Nash Stuart: Dairy Industry Restructuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Nash Stuart: Dairy Industry Restructuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:672;Page:18268] 
STUART NASH (Labour) 
: 
 If anyone was in doubt why the National MP for Coromandel has been rolled by a person who was the chair of the Epsom local electorate committee they no longer are. That speech was the reason why someone who was the chair of the Epsom branch of the National Party is now standing in the Coromandel. The National Party said: “We have got to have quality candidates because we have got no quality candidates. What we’ve got to do is get rid of that candidate in Coromandel because she is doing us an immeasurable amount of harm.” 
She stands up here and she tries to tell ordinary New Zealanders that the price of food has dropped—she tries to tell them that the price of food has dropped. That is someone who is so out of touch with reality. That is someone who has not spoken to the people in her electorate about how they are coping in this day and age. The average wage in New Zealand is $50000. Seventy-five percent of New Zealanders earn below the average wage—75 percent of New Zealanders earn below $50000. They are people who are really struggling. I am not talking about those 650 people who earn over a million dollars who got a tax cut of $1000 a week. I am talking about people in Napier on the median wage who got about $5 a week in the hand. They have seen the price of petrol go through the roof they have seen the price of milk go through the roof and they have seen the price of food go through the roof to the point where something has to give. That tends to be things like milk. 
There are only three points I will make with regard to this Dairy Industry Restructuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill. The first one is that Fonterra is of vital importance to the New Zealand economy. If we allow the sale of New Zealand assets to overseas interests then New Zealanders will become tenants in their own land. The second point I will make is that this bill is simply an interim measure until more can be done—and more does need to be done; we all admit that. The third point is that if I look at the statistics I think the dairy industry is an industry that appears to be under threat and in trouble and I will talk about that a little bit more. 
The first point is about this being of vital importance. About 74 percent of New Zealand’s export earnings at the moment are from the primary sector. We are not talking about just dairy; we are talking about forestry agriculture and horticulture but dairying is a large component of that. This is a very important part of our economy. Let us face facts—we are an agricultural-based economy a primary production - based economy. That is why this is such an important part of our economy. But it is also why I have grave concerns about what is happening to the ownership patterns of New Zealand’s agricultural sector. 
I will give members a classic example one that has been in the news a lot: the Crafar farms. I do not know why I cannot find one good reason why Landcorp does not buy those farms hold them in some sort of trust and use them as training farms for young New Zealanders who want to get on the land who want to learn about dairying. That would keep the land in New Zealand ownership and it would allow our young people to learn how to become great dairy farmers. It would not allow a Chinese company to tie up that whole supply chain from New Zealand farm right through to Chinese market. New Zealanders want to control that supply chain. We want to be in control of landownership. This is our country and I firmly believe that it should remain in New Zealand control. 
New Zealanders do not want to become tenants in our own land. New Zealanders do not want to become a nation that has sold its land sold its assets and sold its competitive advantage to those large companies so we can be milked. Other countries appear to be a lot smarter around this issue. We are not allowed to buy land in a lot of the countries that are buying our own land. That is wrong. 
The second point I will make is that this bill is simply an interim measure. Personally I have concerns with the fact that Fonterra is forced to sell part of its production to competitors. That concerns me. It is only 6 percent but it is the principle. That principle is why a company should be forced to subsidise other companies. As I said it is only 6 percent but it is the principle. That brings us to the price of milk. I for one am very pleased that the Commerce Commission decided to reopen its investigation on the price of milk. It may be that its conclusion is that everything is fine—that is fine. But all that New Zealanders want is a little bit of transparency. We want the knowledge that we are not being ripped off and rorted. 
When I was young I was a milk boy. I used to get up at 6 o’clock every morning and push a trolley round the streets of Napier. I used to drink milk by the pintful. When I got home I would scull a pint of milk. Before school I would scull a pint of milk. After rugby practice I would scull a pint of milk. We were a family of four children. Mum used to put out six milk bottles. That did not cost her much at all. We used to have milk in schools. Mr Assistant Speaker Roy probably would not remember that but in the old days we used to have milk in schools. We recognised that milk is a meal in a bottle milk is incredibly healthy and milk is a necessity. It is not a luxury but it has been priced almost at the luxury point. Goodness me Coca-Cola is cheaper than milk! Something that is rotting the lives of our young people is cheaper than something that builds their lives. Somehow we need to get back to the point where people choose milk over Coke. Would that not be a great day? Because milk is a very healthy food and it is a necessity. 
When we hear the statistics—Jonathan Coleman will know this; he is a former doctor—that New Zealand is the third-fattest country in the world I have to ask what is going on here. I ask where we have fallen down so much that one in four of our children starting school is obese. That is a dreadful statistic and it is something we have got to do something about. In fact it is the reason why Labour has decided to take GST off fresh fruit and vegetables. We decided it was time to send a message that we value the health of this nation. 
The other thing I will talk about is that this appears to be an industry under threat. Members may ask why I say that. First of all Fonterra since 31 May 2007 has made $77.4 billion but it has had tax credits of $23 million. It has had a profit before tax of $1.865 billion and a profit after tax of $1.888 billion. So Fonterra has paid no tax whatsoever on $77 billion of revenue. According to Inland Revenue Department statistics there are about 17244 dairy farms at the moment but in 2009 they paid only $26 million in tax. That equates to $1507 tax per dairy farm. 
As mentioned Fonterra is a vital part of our economy in terms of the export dollars it brings in but we are getting absolutely no tax from this industry whatsoever. Fonterra has paid no tax since 2007. The dairy farmers have paid $26 million in tax. Obviously if we look at the statistics this is an industry that is struggling. That goes against everything we know in terms of the price of milk so I have some questions as to how those farmers are structuring their businesses in such a way that allows them to minimise their tax to such an extent that there is an average of $1500 per dairy farmer but that is an argument for another day. 
Just to close I will make three points. Firstly Fonterra is vital to the New Zealand economy. Secondly this bill is simply an interim measure until more can be done—and more needs to be done. The third point is that the dairy industry appears to be an industry under threat. We do support this bill but we absolutely understand that this is simply an interim measure. Thank you very much.