SpeechRt Hon DAVID CARTER (National): Madam Speaker thank you very much for the opportunity to make a few comments on the Dairy Industry Restructuring Amendment Bill (No 3). As other speakers particularly the very learned Ian McKelvie has just said—he wasn't on the Primary Production Committee I wasn't on the Primary Production Committee but I thought it was worthwhile in making my contribution just to think of my own involvement with the dairy industry over the time that I've been a member of Parliament.In setting the scene for that I think it's important for newer members of Parliament to actually understand the history of the dairy industry in New Zealand. It was a case whereby there were hundreds if not thousands of small cooperatives. My own area where I'm fortunate enough to farm now Banks Peninsula had a dairy co-op in just about every bay: Le Bons Bay Pigeon Bay Okains Bay Little Akaloa. There's one small one still existing today in Barrys Bay. But that was the nature of how the dairy industry started in New Zealand. We then went through a period of quite significant amalgamation of all these cooperatives because of just scale of economics. By the time that I came into this House we effectively had two major competitive dairy co-ops in this country: the New Zealand Dairy Group based in the Waikato and the Kiwi dairy cooperative based in Taranaki. The interesting thing about that—and we're talking now about the mid-1990s—is Canterbury which is now a powerhouse of the dairy industry in New Zealand wasn't even really on the scene at that stage. The dairy transformation that's occurred in Canterbury has occurred subsequent really to the enactment of the very first Dairy Industry Restructuring Act. I became a junior Minister and Associate Minister in 1998 and was privileged then to be part of the discussions as these two major cooperatives came before the then National Government and talked about trying to amalgamate Kiwi and New Zealand Dairy Group to create a company which at that stage was unnamed but later became known as Fonterra. Of course the Government was then challenged with making sure that we established some competition to allow Fonterra to establish and yet allow the industry to develop to mature for other players to come into the industry. I recall long long discussions with some of those dairy stalwarts at the time: John Storey Sir Dryden Spring John Roadley; the Prime Minister Jim Bolger was heavily involved; Ministers like Bill Birch and particularly the senior agriculture Minister at the time the Hon John Luxton. Of course the election came along in 1999. The job at that stage had been well progressed but not completed. The then Labour Government picked up that legislation continued the work put it through the select committee—from memory in the year 2000—and finally we passed the legislation in 2001 establishing the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act allowing Fonterra to form and also establishing mechanisms by which other innovative companies could come into the industry. I talk with some pride about our own company Synlait in Canterbury which was established over the time that I've been a member of Parliament—now a very significant contributor to the dairy industry of New Zealand and a very very significant contributor to the economy of Canterbury. I want to acknowledge in that the leadership given by John Penno who was significantly involved as we progressed—as Synlait developed and has now become a major player to the New Zealand dairy industry.We now have got the Dairy Industry Restructuring Amendment Bill (No 3) before us. We've obviously therefore had two others. I was involved in one of them and I assume—I haven't had the chance to research this but I'm sure it was the dairy industry restructuring bill No. 1. At the time I was the Minister of Agriculture or the Minister for Primary Industries and I conclude—a lot of the discussion tonight has been about the continuing open entry open exit. If I have one minor regret I suspect we might well have got it wrong then when we at that stage said that Fonterra had to continue to accept every possible supplier. I say that because as I regularly drive through the Mackenzie Basin there we see dairy farms which I feel should not be in the Mackenzie Basin. That is a particularly fragile part of New Zealand a beautiful environment but fragility is known to those who are familiar with it. I suspect that may be an inadequacy of the regional plan may be an inaccuracy of the district plan that the Mackenzie District Council has allowed dairying to develop into the Mackenzie Basin. But one thing that did force that to happen was the fact that Fonterra had no choice whatsoever—that if a farmer wanted to establish having got through the resource consent process then Fonterra had no choice but to accept the milk from that place. So I think in hindsight maybe we've got to it I think tonight where we're now saying that Fonterra has the ability on occasions to say We will not accept milk from a particular supplier be it an environmental reason be it a animal welfare reason." and I wonder in honesty whether we shouldn't have got to that space earlier. My final point is I wonder whether in time—it won't be in my time obviously in this House but whether in time—we'll have a "Dairy Industry Restructuring Amendment Bill (No 4)" or whether in actual fact we can now say this industry has matured to the stage when it no longer needs this governing legislation. I personally think we are at that stage. I think Fonterra has been a remarkable company. It is New Zealand's biggest company. The actions and the performance of that company affect the livelihood of every New Zealander. We have seen also maturity right across the industry with a number of other significant players providing that competitive edge providing choices for dairy farmers in most parts of New Zealand. I think before too much longer this House should think about whether we even need to have governing legislation governing the structure of the New Zealand dairy industry. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): The following call's a split call. I call Rino Tirikatene."