Carter David: Wine Bill — Second Reading Procedure In Committee Third Reading 
Carter David: Wine Bill — Second Reading Procedure In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:612;Page:9503] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 The Minister has not been responsible for delivering what the industry wanted. The Primary Production Committee did the work that the Minister should have done and that select committee should take pride in finally delivering legislation that the industry finds acceptable. After 4 long years the Labour Government finally has this legislation before the House and I do not think for 1 minute that the industry will be fooled by the speech that has just been delivered by the Minister who claims that this process has been a good one. 
The industry was shocked into submitting 115 submissions when the bill was presented to the select committee because it felt that the consultation process it had been promised had totally betrayed it. 
 What a mess it was that was presented to us. The Minister should be ashamed to think that he allowed the process to go through his office and be finally ticked off—a process causing consternation to the industry and involving it in hundreds of hours of submissions. Philip Gregan of New Zealand Winemakers came on board to work with the select committee as a special adviser as the committee worked to tidy up the mess that was delivered by the Hon Jim Sutton. After listening to the Minister’s contribution which has just concluded I think the most telling statement he made was: “This bill does not tell winemakers how to make wine.” It is very telling indeed that even tonight in the third reading Mr Sutton says that this bill does not tell winemakers how to make wine. 
R Doug Woolerton 
: He would like it to. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Exactly! As Mr Woolerton interjects it suggests to me that that was considered. Helen Clark probably sat up on the ninth floor of the Beehive thinking that she knew how to make wine—that she knew better than the industry that is about to deliver $750 million of export dollars to this country. The Labour Government which tells us how to lead our lives how to bring up our children and whether we are allowed to smoke was about to tell the wine industry how to make wine. So thank God on this occasion that did not get into the legislation. 
In my earlier contribution to the second reading I paid tribute to the wine industry. It is a remarkable industry that is held in high esteem around the world. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: Unlike the National Party. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: The Minister of Finance interrupts and suggests that the National Party does not hold the wine industry in high esteem. We might not be known as Chardonnay socialists but I assure the Minister that we do appreciate the contribution the wine industry makes to New Zealand and we do appreciate the $250 million worth of export earnings the country has received from it in the last financial year. I am very disappointed that the Minister of Finance interrupts with such a silly inane comment. 
I want to talk about the reason why the select committee faced such an angry submission arena. It was because the industry felt so totally betrayed in respect of the sherry tax. The industry had been told—in fact it had been promised—and Mr Anderton had written to the industry saying that under no circumstances would there be any surprise taxes and increases in excise. That was the wording. The letter was presented to us at the select committee. Within weeks of Jim Anderton signing that letter out the House went into extraordinary urgency to pass the sherry tax—after that promise had been made. I note that Government members hang their heads in shame and they ought to. 
Phil Heatley 
: Taxing my grandmother! 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Phil Heatley’s grandmother was affected. I think lots of grandmothers were affected. What was most galling about that tax was that speaker after speaker on that side of the House amongst the Labour Party listened to Jim Anderton and accepted his argument that the tax was being advanced in the House because we had to curb youth drinking. I say to Jim Anderton that he should get a life. He should get down to the strip in Christchurch or go with Winston Peters to Courtenay Place on the odd occasion and have a look at what young people are drinking. They are not drinking sherry or port. I say to the Government that it should not advance a large tax increase when it will not make any difference to the level of alcohol being consumed by young New Zealanders. 
In turning to the process by which the select committee heard the submissions and then decided how best to proceed I want to welcome the decision we made to ask New Zealand Winegrowers to allow Phil Gregan its chief executive to work on the issues with us and with the officials servicing the committee to see whether we could find some consensus on them. It was a process that I think worked very well. I thank Mr Gregan for his contribution. I think that the committee by having his expertise and contribution has presented back to Parliament a bill that is far more substantial and far more robust than the one advanced to it in the first place. There was the issue around cost compliance and cost recovery. We listened and understood that the industry was concerned about or felt betrayed by the previous tax that had recently been passed but at the end of the day most parties in the select committee accepted the need for the industry to be prepared to meet the costs associated with the implementation of this legislation. Only one party saw fit to advance a minority report in that regard. I appreciate the comments made by that particular party but I think that it was perhaps unaware of the need for the legislation—the original request for the legislation having come from the industry. 
All in all the process has meant that a very credible piece of legislation is being passed here tonight. I take the opportunity to thank members of the select committee for working with me through the issues and for advancing legislation that I think is credible. The National Party has pleasure in supporting the Wine Bill in its third reading.