7. Mycoplasma Bovis—Release of Technical Advisory Group ReportHon NATHAN GUY (National—Ōtaki) to the Minister for BiosecurityMycoplasma Bovis—Release of Technical Advisory Group Report7. Hon NATHAN GUY (National—Ōtaki) to the Minister for Biosecurity: Does he stand by all his statements and actions in relation to Mycoplasma bovis?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister for Biosecurity): Yes.Hon Nathan Guy: How can his Government claim to be open and transparent when he received the technical advisory group (TAG) report in December and only released it yesterday some four months after he got it?SPEAKER: No. I just want to really reinforce to members that supplementary questions have to relate to the primary question and the member did not make a link. There was nothing in there about a Minister's action or statements.Hon Nathan Guy: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: Well have a go.Hon Nathan Guy: The Minister is responsible for the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). He would have received the report in December and yesterday it was released.SPEAKER: That's right.Hon Nathan Guy: And so therefore I'm questioning the Minister on why he hasn't released the report sooner when there is a huge amount of public interest in the tracing of this terrible cattle disease.SPEAKER: Can I just ask the member whose report it was and who released it and which action of the Minister he is referring to.Hon Nathan Guy: Well it's MPI's report. The Minister would have seen it.SPEAKER: No. Did the Minister release it?Hon Nathan Guy: MPI released the report. OK—supplementary question to the Minister.SPEAKER: A new supplementary question—Nathan Guy.Hon Nathan Guy: When did the Minister receive the tracing pathway technical advisory group's report?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I received an initial report at the end of last year and can I say that the report to the ministry gave advice to officials on how best to attack and control and hopefully eradicate a disease that came into this country under that member's watch because of a National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) system that failed. The technical advisory group report was a report to give good guidance to officials and has been updated and amended—SPEAKER: OK. The member has answered I think when he got it.Hon Nathan Guy: What assurances can he give to the 22 herd owners that compensation will be fair and fast given that Kerry Dwyer said he has not seen any money from MPI six months after sending his calves to slaughter and had struggled to get a clear answer about what he was eligible for compensation for?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I'm not prepared to talk about individual applications at all in the House other than to say that those applications and payment for compensation rely on robust information fair process and timely information and until all of those things are carried through the Crown's not in a position to pay compensation. I have insisted that we have sufficient resource to pay out as quickly as we can to all of those people claiming compensation when all the information is provided to MPI.Kieran McAnulty: Why does the Minister consider there was no earlier action taken on the animal tracing system NAIT?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: There are numerous reports from officials the technical advisory group being one group of them that say the failure of the NAIT system has led to complications an extension of time and real challenges in trying to get ahead of this. That member oversaw a system that completely failed and that Government did nothing about—SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order!Hon Nathan Guy: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You have ruled numerous times in the House that Ministers can't use a supplementary question to attack the former Government. That is what we've just seen now.SPEAKER: And three-quarters of the answer was completely in order. The last bit wasn't and I sat the member down. And if the member had been listening and looking in the right direction he would've seen so.Hon Nathan Guy: When the Minister said We're going to make sure they've got the resources to do the job properly." why did the TAG group only last month raise uncertainty about the Ministry for Primary Industries' capacity to ensure all tracing visits are completed?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I have to admit that this is a new challenge for the Ministry for Primary Industries. Never before have we had such an incursion in this country and it's a sad indictment on a system overseen by a Government that had failed—SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order!Hon Nathan Guy: Will the Minister commit today to full eradication of M. bovis cattle disease in New Zealand?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: This Government has committed $85 million to the initial stages of the control and eradication of this disease. If that person had done more we would've been in a better position to do it and it would've cost us a hell of a lot less.Kieran McAnulty: What does the Minister consider the key findings of the Mycoplasma bovis TAG report's release yesterday?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: The technical advisory report makes a number of recommendations but the latest update to the report notes the failures in the NAIT—the National Animal Identity and Tracing—system and problems it has caused for the tracking of this disease. The previous Government and that member of course were asleep at the wheel and that's half the reason we've got—SPEAKER: Order! I just want to say that I had indicated a loss of supplementary questions to the National Party as a result of interjections when the previous question had been asked by Mr McAnulty. I've just reversed that because for the third time the Minister breached Speakers' rulings."