SpeechMARK PATTERSON (NZ First): It is worth reflecting on the fact that we are debating the Dairy Industry Restructuring Amendment Bill (No 3) and we have the National Party over there screaming that we should be doing more when in fact the No. 2 bill that was before this Parliament and was passed under the stewardship of Nathan Guy in the last Parliament was a much more tepid version of this current bill. Minister Damien O'Connor is to be commended for in one of his first acts as Minister kicking that well into the weeds and bringing it back now after extensive reviews and consultations into a much more workable and sustainable bill. It is also rather ironic to hear the National Party over there standing up as champions of Fonterra. They have always conceptually and ideologically hated the concept of Fonterra. They have never been supporters of New Zealand ownership. They stood meekly aside as our biggest meat exporter Silver Fern Farms went into the control of foreign Government ownership when the board and a significant amount of shareholders were reaching out to them for some help. On the other side of that debate New Zealand First have always been strong and fierce supporters of New Zealand ownership and particularly strong supporters of the co-op model where New Zealand farmers have control of the supply chain well beyond the farm gate. This is a significant piece of legislation. This will be one of the most significant pieces of legislation to go through the 52nd Parliament. New Zealand First does support this bill. However as the Minister knows our support does come with some qualifications. The creation of Fonterra has been enabled by this legislation. The merger of the Dairy Board Kiwi Cooperative Dairies and the New Zealand Dairy Group back in 2001 was a watershed moment for corporate New Zealand and the dairy industry. It created a national champion and one that offered great promise. It is our only significant multinational. It is by New Zealand standards a corporate behemoth. It has an almost $20 billion turnover. It has 22000 direct employees. It commands 25 percent of New Zealand's merchandise exports. I believe that that is probably the highest stake in the economy that one single company has in any OECD economy—and I'm not sure if that's a fact. Maybe it's a patsy fact but I would imagine that that would be the case. This is a tremendously significant company for New Zealand and it controls something like 30 percent of the world's cross-border dairy trade so it's internationally significant. It has been compared to being the OPEC of dairy. So this legislation has had far-reaching consequences. It has enabled through the open-entry provision mass expansion of the dairy industry with the provision for almost unlimited volumes of milk having to be taken by Fonterra. It has dramatically changed the landscape of New Zealand and it has potentially also constrained its ability to innovate as it's had to take that wall of milk and put up milk powder dryers to handle that volume. The promise it's fair to say has not been delivered on that original version. We now see the co-op in a somewhat difficult position. It is having to liquidate assets including iconic brands like Tip Top and also looking at I think $800 million worth of liquidation of assets. It has signalled a significant loss this year on the back of a significant loss last year. There has been a culture of corporate excess with the extraordinary salaries paid to those at the top end of town. The $8.5 million salary to Theo Spierings who proved to be the emperor with no clothes—that is an affront to the 10500 shareholders of this company 86 percent of whom are mum and dad farmers who have one farm. They're not corporate farmers; they are by and large small family-owned farms. New Zealand First has prioritised this piece of legislation. I myself with my trusty sidekick Stu Husband from the Waikato—we conducted meetings around eight provinces in New Zealand and visited all the major processors and some of the smaller ones to get a flavour of what the feeling was out on the ground and I can tell you that the shareholders of Fonterra are intensely passionate and proud of their co-op. In terms of the legislation there are four issues. The Milk Price Panel—I know that's been discussed by the previous speaker Mr Bennett. We have looked at this. I think setting the milk price has been a little bit contentious having a Government appointee in there. We're not particularly bothered by that. We don't see that that is too much of a problem. But we will look at that through the select committee process.We strongly support the limiting of requirements to provide independent processors with dearer milk. Actually I'll qualify that. We're very supportive of small New Zealand start-ups getting that supply of milk. The foreign start-ups or the foreign companies we are not supportive of that. But the Minister has come up with an elegant solution I believe in the volumes of milk and time-limiting that for one year after the company has 30 million litres of its own supply which does negate that and does protect New Zealand's trade interests. New Zealand is well benefited by access to international markets. We don't want to do anything that cuts across that.Where we do have some reservations is around the open-entry provisions. We do support the increased discretion for Fonterra to decline supply around environmental issues or for animal welfare standards and the flexibility that that does give. But we believe this discretion is too narrow.We do believe it is important that Fonterra are required to ring-fence its existing suppliers and we support the increased footprint provision of 50 percent for those increased providers. But we do not think Fonterra should be required to hold capacity indefinitely for suppliers who have walked away. We think that there should be a sunset clause within these provisions. We think the five-year rollover until we look at that again is too long. This is a major cost on Fonterra's business to hold this latent capacity and we believe it is unfair that Fonterra should be required to compete with one hand tied behind its back and we believe it is time to release those shackles. But we will see that prosecuted through the select committee process as should be the way.New Zealand First are strong supporters of the co-op and New Zealand ownership. We must look at the canary in the mine that was the Westland dairy co-op. We must look at the examples of Bonlac and Murray Goulburn Australian co-ops that have fallen by the wayside and we do not wish to be complacent. We believe that the Government shouldn't be adding to these pressures by unfairly handicapping Fonterra and we will as I said look to prosecute that through the select committee process. We do think there is a danger of New Zealand farmers becoming peasants in their own land if we do lose these valuable supply chains. It is imperative that in this our most major industry we keep control of that within New Zealand farmer ownership and New Zealand First will be standing solidly behind our farmers in making sure that that happens. So New Zealand First have looked at this bill very closely. We will look through the select committee process to make sure that it comes out the other end in a place where we believe it should be and that Fonterra can get back on the road to being the national champion that was envisaged for it when it was created in 2001. Thank you.