O'Connor Damien: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Connor Damien: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 24 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1849. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]10.Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR (Labour—West Coast - Tasman) to the Minister for Primary Industries: Does he consider that cuts the Government has made to biosecurity have contributed to the current fruit fly outbreak?Hon NATHAN GUY (Minister for Primary Industries): The assertion in that question is factually incorrect. Overall biosecurity funding is now $9 million more than when we took office. In the last 2 years we have significantly increased the number of detector dogs we have added 130 front-line quarantine officers we have 15 new X-ray machines we have two portable response labs we have introduced Government-industry agreements we have announced we are building a $68 million biocontainment laboratory and the list goes on.Hon Damien O’Connor: Supplementary question Mr Speaker. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! I am just waiting for a little bit of assistance here.Hon Damien O’Connor: Is it not true that in the first year of the National Government $2 million was cut from the biosecurity budget 54 front-line staff were fired detector dog numbers were cut and since then the hard-working front-line biosecurity staff have been unable to maintain an appropriate level of biosecurity at our borders?Hon NATHAN GUY: No. The member over on the other side cannot even read a question that is down on the sheet correctly so—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! I dealt with that matter earlier. Would the Minister just answer the question?Hon NATHAN GUY: I have. I have answered it.Mr SPEAKER: Order! I rose to my feet; I could not hear the answer because of the barracking the Minister’s comments caused. I have asked the Minister to answer the question.Hon NATHAN GUY: We have increased funding by $9 million extra since we came into office we have established more front-line quarantine inspectors we have introduced 15 new X-ray machines and we have significantly increased the dog detector teams. So I do not know where that member gets his information from.Hon Damien O’Connor: How does the Minister justify his elimination of 100 percent bag screening in 2012 and the subsequent four incursions of fruit fly given the statement from own department that “Fruit fly is most likely to arrive with plane passengers bringing in infested fruit in luggage.”?Hon NATHAN GUY: It is interesting because X-rays are just one of a combination of tools that are used at the border and what is really interesting for the member—and he may have forgotten—is that when there was 100 percent screening from 2001 to 2008 we still had significant incursions under the Labour Government. They were varroa painted apple moth didymo fall webworm red fire ant and Asian gypsy moth which required aerial spraying over Hamilton in 2003—and the list goes on.Hon Damien O’Connor: If the Minister considers as he so often states that our biosecurity system is world class how does he explain that in 2010 we had Psa in kiwifruit and the great white butterfly; in 2013 we had an animal limb in palm kernel expeller black grassweed the red-vented bulbul and the live bamboo longhorn beetle; and in 2014 we had white peach scale on kiwifruit and onion fly in imported garlic? How many more unwanted pests and diseases need to arrive before he resigns?Hon NATHAN GUY: That member obviously does not realise that there was a whole list of incursions under the Labour regime. We have very much a world-class system in New Zealand and the reason I say that is that we are one of the few countries in the world that has a proven history of successful eradication of pests whether it is fruit fly white-spotted tussock moth the Asian gypsy moth or even termites. We have proven to the world that we can eradicate pests and we will continue to do that.Hon Damien O’Connor: Can he confirm that an audit of the new direct exit system introduced by his Government at the same time that he removed 100 percent X-ray bag screening found failures in the system that resulted in risk items getting through into New Zealand with 80000 people; and why did he not reinstate at that time 100 percent X-ray bag screening?Mr SPEAKER: The Hon Nathan Guy—either of those two supplementary questions.Hon NATHAN GUY: Biosecurity officials are focused on those that have the highest risk and the green lane actually has the best compliance rate. The member needs to realise that we have strengthened the biosecurity systems. We are putting in 100 percent dog detection screening. All international passengers coming into our international airports have 100 percent screening and the member also needs to realise that there are four pathways that we are focused on: cargo craft mail and passenger. We will continue to strengthen the biosecurity system as it continues to evolve with new technology.Hon Damien O’Connor: Given that in the past 4 years border security monitoring funding decreased by 2 percent in real terms but international visitors increased by 13 percent and international cargo imports increased by 19 percent—meaning biosecurity staff were expected to do 15 percent more work with 2 percent less funding—how can he claim that we have a world-class biosecurity system?Hon NATHAN GUY: I cannot verify that member’s facts and figures because he is known to get things wrong but what I can say is that the budget for biosecurity is $9 million higher now under this Government than when we came into office and the member should not forget that.