Woolerton R Doug: Local Government Law Reform Bill — In Committee 
Woolerton R Doug: Local Government Law Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:632;Page:3732] 
R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) 
: 
 Thank you Mr Chairman and that was very wise if I may say so. The Committee has heard from the Carter twins—the rich one and the poor one—and they have brought a lot of colleagues to the Chamber. In fact I have not seen as many people as there are on the National Party side of the Chamber waiting to be excited for many a long day. But unfortunately they are going to be disappointed. 
The honourable Minister Jim Sutton is right; this is a registration method. The honourable Minister said that dogs lose their collars. He could have gone one step further which I intend to do. Farmers do not even put the collars on their dogs and other farmers know that. When we come to the issue of who voted for the legislation 3 years ago and who did not I can tell members that everybody in this House 3 years ago including the National Party voted for it with the exception of the ACT party. So it is not correct for those gentlemen excited though they may be to hop up now and say they did not vote for it. 
As I said to my friends in Federated Farmers this afternoon David Carter took an opportunity—and as a professional politician I can admire him for this—to go into this omnibus bill and ask how he could cause some mischief. What he came up with—and goodness knows how he convinced Federated Farmers of this because normally they are sensible people—was to say that he could raise some mischief here by putting forward a Supplementary Order Paper to exempt farm dogs from microchipping. There will be a modern dog microchipping - dog registration regime and those silly people in the National Party are saying they would exempt farm dogs. They should get with the programme. How silly is that? We have moved past the days of registering dogs on a little bit of leather we have gone past the days of registering them on a little bit of paper and we most certainly have gone past the days of carving a registration in stone. 
But the National Party members do not know that and they are again trying to defy gravity and deny reality. They are going down that road and sadly taking some of my very very close dear friends in Federated Farmers along with them. I look forward to the day when Federated Farmers understand most clearly that they have been duped in a most serious and cynical manner. They will feel very very humiliated and ashamed of themselves. They will come flocking to New Zealand First by the hundreds of thousands with their votes. 
I cannot close without saying that I was deeply hurt by Mr David Carter saying to me that when he had finished with me around the farming community I would not show my face in front of Federated Farmers or at any other meeting with farmers. Well that will be the day when I do not front up to farmers anywhere in the country at any time. In fact farmers and I have a mutual love thing going on. It is unseemly but it is true. Federated Farmers will come to their senses sooner or later and like any other jilted people they will be very very angry at the people in the National Party who have duped them so conclusively and cynically. 
For the good of the country for the good of farmers for the good of dogs and for the good of our future New Zealand First has much pleasure in supporting this bill. We look forward to a successful dog registration regime replacing the pathetic old failed system.