to the profession. 
I commented that the legislation left the House in a mess and there is no doubt about that. Anybody pursuing the bill will see that the legislation was dramatically changed during the select committee process. Why that was necessary is that the previous Minister of Agriculture the Hon Jim Sutton who was responsible for drafting this legislation in the first instance absolutely failed to consult with the profession of the vets. That is just an arrogant and stupid thing for that Minister to have done. The Veterinary Council and the Veterinary Association on many occasions wanted to be involved with the original drafting of the legislation but because the previous Minister the Hon Jim Sutton was so out of touch with his portfolio area— 
Christopher Finlayson 
: And his seat. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Well he is certainly out of touch with his seat. Look what happened there. I say that it was a failing on the part of the Minister that he was not prepared to listen to sensible contributions. Consequently when the bill came before the select committee one of the things the committee agreed to do with all parties on the committee being responsible for this decision—but it is a technique that the Primary Production Committee has now used on a couple of occasions—was that we actually got the various bodies in this case the Veterinary Association and the Veterinary Council to come in and work through with us and the officials. It was a lot of hard work by the select committee but during that process we have now been able to present back legislation that I think is vastly improved. 
I want to pay tribute to all members of that select committee. Of course we had Janet Mackey as the deputy chair a member who has now retired from this House but a member who worked diligently. She was the Labour Party deputy chair of that select committee. She worked diligently with us to try to improve the legislation. Earlier we had a debate about which Labour Party lackey might have been a suitable lay appointment on the Veterinary Council and her name was missed. So I want to take the opportunity of suggesting that there is a person who has actually been through the select committee process with this legislation. I think she would be a very good appointment. I realise that she is not in favour with the sisterhood at the moment so therefore she may not be considered by level nine of the Beehive. 
I pay tribute to the work of Clayton Cosgrove. He did not interfere with the select committee process much. He came along had not studied his papers—although that was typical of the way Clayton Cosgrove worked. He brought along his mail his correspondence and his local Christchurch 
 Press 
 so he did not interfere with the process and that made it a lot easier. 
I saw Harry Duynhoven earlier in the House today. He came over to me and said he wished he could take a call in the debate but he had been instructed not to. So I tell Harry Duynhoven that he made a valuable contribution. 
I move now to two further members who are no longer part of this new Parliament Gerry Eckhoff from the Otago area a former ACT member and Ian Ewen-Street a very valuable member of the Green Party on that select committee—in fact the only valuable member of the Green Party I have ever managed to meet. Of course Phil Heatley gave us assistance and he has been a tremendous help in the debate tonight. The Hon Dover Samuels was available to take calls in the House earlier in the evening but has not been allowed to make a contribution. Tariana Turia made a valuable contribution when she was there and finally Doug Woolerton. He was the one who delicately broached the subject tonight of Bianca the cockatoo— 
Katherine Rich 
: Sulphur-crested! 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: A sulphur-crested cockatoo—I do not know my birds as well as I perhaps should. But I thank Doug Woolerton for his humour and involvement in the select committee process. 
I did move the odd amendment through the night to try to see whether we could make the bill even better. I must admit that my success rate was not very high. I thought that in the spirit of Christmas the odd amendment might have been passed with a bit of acclamation from the Labour Party but no the meanness displayed to my amendments—well I guess we have to learn to live with that. 
But we have certainly had a very spirited debate. We have seen members of the National Party caucus make substantial contributions. We have heard about a number of affiliations that the National Party caucus has with the profession and the role that the vets play in our society. We had the excellent contribution from Jo Goodhew who succeeded the previous lacklustre Minister of Agriculture Jim Sutton. She was able to tell us all about her cat Hogan. Then we had Jacqui Dean the new member for Otago giving a spirited description of Sally the dog—the dog that used to chase tennis balls. We forgot to ask whether it was tennis balls around Bayfield High School but I think certainly a number of tennis balls were chased by Sally who met a very unfortunate end underneath a motorcade on State Highway 1. But I do take the opportunity of stating to the House that Jacqui Dean did not go so far as to say it was “the motorcade” that received such important attention from the media this year. 
The veterinary profession is extremely important to New Zealand and that is why I am pleased that the House has spent a considerable amount of time on this legislation. This country is totally dependent on agriculture. That is a fact that many on the Labour Party side of the House tend to miss but we are totally dependent on agriculture. For agriculture to work well in this country we need a sound and strong veterinary profession. I express concern in the closing stage of this debate about the number of vets available to practice in New Zealand. We know we are qualifying a lot of vets but many younger people are taking the opportunity to earn substantially more money overseas and pay less tax and who can blame them? 
But a particular area of concern to me is that we as parliamentarians need to keep a note on how many vets actually choose rural practice. Because if we see a decline in rural practice by veterinarians as we have seen a decline in rural practice by the medical profession then that puts our economy under considerable risk. 
I want to conclude by paying special thanks to the role of the Veterinary Council—Julie Haggie its chief executive officer and Ron Gibson its chair. I thank those people for their contribution and advice during the select committee process. I note that Julie is still in the House having been here throughout the total debate and taking an interest. Finally I thank Murray Gibb the chief executive of the New Zealand Veterinary Association for his advice to the select committee. We have succeeded in getting a much-improved piece of legislation that I think will stand the veterinary profession in good stead for a number of years.